New York September 2022 NYC Meet-Up

Next week is a “release” of sorts, whatever that means. Pretty much “Maggie” and I will be announced as being represented and available for gigs. So the modeling career begins for me. Not sure where this will go, or how big or small it will get. Could be fun and a great experience, and if it turns out being a lot of money, oh-well, I’ll figure out something crazy to do.

A lap pool in the back-backyard is a possibility, but I don’t know if I want the extra work, the responsibility, or the possible taxes. I kinda like staying humble and simple.

Remember that our agent is based in London, and Vanessa has a world wide scope. So anything can happen…

It seems the immune booster is helping. I feel a step better with the cough. Not so tired like yesterday.

I removed the Dura-Ace cranks and opened up the White Industries bottom bracket. One bearing is really rough and scratchy. Oh-well. This is not so bad because the XC Pro cranks I’ll be using as a double and the current 113 mm BB is a bit excessively wide. I can go to a 108mm and have a better chainline. I certainly have clearance for a triple if I wanted, and the XTR is actually set up for a triple. Hmmm.

Could do the XTR 46/34/24 and have a lot of gears, but I think I like the more streamlined 48/32.

It seems that White Industries simplified their design and the bottom bracket is less adjustable, meaning you can’t offset the cranks to adjust chainline. Oh well…

So I’m not disappointed that a component from the Ronald Ray-Gun era failed. Oh-well. There is some wear and tear on one cup’s thread that I don’t like… Don’t want to mess up the threads on the frame…

Cal
 
Cal,
Remember what I said about the JIS taper on the XC Pro cranks. If you stick them on an ISO taper BB, your chainline is going to move in about 4mm. What you have to watch out for is bottoming out the spindle and not being able to tighten up the cranks enough. Again, your best bet is to use the proper JIS taper BB for those XC Pro cranks. Don't crack them.
EDIT: It's not just the adjustable chainline of aftermarket BBs such as White Industries, it is the correct taper that is the issue. The angle itself is identical, but the length of contact area is different and the shoulder is different between JIS and ISO spindles.

Phil Forrest
 
Phil,

All my cranks, except the Middleburn ones on the two IBIS’s, are Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS).

All my JIS BB are 113mm in width.

The thing with the XC Pro is the “Q” is very wide, and to exacerbate the width this crank is a retro triple so the middle and outer chain rings are pretty far out.

So after sleeping on it, I figured out that I have two sets of Grafton retro cranks: one road for Dura-Ace; and a mountain compact drive that resides currently on the Ti Basso Newsboy. The compact drive allows me to utilize a 48T and 32 I already have and provides the gearing range I want and need to use the 11-34 XTR I have stockpiled.

So the idea came to me is to use the CD Grafton from the Ti Basso Newsboy and use both Grafton cranksets on my Ti Basso Road so I can convert to flat lander gearing to mountain gearing using 9-speed Dura Ace or XTR.

Then the idea came to me to use this as an opportunity to upgrade the Newsboy and perhaps make a statement that has “Calzone-Factor.” The idea is to order a White Industries ENO polished crank, a 42T single chainring, and a 32T single chainring. Pretty much I have this bike set up as a convertible 1x11 XTR bike that can be an urban cruiser (Newsboy); or a somewhat fat tire bike with 2.35 wide tires for riding in the snow.

So I found a seller who has all I need in stock, all the chainrings are silver, and the cranks are polished White Industries ENO.

Realize that the Graftons are black, and the Middleburn chainrings were black and a military dull grey, so now mucho bling on a polished titanium bike with a chromed retro Koski fork. Now on display is a lot of polished metal. “More cowbell,” I say. LOL.

There are further advantages to the Newsboy upgrade. The White Industries chain rings use anti chain dropping teeth, the Middleburn chainrings from England are hard to get and are more costly today, the Middleburn 32T and 42T extend my Middleburn stockpile for IBIS use; and since I’m running a 1x11 I can use that new 108mm White Industries BB for a better chain line. I understand that if I ever go VBC for a White Industries Double that I would need the wider 113mm BB, but for a single 1X the narrower BB is better.

The old retro 113mm wide White Industries BB that has an adjustable chain line will be up cycled to the Ti Basso Road bike (JIS taper).

Next Monday-Tuesday mucho deliveries.

