So, like I said, took my time today on the brakes. I knew there was a reason why I saved this for last.
This was my first time cutting brake lines and setting them up 100%. All went well, just slowly.
Bleeding the rear brake was super easy and without a hitch. It was the front brake that ended up leaking after the first bleed. That was caused by a barb that was not completely seated.
I may have to consider getting some real caliper screws. The hardware store here (European hardware stores! What a joke!) had only 30 and 16mm M6 stainless allen screws. For the longer front caliper screw, I had to use a standard bolt and cut it down from 40 to 35mm because of the +20mm disc adapter. I'm running 180's on both front and back. Speaking of which, I love how the Timby has a flat mount 180 in back.
The brakes are really great. Loads of modulation and effortless braking. I picked up some organic BBB pads which are always smooth. Coincidentally the blue matches perfectly.
There is one issue with the brakes and I wonder if this is a known issue for the Magura's. The clearance between one of the caliper bolts and the spokes is beyond close. In fact, when braking hard the spokes started kissing it:
Most likely I will file down the head slightly. Other options? Remove the washers?
So here are some photos from the maiden voyage today. It was a quick 5km around the block:
The bike's geometry is nearly perfect. The handlebars need to be lowered and the stem shortened slightly. The stem right now is a 120mm which I had laying around. I had installed it to mirror the geometry of my other hard tail which is a size L. I think though, that on the Timby the long stem is a bad idea as it was very squirrely.
When I decided to purchase the frame, it was a toss up between M and L which I had thought about for a while. I had compared the reach and stack of my current bike and knew the Timby's were a bit short but nothing extreme. I am 175cm (5'9"). I decided on the M with a 100mm stem which is correct and OK. But this ride right now is too nervous to enjoy and makes me think that it could be a combination of factors and not just the stem length. Perhaps the headset preload is too tight. Maybe the fork's dimensions don't fit the bike right? I will have to figure this out if I want to be enjoying this bike any time soon.