robertsdvd

Well, this weekend I took my newly updated Raleigh Twenty out for a spin in the Joshua Tree National Park, picture attached (more pictures of the park can be found at www.robertsdvd.net/phlog).

My impressions thus far:

Powergrips: gotta go, they were free, and good thing too. I'll be getting some toe clips and straps soon.

Steering: wooo, scary at high speeds!

Cockpit: I have no idea why I decided to go back with flat bars, I think it was the whole - no one makes thumb shifters for internal gears anymore so all I had was the twist shifter, which - yes there are ways to work them on drop bars but I dunno. Anyway, the flat bars... I just don't know... my left hand always gets the brunt of the pain and numbness on flat bars, I might raise them up more. I'm also seriously pondering getting some albatrosses or dove bars and doing a more upright cafe cruiser ride out of the whole lot. Very fluid. The most comfortable bikes I've ridden have always had more upright than not, terrible lower back pains usually for me, docs always just say "uh, try calisthenics." Though, my bike back in Mass has drops and they usually worked out well on my back, so maybe this little guy will get drops... then I just have to do the whole where to put the shifter thing again.

Speaking of shifting, so far I'm pretty unimpressed with the SRAM Spectro P5... as compared to their 3-speed, this thing ain't so great. Ghost shifts and poor shifting a lot, gonna try adjusting cable length to help.

So, parts list to date:

RST Suspension fork (threaded at Harriscyclery, other places wouldn't do it, but you can count on Harris cyclery!)
Shimano 105 headset
Shimano front canti's (the new BR ones, pretty nice they are)
Zoom adjustable stem
Ritchey flat bar
Bar ends picked up at the Bicyclekitchen here in LA
Third eye mirror
Cheap cyclocomputer
Ritchey WCS brake levers (had them sitting around in my toolbox from an SS I built a few years back)
Thomson seat post
Brooks Conquest saddle
OMM rack
Sachs P5 hub
Sugino RD cranks
Phil cups
Shimano UN72 113mm BB from ebay
MKS quick release pedals
Original rear brakes with Eagle 2 pads
Front wheel is 406, Primo comet tire
Rear wheel is 451, Primo comet tire

So, yeah, still debating the cockpit, will try raising it up a bit, but... maybe the cruiser bars... or drops, who knows... don't want to have to switch out the saddle and I don't think the conquest would be so good with cruiser bars. This is my only bike right now, took the parts with me from Boston when I came out to LA, my 3 speed road bike is still in MA... and I don't think I'm staying in LA, probably off to Portland, so I'm not sure what my riding will be like.... whatever... work in progress. ramble ramble ramble.

cheg

Nice pics. Beautiful place.

You might think about going to clipless for long rides. I like SPDs myself.

The small wheels are a bit twitchy for steering. I found that going to a wider and heavier front tire (406 Maxxis Hookworm) made a huge difference in the steering stability.


Looking at the picture, it seems to me that your bars are both low and wide. I always end up cutting a few inches of the ends of flat bars to get a more comfortable hand position. I'd also raise the stem and angle it up more, and maybe look at riser bars if you decide not to switch to drops. That Zoom Stem should allow you to come up several inches.

I've run flat bars and cowhorn bars on my twenty and changing the bars totally changes the feel of the bike. If you can sort out the shifters, there are a lot of options.

On the shifters, Sheldon Brown has a page on his website that describes mounting twist shifters on a curved handlebar here. I think he also had a picture of a short twist shifter mounted on a fat barend attached to the stem of one of his bikes, but I can't find it now.

Another option is to get split bars from Bike Friday. They sell a variety of bars that come apart in the middle , here . They will also cut and sleeve bars that you send them for a price, listed here

You could buy split drop bars and mount the twist shifter on the tops by sliding the bars through into the stem.


I have not used the 5 but the Sram 7 and the 3 are pretty good, hopefully it is just an adjustment problem.


By all the reports I've heared, Portland is one of the best bike towns in the country.



My Twenty

robertsdvd

I've been the clipless route, didn't care for it at all, I prefer the toe clips and straps.

Yeah, I've been all over looking for interesting ways to mount twist shifters on drop bars... my other ride in Mass has the shifter on a Minoura Spacebar coming off the flat, worked well.

Gonna work on adjusting the P5 again tonight, see if I can get it working a little more smoothly.

Other than that still contemplating albatross bars (as all I'd have to do is get the bars, keep stem and cockpit controls)... the other thought then is whether they would then necessitate the use of a B.66 or similar saddle... since the Conquest was free, I could cope with it, but I'd certainly try to alabtrosses with the Conquest first... as I wouldn't run the albas over saddle height. All-in-all, its a fun bike, might be a nice cafe-cruiser all the same.

randya

If it were mine, I'd raise the bars, probably by using a set of bmx, raleigh chopper or stingray-style bars w/ a moderate rise to them.

James H Haury

I think north road handlebars would give you more hand positions and you should still be able to mount the twist shifter with no problems . Another alternative would be moustache bars .Either one will complicate folding though .I think drops would make folding more difficult than either north roads or moustache bars .

robertsdvd

Yeah, I'm probably gonna git me a pair of albatrosses and go a more traditional route. Eaze-of-folding isn't a top priority as I only fold to get in the car or for storage... so if it takes a few extra moments, no big deal to me!