I have the Billy Bonkers to install on the Newsboy tonight. I also installed a BMX stem on the Steel IBIS. Looks mighty evil. The short BMX stem is what the bike needed because the cockpit was way too long and too far forward.

Bikes are advancing. Kinda funny how the Newsboy was kinda created as a bit of a joke and was thought of an extra bike that I really didn’t need or love so much, but it has evolved to the point where it has become my most favored bike. It has a look, it’s has a style, it is kinda crazy, yet it has become a very serious bike that I’m sure to enjoy for decades. BTW not the fastest bike, but definitely comfortable to ride a lot.

As far as evolution goes the Newsboy is further along than my other three bikes.

I moved my lawn today, did some weeding and weed whacking, but still had a lot of excitement and fun ordering more bike parts, and playing with my bikes.

Cal
 
Phil_F_NM said:
Cal,
EDIT: It's not just the adjustable chainline of aftermarket BBs such as White Industries, it is the correct taper that is the issue. The angle itself is identical, but the length of contact area is different and the shoulder is different between JIS and ISO spindles.

Phil Forrest
Click to expand...

Phil,

The square tapered BB’s from White Industries are JIS.

Also their cranks and chainrings are designed and optimized to work with Shimano 9, 10, and 11 speeds.

Pretty much I’m where I want to be. Happy-happy.

My use on the Ti Basso Newsboy is for a high gear 1x11 or a low gear 1x11, but if I ever want to change to a 2x11 and use a White Industries VBC chainring pair all I would have to do is buy a 113mm BB to replace the narrow 108mm BB which is better for my single chainring 1x11’s.

As things evolved Middleburn cranks and chainrings use to be available from my friend Alex in Georgia, but that went south.

Now to restock I have to buy Middleburn off EBAY and pay costly shipping from England. “Moo,” said the Pig.

Glad I have a large stockpile of Middleburn, and also that these chainrings seem to last twice as long as others.

Cal
 
The Billy Bonkers on the Newsboy are a bit over the top, but the skin wall on the tires goes well with the tan on the Berthoud Ti saddle. The bike looks mighty evil.

The mustache bars, the high rise stem, and the seat post are all bead blasted titanium, so once the cranks and chainrings get changed out mucho-bling.

So now I have a very crazy bike that is kinda strange and unusual. Should add to my legacy.

The new weigh in with the lighter tires is exactly 20 pounds. This pleases me. Adding the new leather saddle added some weight.

I’m kinda ready for a long ride…

Next week new cranks. Since there is no spider and the single chain ring mounts directly to the cranks it is possible the bike could loose some weight. Loosing rotating mass has the most profound effect, so there could be further improvement, but after this the bike is kinda maxed out and done.

Of course when I change to fat-tire mode with a wheel, chain and chainring exchange I can expect a slightly heavier bike.

So now is the end of season sales at Jenson USA. Pretty much the best time to buy mucho expensive engineered bike clothing at savage discount. The good thing about being a petite man is that generally these end of season close outs are the small and very large sizes. This works for me. I’m not going crazy, but I do see a bike jacket that suits me well, is my size, and is kinda beautiful. I would never pay the full price because it is a crazy price, but for 50% off it kinda is a no brained.

Know that I have one of these bike jackets I bought close to 20 years ago. This type of gear wears well and is like a durable good. I still use this bike jacket, but it is now a bit of a hard core retro-rag that is ragged. One of the rear pockets has loose stitching, the zipper area and sleeves show wear marks, and then the colors are kinda dulling.

Know that I bought this bike jacket from a Manhattan bike shop that was closing, and back then I think I paid only $80.00-$100.00. Also know I was bored and at work when I went wandering around and was shopping. Bonus. LOL.

So after nearly 20 years I think I found a replacement. The thing with bike wear is that it s engineered to breath, be light weight, and not to restrict movement. Then there is the tailoring, if you are a skinny bitch like me, it reveals how lanky and muscular I am. I wear this type of clothing like body armor.

Did I mention that this new jacket is more advanced than my old retro bike jacket and has a double zipped for the wind breaker layer. The styling is a lot like for a motorcycle, and I love that has Italian styling. Kinda goes with my confused identity as “Calzone.”

So off to place an order and save money. I should be good for another two decades. Know that my old rag will still get used around the house. Still has mucho life left in it, and I still love it.

