Introducing the “Silver 700.”
The first part of the build is complete. There are a few items on the bike that will be replaced over the next few months as I get parts in and things get tuned. I’ll start with what is missing and then go through the bike and build and point out those items to be replaced a second time in detail. So what’s missing? Well, the rando wheel set has not been built, they will include a SRAM dynamo on the front, DT/Swiss spokes and Velocity Deep V rims. The rear wheel will probably have a Phil Wood disk hub. The Truvativ Rolleur cranks set will be replaced with a carbon set from FSA or the Truvativ carbons. The current 980 chain will be replaced with a Wipperman Ti hollow pin chain. The new wheel set will get some faster tires too.
So Thursday of last week Kristin and I built up the frame set.
http://www.beeweebents.com/bmachine/post/Wedgiefree/42/The-CF-Experiment
On Saturday some goodies arrived from EBay;
Okay, time to get serious about this build. The first thing on was SRAM X.0 rear derailleur. Man is this thing smooth and light! The gold colored mount was sweet and look at the carbon, yum.
After that it was time to swap out the factory handlebar (which is very nice) for some more “black gold.” This is a carbon fiber composite bar and checks in at 125 grams. Parts of this bike are weight weenied when possible and other parts are not, I hope to have a nice balance of low weight, reliability and performance. The bar is pretty comfy and has plenty of room for what I plan to install on this bike. Given that the headlights will be down low where they belong and not on the handlebars, there is even more room.
I slipped the shifters and the Team brake levers on the bar and added the Ergo grips, at this time I gave the shifters and lever a bit of alignment and tightened them down a bit to allow for some fine adjustment once the wheels were set and we could get a feel from the cockpit.
These grips are super comfy and feel good climbing.
Now things are taking shape and the Avid BB7 disk brakes go on. I think disk brakes are better in many ways. You can argue both sides well but I find them more solid on hills and in bad weather. I like the way they STOP the bike. The fact that they do not heat up the rims is another argument for disk brakes. I have heard stories of people blowing tires on mountain descents.
The front brakes look as nice as the rear ones do too.
While I was putting on the cailpers, Kristin added the rotors to the wheels, these are the daily ride/ training set. They are nice wheels if a bit heavy, Bontrager Race 29ers. They have DT Swiss spokes and some nice hubs. The all black looks good. They are shod with some Continental Gatorskins. They are a nice cost effective tire. Good for training and general riding. Not very fast but they should last and serve well under the conditions of riding trails and roads.
Good from both sides!
...and of course the front;
I then set the initial chain length. After the first ride both Kristin and I feel we might add a link or two. It will lock on the big/big combo. Not that one should ride the extremes but excess on the low end is safer IMHO.
I tried the SRAM X.7 front DR but the backside of it had too much material and I could not get the cage low enough. So I went with a $himano Ultegra 6600. It’s the same derailleur as I have on the “Silver Strada” and the only $himano derailleur I have found to be reliable on a consistent basis. Once we had the 6600 in place I cabled everything up with Jagwire sleeves and black coated PTFE cable. There are arguments for and against this cable. I like the way these cables and they have never given me a bit of trouble. Never had them gum up or anything other than super smooth shifting and braking. Once cabled and the first tuning of brakes and gears, I gave the bike a wrenching all over and added some platform pedals I had kicking around the shop. We added the carbon fiber Alpha bottle cage and looked the bike over one more time. We then declared it time for the maiden voyage.
I let Kristin have the honor of the first ride. She went maybe twenty feet before she “got it” and headed smoothly out of the driveway.
Other than locking up on the big/big combo the bike performed well and then I went for a spin. The front DR needs some fine-tuning and rear brake needs a minor tweak. Other than that the bike is ready to ride.
The first part of the build is complete. There are a few items on the bike that will be replaced over the next few months as I get parts in and things get tuned. I’ll start with what is missing and then go through the bike and build and point out those items to be replaced a second time in detail. So what’s missing? Well, the rando wheel set has not been built, they will include a SRAM dynamo on the front, DT/Swiss spokes and Velocity Deep V rims. The rear wheel will probably have a Phil Wood disk hub. The Truvativ Rolleur cranks set will be replaced with a carbon set from FSA or the Truvativ carbons. The current 980 chain will be replaced with a Wipperman Ti hollow pin chain. The new wheel set will get some faster tires too.
So Thursday of last week Kristin and I built up the frame set.
http://www.beeweebents.com/bmachine/post/Wedgiefree/42/The-CF-Experiment
On Saturday some goodies arrived from EBay;
Okay, time to get serious about this build. The first thing on was SRAM X.0 rear derailleur. Man is this thing smooth and light! The gold colored mount was sweet and look at the carbon, yum.
After that it was time to swap out the factory handlebar (which is very nice) for some more “black gold.” This is a carbon fiber composite bar and checks in at 125 grams. Parts of this bike are weight weenied when possible and other parts are not, I hope to have a nice balance of low weight, reliability and performance. The bar is pretty comfy and has plenty of room for what I plan to install on this bike. Given that the headlights will be down low where they belong and not on the handlebars, there is even more room.
I slipped the shifters and the Team brake levers on the bar and added the Ergo grips, at this time I gave the shifters and lever a bit of alignment and tightened them down a bit to allow for some fine adjustment once the wheels were set and we could get a feel from the cockpit.
These grips are super comfy and feel good climbing.
Now things are taking shape and the Avid BB7 disk brakes go on. I think disk brakes are better in many ways. You can argue both sides well but I find them more solid on hills and in bad weather. I like the way they STOP the bike. The fact that they do not heat up the rims is another argument for disk brakes. I have heard stories of people blowing tires on mountain descents.
The front brakes look as nice as the rear ones do too.
While I was putting on the cailpers, Kristin added the rotors to the wheels, these are the daily ride/ training set. They are nice wheels if a bit heavy, Bontrager Race 29ers. They have DT Swiss spokes and some nice hubs. The all black looks good. They are shod with some Continental Gatorskins. They are a nice cost effective tire. Good for training and general riding. Not very fast but they should last and serve well under the conditions of riding trails and roads.
Good from both sides!
...and of course the front;
I then set the initial chain length. After the first ride both Kristin and I feel we might add a link or two. It will lock on the big/big combo. Not that one should ride the extremes but excess on the low end is safer IMHO.
I tried the SRAM X.7 front DR but the backside of it had too much material and I could not get the cage low enough. So I went with a $himano Ultegra 6600. It’s the same derailleur as I have on the “Silver Strada” and the only $himano derailleur I have found to be reliable on a consistent basis. Once we had the 6600 in place I cabled everything up with Jagwire sleeves and black coated PTFE cable. There are arguments for and against this cable. I like the way these cables and they have never given me a bit of trouble. Never had them gum up or anything other than super smooth shifting and braking. Once cabled and the first tuning of brakes and gears, I gave the bike a wrenching all over and added some platform pedals I had kicking around the shop. We added the carbon fiber Alpha bottle cage and looked the bike over one more time. We then declared it time for the maiden voyage.
I let Kristin have the honor of the first ride. She went maybe twenty feet before she “got it” and headed smoothly out of the driveway.
Other than locking up on the big/big combo the bike performed well and then I went for a spin. The front DR needs some fine-tuning and rear brake needs a minor tweak. Other than that the bike is ready to ride.
on September 19, 2008, 4:04 pm
Reply to this comment