New Commuter Bike

It is super silky smooth to ride, the steel frame is VERY plush. Fenders are next on the list. I've been thinking that the aluminum hammered fenders from Velo Orange would be the perfect look for this bike.

http://www.google.com/products/catal...ed=0CFMQ8wIwAA

I've been commuting on it this week and it has been very windy here. Even in nasty cross winds it's super stable. It feels like you are glued to the road when you are riding but still takes off when you need it to. I was cruising along at 20 MPH this week and I could hear my tires humming, lol. I kept thinking a car was coming up behind me but it WAS me.

I have super low gears for climbing while loaded up with gear but still plan to use it for training so I have road worthy gears too so I can keep up with the group. I treated the frame before building it to make it rust proof. I do a lot of commuting so this is pretty much the grocery getter and the everything else bike.

oooooh, I approve of the fenders :D

WR, if you don't mind me asking, how tall are you?

I'm considering a Vaya frame (among others) to replace my Bianchi frame. It's one of the few steel bikes I can find with a slacker seat tube in the small-mid sizes. But I'm not on board with the 26" wheels on the smallest sizes, so that may limit my choices.

I am 5'8, my inseam is 32.5"

This is good info- thanks!

Sooooooo after some time trying to make it work I discovered that you CANNOT use a Shiftmate device to pair your shimano sti shifters to a SRAM rear derailleur when you are using Gore Tex Sealed cables :rolleyes: Apparently the cables are too slippery to allow the pulley to work and rotate fully, bupkis. I did however make a new discovery that even though Shimano resource guides say that an 9 speed Deore XT rear mountain bike derailleur will NOT work with 10 speed Shimano STI shifters they are absolutely full of poo ;) It does work, in fact is works better than I could have dreamed. I'm talking every gear of every ring working good :D I have all 30 gears and they are all usable, not chattery annoying ones at the end of the cassette. Very VERY happy about this. After some extensive research online about who has 'non traditional' drive train setups on their bikes I found the whole 10 speed STI with XT 7-8-9 speeds to be pretty common place on a lot of tandems??? I did ALSO find out that a 10 speed shimano mountain bike derailleur does NOT work with the same 10 speed STI shifters?!?!?! It's enough to make your head spin right??!!?? So I thought I would share this pivotal tidbit of info in the case that anyone else runs into this, that way you can save your self a good chunk of money and not buy parts that don't work.

Today came my next hurdle.... the fenders. As beautiful as they may be they are horrible to install. I have absolutely no idea how but when I was installing the front fender somehow one of the eyelets got all cross threaded and mucked up and I thought the freaking screw was gonna break off in there :eek: So I used a little of my optician background and ran a couple of screws through it backwards and managed to pretty much restore it to useable, whew, that was a close one. I got the front all installed and it is beyond gorgeous. I'm taking a break so now I can get the courage to drill a hole in the back fender :eek: I'm so afraid I'll screw something up and oh did I mention I am a perfectionist to the nth degree when it comes to this kind of stuff. I've had the tape measure out measuring the gaps between the wheels and the fenders. I needed a break from being OCD. So now that I'm almost done with my coffee and muffin it's about time to drag out the drill! :eek::eek::eek::eek: Wish me luck!

I'm tired.... but super happy with the fenders, they are quiet too :D

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Originally Posted by WindingRoad

I did however make a new discovery that even though Shimano resource guides say that an 9 speed Deore XT rear mountain bike derailleur will NOT work with 10 speed Shimano STI shifters they are absolutely full of poo ;) It does work, ... I did ALSO find out that a 10 speed shimano mountain bike derailleur does NOT work with the same 10 speed STI shifters?!?!?!

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The Shimano 10 speed mountain bike shifters/derailleurs are the parts that follow their new cable pull specs. The 10 speed road bike stuff still adheres to the old spec from way back in the 6 and 7 speed era.

Great job on the Fender Install!! They are so time consuming. When the bike hermits installs he has to do a flat fee and it doesn't begin to cover his time but we also know what a bear it can be, especially for people who don't have a stand.

OK Laura I was a little slow on the uptake there, I just noticed you responded with this. :rolleyes:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by laura*

With the Shimano road groups, it is possible to use a MTB cassette and a MTB rear derailleur to get lower/wider rear gearing. The only caveat is that the RD must not be a "new" DynaSys 10-speed derailleur - an older 9-speed (or 8, or 7!) is fine.

Of course, the color and finish won't match...

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