Current Projects chat and miscellany

nerg'd for the stupid joke -.-
One of those shifters ;)

What's so bad about them? They just flimsy or do they not work?

All dialled in now. Raced it twice (albeit for 10 minutes today prior to double punctures). Haven't really missed the carbon fork of the Pompino (no hassle with brake shudder for one thing) and the geometry seems a fair bit more racey as well as being able to run bigger tyres.

So nice!

Cross Check

Brilliant job, glad the seatpost has found a much better home!

Haven't really missed the carbon fork of the Pompino (no hassle with brake shudder for one thing)

What was the issue with brake judder?

Mainly getting cantilevers setup with enough power to stop promptly whilst riding on road (modulation's more important when racing off-road) whilst also avoiding the aforementioned brake judder (caused by flex in the fork effectively increasing the brake cable length, pads release from rim, fork flexes back, brakes grip and repeat). It's more of an issue on larger frames with a longer brake cable drop.

General advice is to toe-in brakes (helped a little) and use a fork mounted hanger (didn't try).

What's so bad about them? They just flimsy or do they not work?

Those riser bar shifters work great, feels like they would last for decades, the model i tried/used anyway

would assume they are more reliable than a modern shifter.

Mainly getting cantilevers setup with enough power to stop promptly whilst riding on road (modulation's more important when racing off-road) whilst also avoiding the aforementioned brake judder (caused by flex in the fork effectively increasing the brake cable length, pads release from rim, fork flexes back, brakes grip and repeat). It's more of an issue on larger frames with a longer brake cable drop.

General advice is to toe-in brakes (helped a little) and use a fork mounted hanger (didn't try).

Thanks! This is exactly what's happening with the new Concorde frame I have which is Columbus EL. The forks are visibly flexy, and I get this judder which you describe. I'll maybe toe in the brakes.

General advice is to toe-in brakes (helped a little) and use a fork mounted hanger (didn't try).

Also increase the straddle cable length to shorten the cable drop, I notice that help too if the fork mounted hanger is out of the question (worked flawlessly on mine) like this;

That'd also help though result in a little less power if you're using low profile cantilevers.

Have this set knocking around so measured them up, its about 39mm from center of bolt to end of pad mount, and its possible to file out another 2-3mm more if needed on this old pair of Shimano Vs.

Thanks for this, and sorry I did not reply... The distance between the bosses and the rim is 55-60mm, do V brakes would not work...

I managed to fit old Mafac Racers centre pull, which don't work so well at the back (too long outer cable, I did not have frame mounted cable stops, may do that later eventually...) I finished the bike over the last 10 days, ramaging thru all the crap I had accumulated in my shed. I only had to buy a second hand rear derailleur, everything else was old crap, even the bar tape. The crankset is brand new, I had bought it on sale for a very good price years ago in decathlon, it was waiting for the right project... The saddle is one of my good brooks, the only point that does not make the bike a total pub bike as I would hate to lose it...

So, a week ago or so it looked like this:

And yesterday, after completion it was like this:

I just need to sort out the shifters, I had really good old suntour thumb shifters, but sadly they don't fit the diameter of the bars...

It was horrible to ride at first, but after a couple of fine adjustments, it's OK, for commuting in a horrible day like today. Definitely not suitable for long rides! Super heavy and super weird geometry...!

I need stickers, bad ass ones...

Gaston seatposts must be a French thing.

Gaston seatposts must be a French thing.

I have to agree it looks quite bad... but a bit in a good way though...

In this case, it's just a frankenbike thing: this is a MTB frame fitted with 700c wheels, and the seat tube (this has nothing to do with the fact bigger wheels are fitted though...) is really laid back, so if I don't have the saddle to the front it's like riding one of these beach cruisers with your feet ahead of your knees, which is bad the the knees in my experience... Now, I was a bit optimistic, and set the saddle a bit further back today...

Gaston seat posts, in some cases I like them, but most of the time I don't get the justification behind it...

This is Gaston we're discussing. Sometimes there are no justifications.

Got one o deez Ass Savers for the Pre Cursa. For 6 quid they're pretty sweet and it's handy to be able to walk out of the shop and just pop it on.

Thanks for the comments. Put the Old Man Mountain rack on now. Still feels weird being able to freewheel.

Any particular reason for not using larger tyres?

I run 700 x 28 Vittoria Randonneurs on my Pompino and just wanted to try something slightly wider and faster. Thought the Gator Hardshells seemed like a decent option. Not going to be putting mad luggage on it so figure I don't really need anything bigger. We'll see how they go.

This will be lighter, stronger and stiffer, and it will also make space for the spacer you need on top of the stem:

I flipped the stem and moved it down one so now there's a spacer at the top. Why do you recommend having one there?

How's the SRAM shifting? Any good ? Heard mixed opinions

Can't comment as I haven't owned brifters before, only Shimano rapidfire flat bar or riser set-ups. Not as fast as that. Big rings require some effort to change sometimes.

Been wanting to cycle the coast of Norway for some time so i thought i'd take the time off and do it over the summer. Lusting for some dramatic scenery.

Looks intense. I'm itching for a Northern European tour.

nerg'd for the stupid joke -.-

but if it wasn't...

Two projects atm, The Beater (Columbus Aelle so cant be too bad):
Before I went at it.

As it is now:

Needs new stem, truing of wheels, longer seatpost, and rack on the front, and for HHSB points ourys, or is that so 2008? ;P

And then there's this:

It arrived to day :)

but if it wasn't...

it wasn't...

More likely Worthing. I went to Spooner's shop in the early 80s, might have had my first custom build from him if I hadn't moved to Southampton at the relevant time where there were a couple of more local builders.

True, it was built in Worthing. Using the Classic Lightweight's site I've worked out it was the 34th frame he built on December 1980, a year after he opened his shop in Worthing. The build is coming along. Just need to sort out wheels now.

it wasn't...

oohhhh....

maybe he was scared, confused and disorientated and thought he was on a different site?
otherwise, WHAT A WIENER

My HHSB is just awaiting its respray.

make custom mash. Sell custom mash. Make custom vigorelli...

;P

Respray?!

Lest we forget what a disaster that can be: