grolby

I owned and raced this frameset for 6 years, I assure you this is not correct. It’s possible that truly extreme measures such as cutting the pads very short might make the shudder acceptably minor. But this makes braking worse and accelerated pad wear. Arguably acceptable on a bike used mostly for racing cyclocross, but not really tolerable for normal use. This bike doesn’t have a generic canti chatter problem, it is notorious for this issue. Under the right conditions even a mini-V brake can induce some chatter.

Because this Swiss Cross has a single brake housing stop on the top tube, near the headtube. There’s no housing stop at the seat tube end, so there’s not even anything to drill out to allow running full-length housing. It’s intended to run a bare cable from the single housing stop, through a small cable guide on the seat clamp directly to the rear brake. There’s no rear housing stop of any kind.

I’ve said it repeatedly, but I owned this version of the Swiss Cross for a long time. I know it backwards and forwards, and it’s a pretty quirky machine. It’s not a generic canti frame and you can’t assume it is.

Eric F 

That's not what I see in the pic in post #1.

EDIT: Oops. I see now. That stop is for the TT-routed rear shifter cable.

somebikeguy 

Exciting day in the shop - Gravelkings arrived and have been mounted. The 43mm front went on without issue, using a compressor. The 38mm rear didn't want to seat until I turned the pressure up to shock it on. Then, no problem. Both fit with reasonable clearance to the frame. I'll have to wait until later this week to see how they play with the brakes.

Also in the pics - Crank Bros Candy 3 Pedals - got a deal on ebay. I've been using the eggbeaters on my roadbike and figured the slight platform of the Candy might be more gravel friendly.






I replaced the upper headset with a silver version that has no cable stop. To be thorough I replaced the lower as well. I removed the crown race using non-marring pry tools. To replace it I will get a length of PVC or similar.

somebikeguy 

Stopped by the local Park Tool...

somebikeguy 

I am new to carbon forks and its been a very long time since I've worked with threadless. I have not ridden this bike yet but my gut is that I'll want the stem lower than the previous rider had it (see below).

Do folks usually cut the steerer to suit, eliminating shims or leave it long with shims on top of the stem....
A) to preserve flexibility for resale?
B) to preserve flexibility for rider comfort changes?

pbass

I have Gevenalle GX's on my Cross Check. I LOVE the shape of the hoods--really excellent grip, very confidence inspiring in the rough. With smaller hands I found it a little tricky at times shifting--I really did have to move my hand, but not that bad. Was 1x, but that bike is ss now and it was a piece of cake to take apart the mechanism and remove the shifter bits so it's just a brake lever now. Great design.

Eric F 

My tendency is to run it with some/all spacers on top of the stem for a while, until I’m 100% sure of the position. Once I’m confident that things are dialed in, I trim the steerer tube. On my road bike, I trimmed so there are no spacers above the stem. On my gravel and MTB, I have one 5mm spacer above the stem. On my MTB, that spacer is also my computer mount. I’m not concerned about what the next buyer will want. I set up my bikes to be optimal for me.

t2p

complete set up and ride the bike for a bit before you cut the steerer

somebikeguy 

Noted thanks.

My pretty blue Paul brakes arrived today and I test fit them. I've not used these before and want to confirm that the paul "brake pivot" sits proud of the step on the post, leaving the step exposed as I showed here...

nalax

Yes, that's how Paul's fit. I have the Mini-Motos on a Gunnar and Touring Canti's on a Rock Lobster. Those Blue Neo's do look nice. Looking forward to your ride reports!
BTW your frame will be happier on your shop stand by clamping on the seat post rather than the seat tube.

somebikeguy 

Thanks. Perhaps I should have asked Paul before buying these but the neo retro on the back wants to strike the braking surface at the very top no matter how far down I adjust the pad. I wonder if this is a quirk of different frames or if different model cantilever brakes are naturally more suited to a certain frame or rim. I don’t believe there’s anything too unusual about the Pacenti Forza rims i am using.

RB1-luvr

oo, those are nice. I might hafta get those to upgrade the Tektros on my Windsor Tourist.

somebikeguy 

My business partner and good friend commutes (and carries his kid around) on a nicely patined RB1. its old dura ace rd just broke a spring and im gonna try and fix it for him.

somebikeguy 

Rear vs Front

Eric F 

Those are cool-looking, for sure. I'm not sure my brain would tolerate the mix of canti and v-brakes, however.

somebikeguy 

This project is all about trying new things; preferably with cool American manufacturers of CX/gravel related products. This brings us to these Gevenalle Audax. I like a lot about these. I think it’s clever that they are unabashed about hacking a commonly available lever. I’ve heard a lot of good things about the Dia comp ENE friction shifters. This is much discussed on another thread I started regarding friction shifting. These are the style which micro ratchet in one direction and are pure fiction in the other. I like that they are swappable, including for late model shimano sis.

I also like that they are silver. And the goats. I like the goats.

somebikeguy 

Is this the right idea at this oddball rear brake routing moment?

Eric F 

I expect that not being centered is going to be problematic. It seems to me that this frame was designed for a v-brake.

somebikeguy 

I havent adjusted the brakes yet. To my knowledge it was designed for canti brakes. It came with Ritchey Logic cantis

somebikeguy 

The trick to getting the pads to hit the brake surface at the rear was to flip the thick and thin concave washer so that the thinner one was on the inboard side. I also removed the 1 mm flat washer and put it on the outside

somebikeguy 

do hex fasteners on bikes bother you all? So few multi tools have even an 8mm let alone the TWO 10mm one would need to adjust the straddle. This is where Paul’s pricey but cool Moon Unit is genius. They annoyingly only sell them in pairs and weirdos like me need just one. Anyone got one laying about?

https://www.paulcomp.com/shop/compon...ers/moon-unit/

somebikeguy 

Got her on the road! I was almost there then found I'd marred the front wheel rim tape and she wouldn't hold air. I got some new Stan's tape today, installed more carefully and took a ride. So far: loving it. All the things that made this bike unique are really working for me so far: the Audax friction brifters, the Paul brakes (wow good feel and power) and the flared bars.



For the record the Panaracer Gravelking SS+ run pretty darn true to size. Here they are, probably inflated way past what I'll ride them at, measuring close to their 38/43 stated widths. 20mm rims.

somebikeguy 

First ride was a lot of fun!

I left the cranks, front derailleur and cassette that came with the bike in place but think I am going to swap things up. I rode mixed terrain including some off road climbs using only the 38t chainring and Ultegra 9sp 12-27t cassette. I'm inclined to swap to an XTR 9sp 11-34 or 12-34 and run it 1x9. I'm trying to decide which way to go on the cranks, current thinking would be White Industry's square taper crank and single speed "tall short" chainring to give me some chain retention. I know it's not supposed to work by I'm using a Dura Ace 8 speed short cage on my Bottecchia road bike with an XTR 12-34 with friction shifters and its all good!

https://www.whiteind.com/product/squ...r-road-cranks/
https://www.whiteind.com/product/squ...sr-chainrings/

tFUnK

I recently slammed my stems on all my bikes and now there are varying amounts of excess steerer and spacers above the stems, most of which would be considered to be an obscene amount. I thought about cutting them down but I'm only getting older and less flexible, and to your point, if I wanted to sell any of the bikes I'd prefer to keep the steerer intact. With my head unit mounted on the stem, the protruding steerers are less unsightly (to me at least).

Ok not quite slammed but you get the point

tFUnK

I'm with you there. Those straddles make the bike look like an old 80s bike 😅. You can probably find some aftermarket ones online, maybe even anodized in a similar color to match the calipers.