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OT - modern lightweight with classic style

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bulldog1935

Cruisin' on my Bluebird
I've had an upright in my mind for awhile, and when a late 90s Viner Italian cross frame came up on ebay in my size, decided to spring for it and finagled an offer with the seller - actually 3 offers - he finally accepted the third offer.
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Did my homework, made a list of parts, sourced best prices from Japan to UK and in between, sold a few fly rods and a reel.
Decided on Aherne 615mm MAP bars, which are modeled on the Jones H bars and have a very natural hand position.
With measurements from my other bikes and a scaled photo of the bar went with 80mm Technomic stem, placing the ends of the bars about an inch behind the stem. Wanted a modern compact double with gearing that would let me climb the steep hills back home after a long ride - Microshift 9-speed thumb shifters - this is my first ever index-shift bike, though had great luck with Microshift bar ends on a Team Fuji my daughter built summer before last.
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Paul touring canti brakes - Andy at Modern Bike has the deal on Paul components. Velomine had an inexpensive tubular wheelset with a great price, so I decided to at least begin with tubies and sprung for good tires - Challenge Chicane - these will will run down to 23 psi on the soft stuff, are rated for 90 psi, but no reason to ever run them above 60 psi.

The final on my drivetrain is Sugino XD2 42/25T rings with guard, and Miche 12-29 9-sp custom cassette. Microshift R10 RD and Ultegra CX70 FD (this came from UK at half of US price); SKF BB 111mm Italian with JIS tapers.
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Gearing is 23 inches to 90 inches in 4-7-inch steps.

Done - quick but reliable steering, the bike is light and responsive, the tires are fast, cozy and quiet
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In order to get the pedal placement correct for upright riding position, had to go with a max offset seatpost, Nitto S84, but got this from Japan for 40% of the US selling price.
Also, if anybody wants a great bag buy, the Ostrich 731 7-liter bag from Alex Cycles in Japan is $67 including the 4-day express mail (selling price for this bag in the US is $140 plus shipping).
There are great buys in Japan right now because of a weak JY (which even makes the shipping a good buy).
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The Nitto wire cage there is also half of the US price.
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A few details - cork grips with 7 coats spar varnish and twine wrap spacers with 2 coats shellac
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Randi Jo bartender bag - the most useful bag ever
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Very nice,looks like all your homework and eye for detail really paid off. Really like the grips and spacers,that is a nice touch. Are those grips custom ? I did a similar build with about the same geometry,took a few miles to get the hang of that quick steering.
 
thanks Dale - those are Meisha's cork grips from Rivendell.
http://www.rivbike.com/product-p/gt5norm.htm

I built the bike with a Thomson post I already had around. When I took my first ride to seat tubies, I noticed the quick steering, plus I was over the pedals. So when I ordered my bag from Japan, I included the Nitto Big offset seatpost, S84. Perfection, putting me properly behind the pedals, and taking weight off the front wheel slowed the steering to a very comfortable feel.

You'd be surprised, there are individual items Grant has great prices on - my wish list and parts purchase from Rivendell included all my Yokozuna cables, small chainring and guard, brass ferrules, small fittings and the cork grips.

I used these grips a few years ago on my daughter's upright - they were longer then - I like the older ones better, but this worked out great - I'm really happy with my twine wraps.
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To treat cork grips, use varnish, not shellac - varnish is flexible, but shellac is rigid and flakes off the grips.
Shellac is better on twine wraps, though, sinking in and turning them into a tough composite, but they can still have a nice fabric feel on the surface.

Rivdendell also a great video on how to to do twine wraps
http://www.rivbike.com/product-p/twine.htm

Twine wraps - this was my first, and also has varnish, which is not as good on the twine.
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if you hang much around the Rivendell Blug, you'll find a thousand uses for twine wraps.
 
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Did take a 10-mi ride with my daughter, but that was before it was all tuned in.
Running errands since then, it's great.
It's raining today and I'm working on fishing reels.
But tomorrow is clear and I'm taking a maiden ride across San Antonio to the Frankenbike meet. Will let you know...

btw, the Paul canti brakes are worth springing for
They are the simplest brakes in the world to adjust.
Most brakes pivot on bushings on the canti bosses.
But the Paul brakes have a sleeve that slides over the canti boss, they pivot on sealed bearings and have an internal spring that you adjust externally with a 15mm wrench.
So you set the brakes up with no tension on the springs and the last thing you do is dial in spring tension and tighten the bolts.
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Thanks for the info and links. I will surely be doing some shopping at Rivendell soon. I was not aware of those grips.I bought mine from Velo Orange.I really like them ,but I would like to try a different profile to compare. Those wraps really add a touch of class,will have give that a try.
 
Thanks for more great info,I was wondering why folks love their Paul brakes so much. They sound like just what I need. I am a perfectionist(not what my wife calls it),I am never 100 percent happy with my canti setups. I am constantly fussing over them,actually messing with some today.
 
I'm also a big fan of twine for various things and it's so easy to do. On a bike I built for my sister, I used them as a chain stay protector. Love those brakes, too. I might check those out someday—I hate adjusting cantis.

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Thanks for more great info,I was wondering why folks love their Paul brakes so much. They sound like just what I need. I am a perfectionist(not what my wife calls it),I am never 100 percent happy with my canti setups. I am constantly fussing over them,actually messing with some today.

In my finished brake photos, you can see Paul moons for the straddle cable yoke - these are an extra also worth springing for - they don't crimp (and break) the cable and have an ersatz 8mm hex head on the back, making brake cable adjustment a snap.

Dutchess, thanks for the photo - pretty bike and nice wraps!
 
Those Moons were the first thing my eye caught. I noticed the clamp was as simple as it gets. Thanks for educating me on the Pauls. They are just what I have been looking for.I love wrenching on bibycles and adjusting cantis is one of my least favorite parts.
 
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