General Bike Thread (Desiderata, Questions, Pics)

[LawrenceMD]

Finished my wife's xmas present:

if you look at the chainring you'll notice that the chainrings are huge and the seat tube to wheel space is huge also... its weirdly out of proportion .... its not... this is a bike based on 26" wheels. Made in 1992 this is the precursor to the rivendell atlantis, and other bikes like the surly long haul trucker.

I ditched the original mustache bars (my wife wouldn't of like them anyway) and put on a modern SRAM Rival Groupset. There is clearance for mountain bike tires too if you want to go off road.

The wife is 5'4" and can ride this with adequate top tube clearance as well as no toe overlap.

 

[NORE]

Nice work on the build. That thing's seriously got some limousine geometry.

 

[LawrenceMD]



Nice work on the build. That thing's seriously got some limousine geometry.

actually it doesn't... its just based on 26" wheels... total weirdo dimensions but its very quick and zippy... my wife wanted a regular looking traditional steel bike that fits her and the 700c options have massive toe overlap and fit issues at 50cm and below sizes... I'm a vintage bridgestone bike groupie so when I found one of these frames in a size 48cm I had a feeling that it would work out.

The real pain is finding new wheels for this bike. 650c wheels work but only have thin 23c road tires available, and modern 26" wheels are all mountain bike wheels with 135mm rear spacing.

 

[otc]



The real pain is finding new wheels for this bike. 650c wheels work but only have thin 23c road tires available, and modern 26" wheels are all mountain bike wheels with 135mm rear spacing.

For a bike like that, why on earth wouldn't you be using hand built wheels? In that case, should be no problem to lace a narrow 26" rim to a classic looking road hub. Velocity makes a lot of models in the 26" size (650b/c as well) and something like the AeroHeat or the Synergy (with eyelets and an off-center rear!) would be great if you want to run some slightly larger tires.

 

[NORE]

Gotcha. I'm more into stuff like this:

 

[LawrenceMD]



Gotcha. I'm more into stuff like this:

^nice! I'm already on the prowl for a simple Bridgestone Track frame for a single speed/maybe fixie for the winter.... since riding fixies on icy roads is what the old pros did back in the day right?

then again i live in fixie country... where bushwick craigslist listing inflated pricing often times gives me the lolz...

For a bike like that, why on earth wouldn't you be using hand built wheels? In that case, should be no problem to lace a narrow 26" rim to a classic looking road hub. Velocity makes a lot of models in the 26" size (650b/c as well) and something like the AeroHeat or the Synergy (with eyelets and an off-center rear!) would be great if you want to run some slightly larger tires.

yeah its a nice frame/bike but I actually found it for pretty cheap and I was working within a self imposed budget. I almost had a modern 105 hubs with the 10speed freehub laced onto some 26" rims, but I didn't want to let the old wheels go -they are surprisingly light at 1800g w/ rim strips - for 32spoked wheels from the early 1990's. So i just had a new 8/9/10 speed free hub swapped onto the old wheels and then re-dished the wheel. It was a low-fi and cheaper solution.

It shouldn't be a problem finding cheap MTB wheels (especially on craigslist), but I don't want to re-space the rear to fit a 135mm MTB wheel. Maybe just go with a spare set of 650c wheels for fast road riding, then use the originals with thicker off road friendly wheels.

 

[otc]

Oh, didn't realize keeping the original wheels and changing the freehub was an option. That seems totally fine.

I also wouldn't want to bend the frame to fit 135 (although honestly you could probably stuff one in there without cold setting the frame if it is already at 130). Some MTB hubs will fit 130 spacing if you just swap out the spacers but if you need to get down to 126, then it might be a problem.

Changing the brake height might be annoying with two slightly different wheelsets--although there aren't a ton of skinny tires available in 26" that I can see. You can get a 26x1.1 Durano and there are a couple 26x1.0 options though...so a narrow rimmed 26" might work well as a second wheelset.