So part of my identity is how I can bond with inanimate objects, and how over time they become extensions of my personality. The bikes are one example, guitars are another, the 1966 Chevy C10, the Audi A4, and my cameras…

How crazy is that?

Cal
 
I decided to load up the truck a bit and take advantage of these clearance sales/close outs.

“Maggie” hates the sleeveless shirts I own, so I had to buy this Castelli engineered top that resembles body armor. Kinda ghetto in a UFC kinda way, but I love it. Pretty much some of my exhibitionism. BTW “Artists by definition are exhibitionists,” I say.

Then I decided to buy a Castelli Alpha Ross 2 Light that is rated for 45-59 degree F weather, and a Alpha Ross 2 regular rated down to 23-50 degree F.

The sizing is small, so I bought mediums. The sizing for men includes hips, and I took notice that my hips and chest are the same size, where as the sizing charts suggest that men overall have hips/butts that are slightly larger than their chests.

So the lighter jacket is “Fiery Red” and perhaps is a bit loud, but that is my style, and the heavier jacket is “Light Black” whatever that means.

Interesting to note that my Patagonia shell is displaying holes from wear. Moral of the story here is that I tend to buy and wear things into the ground to get my money’s worth. I end up saving money over the long-long run, so the big outlays up front end up being very practical. I live the old wear and tear that gets displayed as a mark of character. Perhaps this is why I love old stuff/things, and I tend to keep things and hold onto them.

So this bikewear ends up being great stuff for shooting. Lightweight and does not restrict movement. The rear pockets are great for storing film and or filters. I love the lack of bulk for added mobility.

BTW it was Snarky Joe who true to his name made me aware of the seasonal closeout savings. This is not about being cheap-cheap-cheap, but is about not wasting money. Now that I’m retired this is more important than ever, but this habit led me into this early and comfortable retirement.

Don’t waste money… In other words spend it wisely…

Cal
 
The custom Santa Cruz Model “F” made to 1934 specs with old growth wood will be delivered to my dealer next week. When my check clears then delivery to my home.

This I thought would take longer, or perhaps might of been delivered in 2023. Oh-well.

Know that Santa Cruz only makes about 400 guitars a year. Pretty small production, and a very small shop with a grand reputation. So now I have another heirloom guitar to add to my legacy.

This will be very interesting to compare to the used all mahogany Model “F” that was built out to 1929 spec.

I would expect the Adirondack spruce top to carry more high end clarity, focus and perhaps more overtones. I would also expect the bass might be bigger. I would expect that this guitar will have a bigger sound. The wood on this guitar is all select old growth wood cut and harvested 80-100 years ago and left to age and harden. This guitar will open up rapidly because of all the seasoning of the wood.

On the other hand the all mahogany guitar has the midrange focus and warmth a plenty. This guitar likely will be the better guitar to record. This guitar already has been broken in, but has not hit its full potential yet. It is still a rather new guitar, even though it is about a decade old. I’m the second owner, and basically the guitar sat in a case for a decade before I bought it. I kinda got it as a new guitar because it had not been played.

Anyways two different animals and not the same guitar. I’m in heaven.

Cal
 
I wonder if Snarky Joe knows that Goo Gone works pretty well in removing dried tubular glue from rims. I’m cleaning rims to mount a fresh set of Tufo tubulars. One tire is stretching on a rim presently, and then I have to clean the rear wheel to mount a second tire to stretch for a few days.

I bought this tubular tape that is suppose to be better than the old glue we use to use. I am cleaning these rims kinda hermetically because I never want to roll a tire ever again. Pretty much rolling a tire means the glue failed and the tire and rim separate. Almost always an ugly crash. One minute you are rolling at speed on a tire, and then suddenly you don’t have a tire anymore.

Metal on concrete or asphalt has no traction, and the bike kinda lays down and you as a rider kinda slide on a rough surface like a pancake.

Off to complete another important task. Retirement is great…

Cal
 
Cal,

Tubulars you have lost your mind. I'm with Phil use glue. A bed of dried glue is not necessarily bad. If anyone knows how to clean rim cement off anything (hand, sidewalls, carpet) let me know cause I have not found it. Are these 700c knobby tires? If they are I have some for the taking, some new some lightly used. Tires have come a long way and tubulars for anything less than pro racing are just not called for.

