frankenbike's frankenbikes

Me on a road bike where I’d normally be on a hardtail probably doesn’t need anything too exciting tbh, I sense some face plants in my immediate future.

Poor little Marin has been sat neglected all through coronavirus as I haven't been riding around in town as much and so haven't need a theft-proof shitbike. Recently I left it locked outside a bar for a month when I went on a night out and then went off on a holiday a few days later having forgotten it - still there without the slightest of issues when I eventually went back for it.

When I have been riding around town I haven't been riding this much because it was single speed and geared way too low for road riding at 30/18. Put some spare geared bits back on but then I realised why I set it up single-speed in the first place - the stupid On One chainring doesn't mesh with any chain I've got. A bit of filing on the teeth and it kind of works. Maybe I'll get a shorter derailleur because it shifts like a dog

1 Attachment

At the other end of the price spectrum, had these silly wheels built up just in time for winter

Not ridden them yet

(3T "Discus C60 LTD Stealth" at 90% discount, some rebranded Wiggle Novatec hubs, CX Rays)

1 Attachment

New wheels and tyres. 29"×2" on 26mm internal. I'll upgrade to some Mezcals when I find some cheap ones but these are alright for now. Do not like the Anthracite.

Saddle seems to be slipping and I need an inline seatpost I think. Still need to cut the steerer

1 Attachment

Pilgrims is out, this is the new "road" bike

1 Attachment

Pipedream is good although it looks a bit rough with my bodgy cabling, spacer stack, etc. Want to try it with flat bars some time

Also the Luxos U did not work for charging at all. It kept charging for half a second then switching the headlight on. Guess I need a battery instead of charging the phone directly?

And a third thing. Given the ticks, midgies and weather in Scotland I don't know what I'm doing with a bivvy bag. Think I'll trade it in for a hooped one with a proper bug net and some coverage over the face. I did sleep surprisingly well on this occasion, with no insect bites.

Any recommendations? Alpkit Elan looks fine but is there anything smaller/lighter than isn't expensive?

I recognise a lot of that route! Can confirm that the bike is good fun with flat bars.

Yeah nothing too exotic route wise! The new bit (to me) was past the mast at Glentress to that wind farm (Bowbeat) and then down the other side to Gladhouse resevoir. Really good, except for a 30 minute SFAB section which you can see a bit of in the 2nd-last photo. After the SFAB you go over some fields and end up on that lovely gravel track in the valley (3rd last)

The valley out to Gladhouse is fantastic, especially when the evening light hits it.

That SFAB has never dried out - best time it in winter when it freezes! If you have the time it's worth going around the parameter fof Leithenwater instead of going up to Bowbeat.

SFAB?

Shit from a butt = UK gravel

@frankenbike - how did you get from the Pentlands to Glentress?

https://bikepackingscotland.com/capitaltrail/

We mostly planned to follow this but ended up taking the road. We got to a point just after the A701 (I think) where the "route" appeared to be just an uphill slog through long grass and wanted to get some dinner instead

Cheers. Think I followed that last night but going the other way. The grass climb was full of nettles.

There's limited options to connect the pentlands with the tweed valley with avoiding the main roads.

This looks dreamy.
Re luxos - mine charged all manner of devices no problem. Could the switch be faulty?

Interesting. Yeah it could be the switch. I assumed it would be something to do with the hardware handshaking or whatever you want to call it that has come about with USB fast charging. But I should still be able to charge from a old/slow charger, so I don't know.

I'll try it again with a different cable on a faster ride and see if it works

You should be able to turn the light on and off irrespective of whether you're charging something right?

When I plugged my phone in, it would charge for half a second then cut out. Then the daytime running light would switch itself on, even if it was off before.

Light and switch works normally when there's no USB charging, can turn them on and off and switch between high beam and low beam

Oh right, very weird indeed! Maybe you're onto something with the handshaking then

Luxos worked yesterday. I think maybe it just needs a solid 5 minutes at good speed? I did still get it switching the lights on continuously, but eventually it stopped doing that and charged the phone. Pixel 5, 15% charge over 26km/1h7 commute. Not exactly mega but will do for touring I guess. Success.

29"×52mm Saguaro goes in the back of a Checkpoint with about a mm of clearance. 27.5" looks like it would be pretty good

1 Attachment

Road pedals?!

It's my "road" bike. Did a triathlon on it in April and not bothered to change them since