blilrat

Finished up my other winter project. I should have taken some pictures, but the wheels have some custom CNC (CNC'd?) hubs from 1984. I bought the bike from the original owner that worked in an LBS that sold a few of the hubs back in the day.

oh, the bike is a Univega Gran Turismo.

h3hound

Cool, glad to hear it! I plan on keeping a record of other bike related tinkering up there. Currently working on my 'real' road bike now. Its been ridden hard and put up wet for far too long.

Chrome Molly

Finally finished with the Poprad. I picked up this frame NOS a couple months ago. I swiped a few parts off the Gitane TDF that I'd been intending to slowly recreate/rebuild over the summer, that one will return to more original equipment most likely. I believe the Poprad frame is an '02, with a one inch fork instead of the published one and an eighth, so maybe an oddity. It's the Reynolds 853 "designer mix" of 853 main tubes and 6xx Reynolds tubes for the stays. It has the same net positioning for me as my Trek 760, so I'm hoping I can chew through gravel like I'm on a slightly slower road bike.

I wanted hill gearing for the upcoming Almonzo and happened upon a 13-30 cassette to mate with the 48/34 crank. Actually the net gearing is pretty close to my 12-28 46/30 on the trek in terms of steps and range, so another reason I hope it's a natural fit. The Poprad is running a standard cyclocross shimergo 8 speed setup, driving Ultegra derailleurs. I opted to avoid the Poprad brake chatter issues, so used a lower fork mount cable hanger (also helps get the wheel off the front with a lower straddle cable). The wheels are nothing special, and some Ksyrium Equipe's will be used for events (the wheels currently on it are spring pothole friendly). The cables need a final trim after a bit of shakedown and successful first outing. Anyhow, thought I'd share the results before I get it all messed up.

WNG

Looks great! I especially like the bar tape choice, what brand is it?
Interesting saddle position, very time trial/tri bike forward bias. Is this to place more weight on the front tire? I noticed recently while playing in the dirt with my drop bar conversion, that being more forward on top of the levers resulted in better traction and handling. A lot more confidence inspiring when at speed.

What size tires are those?
Very envious of you, Jeff, and Grady and the rest of the forumites who will be at this year's Almonzo. Wish I could join you guys. Sounds like a heck of an event.

gomango

Looks fantistic.

Smart gearing. You'll be able to track with the big kids I think.

You are also wise to use the lower fork hanger. It should take most of the chatter out.

That's the right build for all Minnesota roads this spring, not just gravel.

Man, the roads here stink.

Fwiw I tossed some SKS Longboards on my Fargo for our ride this morning. What a difference in comfort.

Italuminium

Tektro hangers and z-link wires really transform canti's from finicky nuisances to great, easy to use stoppers.

nice build, and have fun on the Almanzo!

Chrome Molly

Thanks. The bar tape is some stuff from Bontrager. The saddle is such a dark brown, that I could not find a solid color tape that matched, and didn't want to use cloth tape with shellac for such rough roads (but would have done so if I'd not found this tape). It's sort of a two tone brown, and worked out well.

The tires are 40's, and they are the 120tpi clements. I wanted to try the skinwall Bruce Gordon tires, but didn't have the clearance for them.

As for weight bias, the seat position mimics the 760 which I ride all the time. Over time my riding position has really crept forward, and I use a lot more hamstring in my non-climbing cadence than I did for years. Just getting old, and have to use more muscles to get the job done I suppose.

I'm also used to being front weighted in the soft stuff, as my croll is a drop MTB setup that I tend to ride on the hoods. So I hope my experience is like yours, and it works out for better traction on some of those downhill turns in the river bottoms around here. The Almonzo will be my first gravel event, and I'm not intending to do anything but finish. Secondary goal is to not walk up any of the hills.

Chrome Molly

Grady, I think you are right about fenders and long ride comfort. I just need to teach myself the hard way, I suppose. Thanks for the compliment. This is the last skiing weekend for me barring a late March snowstorm (trails getting too rutted and icy, but the roads are no picnic either and I agree they are pretty bad this year).

Kobe 

I agree on the Tektro set up. They made go for absolutely hating canti's to loving them now.They are so much easier to set up and adjust.

gomango

I'm on break next week, so I will be skiing four days at Welch next week.

If it's warm enough I am doing the pond skip on the 22nd.

I'll be riding everyday though.

Btw My money's on you doing the entire ride at Almanzo. Oriole Hill is tough though, so do some reps before the event.

If you want to pace with some speedsters, I'll be happy to introduce you. Nice guys, but I won't be quick enough to hang with them.

I'll be walking up half the hills unless I push my mileage way up and do something about gearing.

The Golden Boy 

I really like the cushioned Bontraeger bar tapes. Especially since they changed the imprint pattern.

I like to buy a bunch at the Wheel And Sprocket Bike Expo- they usually have it on sale. I prefer the Brown and the White.

spencewine

1986 Miyata 610 resurrected as a gravel randonneur:



Didn't change much. Left it as a six-speed, just moved DT shifters to Barcons.

simmonsgc

What a useful looking bicycle. Lovely!

neo_pop_71

Hey Chrome Molly,

Very nice build, your Poprad is perfect! I miss my Poprad, that Reynolds frame had such a nice ride for a CX bike, I'm getting all nostalgic looking at yours. I've often thought about picking up another frame and building it up with a ShimErgo set up. I'm really curious to hear your trail report, please share any highs or lows, thanks!

Thanks for sharing!

-D-

Velocivixen

Hey Spencewine, what bars are those? The curve looks tight & shallow. Yes? Thanks.

4Rings6Stars

It's not quite C&V...but it's steel and C&V inspired. Currently has 29mm tires and fenders. Will handle the gravel nicely.

This bike > all my other bikes, current and past.

I have a few alloy Campy 10s groups I could hang on it, but the Sram stuff works so well it's hard to justify removing it...





I also have this bike's big brother...but the only gravel this one will see is if there is a gravel section of the CX race course.



When the conditions are really sloppy, I ride this beast. I "raced" it in northern VT a few weeks ago for Rasputitsa. Only thing C&V about this one is the saddle...

spencewine

Velocivixen, they are SR Randonneur handlebars. Yes, they are shallow and narrow. The drop also flairs out a bit....kind of similar to Soma woodchipper bars, but not nearly as aggressive of a flair. Lovely bars, really.

dubjay

My Centurion Elite GT. I'm thinking the saddle color needs to change. Doesn't quite match up right.

djkashuba 

Centurion Pro Tour 15 by djk762, on Flickr

Centurion Pro Tour 15 by djk762, on Flickr

-D

MattoftheRocks

That looks great! Did you have it stripped and plated or did it come that way?

djkashuba 

A Previous owner stripped it. Great ride.

-D

Primitive Don

1983 Schwinn Traveler, built into a gravel grinder with a new Sun CR18 wheelset and a 1X7 gearing setup.

ayjaydee

1992 Kona Explosif, Albatross bars, Cardiff Wessex saddle, Pasela 26x1.75" tires (now).

mountaindave 

This thing ground some gravel yesterday and quite a bit last September on the Cino.



Pasela 35's fit, but just barely.

Always looking for an excuse to post and/or view bike porn.

pcb 

Recently tried 650b Hetres on my neo-retro '05 Mercian Vincitore, and hit a nearby rail trail a week or two back. It was built for 700c wheels, but feels both a little faster and floatier with 650b.

BEFORE, w/700x35mm Compass Stampede Pass tires:


AFTER, w/650bx42mm Hetres: