Friday, February 25, 2011

You Don't See _That_ Every Day.....

Anyone who knows me knows what to expect: something odd and unexpected. I've been that way all my life and I'm not about to change now so you might as well fucking get over it.

I've been looking for something odd and unexpected to build into something odd and unexpected for a while now, and I've come up with something that fits the bill (click pics to enlarge):

This is an early 90's Fuji Suncrest rigid MTB, set up as a road fixed gear. 700c instead of 26", drop bars instead of flat. This isn't just an ordinary winter basement project, I had a goal - build up a completely new bike buying as few parts specific to the project as possible, while ending up with something odd and unexpected. I came close, in that the only thing I bought specifically for the project was the frame (was originally a whole bike - for $20). Everything else I had as spare parts, except for the stem and pedals (taken off other bikes).



I'm not going to go so far as to say I'm chickenshit, but there's no way in hell I'm riding on public roads with no brakes, a wife, a daughter, and a three bedroom mortgage. I had these long-reach raleigh (weinmann) centerpulls, that just happen to match the span from the seat-stay bridge to the 700C wheels. I used some pads from a set of V-brakes I scavenged from an old MTB a while ago - pretty much new.



The Drivetrain. According to the math, my selection of a 38x14 is just a bit taller than a 42x16 - my gear of choice. In order to properly tension the chain (due to vertical dropouts) I used an early downhill-chainguide I bought when a local bike shop went out of business ten years ago. The owner said "hey, ya want this?" I said "sure , why not". That's an American Classic threaded hub laced to a Matrix ISO rim. If you're less than 40 years old you have no fucking clue what I just said.



The front of the cockpit. Note the other raleigh center-pull that just happens to match the span from the fork drilling to the 700c braking surface. The front wheel is an ofmega hub laced to another Matrix ISO. Again, if you don't remember watching the Creature Double Feature on channel 38 (bonus points if you know where they got the theme song for the show).................



A bontrager saddle that I have no idea where I got. Note the Mavic Challenger in the background. The Mavic Challenger is a spun aluminum disc wheel with a threaded Mavic hub. This motherfucker weighs about 5 pounds. I was thinking of using it for this project, but it's a tubular, and I wanted this to be a bit more pedestrian.


A close up of the cockpit. Yup, that's a 1st generation EC90 carbon handlebar. Believe it or not, I just happen to have one lying around. I had to steal the stem from my 'cross bike because the top tube of this bike is so long. It's a 6 cm stem. If I went with a flat bar I could have used one of the many 10 CM stems I have laying about, but a flat bar on a road bike?
BLASPHEMY, I TELL YOU!!!!



A sweet set of '91 Campagnolo Chorus Aero brake levers. No Solo, these aren't the ones I bought from you.

I have yet to take this out on the road, but I have ridden it for a while on the both the rollers and the trainer. So far, so good. If you happen to see me on it, don't try to drop me, 'cuz I can spin this bitch like an Asian Basket Job.

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