Sweetbike (.org)

YOLO!

(From my new favorite blog http://camp666.com/)

Had Colin ream and face the headtube, then I took it home and installed headset and new fork, took new geometry measurements.

Old fork clearance

New fork clearance

However, using a longer fork with more tire clearance changes the rest of the bike geometry which affects handling and ride experience – sometimes for better, sometimes for worse.

Seat Tube is 71.7 degrees (was 72)
Head Tube is 72.3 degrees (was 73)
Bottom Bracket Drop is 74mm (was 80mm)
26.8 Seat Post

Fork
388mm Axle to Crown Measurement (was 375)
62mm Offset (was 50mm)
45mm Trail with a 32mm tire (40mm is the sweet spot – it started with 57mm).

Low trail but not as low as it could be. I think this thing is ready for initial build up – or at least good enough to start. Fork angle needs more work, load bearing brazeons added, and the canti posts in the rear need shaving off but it’s in the ballpark. I’m excited to have a big rubber low trail 700c bike.

More measurin shit pics in the set if that’s your thing
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tehschkott/sets/72157632522824433/with/8470496294/

On a separate but related note,

I think I will build a measuring board for doing this kind of thing in the future.  I’m going to run out of workbenches to draw on.  :)

Onward

Bike swap at the table with Fred. I sold a bunch of stuff that’s been sitting in my bike bin since last year and not worth commenting on. I walked out with

• Almost new square taper Sugino cranks 48/38/28 (Thanks Andrew and Tim)
• Purple ano straddle cable hangers for XO
• 4x Ultremo ZX tires at insane stupid price ($30 ea) – 28mm sizeway
• Campagnolo Chorus 11s shakes for $150

Also walked out of there with $6 more than I walked in there with and left a pile of bike crap I was never going to use again. I consider it a success.

The above pictured Campy group did not sell even though there was much interest in it – but I liked the pic.  The Campy Chorus brifters put this group back into play as far as I’m concerned.

It was great to hang out with fellow bike jerks for the day.  Thanks one and all.

Onward

Daily rider.

Picked up a pair of long reach brakes (57/75mm) for new Schwinn project and grabbed the only set of 700c wheels I have to see how it’d all fit.

Legit (but need to shave canti-posts off)

Zero clearance – what the hell.

I can’t even use the brakes up front – the pads are as high up as they go. Those are 28mm tires btw – there’s no way I could go bigger up front and still get a fender in there, but skys the limit in the rear.

This was already mullet frame – different dropouts on the fork than the frame, also caliper brake up front, canti in the rear. Now this. Alarm bells are ringing Willie. I do axle to crown measurement – 375mm. Pretty short. With the wheels on I put a level on it – sure enough, top tube slopes down slightly. Argh.

Only conclusion left – fork has been color matched but did not come with this frame.

HY – talking with my friend and framebuilder Alex, he has a new naked fork he’ll sell to me on the cheap. Axle to crown is 388mm and will rake it to whatever I want, but has one already raked to 62mm and drilled for caliper. Will fit 35mm tires with fenders. BOOSH. Low trail big rubber 700c, here I come.

Will ride it naked for a bit and then have bosses put on for racks later.

http://fairwheelbikes.com/cycling-blog/products/2013-rim-roundup.html

Over at fairwheelbikes.com they’ve put together a pretty comprehensive rim roundup that’s worth the read.

For a few years we’ve been publishing what we consider to be the definitive hub reviews.  Now we feel it’s time to tackle the rims and spokes that go into making a complete wheel.  For now we’ll just be looking at rims: clincher alloy 700c rims, in fact.

One thing that made our hub review so successful was the presentation of different viewpoints by having the article be written by more than one person.  We are going to continue on with that theme, this time with wheel builder Eric Gottesman from Ergott wheels.  I consider Eric to be one of the best wheel builders working in the U.S. and am honored to have him writing this article with me.  Eric has been building custom wheels for more than 12 years, giving the two of us a combined experience of more than 30 years.

Cheers

Fred is taking his Berthoud saddle back and making me buy my own.  Jerk.

There’s a lot to love about the Berthoud, but the corking effect on a new saddle is not one of them. I cannot stand it. Fred assures me it’ll blend out and look like a normal leather saddle in no time.

It feels great, but looks bad man.

Onward.

This whole article has been moved to

http://sweetbike.org/articles/dynamos-and-bike-lights

I will continue to update this article here as the times – and technology – changes.

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The below article I’m leaving up for internetting purposes but will not be subject to updates.  It is strongly suggested you refer to the article link above for current details.

- Scott

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Continue reading →

Frame, fork, headset, and old school Jim Blackburn rear rack – $35 on Craigslist.

It’s probably not an omen.

83 Schwinn Voyageur SP

57cm effective top tube
58cm seat tube

72deg seat tube angle
73deg head tube angle
50mm offset

80mm Bottom Bracket Drop!

Chromed Tange TL dropouts front
Chromed Suntour dropouts rear
Brazeons for racks and fenders front and rear.
Fork shoulder bosses for racks (but no mid-fork – kinda weird)
Canti studs rear only (kinda weird)
3 Water Bottle bosses

FLICKR SET

This is a good link for some history on these bikes -

http://sandro.knot.org/blog/bike-stable/general-info-on-schwinn-voyageur-touring-bikes/

Ken Kifer used to ride a Voyageur.  It was his favorite bike.

http://www.phred.org/~alex/kenkifer/www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/lifestyle/oldbikes.htm

If you’re not familiar with Ken Kifer there’s no shame in it.  I didn’t know before I got the frame or before Alex clued me in.  Ken Kifer’s website is to bicycle touring and camping, what Sheldon Brown’s site is to bicycle mechanics.  His website seems to have fallen to the wayside but fortunately Alex archived it here:

http://www.phred.org/~alex/kenkifer/www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/index.htm

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But all that aside, just shut up.  I know I don’t need another bike, but I am excited to have a low bottom bracket 700c bike that will take large(r) volume tires with fenders – almost exactly what I asked for Christmas!  I am curious to try some of the Grand Bois tires, or even the Resist Nomads.

Also shut up.

My hosting provider is screwing around with my databases.  Apologies for the bounce around.  I keep having posts vanish and appear again.  Very frustrating.  Stand by for some re-posts while I fire up the restore monster.