NEW Bike Build!

[madscot13]

After soliciting a lot of advice from TE'ers (thanks!), I finally settled on a bike build for my dear Trek 520. I totally replaced my drive train from the mountain drive train that it originally came with. A lot of teeth were worn down and if I were to replace one part I would need to replace another few parts, so I decided to put in a full set. I've been hankering for STIs so that I could get away from my downtube shifters. I also replaced the quill stem with a shorter one in order to try and alleviate some reach issues. I also swapped out the handlebars for the same reason. That and I wanted to try out the salsa pocos everyone has been raving about. Oh yeah, new brakes because mine had a definite tire wear down pattern on them.

The bike is a 9-speed frankenbike. I wanted to have road shifters but the gear range of mountain bikes.

Shimano ST-R600 9-speed short reach brifters.
Salsa Poco handlebars with Silvia cork tape
Cinelli XA 80mm stem
Ritchey logic headset.

Shimano 5500 bottom bracket
Dura Ace crankset
30/39/53 triple rings
Shimano 7703 front derailleur

Rear cassette 12-34
Shimano Deore LX derailleur

front wheel: mavic open pro with a Surly hub
rear wheel: Mavic aksium race with mavic hub

is my bike any lighter with that top of the line drivetrain? Probably not. the shifters way more than my downtube shifters and I think mountain gears being smaller than their road twins are lighter. But who knows I am replacing parts more than 10 years old. I chose the parts for their compatibility and reviews. Nothing was very expensive except for the shifters but those weren't too expensive when you compare it to current Ultegra 10 speed STIs.

I would probably give the bikeshop I sent it to a B score. They did not tighten the quill bolt. my handlebars kept swiveling up and down during the whole ride home! The seatpost was left high and I had to ride standing up the whole way (excellent training for the next time I want to test my self on the Alps). Also my front wheel is backwards, which is somewhat inconsequential except my spedometer magnet is on the wrong side.

[divingbiker]

This thread is useless without pictures.:p

[mimitabby]

This thread is useless without pictures.:p

++ boy howdy. Let's see what we're talking about here?
:D:D:D:D:D

[Zen]

what bike shop would send a bike out the door like that?
I give them a D.

[madscot13]

must find camera cord to please the masses...

[mamaof5]

I'm guessing you probably did this, but just in case:
Make sure you have a new chain with your new drivetrain.

[madscot13]

Alright, when I add pictures you can't be like some other forum that I won't name. You can't tell me to flip it because you can't flip quill stems. You can't tell me to take the picture in front of my white garage door because I don't have a garage and it is raining outside.

here are the before pictures:

[madscot13]

and the after:

note how much nicer the teeth on my gears look!

[smurfalicious]

Ack! Envy! Yet, inspiration! I wish my frankenbike came together as smoothly. Oh wells, soon, soon. I'm so super stoked for you, I think salvaging old bikes is strangely spiritual. Then again, my mom's fixation with repairing old stuff may have worn off on me.

[mimitabby]

oh, you did a really nice job! Brava!

Interesting mistakes that the LBS made. How come they didn't sit you on the bike before you left to make sure it fit you?! (i agree, they get demerits for that!)

Happy new bike. Now that you have the seat adjusted, the stem tightened and the tire turned around, is it an absolute pleasure to ride?

I hope so!

[Zen]

Good job indeed!
The bike messengers will be baiting you now :D

[madscot13]

thanks for all of the kind comments! I did lower the seat and tighten the quill bolt. but when I was taking pictures I noticed that they removed one of my bottle holders, so i need to find the screws to reattach that now.

one thing I was not counting on was the change in hood length. I think it makes my reach extra long, but I will have to wait and see. I have a 60mm stem if that is the case. I just did not want to shorten too much too quickly. plus that cinelli stem is beautiful.

[Zen]

C'mon! Fess up the name of the shop!

[Blueberry]

How cool! I have a 2 year old trek 520 and LOVE it (of course, I find that I love all my bikes:rolleyes::rolleyes:). Seriously, they're just cool bikes:) They do just about everything!!

But oh man - I couldn't ride with that saddle angle:eek: Otherwise, Beautiful bike - glad you're revitalized it:)

[Aquila]

Ooo, your chain is so shiny now!

Have fun!

[ilima]

Your bike looks great!

I just built up (well my mechanic built it up) a bike for commuting in a similar way with parts I mostly cobbled together off ebay and craigslist (still in the box Ultegra 9-sp shifters--yea!). I wanted a ton-o-gears so went with the Deore LX RD and mtn cassette as well. For kicks I went with a low normal RD, which means it shifts to bigger cogs easier (I live on a hill), but is backwards of my regular bike.

[Chicken Little]

Beautiful! But I agree- how about that saddle angle- is that comfortable for you?

[madscot13]

if you are talking about in the before pictures, yes. I had it adjusted perfectly. I was pounding down 40 and 50 mile rides no problem. But now with the new reach and whatnot, it is not. I have been trying to adjust it all night but I can't figure it out.