I've been reading along and while old cool stuff is great, cycle gearing has really moved on from the He-Man gearing your talking about. I just built a Campy road bike with a 52-36 Crank and a 11-34 cassette. And that's the middle range crank as Campagnlo offers a 50-34! Wrap your head around that 1:1 gearing from Campagnolo on their high end racing groups.

The Gravel 1x setups are nuts as well with rear cogs with 52 teeth.

Joe
 
jszokoli said:
Cal,

Tubulars you have lost your mind. I'm with Phil use glue. A bed of dried glue is not necessarily bad. If anyone knows how to clean rim cement off anything (hand, sidewalls, carpet) let me know cause I have not found it. Are these 700c knobby tires? If they are I have some for the taking, some new some lightly used. Tires have come a long way and tubulars for anything less than pro racing are just not called for.

I've been reading along and while old cool stuff is great, cycle gearing has really moved on from the He-Man gearing your talking about. I just built a Campy road bike with a 52-36 Crank and a 11-34 cassette. And that's the middle range crank as Campagnlo offers a 50-34! Wrap your head around that 1:1 gearing from Campagnolo on their high end racing groups.

The Gravel 1x setups are nuts as well with rear cogs with 52 teeth.

Joe
Click to expand...

Joe,

I’m trying to use what I have at hand. A friend built me some heavy training wheels, straight 16 gauge, brass nipples, heavy clincher rims and Ultegra 105 hubs. I’m using these TUFO tubular clinchers on these wheels, and if I add a little sealant never a flat.

But the problem with these wheels is that for some reason the XT 11-34 cassette never snugs up and I don’t know why. It should work.

So what I have left are these old retro racing wheels that are lightly built, double butted-alloy nipples. Of course these are racing wheels, tubular rims, and even the rear wheel is wired.

I know that I am out of date, but I have read reviews of the tape verses glue. The tires are TUFO S33’s, nothing crazy or expensive, just a 24mm wide slick for a little Cush over the 21mm wide version. These are basically just training tires.

I would not call my 48/32 with an 11-34T cassette so he-man. Do the math: 32t chainring with a 34T cog equals a 26.35 inch gear low. In fact less than 1:1 and a lower low than the Campy bike you just built. Maybe the only he-man aspect is going 9-speed because with less gears the jumps get bigger. I don’t think I’m so crazy.

Pretty much back in the day I was pretty strong and I did the High Point Century all hills with a 53/39 and a 12-21T. Truth be told I was dropped by my friends who were all younger than me. The High Point is a cruel ride. Pretty much the worse and steepest climbs are all in the last 30 miles. Of course this is on Long Island and not the Gateway to the Hudson Highlands.

Granted the 12-21 with a 53/39 is mucho tall, and even with a 11-34 it is still steep.

Anyways if you read all the posts you will find that I did eventually figure things out. I think eventually I can and will get those racing wheels replaced onto a clincher rim. At this point I am experimenting, learning, and having fun. The taped S33 tubulars are an experiment.

Speaking of experiment: Last week I finally gave up on securing a pair of White Industries hubs. Originally I ordered them on the 10th of February 2022. Sometime in May I contacted my dealer who is a big dealer for Chris King and White Industries to inquire about the delay. In February I was told 12 weeks leadtime. Oh-well. So now almost 9 months later I finally canned the order and got my refund.

So yesterday I figured out the game that the shortest wait is to order direct from White Industries, so I placed an order for two 36 hole hubs, retro style for rim brakes. I know 36 spokes for a skinny bitch like me that dressed likely weighs 145 pounds is way overkill, but understand that my 24 inch wheels are basically BMX wheels and oh-well 36 spoke. So not only is 36 hole overkill, but then realize how strong a smaller diameter rim is.

I was surprised that later today I got an e-mail from White Industries that my order has been shipped. I figure because I have the oddball 36 hole they had them on hand. So from almost 9 months wait to just a day. Life is mucho funny that way. I did not get so crazy with the delay because basically I was busy with the kitchen headache.

As for a gravel bike, I figure these new Billy Bonker tires are interesting, mucho nubs like a Schwable gravel tire called the “All-Rounder.” I can set up the Ti IBIS with an 2x11 XTR and pretty much match a gravel bike’s gearing except for the top gear. For me coasting on long downhills and using gravity to hit “terminal velocity” is no crime. Anyway’s a different take on a gravel bike.

