Dachshund gets a Seven

[dachshund]

Beautiful bike. Congrats. Can I ask how expensive the TA Carmina crank/setup was? I was interested in something similar until I saw the prices on Peter White's website. Then, not so much. Now I'm leaning toward a Campy Centaur compact with a 13-29 in the rear as a much more economical way to go.

Unfortunately, I don't have an itemized bill for this. It's wrapped into the full price of the bike. I would go with Peter White's prices for starters. Also note that at least one of the chainrings must come with the ramps & pins. We found out the hard way that shifting doesn't work without them. After that experience, I'm not sure why any distributor would send out a triple without them on at least the middle ring.

But the full changeover would require a different bottom bracket, crank & chainrings, and chain. In my case the Campy derailleur didn't work so he went with IRD.

A compact double is certainly worth considering.

[indysteel]

Unfortunately, I don't have an itemized bill for this. It's wrapped into the full price of the bike. I would go with Peter White's prices for starters. Also note that at least one of the chainrings must come with the ramps & pins. We found out the hard way that shifting doesn't work without them. After that experience, I'm not sure why any distributor would send out a triple without them on at least the middle ring.

But the full changeover would require a different bottom bracket, crank & chainrings, and chain. In my case the Campy derailleur didn't work so he went with IRD.

A compact double is certainly worth considering.

That's what I'm thinking, too, unless SadieKate has some words of wisdom for me. I priced the TA Carmina on Peter White's website, and with everything I'd need (I have plans to build up a custom Moots this winter), it was just beyond my budget. The Campy compact will work, but they don't offer a 12-27 in the rear, which is what I'd prefer. I'll have to go with a 13-29, which is fine, just not my first choice. That'll give me the climbing gears that, at least from experience, I tend to need on the steep hills we have in southern Indiana, unless the decrease in weight from my current steel Bianchi to a Moots makes that BIG of a difference in climbing (which I'm not counting on). I've thought about going with Shimano or Sram, but all other things being factored in, I prefer Campy.

In any event, the TA Carmina is a darn pretty crank. I just wish it wasn't so expensive.

Sorry for the thread highjack. Congrats again on your new bike!

[SadieKate]

Tell me about the cost of the Carmina! Oy, but it's been so worth it.

Another option is a beautifully polished Sugino. I have one on my Kelly Bonestock. Jobob and V use them on their Rivs. It's a great choice also.

I'm confused by why the Campy front der didn't work for your bike, dachsund, but one other question I just thought of: are your TA rings the Zephyr 9/10 rings? One other note, we install front derailleurs very low to the large ring, lower than many mechanics.

The middle ring should be ramped and the outer two should be pinned (the little stubby ones). The outer ring will also have one long pin pointing toward the crank arm though this ring has nothing to do with shift quality.

Your bike is gorgeous as is! No paint necessary.

[madscot13]

depending on what you are looking for you could check out this site: http://www.xxcycle.com/stronglight-c...p?tri=prix,ASC
http://www.xxcycle.com/cranks,en.php
it sometimes has deals on stronglights and TA cranks. stronglight and TA are pretty simliar in that they have those fun, wacky tooth numbers that actually make more sense when you get down to it. because they don't charge taxes, which are already included in the price, the shipping is essentially null.

sorry from the aside. Your seven looks fantastic.

[dachshund]

I'm confused by why the Campy front der didn't work for your bike, dachsund, but one other question I just thought of: are your TA rings the Zephyr 9/10 rings? One other note, we install front derailleurs very low to the large ring, lower than many mechanics.

The middle ring should be ramped and the outer two should be pinned (the little stubby ones). The outer ring will also have one long pin pointing toward the crank arm though this ring has nothing to do with shift quality.

It does have Zephyr 9/10 rings, and the pins as you described. With the Campy der. it lagged, there was a delay before it lifted the chain. I'm not sure I ever mentioned to Chris about installing the der. lower.

And please hijack my thread, I like these discussions.

[SadieKate]

Just commenting on the derailleur height. I can't tell you how many times we've complained about the shifting when someone else has built a bike and fixed it by getting the derailleur to absolutely minimum height.

[indysteel]

I just reread this thread and caught the specs for your wheels. I have the exact same custom wheels and they were also recommended by SadieKate. I love them, too. SK, I think you should start getting a commission from White Industries, Sapim and Velocity!

My BF just got a set of them
himself. But I had mine first.

[SadieKate]

All I did was tell her to go ogle jobob's and leebob's wheels. I think jobob took it from there. Kind of a tag team effort.

dachsund is soooo easy.

[dachshund]

And now for some color. :-)



Here's the 'before'.

[maillotpois]

WOW!!!



Beautiful!

[redrhodie]

Ohhhh, nice! I love it!

[jobob]

It's fabulous.

I'm now craving a creamsicle

[ilima]

Yowza! That looks great.

Where did you have the painting done? I would like to have something similar (unpainted seat & chainstays) done to my Merlin.

Also, how do you like your Frogs? I use Speedplays on my road bike & like them a lot. Mechanic convinced me to try a pair of Eggbeaters on my commuter & I kinda wish I'd just gotten Frogs instead.

[aka_kim]

Very nice!

But now I want to paint my bike too.

[dachshund]

Thanks everybody!

Yowza! That looks great.

Where did you have the painting done? I would like to have something similar (unpainted seat & chainstays) done to my Merlin.

Also, how do you like your Frogs? I use Speedplays on my road bike & like them a lot. Mechanic convinced me to try a pair of Eggbeaters on my commuter & I kinda wish I'd just gotten Frogs instead.

I had it painted through the LBS, and they work with a local painter. Seven didn't have this shade of orange available, and the local painter accepted the standard car paint colors such as PPG & DuPont. I went to an automotive paint shop and looked through the catalogs. I bought samples of a couple of shades in spray cans and sprayed them on a piece of aluminum. Then I handed the bike and the spray can over to Chris at the bike shop, and crossed my fingers.

I'm really happy with the Frogs. There's no tension holding the cleats in. The only issue with them is that you can accidentally pull out from the back, so I occasionally do some odd moves with them. I've never liked clipless pedals, and these are my answer to the whole nuisance (for me.)