7/31/15 3:56 PM

Yeah, I already used Chili Con Kermit when I had the Green Salsa. I may just call this one Kermit, or 'Le Grenouille' and put this on the sides of the seat tube.




Damn it is hot in my garage!! so far....

8/1/15 2:04 AM

That is going to be fun, happy trails. It's nice when the candy shop arrives at the front door. I wanted to say something about your finally getting serious about keeping the strava monkeys at bay (no brakes) but then I noticed the pedals and chain. BTW your ant-in-the-mirror post is classic.

8/1/15 8:51 AM

reminds me of a santa cruz la cruz disc, but racier (tighter and lighter).

let me know where the built-up weight ends.

whats the geo again? STA, HTA, TT, CS

Last edited by walter on 8/1/15 9:14 AM; edited 1 time in total

8/1/15 9:05 AM

73.5, 72.5, 588, 430

8/1/15 9:17 AM

nice. that's bang on what i wanted from my "han-man" plastic disc grinder. assuming reasonably lightweight tubes i bet this will end up about the same weight, but with alot more character. i'd considered the la cruz along the way, but it would have ended up pretty porky.

8/1/15 9:28 AM

I gotta admit to ultimately being turned off to the the plastic cookie cutter disc Roubaix.
And the internal cables and BB30 [said this a few times], well, glad to not have them with standard old school cfg on this. I want to ride it, not fook with it...

Even though this frameset cost more than the total bill on the Roubaix [not counting the wheels you see here I kept], I was happy to break even selling it off to fund this bike.

When I thought about the amortization of the 15 year old Strong, it made it easy for me to justify doing up another custom. And for a lot of off road use, the powder coat VS a few mils of poly clear makes even more sense. I expect perish-ability factor to be demonstrably higher on this. ;)


I will find out today if it will be same weight as the Roubaix was. I expect it will be close. But I never weighed the Roubiax frameset, not ever having had it down that far in wrenching parts on and off it. but considering how much more off road worthy this thing is, perhaps comparing it to the Roubaix disc is superfluous. Comparing finished weight to the Strong 29er of my Gary 29 might be more appropriate. And I am pretty sure it will have 6-7 lb [3-4 EDIT] less girth than those...


EDIT: A pre weighing as pictured shows that I am being way overly optimistic on the weight. ;O

8/1/15 12:37 PM

The geo sounds right on, but I'm guessing that for off-road use maybe the stem will feel long(?).
At least the 72.5 HT would support a shorter stem extension with no penalty to the handling/steering.
Short-reach bars I see, but no CX levers up top? Those do a lot for off-road worthiness on the "road hybrid" bikes that I have enjoyed setting up.
I hope you've got a paint-protector strip on the right chainstay(?).

Oh and as for the Harley, here's one I liked with spoked wheels, but was of the few I had to sell toward buying my first house:


I sold the fast one too, but at least this 1200s stayed in the family:

8/1/15 5:11 PM

First, is that 21" front on the top MC?

"no CX levers up top?

For the midge bars, top are really for climbing. Since the pic with the -6^ stem I put on a 90^ stem to raise the bars a bit more for the Midge bars. I read that it is best use to use the drops most of the time. I suspect steep climbs from the hoods when out of the saddle. Cockpit length correct with the 130 stem. Setback settled between my TT and my Road, exactly in the middle.

This is all with with the 42C tires, 27mm road tires will drop it all a bit. 1" lower axles, tops/drops/top of saddle. [unladen measurement] should be less as the sag will be less on the 27s than the 42s certainly.

Just rode it up and down the block. 180mm front Rotor and the TRP Hyd/cable hybrid caliper... superb. Very non truckie, even my TCX with the 42C Speed Ride was a touch truckie feeling until you got it rolling.

23 lbs with the 42C Conti Speed Rides on 32 spokers, which are 39.5 on these Pacenti wheels. I also have 27mm Paves on the CX75 wheels I will try out later or tomorrow on pavement. EDIT: 21.5 lb with the CX75 27mm Vittoria Pave 28 spoke wheels.

Initial Iteration [actually now has the 90^ Stem an the RD cable cut]:

8/2/15 11:07 AM

I had to think on that one for a minute, I believe it was 21", rear 16". Different photo (at bottom) shows it better.

I'm trying to picture the top view of those bars, almost looks like a modification of certain "upright" bars as far as the grip angle in the drops(?). Like my Pedersen, except there I have just one hand position on mtb grips.

Glad that it doesn't handle like a truck, like my CX road hybrid, not that it is always a bad thing to have excess stability!

That is a very light weight that Carl and you achieved, congrats! And let me say it, that green rocks.

This one turned up yesterday at a local rural town's benefit flea-market for their FD.
It is very heavy and truckish, no surprise though since it appears to be Norway/Sweden's near-exact copy of the Schwinn Varsity. Not bad though for $25, I would have paid that for EITHER the old-style Allvit derailers or the perfect condition Chro-lux wheelset! I noticed the shifters were 3" too low, why the shift cable pigtails were so long, so I moved the shifters back up after taking this photo, before taking a ride. Gearing is 50-47t and 13-25t, so the steel rim's copious momentum will be my friend!

8/2/15 11:37 AM

Re: Midge Bars. Getting the angle right for the drop position is paramount. But I gotta say the tops position is immediately apparent that for climbing it will be good/comfy.

The width at the end will take getting used to. I may get some Salsa Cow Bell II bars to try comparatively.

My CX rig is that 80s Panasonic, I plan to hit the circuit this year on that old s/led. The new bike is too much coin to risk bending/denting...

As far as the 21" front. Great to highway roll, even canyon cruising. I had one 16" front MC I hated. My old yamaha had a 19fr 18rr, and my Eddie Lawson bike into the 80s had the same stock, but I put on a 18fr/17rr back then. My preference is also a narrow front rim, narrower both honestly. The Buell 3.75/5.5" wide wheels where wider than I like for even aggressive corner banging in real life. And that is not wide by today's monsters.


BTW, that seatpost on the new bike there is a little scarey. ;)