Retro therapy

[Pondo]

Parts have been trickling in all week.

We’ve got some red ano head spacers, XT 11 speed shifter, Shimano Deore 5100 11 speed cassette (11-51), 11 speed chain, disc brake adapter, WTB Trail Boss 2.25”, and a cheap derailleur hanger tool. The rear derailleur is still en route.

 

[Pondo]

I had to clear out part of the garage and had a bit of a bike explosion.

 

[Pondo]

Then I straightened the derailleur hanger. This tool actually works fairly well. It’s a bit sloppy so I shimmed the shaft which took out most of the play. Just need to hold it the same all the way around and it’s ok.

Installed the new cassette.

The 2.25 WTB fits nice and should give a better ride than that old 1.90” tire that was on it.

 

[Pondo]

The disc brake adapter went on fairly easily. It’s a little too big for this dropout but it does work.

There were some tabs on the bottom of the brake pads that interfered with the adapter so I cut them off. I think they are just for making it easier to install the pads anyways. The brake is an old Avid BB7 that has served on a few of my bikes.

So now there is a fully functional disc brake on the rear. Very cool. The only trouble is the adapter really isn’t compatible with this dropout. It blocks the axle slot so that I now have to remove the disc brake and adapter to remove the rear wheel. It’s a little hard to make out in the pics.

Eventually I'm going to have to weld a disc brake mount to this frame to resolve the issue. Who knows when that might be.

 

[Pondo]

The derailleur showed up today and looks good!

Also got the head spacers installed. This will get juggled around a bit, the parts aren't in the correct order.

 

[Pondo]

These are my saddle options. I haven’t found my old Specialized that I would like to use. I have Brooks Flyer carved in black, older B66, old WTB and a new Brooks Cambium. I’m leaning towards the Cambium or maybe the WTB. Any opinions would be appreciated.

 

[Pondo]

The handlebars should be here this week and then I can get it rideable!!

 

[Captain Awesome]

These are my saddle options. I haven’t found my old Specialized that I would like to use. I have Brooks Flyer carved in black, older B66, old WTB and a new Brooks Cambium. I’m leaning towards the Cambium or maybe the WTB. Any opinions would be appreciated. View attachment 239117View attachment 239118View attachment 239119

Cambium!

 

[OddJob]

I second that ^^ emotion! @gowjobs and I were just having a saddle summit on his Cherry build thread. His saddle has a very similar look to the Brooks Cambium.

I want one badly. Have to summon up the courage to part with the $$.

 

[Pondo]

I’m with you guys, I’m going to try the Cambium on this one. I’m pretty comfortable on Brooks leather saddles so I’m hoping the Cambium will be comfy too. It’s rubber so should stand up well to the rigors of mountain biking.

 

[Captain Awesome]

My poor Haro is sitting neglected and torn down. Your build is getting me jonesing to order up some stuff and throw her together

Green bikes rule

 

[Pondo]

My poor Haro is sitting neglected and torn down. Your build is getting me jonesing to order up some stuff and throw her together

Green bikes rule

Sounds like a fun project! I do love green bikes too.

 

[kingfish254]

That cassette is huge! Great updates on this bike.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

I’m pretty comfortable on Brooks leather saddles so I’m hoping the Cambium will be comfy too

I've heard cambium takes much longer (if ever) to break in. Not as workable as the leather. Let us know how it goes

 

[Pondo]

That cassette is huge! Great updates on this bike.

Thanks KF. Yeah, I went with the big 51 tooth. I'm hoping it's not too low but I do need a granny gear for the steep topography around here. If the gearing is too low I'll switch the chainring to a 34T. I'm still figuring the 1x thing out.

I've heard cambium takes much longer (if ever) to break in. Not as workable as the leather. Let us know how it goes

Thanks Matti. I'll keep you posted. I'm going to use this saddle on my main rides so it should see some good mileage.

 

[Jude Ephesus]

These are my saddle options. I haven’t found my old Specialized that I would like to use. I have Brooks Flyer carved in black, older B66, old WTB and a new Brooks Cambium. I’m leaning towards the Cambium or maybe the WTB. Any opinions would be appreciated. View attachment 239117View attachment 239118View attachment 239119

Build looks great. A lot of super nice parts mixed with some top end craftsmanship! I’m definitely a fan of either of the Brooks with the springs; would be a super cool mix of old school parts and newer tech you have on the bike.

 

[Pondo]

Build looks great. A lot of super nice parts mixed with some top end craftsmanship! I’m definitely a fan of either of the Brooks with the springs; would be a super cool mix of old school parts and newer tech you have on the bike.

Thanks Jude! I like the mix of older/newer parts too. I think I may just have to try the seats out to see which I like better on this build. I thought about a B72 also but I think that might be too wide for this build.

 

[Pondo]

The handlebars showed up so I was able to get the bike fully assembled today and take it for a spin. That is after I patched the rear tube which I apparently pinched when I installed it.

The shim I ordered did not show up so I had to borrow the stem from my rusty klunker.

I love these bars. Great style, nice and wide and I love the bare metal look that shows off the brazing.

I spent a good amount of time on YouTube refreshing my memory on getting the chain length correct and adjusting the derailleur. It was worth the effort, it shifts real nice.

 

[Pondo]

Then it was time to ride. 1st impressions? Holy moly I didn’t expect this bike to be this good! I really like this thing. It’s far and away better than my old one ever was. It’s comfortable, rides good, shifts good, stops good, wheelies good. The 100mm fork slackened the head tube angle enough that it feels real stable and not twitchy. I rode it first with the old Brooks expecting it to be horrible but it really wasn’t too bad. It will wind up on a klunker.

Then I tried the Cambium. It was not comfortable. For one thing I was sitting too far back on it which probably didn’t help. A suspension seat post might help. It does look great though.

I tried out the Brooks Flyer to see what it looks like but wasn’t able to ride it as that rear tube won’t hold air again. Old glue is the problem I think. The saddle looks good. I’ll test it out later this week.

 

[kingfish254]

Beautiful bars! love the brazing