After pretty much one year of use, I though I'd post an update:
This is by far the best commuter bike I have had so far ever.
What I like / What worked:- Winterizing the bike. The water sprayer method + EPT chain did a perfect job. I had not a single spot of rust on the drivetrain throughout and after last winter - with the exception of some scratched parts on a steel chainring (who cares?). Is it the EPT chain, and/or the fact that I sprayed the bike 2-3 times a week and store inside? I don't know. Probably more the latter.
- Position / bike fit: The frame is too small for me, technically. But a combination of long seatpost, long stem, comfy Ergon GP3 grips/barends and aggressive riding position have resulted in a very comfortable riding position. I ride this bike a lot, but usually not longer than ~20-30km at a time - so this is not a statement about all-day comfort
- The U-Lock holder is working out well. I replaced the Zip-ties with stainless steel screws, after all zip-ties holding the pipe pieces failed. Also, I am using a bungee cord across the entire milk crate which presses against the top part of the lock. This holds it well in place.
What I'm not so happy with / might change in the future:- That front mosso fork. It's nice, strong enough and it's working. But ultimately I will have to replace it with an actual fork - and when it's time, it's going to be a touring fork with mounting bolts on the fork blades. The fork is light and rigid, but I do inspect it more often than I would normally. My trust is not at 'I should not ride this' levels, but is certainly not at 100%.
- Schwalbe winter marathons: as stated a few times on this forum, their deep snow handling capacities are not good enough for my taste. Once they're worn, I'll try out some Nokian ones, they seem to have a better tread and still roll somewhat okay.
- The Avid BB5s are nice and working reliably. But I do have a set of spare BB7's flying around, so they will go on this bike as soon as the next pad replacement is due. BB7s are nicer to adjust, which has been a bit of an imperfect situation on my current BB5's.
- My milk crate is currently disintegrating due to overloading. I could just replace it (cheap!), but my perfectionist part is trying to come up with a better solution that won't cost me hundred's of dollars. See here for details.
What I changed since the initial post:- I replaced all screws with stainless steel screws (ebay is your friend). Furthermore, most screwheads are now security-pin torx heads to reduce theft temptations. Quick releases are converted to allen keys + secondary lock. My bike is among the nicest in the rack, but so far, there have been no signs wrongdoing. I'm also using one of the strongest locks around. Abount one screw is still steel and it's completely rusted since after last winter.
- I built up a second wheelset for this bike: 700C tires. It's a super tight fit on the back, but I can run my 700x32 puncture-proof tires with full inflation. This makes the bike roll a little bit smoother compared to 26in slicks that I was using beforehand. And building that wheel from scratch was a lot of fun - maybe the main reason why I did it.
- The small frame only has one water bottle mount. As I found out, there is another perfect spot to mount a second cage: on the rear side of the seatpost! It's long enough for a 750ml bottle to fit and it's behind the action space of my legs. Pipe clamps and zip ties are holding on to it
Thanks for reading. Feel free to tell me your thoughts or input. I'm always curious about other peoples hacks and experiences!