I like in the fall to go to Lake Minnow-Wask-A State Park in New Palz to ride the stair stepped carriage roads along the cliffs (Gunks). Not so sure modern gravel bikes are meant to wheelie up those water bars on the climbs, or how those carbon fiber frames will like the water bars as drops at speed.

Then know that I can easily add a Rock Shox Judy XC that I have that has been overhauled, upgraded, and tricked out.

Then all I have to do is change my tires and I would have a full blown mountain bike with a 2x11. My low would be a 18.29 gear inches with 42/32 cranks and a 11-42T cassette.

The Steel IBIS is my 1x11 XTR bike optimized for Blue Mountain.

BTW on your new bike, I assume disc brakes and 12-speed, or did you go retro with rim brakes and perhaps 11 speed?

Cal
 
Joe,

The Goo Gone made for a good lubricant to scrape the crystallized cement. I used a sheet rock knife blade as my scraper. Also I used a cut off of a Scotch Bright dish washing sponge wet with the Goo Gone. Some of the glue came up with just the sponge/Scotch bright.

Granted that my glue was likely more than a decade old. My old tubulars were badly dry rotted. Oh-well.

Now I have spotless rims. The hard anodize along with my art skills (manual dexterity) made for an easy task. My wheels are clean like there never was any glue. This job went fast and was not ugly.

Anyways yet another experiment. I guess I miss working in a lab. I use to say, “ If we knew what we were doing, we would not be called research.”

A set of new tubulars are stretching on the rims.

Cal
 
First, your cassette: Is it spaced out too far? There are various spacers and shims for Shimano cassettes since the 7/8/9 are not precisely the same size. Is your freehub body cracked? Is your lockring thread stripped? Freehub body thread stripped? Is it Ultegra or 105? The shoulder on the back of the freehub body is different between the two hubs across generations and can account for differences in ability to lock a cassette. I had this same problem between an Alivio/RX100grade hub and an M530 when trying to get my XTR cassette to lock down, it just wouldn't happen on the cheaper freehub body because of the shoulder and tolerances. Worked fine on the M530.

Anyway... to my sew up rant.

Back when I was a mechanic and was also racing for Temple University 2008 - 2009, I had 6 full sets of 700c tubular wheels. One set was a Suntour Superbe Pro track, two sets were gorgeous threaded 126mm freewheels (one Dura Ace, the other C Record) and the other three sets were modern Shimano, two Ultegras 6400 and Dura Ace 7400. Most of these wheels were bought by the pound because no one wanted them. Racers were shedding sew ups for good reason and I liked riding them because there was a certain bit of nostalgia to them but I never commuted, and the ONE time I went out for a pleasure ride on my almost 17lb Vitus 979, I blew up my Regina Extra Oro 6-speed freewheel about 8 miles from home over on the west side of Manayunk out on the Schuylkill path. I walked back to Manayunk and into a snooty bike shop in my Temple Owls kit with my throwback bike that was getting laughs when I was asking the mechanics if they had a 6 or 7 speed freewheel. A guy looked at my bike thinking it was a tank and asked how much it weighed and I grinned and said it was lighter than his bike. He got a bit uppity about that because he had spent north of $5000 on a carbon fiber bike, so he asked if the mechanic could weigh my bike. They hung it from the saddle rail and it was almost 18 lbs until I took off my water bottle when it measured in at 16.9lbs. That dude was so pissed that a bike made of metal from the mid 80s was lighter than his brand new CF machine.

I rode my last race on CX tubulars and they were great, but I think the only thing I'd do with a sew up these days is mount it to a pristine Wolber laced to a Nuovo Record hub, hanging from a bike that will never be ridden and just occasionally pump it up for old times sake. Tufos are crazy heavy and give up all the advantages of a sew up since they have a bead. A good kevlar bead Vittoria will be a far superior tire and have the added benefit of not needing to call for a ride if you get a flat out in BFE.
As for the tires themselves, I was given about 30 sew ups by shop pro racers, both road and cyclocross, who wanted a new tire for every race. Fine with me. I never bought a single sew up in my life. I cut the casings and learned to replace the latex tubes then sew them back up, without any lumps. I did this for just one of the pros who was a coworker, who saw me do it and inspected my finished tire. He gave me a brand new set of Vittoria CX tires which I raced on as payment for repairing his road tires.

