Monday, February 21, 2011

Bike Build Phase

Nude Carbons
The intricacies of bike building, gotta love it!

No you can't just buy any old part and slap it on. There's is always the complex undocumented exceptions to rules with regards to compatiblity, one-off screwed up sizes and of course non-standard designs. Bike building is a science.

With plenty of experience I made sure to factor in the 'other' costs when building Mrs LoTC's bike. I carefully spec'd the parts and compatibility ahead of time but there is always a 'gotchya' that forces you to re-order the part or source it from a local bike shop at 5 times the online prices.


Cartridge BB

Gotta use that tool 3 times to get mah moniez worth

I hate this part

With the majority of the parts here, I started to assemble the stealthy beauty. I've been tooling my own bikes for 15 years now and I have the majority of 'special' tools but of course with every fix there is always that one tool you do not have. It's always a dillema. Do you  spend the extra money and buy the actual tool to do it yourself for this job or do you pay the labour to have the bike shop do it? Of course it is some special tool that you only need once in a blue moon so is it worth it at 3 times the cost of the labour? Will I actually get to use this tool three times, ever? Will I lose said tool before the next time it is needed? Tough choices. I am the kind of guy that believes you buy the tools, not the labour.


Dont breathe the dust. Its deadly.

Ohhh baby - PERFECTION! Best cut I've ever made!!!!!

Integrated headsets are sexxy

Screw ups worth mentioning. The wrong clamp size on the front derraileur. How did I screw that up? I suspect my eyes went wonky looking at so many numbers and somehow I wound up with the wrong one. $5 mistake and only $25 to correct it. This turned out for the best since the FD matches the drivetrain now whereas the part I ordered was oddball. The other screw up was the Headset type. The specs for the frame listed the wrong type and thus I ordered an incorrect headset. That was a costly error at $55 to correct it and $15 on a useless part. This was the most expensive mess up of the whole build which is still under my $200 allowance in 'other' costs. The last screw up was the installation of the star-nut in the head tube. I dont have that tool, I've always managed to install it using creative methods. Except I've never done it with a carbon steerer tube before so it did not end well. I gave up and sent Mrs LoTC to the bike shop to have them do it. It's better to send the wife for these types of things. Bike mechanics are more willing to help the customer that flashes cleavage, fluttters the eye lashes and asks nicely. They installed the nut on the spot, no work order or a few days wait needed.


I guess she'll need to slow down eventually

Oh sweet - while writing this another package just arrived! We've been waiting on the seatpost clamp for her bike, and I was waiting on my carbon aero water bottle & cage. I'm surprsied we received this on a government holiday.

Anyhow, I still need to cable her bike, tune it and fit it. I also have to wrap the handlebars in a "different color" because I'm told the current color is not pretty enough. Go figure.

Relax, I'll flip the stem cap


 



Gas Pedal








Getting there..

Clickety Click

Before getting the 'right' FD



Fixed.

Got Carbon Black bar wrap to install yet

Instructions - pfft who needs them!?





Shoes built!

Mostly done Now




Tune, Test, Fit, Wrap to come yet


8 comments:

  1. That is a sexy looking frame. What happened to "it's all about the motor"? :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. unreal
    frame

    but also the fact you can do all that isht

    i can take off my front wheel and transport my bike in my car....

    D

    ReplyDelete
  3. HAHAHAHA my favorite part was that you sent the mrs up to flash some chest and get that done for free. That right there is awesome haha!

    Alright, the blue wrap looks like complete crap. I can't believe you even took a picture with it on.

    Nice job man. Glad to see you have ZERO free time :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. 1987 called and it wants it's sweater back
    Jenn
    p.s. - I like the blue wrap

    ReplyDelete
  5. Rodney - That would require some kind of logic to be involved. I remind you that this is a womans bike. No place for logic in bike selection for a female. All that matters is that 'it is pretty'. Which equates to expensive and Carbon. lol

    CC - I love it, I might get one for me.

    DR - A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away I worked as a bike mechanic. Of course that was before some of the fancy hydraulic brakes and electronic shifting but most of the skills are relevant still :)

    MO - I always get her to call places for me. People are more receptive to a hawt woman who flirts with em'. Fran always gets the job done :) lol. Yeh I debated posting the blue wrap pics, but it's slowly getting built

    Jenn - LOL HAHAHAHA! Hey now, it was more like early 90's lol! Thats one of my ripped garage sweaters that can get greasy. Its not a beauty contest while wrenching lol :) Eat me! hah

    ReplyDelete
  6. The ugly blue bar tape will be replaced with a carbon looking one. Great job on buliding the bike.. I love it!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Looks like fun. I hate putting bikes together because I get flippen anxiety attacks waiting to ride it.

    ReplyDelete

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