James H Haury

Muy bueno.

LittlePixel

Beautiful! The Bike and the park! It looks great in white too... Have you got the police stickers made yet


I use SPD pedals which I'd recommend - mine are one sided so you can ride with normal shoes if need be... The downsides being when you do 'clip in' you have to get shoes with cleats; Hey - anyone ever converted normal sneakers? (ideal for me - the cheap shimano's I got are hardly stylish)

Mine seems to get better and better. Reasons must be:

a) I'm more used to it now coming from 26" wheels.
b) the pressure on the front will be a bit less than the 110 psi I started with
c) I lowered the stem about an inch.
d) I learned that the handling significantly improves with the frame bolt tightened as tight as it can possibly go.

Might seem obvious but 'hand tight' seemed fine till everything went all wobbly. Obviously a good idea to anti-seize grease it before this...

I did the same - I have them in my cellar unused. I went with the original bars for the moment. Although heavier they are narrower than most bars and have a decent sized riser that improves the uprightness of the ride. I've had to push the SRAM shifter as far as it will go and the brake-lever position on that side has been compromised a bit but it works and feels right for the bike. I had to get a shim for the bars to fit in the Kalloy adjustable stem to do this. Like Cheg I'm considering moving to bull or shortened drop bars once I can think of a reasonable way of fitting the twist shifter

My SRAM 7 is fine so far with maybe two ghost drops in 200 miles. (Saying that - cleaning the bike at the weekend I discovered the chain has been grinding out a wee channel in the stay; hopefully not terminal and hopefully rectified with a smaller sprocket, which is on order.

Not sure how easy it will be to shorten your cable - it's a sealed system isn't it?
Maybe twiddling that adjuster next to the clickbox (if a 5 is the same as a 7) will help?


Was there a reason you went for a smaller wheel at the front? To do with the v-brake pivots on the forks I'm guessing? Nice to get matching rubber for the different rims - good stuff!

Anyway thanks for sharing your bike... It's lovely - we must go for a ride if you ever come to the uk. Just been going through your blog. I love your other photos as well...

When the weather gets a bit better I hope to start fixing my Ixus to the Twenty (I have a clamp), linked by USB to my laptop in the pannier and the remote capture software taking shots every 5 seconds to do some timelapses of my commute / weekend rides. Should be fun as I long as I don't smash the PowerBook... hahaha

Oooh... I got a new 54t ring in the post today from ebay so more speed for me!

robertsdvd

Thanks Littlepixel. Yeah, I dig your timelapse idea, I've been chomping at the bit to do a similar project, but I'd much prefer a camera that'll do timelapse integrally. So far the options are limited, but I'm still looking. The 007 Zippo cam does but has small images, some older Kodaks do, but reguarly go for 80-120 bucks on ebay for 1.3MP.

I chose two different size wheels to try and compensate for the suspension fork, think it has worked for the most part... don't seem to be a lot of wide 451mm tires though... might go with a 1 3/8 instead of the 1 1/8 since I'll be going a little more upright I think with the albatross bars.

The SRAM hub isn't too sealed... the clickbox window comes off and I think if you take the shifter off you can access the cable through there too, which is a bit of a hassle since it doesn't appear that you can replace the shift cable without removing at least the grip.

I'm waiting to hear back from Rivendell what the big differences are between the dove bars and the alum. albatross bars 'sides some weight and width... if the sweep is any different... oh so many nice parts, so little money and daylight.

robertsdvd

Got the response from Riv... Dove is merely a bit more narrow and can't take barend shifters. Similar weight on the two. I don't need to worry about bar end shifters... guess the only real advantage would be you could put the bar end blinkie lights in the albatross but not the dove, not sure if that's worth an extra 25 bucks... Reckon the dove is nicer cause its narrower... though only 3.5cm... pardon - thinking out loud..

James H Haury

Check your lbs too they might have northroads.nashbar has mustaches.

robertsdvd

Honestly, so far, I haven't found a bike shop around here worth giving my business. Stupid LA. If anyone has any suggestions I'm open to them. Last visit to a lbs: "I'm looking for a SRAM chain." "What's a sram?" "Its a company" "Never heard of it" "Ok, just give me the cable housing, thanks."

rybowen

Beach cities cycle in Hermosa beach. I can't reccomend them enough. They had, in stock, the following:

Silca Impero frame pump in white
Cinelli model 66 bars
Indicator chain for my wife's raleigh twenty
Campy old 9-speed lockring.

James H Haury

I am sorry to hear that you were unable to find a good shop. .You might be able to find northroads in a well established shop. I think the best shops to patronize have been around for years and have an owner who has been working on bikes for a long time. I found a shop in madison wisconson, [url]www.yellowjersey.com That fixed my wheel for a reasonable price when all the local shops wanted to sell me a new wheel to fix my problem. They fixed it and it only cost me about 41 bucks as opposed to 140.Those kind of shops are the best.

LittlePixel

Does anyone know what happened to Robertsdvd? He's never on here any more and his blog hasn't been updated for like ever. It feels odd when someone disappears off the internet. Hope he's ok.
LP.

james Haury

he could be out riding or pursuing another interest. he may be a watch collector as well. I have not posted for a while because you feel like you have said everything there is to say .You become tired