Regarding the glue itself, do one coat on the rim, let it dry completely. Hit it with a little sandpaper to give it some tooth for the next coat to really grab on to. Then do one coat on the rim, and one coat on the tire, let them cure then mount.
If you insist on using tape, make sure you have a good osteopathic surgeon who knows elbows and you may want a good oral surgeon because if the front tire rolls, your face will try to stop your body from hitting the asphalt.

So these days, sew ups are just a liability and a great way to wind up too far away from home without a viable way to fix your flat. 24mm tires on upstate roads?!?!?!

Now I'd only ride them if I had a support van with a spare set of wheels ready to go, otherwise I'd forget all that noise.

Phil Forrest
 
Phil_F_NM said:
First, your cassette: Is it spaced out too far? There are various spacers and shims for Shimano cassettes since the 7/8/9 are not precisely the same size. Is your freehub body cracked? Is your lockring thread stripped? Freehub body thread stripped? Is it Ultegra or 105? The shoulder on the back of the freehub body is different between the two hubs across generations and can account for differences in ability to lock a cassette. I had this same problem between an Alivio/RX100grade hub and an M530 when trying to get my XTR cassette to lock down, it just wouldn't happen on the cheaper freehub body because of the shoulder and tolerances. Worked fine on the M530.

Anyway... to my sew up rant.

Back when I was a mechanic and was also racing for Temple University 2008 - 2009, I had 6 full sets of 700c tubular wheels. One set was a Suntour Superbe Pro track, two sets were gorgeous threaded 126mm freewheels (one Dura Ace, the other C Record) and the other three sets were modern Shimano, two Ultegras 6400 and Dura Ace 7400. Most of these wheels were bought by the pound because no one wanted them. Racers were shedding sew ups for good reason and I liked riding them because there was a certain bit of nostalgia to them but I never commuted, and the ONE time I went out for a pleasure ride on my almost 17lb Vitus 979, I blew up my Regina Extra Oro 6-speed freewheel about 8 miles from home over on the west side of Manayunk out on the Schuylkill path. I walked back to Manayunk and into a snooty bike shop in my Temple Owls kit with my throwback bike that was getting laughs when I was asking the mechanics if they had a 6 or 7 speed freewheel. A guy looked at my bike thinking it was a tank and asked how much it weighed and I grinned and said it was lighter than his bike. He got a bit uppity about that because he had spent north of $5000 on a carbon fiber bike, so he asked if the mechanic could weigh my bike. They hung it from the saddle rail and it was almost 18 lbs until I took off my water bottle when it measured in at 16.9lbs. That dude was so pissed that a bike made of metal from the mid 80s was lighter than his brand new CF machine.

I rode my last race on CX tubulars and they were great, but I think the only thing I'd do with a sew up these days is mount it to a pristine Wolber laced to a Nuovo Record hub, hanging from a bike that will never be ridden and just occasionally pump it up for old times sake. Tufos are crazy heavy and give up all the advantages of a sew up since they have a bead. A good kevlar bead Vittoria will be a far superior tire and have the added benefit of not needing to call for a ride if you get a flat out in BFE.
As for the tires themselves, I was given about 30 sew ups by shop pro racers, both road and cyclocross, who wanted a new tire for every race. Fine with me. I never bought a single sew up in my life. I cut the casings and learned to replace the latex tubes then sew them back up, without any lumps. I did this for just one of the pros who was a coworker, who saw me do it and inspected my finished tire. He gave me a brand new set of Vittoria CX tires which I raced on as payment for repairing his road tires.

Regarding the glue itself, do one coat on the rim, let it dry completely. Hit it with a little sandpaper to give it some tooth for the next coat to really grab on to. Then do one coat on the rim, and one coat on the tire, let them cure then mount.
If you insist on using tape, make sure you have a good osteopathic surgeon who knows elbows and you may want a good oral surgeon because if the front tire rolls, your face will try to stop your body from hitting the asphalt.

So these days, sew ups are just a liability and a great way to wind up too far away from home without a viable way to fix your flat. 24mm tires on upstate roads?!?!?!

Now I'd only ride them if I had a support van with a spare set of wheels ready to go, otherwise I'd forget all that noise.

Phil Forrest
Click to expand...

Phil,

Had a front tire roll on me. A bike shop had done the gluing. Of course I crashed.