 

[LawrenceMD]



Oh, didn't realize keeping the original wheels and changing the freehub was an option. That seems totally fine.
I also wouldn't want to bend the frame to fit 135 (although honestly you could probably stuff one in there without cold setting the frame if it is already at 130). Some MTB hubs will fit 130 spacing if you just swap out the spacers but if you need to get down to 126, then it might be a problem.
Changing the brake height might be annoying with two slightly different wheelsets--although there aren't a ton of skinny tires available in 26" that I can see. You can get a 26x1.1 Durano and there are a couple 26x1.0 options though...so a narrow rimmed 26" might work well as a second wheelset.

the only thing not rival on this build is the brakes. I went with tektro 539 which have generous spacing for a wider tire and even fenders:

I was looking at those 1.1 duranos then found these Micheline Wild Run'r 1.1 (they also havea 1.4). They are 28c tires but look so much thinner due to the wider rims. They measure a true 28mm wide though. The michelins are a lot lighter and can be found for cheaper than the duranos as well:

so as you can see there's still a lot of space to work with even with 28c tires installed... maybe I can put in some 35c MTB/xcross tires.. I'll keep these on for now as its adequate for about 90% of what my wife will be riding anyway..

 

[NORE]



^nice! I'm already on the prowl for a simple Bridgestone Track frame for a single speed/maybe fixie for the winter.... since riding fixies on icy roads is what the old pros did back in the day right?
then again i live in fixie country... where bushwick craigslist listing inflated pricing often times gives me the lolz...

A saw a couple Bridgestone framesets on ebay last night but you'd be hard pressed to find one south of $800

I used to troll the LFGSS site's ebay deals thread for vintage framesets and found a few. Also, those Keirin sellers usually have some mostly way too small for me (I'm 6'4")

Speaking of hipsters, here's a shot of my saddle, blued from riding in raw denim (he he he he)

Also, one of the best things I ever did was pick up some elkhide bar wrap and lace it myself. Great idea for your wife's rig and it's super luxe and comfy.

velo-orange sells it relatively inexpensively.

 

[LawrenceMD]



A saw a couple Bridgestone framesets on ebay last night but you'd be hard pressed to find one south of $800
I used to troll the LFGSS site's ebay deals thread for vintage framesets and found a few. Also, those Keirin sellers usually have some mostly way too small for me (I'm 6'4")
Speaking of hipsters, here's a shot of my saddle, blued from riding in raw denim (he he he he)

I check out the eBay/Craigslist offerings daily. Its a really tough segment/brand to get good deals on. If I do make a fixie/singlespeed it'll be for purely utilitarian purposes of puttering around the neighborhood to to errands in so maybe an uber cheap build. I know this comes off as a humblebrag... but I'm getting tired of actually having to securely lock up my bikes (saddle wheels and all) when riding around casually. Lugging around a kryptonite NY fuggetaboutit lock and a cable kind of defeats the convenience of riding a bike in this city. But these builds are my ******* beloved babies and I'd be heartbroken if stolen. Hell I get pissed about the potential of them getting scratched from the process of locking them up.

The most fun I have on a bike in the city is when its just a whole day of riding with my wife/friends and you don't need to bring a lock...

wow at 6'4" you're actually lucky when it comes to getting bike deals. big frames usually go for cheap...conversely the smaller the frame the better the possibility of making a lot of money on eBay/craigslist. I found an old waterford built Schwin Paramount in a tiny size when I was vacationing in Maine a year ago and then just tuned it up... I posted it on craigslist here at 2am and my phone flooded with calls with in minutes. I got emails demanding to be 1st in line if sale doesnt go through for weeks after.

 

[NORE]

True, better deal for bigger frames. I don't even own a lock-if I can't bring by bike inside, I'm not going

Here in NYC your bike can get nicked in a blink of an eye. Those guys in London have it way worse, tho. They have a whole thread just for stolen bike alerts!

 

[otc]

That's why you need multiple bikes
I've got one that I don't mind leaving in the courtyard in front of my apartment building 24/7 even though there have been other bikes stolen from the same place.
Then I have another that's nicer and fine for longer distances that I don't mind locking up with a single mini-u using the sheldon method. Nothing is quick-release and the $5 set of blinkies has been lashed in place with some thread so they can't be removed without cutting or breaking.

Of course I am always amused when the team stops for coffee and leaves a pile of fancy bikes locked with nothing more than a helmet latched through the wheel. I guess when there are a bunch of bikes and they are relatively in eyesight, your teammates could chase down the thief...but I still use a little ski-lock (with a maybe 2-3mm cable) just to keep everything tied down.

 

[acidboy]

today's ride

 

[rdawson808]



today's ride

Every time I see that Ibis my jaw drops. I think I have to go ride next weekend. And a ride or two to work this week.

 

[acidboy]



Every time I see that Ibis my jaw drops. I think I have to go ride next weekend. And a ride or two to work this week.

I have to say the "new" standard of having thru-axles on both front and rear wheels have made a ton of difference in ride quality- better control, less flex, etc..