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Wasn't sure where to post this (considered Hacks/bodges).
The bike has flexible fork blades so the v brake posts flexed outward unacceptably without the brake booster. I had to drill out the center hole of the booster to fit the front rack through it. It's a custom fork so I should have not been such a cheapskate and just got the brazed on centrepulls...
Anyway now it works pretty well, most of the flex is in the brake arms so I might look to upgrade from the Avid SD3s to late model XTs - am I kidding myself this will make a difference?
I also have some CX70 cantis to try but that can wait until I have to change the bar tape anyway. -
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49mm brake drop on the Ribble according to the guy I bought it off but I haven't measured myself. The fork was a carbon Time Sprint which I would have kept if it had enough clearance but it got quite narrow at the top.
There's a decent amount of clearance at the seat stay bridge with 38mm Loup Loups and there isn't a chain stay bridge but I had to crimp the chain stays to get the width clearance (with some vice grips lol).
The calipers are Tektro R559s which I've used before on 27" to 700c conversions and am generally a fan of. I did try some centerpulls in an effort to maximise the mudguard clearance at the brake bridge but the improvement was marginal and they made it so I would have to deflate the rear tyre to remove the wheel.
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650b conversion finally finished to the point of being rideable. Featuring custom fork with Compass extra bendy legs.
It's been a bit of an ordeal - I've had to take the front wheel back to the shop because they built it wrong, Dremel the freehub to fit an 11spd cassette on and resort to using a v-brake on the front with a travel agent to get decent braking.
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Got two massive racks but you would struggle to get it up hills all day with a load of stuff on it as the gears are too high (also as mentioned the drillium is hideous). It also would be shit down hill on a rough road (which the tyres indicate it is intended for) because you can't brake from the drops. Just not built by someone who's ever done any actual touring.
Also as nitpicks the gear cables are too long, rear rack is a 700c one so is too high. Saddle looks shit too but I understand that's personal preference. -
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About 300 quid including getting the bits shipped from the states but don't tell my wife. I was quote 150 unpainted elsewhere but they wouldn't rake the blades I wanted although they would have done a bit of extra rake on pre-curved blades.
I've ordered the Compass rando bar after I saw the Velo Orange one on someone elses bike and was disgusted by how cheap it looked. Honestly what kind of awful snob have I become? Withholding how much they cost from the wife also.
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So the wheel/tyre combo didn't fit in the fork, enough depth but not width. I'm not a carbonophobe as such but it's old carbon of unknown provenance, I'm on the larger side of average and plan to treat the bike fairly roughly. Also I fancied trying this low trail business out myself. All these factors combined led me to spend too much money on getting a fork made for me.
Pleased with it though, after contacting a number of people finally found one willing to rake the fork blades I provided. Shout out to Winston Vaz for doing a tidy job.
Outfitted with a Tifosi roller headset and Shimano CX70 cantis. -
So the wheels are sorted.
The front wheel I'm pleased with, the grand bois rims are really nice. Wierdly the guy that built it said they looked like a low quality rim but I think he just wanted to get a diss in after I'd had the temerity to ask for it to be rebuilt properly. Top customer service eh.Rear hub is a bit heavy at 444g and I don't believe that the sealed unit bearings are any better than cup and cone but it's nice you can replace drive side spokes with only a spoke key. It won't fit the 11spd cassette and I couldn't be bothered to send everything back so I just took the 13t cog out and put the spare spacer at the back. Might take a dremel to the freehub body and try and make the 11spd cassette fit but only if I find myself missing that one cog.
Does look nice though. -
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So the wheels were a complete nightmare to get, I won't bore people with the details but I've ended up with a 36h synergy offset rear on a dia compe ene hub that won't fit an 11 speed cassette and a 32h grand bois front on a 105 hub that I had to take back to the shop because they built it wrong the first time (lacing error resulting in half the spokes only engaging half the nipple and the other half sticking into the rim bed). I also wanted Sapim laser spokes but none of the places I went had used them before and they're supposed to be tricky so decided against.
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So this is something of a retrospective as I am actual now at a point where I am about to start building the frame but Im going to go through through the process chronologically, there are some decisions yet to be made which I'll be putting out there.
@russmeyer thanks yeah it's probably one of the only frames ribble have made that I'd be interested in. Makes a good noise when you flick the top tube so you can tell it's quality. I think I heard somewhere they were made in Italy.
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The starting point:
So I've got this touring bike and it's great and everything but I read too much Bicycle Quarterly Starring Jan Heine and it's made me hanker for a bike that's a bit more spry but still able to go down dirt tracks and the like.
I should probably have just got someone to build me a custom frame but for some reason I'm trying to cheap out and make something off the peg fit me. I have the t-rex disease and my ideal frame would probably be 53 top x 56 seat but I spotted this 54.5 x 54.5 Ribble on ebay and decided to go for it.
Planning on a fairly normal 105 5800 groupset with tektro long drop brakes an 38mm tyres.
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All ebikes are disgusting but I appreciate the backwards ergo grips.