I stand corrected: the rear hub is a 105 not Ultegra. My problem with this wheel is that the lock does not thread in deep enough, resulting in a loose cassette. Pretty much the nut bottoms out early.

At this point all I’m doing is experimenting and trying to move further along. Building my bikes in an evolutionary manner is teaching me a lot, and a lot has changed over the decades.

I’m mighty glad that latex tubes made a comeback. I think I will take your advice and eventually go with a Vitoria clincher. I would recycle a silver set of White Industry hubs that are presently on these tubular racing wheels. All this makes sense as I want to spend time riding and not being stuck on the road.

As for the 24mm width, max PSI is only 115, and of course the 21mm version is higher, but lighter. Pretty much never experienced a wider tire on a road bike ever. I’m not trying to make a modern gravel bike. Anyways the retro frame does not really allow for much more width anyways. I want to know if the weight penalty is worth the possible comfort. Pretty much all I’m trying to do is build out a road bike with low gearing, so I’m not so sure I really need or want a tire width wider than a 21mm.

Remember I have the spring of titanium to take the edge off road roughness, even though I have a carbon fork for precise steering. I need the experience to know what is right for me.

I kinda live in a special place, the Gateway to the Hudson Highlands. Right across the river is Bear Mountain, so pretty much almost in my back yard I have a great training ground. There is no shortage of hills or climbs.

All I have invested are two $48.00 cheap tubulars and some expensive Italian tubular tape.

I think using old Grafton road cranks and a set of Grafton compact drive mountain bike cranks is an elegant solution that will have a matched “Q” and use the same 113mm bottom bracket. I could recycle the adjustable White Industries BB that is on the Newsboy, and fine tune the 1x11 chain line on the Newsboy as a further benefit.

So my objective is to use 9-speed XTR trigger shifters on a road bike that kinda has a mountain bike like cockpit, but I want to be able to convert the gearing from Dura-Ace to XTR to have gearing for flatlandering and for mountain road.

I guess the bonus here is how the Ti Basso Newsboy benefits from a dedicated 1x11 new crank that will add bling and look hot.

So next week I should have 36 hole hubs on hand. I already have Rhyno Lite 24 inch welded rims. One wheel will replace the el Cheapo wheel I bought as a temporary that is on the steel IBIS, and the other to build out the Ti IBIS as a 2x11.

The Ti IBIS will be a bike with a very confused identity: kinda like an urban cross bike that could be converted into a full blown mountain bike with a suspension. For Blue Mountain I have the steel IBIS rigged as a 1x11 with rock crawling gearing. Pretty much a bike about riding slow and technical that is ridden at curbed speed for safety. Pretty much the goals are to clean sections and stay on the pedals.

Cal
 
Got it. You need a cheap lock ring. They are deeper than the XTR/Dura Ace versions which also have a bevel to the inside edge to prevent threads from catching and cross threading.
Speaking of using money wisely, if you want to put an investment to good use, sell all of your new XTR and Dura Ace for the top dollar it can get right now and get a bunch of LX/105 level cassettes. XTR/Dura Ace have shorter lifespans than the hardened steel of the lower grade cassettes. They are also less forgiving of chain wear, chainline, and have far less tolerance with respect to adjustment. The tooth profile is actually different between the racing level components and the lower grade stuff. If you want your money to go the farthest though, dump the boutique racing cassettes, especially because they are consumables. I'd love to ride on an XTR cassette into the future but it's a fool's errand for me to continue to search for them when I can find affordable, longer wearing LX cassettes at a ratio of 20:1 to XTR. Buying the highest grade of consumable meant for professional racing but not actually racing, is akin to using a credit card to buy food, it's simply the most expensive way to go about things. The ONLY reason I'm riding an XTR cassette right now is that it was given to me by the guy who sold me my Univega, otherwise I'd be riding an old worn LX 8 speed, which is waiting for me when the XTR wears out sometime this winter.

