After about to months of building, I have finally finished my first build. I went $200.00 over my original $500.00 budget, but I'm not too upset. It rides very well. It just needs a few adjustments to the derailers. Thanks to everyone on here who helped me along the way,
Finished My First Build
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whoa
mighty fine lookin bike. pleasantly retro.
thats one craaazy handlebar set-up though. It's all personal I guess. It will pretty much be impossible for you to ride on the hoods as you have it set up. Old school way would be to put a ruler or something flat on the bottom part of the drops (part of the bar your barend shifters are connected to) and the end of the brake lever should just touch the ruler. New school guys are setting them up much higher. Basically there should be a smooth transition from the hoods onto the top of the bar....or something like that. I like em that way. Allows a bigger drop saddle to bar and a more aero position but still maintain a very physiologic position when on the hoods or the flats. Looking at your set-up appears you are going for a more civilized position so prob not right for you.
See how you like it. Looks like it would be tres comfy in the drops, but nearly unridable anywhere else.
mighty fine lookin bike. pleasantly retro.
thats one craaazy handlebar set-up though. It's all personal I guess. It will pretty much be impossible for you to ride on the hoods as you have it set up. Old school way would be to put a ruler or something flat on the bottom part of the drops (part of the bar your barend shifters are connected to) and the end of the brake lever should just touch the ruler. New school guys are setting them up much higher. Basically there should be a smooth transition from the hoods onto the top of the bar....or something like that. I like em that way. Allows a bigger drop saddle to bar and a more aero position but still maintain a very physiologic position when on the hoods or the flats. Looking at your set-up appears you are going for a more civilized position so prob not right for you.
See how you like it. Looks like it would be tres comfy in the drops, but nearly unridable anywhere else.
Nice looking bike, but you do have a really strange bar setup. Maybe you want it like that for a particular reason, which is fine, but I think it could be too extreme to be useful. It look like you've set the levers in that position so that you can brake from the drops without having a long reach to the brake levers, but in doing so you've totally eliminated the posibility to ride on the hoods.
As a general starting point, the actual brake lever should be more or less vertical (it depends on the make, model, personal preference, etc). This gives a resonable position for riding on the hoods, and the lever can be reached from there, from the drops, or quickly from the centre of the bar if you're riding on the tops. In the position you have them in, I can't see you reaching the brakes quickly from the tops, which could cause some potentially dangerous delays in braking when riding on the tops.
If you can't reach the levers from the drops when they're in a more conventional position, then I would try changing bars to a more classic bend, which will leave your hands much closer to the levers when in the drops.
If you only ever ride on the drops, then I would think about lowering the bars by changing the stem, and using the tops and hoods all the time. You'll have more hand positions that way, and will probably be more comfortable.
As I said, maybe you have the bars that way for a particular reason, in which case just ignore all that I just said...
As a general starting point, the actual brake lever should be more or less vertical (it depends on the make, model, personal preference, etc). This gives a resonable position for riding on the hoods, and the lever can be reached from there, from the drops, or quickly from the centre of the bar if you're riding on the tops. In the position you have them in, I can't see you reaching the brakes quickly from the tops, which could cause some potentially dangerous delays in braking when riding on the tops.
If you can't reach the levers from the drops when they're in a more conventional position, then I would try changing bars to a more classic bend, which will leave your hands much closer to the levers when in the drops.
If you only ever ride on the drops, then I would think about lowering the bars by changing the stem, and using the tops and hoods all the time. You'll have more hand positions that way, and will probably be more comfortable.
As I said, maybe you have the bars that way for a particular reason, in which case just ignore all that I just said...
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23 Posts
I agree with the others, that stem looks awful. Lovely frame though. What make is it? Shame the rear brake cable runs along the top of the top tube but I know they used to do that. I've had frames like that and the cable always seemed to sctatch the paint so be careful.
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methink he rides mostly on the drops but still wants to be fairly upright, and never rides the hoods.
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1,326 Posts
Excuse the lame question, but is that a circa 1987 Specialized Sirrus frame
or similar Japanese equivalent?
or similar Japanese equivalent?
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863 Posts
Exactly. If you're bars are as high as his, you are able to ride comfortably in the drops all the time.FatTireFred said:
It is a 88-89 Centurion Lemans frame. I'm thinking about changing the bar setup. What exactly is "riding in the hoods"? I spend most of my time in the drops so I figured the brakes should be most easily accessible fro where I spend the most time. I also figured I would be going faster in the drops, so it would be important to be able to access the brakes quickly from that position.
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863 Posts
Riding in the hoods is gripping the your hands around the brown part of your brake levers. You have set it up well if you intend to ride in the drops almost exclusively. There is nothing wrong with that, it's just that most people prefer to have the option of riding on the hoods as well. I wouldn't worry about it unless you feel like you need the extra position while riding. If you do, you would move the brake levers up the bar so you could hold the hoods more comfortably. The nice thing about how you have it setup is that you have the bars high enough to ride comfortably in the drops the entire time.ts103706 said:
I'm flabbergasted.
No kidding. You're a college kid? You know very little about bikes? Hold on, now, I'm not criticizing, just in a bit of awe. You've managed somehow to arrive at a very almost beautiful bike, with hideous flaws. Where did you get the idea for this build? How did you know how to do/use certain things, yet blow right past basic setup? Did you put the reflectors on the wheelset? Who painted this bike? I went back and looked at the original frame, and even I would be hard pressed to see how lovely it could be with this paint job. Somebody had to know something about steel and lugs to arrive at this paint scheme. How could you be so knowlegable and naive at the same time, and throw it into the most perplexing build I've seen in years (and I know colker1and his work)?
DAMN.
No kidding. You're a college kid? You know very little about bikes? Hold on, now, I'm not criticizing, just in a bit of awe. You've managed somehow to arrive at a very almost beautiful bike, with hideous flaws. Where did you get the idea for this build? How did you know how to do/use certain things, yet blow right past basic setup? Did you put the reflectors on the wheelset? Who painted this bike? I went back and looked at the original frame, and even I would be hard pressed to see how lovely it could be with this paint job. Somebody had to know something about steel and lugs to arrive at this paint scheme. How could you be so knowlegable and naive at the same time, and throw it into the most perplexing build I've seen in years (and I know colker1and his work)?
DAMN.
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770 Posts
I'm not sure where the idea came from, or how I planned it out. It just seemed to happen. Yes, I am very naive in regards to cycling. It rides how I want and looks how I want. It is also comfortable. The derailers work smooth. The brakes stop me. Aside from the position of the brake levers, are there any other flaws visible from the photos. I messed up pretty big on the chain and need to replace it, and I need to finish off the brake cables.
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863 Posts
I wouldn't listen to the rest of those guys. You've got a great bike that functions well and that you love. Most of what they are criticizing is what they think the appearance of the bike should be. You did a great job, especially for your first build. Don't worry about it, and enjoy.ts103706 said:
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770 Posts
It's funny how big wheel reflectors have to be nowadays just to span 3 spokes.OES said:
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552 Posts
It appears that your rear derailleur cable is routed between the front brake caliper arm and the front brake cable? I don't think it'll cause any trouble, but why would you choose to snake it through there? I'd run the rear der cable totally inside of the front brake cable, above the caliper.ts103706 said:
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