casanewt

Funny, I saw the Valley Cyclery sticker in the pictures and wondered if there was a Cincinnati connection!

due ruote 

Saw these Voyageur bags on OfferUp Chicago. No idea if it’s still available or not.

Check out this item on OfferUp. https://offerup.co/LMWK16yUJeb

badger_biker 

I finally got my 86 on the road for the first time and I couldn’t be happier. A nice smooth and quiet 28 mile cruise. I wasn’t sure how the T Bone stem would work out but it turned out to be a great comfortable fit. Thanks to the reminder from dddd on which side of the Deore RD to anchor the cable it indexes great in all gears.
I’m happy I sought out another V’ger after selling my 87. It’s the kind of bike that if it was the only bike I owned I could be satisfied.

polymorphself 

If I can ever get these DC 981 canti's lined up for these 700c wheels I'll post updated pics. Not sure how you all made this work...

niliraga 

i figure that some posts are brazed onto the fork blades fractionally further away than others - in my limited recent experience doing 27 -> 700, some have "cooperated" with the lower slot position of 981s (and also first-gen Shimano Deores) more than others. maybe splay the arms more and run pads on longer posts - can you show a photo of how they're lining up so far?

shoota 

That's kinda how I feel about it too.

fender1

I just went through it. What are you struggling with?

polymorphself 

All of it, but I got it in the end. Thinline pads helped. They just barely make it, but they make it. Guessing it's the same for everyone else. Pics to follow tomorrow.

fender1

Yeah, I used a canit pad holder that uses road style pads and it helped .

polymorphself 

Updated pics. 27” to 700c (35mm), non aero to aero, koolstops and Brooks microfiber.











Here are vanity shots of the NOS levers:

badger_biker 

Beautiful matching colors on the Brooks items and those levers are so sweet. Pretty close to perfect in my book but I find bar cons much more user friendly at my age😊

polymorphself 

Thank you! Barcons and a taller Nitto stem will likely be happening this year.

Rooney 

Quick update shot from mid-ride today, featuring the two newest toys; a three-pulley Suntour cage, and a Silca frame pump which took about two months to arrive by mail. Also featured, an abandoned sweatshirt.

The new cage has made me realize my derailleur hanger is bent and needs to be straightened. I may switch back to the GT cage until I have that done. I don’t need the 3-pulley cage right now, but I intend to use it after I build up some 700c wheels with a wider range cassette.

polymorphself 

Rooney looks fantastic. And that’s interesting because I just noted the same thing about my derailleur hanger...

niliraga 

looking at your pics, your 981 look slightly different (newer?) than mine - and if they have the same ovalized slot in the arm, could there be "spare" clearance still, to drop the pad pivot another 2-3mm? your pad bolts are riding much higher in the arm than mine do, it appears.

polymorphself 

Here’s a better look. What do you mean by the pad bolts? The bolt on the arm holding the pad posts in?

rsacilotto

FWIW, I had some success with Shimano BR-650 brakes, but one of the pairs was in rough shape, so I picked up some Sunlite cantis, working well so far, although the pads that were included are pretty useless. Thinlines in front are sweet, I will probably get some for the back.

beicster 

I had a machinist remove about 3 mm of material from the bottom of the slot on my 981's for my 85. It has been almost a year and no problems have developed yet. I check for cracks, etc on occasion and so far,so good.

niliraga 

ah ok - that photo of the rear arm more clearly shows that the brake holder bolt is towards the bottom of the slot. Dunno about you, but I've noticed they tend to creep back up during the wrestling process of getting pad lined up and secured. tricky little buggers.

polymorphself 

It was hell really. I can do all my basic bike work but I’m far from a mechanic and cantilevers are the hardest thing for me, especially in this instance with such little reach. I’ve not gone on a full on tour with this bike yet but this aspect of it scares me as far as needing to do any kind of brake repair or adjustment on the fly.

shoota 

I feel like your pad bolt assembly has room to slide down. Here’s mine for a visual reference. Mine is clearly slid down the caliper arm more.

polymorphself 

holy smokes, I need to take another look at mine, thanks. Could you post a pic of the back of the arm?

shoota 

Yeah for sure. Mine looked like yours for a good while even though I thought it was all the way down. It wasn't till I took the calipers apart to clean them that I got more downward movement, it must have been really dirty in there or something.

polymorphself 

Perhaps this is why on my test ride last night I found that the pads are swiveling. Back at it then.

rsacilotto

Just put Kool Stop Eagle 2 salmon pads in the back, much better! Good stopping power now front and back