Phil Forrest
 
Phil_F_NM said:
Got it. You need a cheap lock ring. They are deeper than the XTR/Dura Ace versions which also have a bevel to the inside edge to prevent threads from catching and cross threading.
Speaking of using money wisely, if you want to put an investment to good use, sell al of your new XTR and Dura Ace for the top dollar it can get right now and get a bunch of LX/105 level cassettes. XTR/Dura Ace have shorter lifespans than the hardened steel of the lower grade cassettes. They are also less forgiving of chain wear, chainline, and have far less tolerance with respect to adjustment. The tooth profile is actually different between the racing level components and the lower grade stuff. If you want your money to go the farthest though, dump the boutique racing cassettes, especially because they are consumables. I'd love to ride on an XTR cassette into the future but it's a fool's errand for me to continue to search for them when I can find affordable, longer wearing LX cassettes at a ratio of 20:1 to XTR. Buying the highest grade of consumable meant for professional racing but not actually racing, is akin to using a credit card to buy food, it's simply the most expensive way to go about things. The ONLY reason I'm riding an XTR cassette right now is that it was given to me by the guy who sold me my Univega, otherwise I'd be riding an old worn LX 8 speed, which is waiting for me when the XTR wears out sometime this winter.

Phil Forrest
Click to expand...

Phil,

Good advice. I think I’ll save the Dura-Ace since I bought them on the cheap years ago, but as consumables I’ll load up on LX/105 like you suggest to consume.

You are correct that the lock ring is an XT.

I’m a hoarder and I recognize what I already own as a store of value. Not so different than owning a hard asset where time is my friend. I can always sell the good stuff later…

Back in the day when I got involved with fitness and biking I was divorced and paying child support. Pretty much had no money, but I scrounged and saved to have two Ti bikes.

The Ti Basso came to me as a deal. A riding friend worked as a bike distributor, and pretty much my bike was assembled as a show bike for some big bike show in California, then it was sold off to me. Pretty much I got a deal of a lifetime. Meanwhile I still lived in depravity, renting rooms and having pizza for dinner 5 nights a week.

My rich brother gifted each of us $3K one Christmas. My brother, Sunny, told me not to waste the money, so I bought the Ti Basso Road bike as a frame and had it built up with the new Dura-Ace STI. You now have the shifters. This was a gift from heaven, and I still lived in poverty. Pretty much much of my income went to paying child support.

There is a saying, “The reason why divorce costs so much is because it is worth it.” Kinda true in my case.

So understand that these two Ti bikes come from a time of great despair and need. Pretty much all I had except for the steel IBIS. Bikes and my friend Mike kinda saved my life, and I made it through a very difficult time and period in my life. There was a time of quite a few years where my life was just work and biking. It was my lifestyle and perhaps no different than a real hard core surfer who lives to surf.

My sister thought spending $3K on a bike was a total waste and was pretty angry and opinionated about my life and lifestyle.

She used her $3K to put a new roof on the ranch she owned.

Pretty much she kinda thought of me as a loser and expressed that, but I know it was what I needed, what I truly wanted, and that this road bike would be with me the rest of my life. I knew then and I know now that it was some of the best money I ever spent.

Pretty much many women on Long Island think that men that don’t own homes are losers. Oh-well… My sister was one of them… BTW not a very happy person and very full on envy.

Once she clearly stated to me, “Guys who don’t own homes, are losers.”

My response was, “I’m a guy, and I don’t own a home, so I must be a loser.”

No Apollo-Gee, just silence. How rude is that?

Not owning a home on Long Island to her was akin to or worse than being a 40 year old man and living at home with mom.

These bikes have a deeper meaning and are very important to me, but they are a monument to a struggle against depression and despair when things were really-really tough. My sister did not really understand me or what I was going through. Things are/were pretty one sided…

In other posts I was considering buying into a new carbon fiber IBIS Excie, a full suspension cross country bike that would weigh just 23 1/2 pounds in my size. A loaded Excie would cost about $12K, but understand that to me my old bikes that I worked hard for are actually more valuable to me than any new bike.

Pretty much these 4 bikes make me happy.

Cal
 
Calzone said:
BTW on your new bike, I assume disc brakes and 12-speed, or did you go retro with rim brakes and perhaps 11 speed?
Cal
Click to expand...

Totally retro, rim brakes, and 12 speed mechanical.
I have the feeling that this could be the last mechanical rim brake group from Campagnolo...
Joe
 
jszokoli said:
Totally retro, rim brakes, and 12 speed mechanical.
I have the feeling that this could be the last mechanical rim brake group from Campagnolo...
Joe
Click to expand...

Joe,

I don’t think you are wrong.

Very cool.

Pretty much 12-speed is the way to go to have the small jumps.

Don’t forget where I live. Eventually I’ll have the guest room set up…

Cal
 
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