[Trek420]

But now with the new reach and whatnot, it is not. I have been trying to adjust it all night but I can't figure it out.

madscot, Chris of Robinson Wheelworks (my fave shop) reads TE from time to time. I rarely if ever quote someone much less their e-mail on TE but I'm quoting him here:

"the problem she is having with her handlebar slipping is based on the following compatibility issue. The old school Cinelli stem she is using has a 26.4 mm diameter and the Salsa Poco bars diameter is 26.0mm. Now 0.4 mm may sound like no big deal, yet the stems diameter is too large for the bar and the stem will eventually crack/break. Problem Solver makes a stem shim kit to correct 25.4 to 26.0, this is a 0.6 mm shim, and although close to the necessary shim providing a 0.6 mm difference. The proper and safe action is a new stem :)"

He suggests
"Salsa Poco handlebars with Silvia cork tape
Cinelli XA 80mm stem ...." and goes on to say

"I would probably give the bike shop a B score".

[Zen]

where have you been doing 40 - 50 mile rides?

(and I still give them a D, the backward wheel is a big deciding factor there:D )

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

My husband recently rebuilt his 10 year old Trek 730 as well. It's like a whole new bike, and looks and rides great. Those old steel Treks are wonderful bikes and worth upgrading. Your Trek should last you many more years. :)

I have mountain gears on my road bikes as well. One thing that pops out at me on your setup is that it seems to be a really big jump from your 39 tooth ring to your 53 tooth big ring. Were you not able to get a middle ring somewhere more in the midrange between your granny gear and big ring? Are you having trouble shifting between your middle and big ring at all?

Your rear cassette is the same as mine (12-34), but my gear rings are 24/36/48. I opted to give up one or two of the very highest gears to get the lower range for steep climbs. My highest gear seems to be plenty high for long speedy descents, for me anyway. At 40mph I stop pedaling anyway! :eek:

[madscot13]

"the problem she is having with her handlebar slipping is based on the following compatibility issue. The old school Cinelli stem she is using has a 26.4 mm diameter and the Salsa Poco bars diameter is 26.0mm. Now 0.4 mm may sound like no big deal, yet the stems diameter is too large for the bar and the stem will eventually crack/break. Problem Solver makes a stem shim kit to correct 25.4 to 26.0, this is a 0.6 mm shim, and although close to the necessary shim providing a 0.6 mm difference. The proper and safe action is a new stem :)"

He suggests
"Salsa Poco handlebars with Silvia cork tape
Cinelli XA 80mm stem ...." and goes on to say

"I would probably give the bike shop a B score".

no, it is most definitely a 26.0 stem. I was very careful not to buy an, in my opinion, obsolete stem. there are very few bars you can use 26.4 with. it could be tightened, it just wasn't.

[dachshund]

must find camera cord to please the masses...

Yeah, we're such an angry mob.............. :rolleyes:

[Trek420]

Yeah, we're such an angry mob.............. :rolleyes:

and we're swarming after you with torches ;) (insert here the image I have of villagers from the Frankenstien movie, couldn't find one) :rolleyes:

[Zen]

i don't think you can ride that on the canal but I have a bike you can borrow that will work just fine.

[Bad JuJu]

Great job on your bike! Cute photo of her waiting for you at the gate.:D

[madscot13]

and we're swarming after you with torches ;) (insert here the image I have of villagers from the Frankenstien movie, couldn't find one) :rolleyes:

ooh ooh let me find my camera again!

I actually tried to find gears that were closer to yours. Sugino makes a set, but I was not wild about them. Shimano XT-K are actually spot on but impossible to find. Dura ace 7703 was one of the few triples to have such a large gap between the rings. And I think you can only use one derailleur with it. Well actually the only annoying part- you can't switch out different size chainwheels. I can't say moving from low to high is difficult; I'm still getting use to the shifters. But should it take two swings of my lever to go from the middle chain ring to the large one?

I am heading back to the bike shop- not to chew them out for not checking over the bike before I handed over my credit card. I am going to ask a few shifting questions. One about the upshifting I noticed above and the other is about being in my small chainring. One thing I do notice is how messy it is when I am in the lowest gear. As in it wants to move up but it does not have the room too. I thought I had taken care of it by having a long rear derailleur, but I will have to take it back to the shop for some help. could it be an overall chain tension issue? or my front derail? Biking on a hill in my small chainring is very jerky. I can't pinpoint what is going on though.

Any thoughts?

I wasn't sure if 32mm wheels would be big enough for the canal.

[Zen]

32's? they're plenty big
it's hard to tell from the photos. They looked like slick road tires :o

[7rider]

I wasn't sure if 32mm wheels would be big enough for the canal.

I hope they're big enough. I have 32's (cross/knobbies) on my canal bike now.
BTW...very nice rebuild... No thoughts on your gearing/shifting issues....

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I hope they're big enough. I have 32's (cross/knobbies) on my canal bike now.
BTW...very nice rebuild... No thoughts on your gearing/shifting issues....

32's can handle just about anything.

[madscot13]

no, it is most definitely a 26.0 stem. I was very careful not to buy an, in my opinion, obsolete stem. there are very few bars you can use 26.4 with. it could be tightened, it just wasn't.

I understand what you are saying now. It is the seat height/ angle I have to adjust now, not the stem.

[madscot13]

I do wish the bike would have tightened some of the bolts. you know as a common courtesy. I swear the next time I want a bike build I am going to do it myself.