Lenton58 

ThermionicScott:I'm following you by example. Yesterday I was at my LBS to see if my 39T on order was in yet. They were just closing, so I put the word in that I wanted a 49T big ring on my 6800 ULTEGRA spyder. I'll chack back in a few days, but I expect to hear that there is no 49 ... just a 48. I intend on building my Woodrup as a sports commuter, and your compact arrangement seems to make sense because of a better chain-line where such a ride is going to be most of the time. Without checking, I think my biggest cog is 26T.

ThermionicScott 

It never hurts to ask. I scored a brand-new Surly 49T chainring on eBay last year for about half the usual price. I was looking for a 48T, but included 49 and 50 in my search, and apparently no one else was looking for one at the same time.

I have a good feeling about this gearing scheme. On last year's brevets, I almost never used the granny ring when I had one, and only used the 52T big ring when I was starting out and full of energy. (I've learned a bunch about pacing myself since then.)

With how much riding I now do on a fixed-gear, any amount of multiple gears feels like a luxury.

Lenton58 

Ditto! I ride SS quite a bit. An 8 speed cassette will be a new experience.

DIMcyclist

Sweeeet!!

Ciufalon

It might be possible to just switch the clamps on the brake levers. I have switched clamps between levers before and did not encounter any trouble. Your build is looking very good!

ThermionicScott 

That's a good idea, Ciufalon! I'll keep that in mind should I need to go back to non-aero brakes (they certainly would have made the installation and cable routing easier, but like my dad says, you learn more when things don't go perfectly. )

Speaking of brakes, I got the rear one hooked up, installed the front derailleur cable, and levelled out the saddle a little bit. Again, I was pleasantly surprised at the braking action once everything was dialled-in.



This morning, I straightened out some wobble in the crank and installed the chain. More pics later!

balindamood

Looking good!

ThermionicScott 

Thanks! I hooked up the RD and installed the shiny new chain last night, and spent the rest of my time fiddling with the derailleurs, so the bar wrap will have to wait.



After dialling everything in, I'm very pleased with the chainlines. I used a shorter-than-spec 107mm cartridge bottom bracket to bring the crankset inward. (I feel a little guilty for turning my back on the cup-and-cone BBs I usually advocate, but 107mm spindles are harder to come by, and after a couple of repack jobs lately that were sullied by a stray piece of grit, the cartridges are a welcome relief.)

At any rate, the 48T big ring is almost perfectly lined up with the 17T and 19T sprockets (from the 13-15-17-29-21-24-28 cassette) that I'll be using most on brevets, and I can use every possible combination without rubbing or grinding anywhere. Since I am only using 24 teeth of the RD's 28T capacity, I sized the chain using big-big+3" and it worked out perfectly.

ThermionicScott 

Ugh, the harder I try to take good pictures with my iPhone, the worse they turn out. At any rate, the bike is now done and ready for a test ride!*



*Well, it still needs fenders, and I'm planning to put SPD pedals on it when my brother returns them. But you get the idea.

When I get a little more time tomorrow, I'm going to post a full credit list. Quite a few BF members contributed parts for this build.

ColonelJLloyd 

Looks great. I still think you might like the bars more tilted back toward you just a touch more. In my experience you need a lot of natural light for the best iPhone pics. Low light makes the pics grainy.

balindamood

So how does it ride????

ThermionicScott 

Definitely, Justin -- my best pics seem to be when there's plenty of natural light. Of course, it's overcast today. One of my Facebook friends spotted a glaring omission in the other picture:

ThermionicScott 

Weather's been too crummy (and my fenders are in the mail) to test this bike out yet. So, here's the credit list!

Frame/fork/seatpost/rims/rear hub: balindamood
Front hub: threespeedslow
Handlebars: essthreetee
Stem: RobE30
Crank/shifters/derailleurs: acoffin
Brakes: puchfinnland
Brake levers: rccardr
Saddle: bibliobob

Thanks to all of you guys.

Saguaro

It looks great! Are you going with a seat bag for the brevets? What about lighting?

I can't wait to see this with fenders. What kind of fenders did you decide on?

ThermionicScott 

Thanks! I like to put my "emergency" stuff (tools, tubes, patch kit, etc) into an under-seat wedge, and all my food and rain gear into a medium-size handlebar bag. One of these days, I'll look into a nice bag and decaleur setup, but the cheap bag works for now.

I settled on the VO Zeppelins. Not looking forward to installing them, but they should be nice when they're on. My girlfriend liked the "art deco" look.

As for lighting, I have a Cateye taillight that is super-bright and easy on batteries, and a Serfas True 250 that is bright and lasts long enough. I just transfer these to whatever bike I'll be riding. I need to get one of those little posts that clamps onto a fork blade, so I can get the headlight lower and out from behind the handlebar bag.

Saguaro

You can't argue with the girlfriend!

Seriously, you'll be very happy with the Zeppelin fenders. I'd also consider adding a small front rack. The front rack gives you more options for the front rando bag and front light mounting options.

ThermionicScott 

Well, ****. I guess the rear fender isn't going on tonight.

Saguaro

What happened? It looks like the fender attachment bolt sheared off.

jdefran

I've recovered from this, don't worry. I simply started drilling out the center of the bolt with a rather small bit and slowly worked my way up, eventually the bolt could be pushed out (it kinda disintigrated from the drilling). It took a couple charges of my drill but all was good in the end. I now have a 5mm tap to chase all my eyelets.

ThermionicScott 

That's exactly it. I "tried" the bolt in both eyelets without running a tap through them first, and the aluminum bolt sheared apart. I've since compounded the problem by snapping off the very tip of a small drill bit inside that bolt. Stupid fenders.

ColonelJLloyd 

Stainless, dude. Stainless.

ThermionicScott 

Ah, you're right -- they are ever-so-slightly magnetic.

ThermionicScott 

Ugh. I attempted to drill another small hole next to the broken-off bit, and sure enough, the new bit seized and snapped when I was almost all the way through. Time to consider having the eyelet replaced or figure out some other method to attach the fender stay...

cyclotoine

make a dimpler and give those stays some vice action.

acoffin 

This is total buzz kill! Have you considered filing down the broken drill bits and attempting an "easy out"? I have had good luck with Craftsman Screw-out.