Ryan's Rebuilds: July 2013

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Heretic....?

What I probably should have been working on and writing about is the oh-so-nearly-done Raleigh project.

I have all the pieces and its really just a focused effort from being done but instead I have been putting my time into this little project.....

No that isn't a bike boom bike, nor is it a refurbished or rebuilt bike, its all brand spanking new parts that I built up based on a Soma Smoothie frame-set . And its caused some internal dialog hence the title of this post. Now unlike my friend Tim Joe over at the trailer park cyclist I do not profess to hear a voice, not one I will admit to anyway, but that doesn't mean I don't have a lot internal dialog going on. And for this build it went something like this:

You love working on bike boom bikes how can you go out and buy a modern new bike!

Well it is steel, Tange Prestige to be precise just like the 30 year-old Miyata 912 I recently sold, and the fork is lugged and curved and the seat tube is lugged. And it has fender and rack eyelets so I would say it’s not exactly modern- you see any carbon bikes with fender eyelets?

But you have 10 speed brifters!

Well yes they aren’t down tube shifters but Campy came out with 10 speeds in 2000, almost 14 years ago so these aren’t exactly cutting edge.

Do I see a compact crank-set on that thing?

Well yes, but that is more a matter of what my legs, and knees, can take than trying to be modern and it’s a NOS 2006 model compact that takes a…wait for it…square taper bottom bracket.

Ok what about the aero wheel set?

Those aero wheels are 36 spoke HD (heavy duty) hoops to support my Clydesdale ass. And the tires are 28c rather than super narrow 23c. I think I might even be able to squeeze 32s in there.

All the silly internal angst aside I do believe if what you are riding makes you smile then its the right bike. And the Smoothie as its set up certainly does that. I really do like resurrecting an old, seemingly, junky 10 speed and making it functional and even beautiful again but I did enjoy working with all new parts as it sure makes the build go faster.

After getting the initial build set up, minus bar tape, I took it for an alley shake down ride and discovered a few minor issues that needed dealing with.