PirateJack

Got the new travel agent for the front along with the koolstops and finally got a free block of time to put it together. How did I do?

Now for a test ride. I haven't had front brakes on this thing in probably a couple of years, I'm excited!

maddog34

the wheel isn't centered in the fork, and you need to trim the excess brake cable to about 2" long, then cap it to limit fraying... but wait until you've finished the test ride to trim the cable...

grumpus

Amazed you've not encountered Travel Agent before. How about Shift Mate? I like traditional cantilevers, but many people seem to struggle with cable geometry, while V brakes are hard to mess up.

PirateJack

OK, so I've been riding this now since fixing it up and am planning to do a 50 mile American Cancer Society fundraiser.

I've never done 50 before and am anxious about covering the distance. I should mention that I'm an amputee, which is part of the challenge. i love riding, but the 32 miles I did last weekend is the furthest I've gone. I have been thinking of getting some slick tires for smoother rolling resistance to help. Could anyone recommend tires or anything else that would move the needle significantly,....(on a budget of course).

WizardOfBoz

You've done a nice job of putting the thing together. The cable comes in from the top and exits the pulley device and goes to the anchor bolt without bending the cable. Agree with maddog, you will want to test ride before cutting the cable.

One thing you may want to consider. It looks to me as though the cable housing may be a bit too long. This may just be my taste, and others here may offer other views. But you might test the setup by turning the fork all the way to the left (putting max stretch on the cable). When you do this, do you have a lot of slack in the cable housing? If so you may want to trim a bit of housing off (maybe 1/2 inch?). But if the thing works great you may choose not to do this. I'm always letting the perfect be the enemy of the good.

Andrew R Stewart 

I hope this was a joke post. No, a Travel Agent is not a clown device. It is a much needed device to convert the cable pull amount a lever does to that which the brake wants. I've installed many and they work very well when the bike has short cable pull amount levers but also has long cable pull amount brakes. Most who run them understand this.

BTW the crank arms with the 90* bend were not about gaining more power but having the power be applied earlier in the crank's rotation than with common straight arm cranks. Still a false claim but not about adding more power than the rider can offer up. Andy

Andrew R Stewart 

Can you give us more info about your tires? Current size and tread style? Generally a slick tire will roll easier than one with deep or knobby tread. Generally a lighter tire will roll easier than a heavy one. Generally tires with finer casing threads (as in threads per inch) will roll easier than tires with coarse casing threads. We use to think that narrower tires run at higher pressures would roll faster but this is not true in the real world. They would "feel" faster as many will mistake reaction time with actual speed.

BTW the one bit of advice I offer my customers who are about to attend their first big group ride is to not get caught up in the initial rush to be at the head of the group. Often there are other newbies who are gym strong but road weak in their bike handling and can go real fast, just not in a straight line The older I get the less I feel the need to show off my conditioning and the more I want to finish the ride well, so a slow pace for the first few miles allows a good warm up and avoid the riders who can't hold their line. Andy

grumpus

The tyres I'd recommend don't really comply with "on a budget", but the tyres you have should be fine. The trick is to have enough pressure to reduce drag, while remaining soft enough that they protect you from vibration and shock to reduce fatigue. 50 miles is only 50%ish more than 32 miles, you might be sore and tired at the end but you should complete it. Just be sure everything is lubricated and adjusted, don't make any last-minute changes, rest for a couple of days before the ride.
Eat lots of carbs on the morning of the ride - I like a big bowl of oatmeal, and snack during the ride - I like bananas and granola bars. Hydrate - a proper bidon and cage (or two) lets you drink while riding, regular sipping is better than gulping down at a rest stop. If you wait until you're thirsty or hungry it's too late and your performance will be compromised - not terrible, but obviously not ideal. You're working to avoid the worst case scenario of "getting the bonk" AKA "hitting the wall" - I've done that and don't recommend it.