Tag Archives: brakes
From Bogota to an Ashram in the jungle
After a small rant about it being our right to stay here, look it says so in my passport, the friendly medic at the fire department told us to wait until the chief gets here, as she could not give us permission. Well we have got know where else to go, we joked and got down to serious business. Panela, oats, wheat, water, tub, voila, dinner. Continue reading →
Bridging the gap / optimism
the road
It was the worst road I have ever encountered, we are talking roads so steep that my brakes were literally smoking on a few of the downhill’s, I didn’t even think that it was physically possible, until it happened. Continue reading →
Montreal's makeover – a touring bike is born
before
meet bob
the new: bar end shifters…super wide bars..cateye bike computer….adjustable stem…
Solid deore XT brakes, handspun mavic rims, 36 spoke on marathon plus
got my granny gears
Montreal’s riding like a dream, it took just two days to fix her up.I had a minor hitch with a too small bottom bracket that were messing up the front derailer’s ability to extend fully. Picked one up from the ‘bike church’ in Santa Cruz. People go to the church to learn how to fix up their bikes and buy used parts. It’s where the cool kids go, I saw one hipster dude with a bike that had 4 tennis balls in the wheel, near the hub, it looked pretty awesome. Being in Santa Cruz and seeing really cool bikes every other second has really made me want to build my own fancy colour co ordinated ride. But it’s not meant to be, actually instead of making my ride look better i’m trying to make it look crappy and undesirable to any potential devil-child-bike-thieves. Code name Operation gypsy-fy is in effect. I’ve got some scrap material, stickers and othe cheesy stuff.
So Apart from the BB, everything went smoothly. Bob trails beautifully, i took a downhill at 40 mph and it handled sweet. I didn’t have it fully loaded though so i still need to try that out..
Bonuses of building your own touring bike:
I use the term touring bike loosely, you can tour on anything really, to paraphrase my man Janne Corax ‘ it all depends on your legs, determination and ability to improvise’. However doing a self build has some great advantages.
To start with it’s fun, i were a little anxious to begin with as it were my first build and i weren’t quite sure if it were all going to work out. Luckily it it did and Montreal is the sweetest ride ever.
Bike – Use what you have now or buy used or even a new frame, whatever works for you. I went with a $40 bike of craigslist. It’s steel lugged has a relaxed geometry and braze-ons for a rear rack. I would have liked to have front fork mounts for a rack, but beggars cant be choosers.
Customization – It’s nice being able to pick and choose whatever parts you like, be it for performance, aesthetics or just to suit your budget. When you’re going to be putting a lot of miles in, the minor details like that small groove in your drop bars, will make for a more pleasant ride.
Skills – I learned so much about bike mechanics that i’m much more confident in my ability to fix any problems that might occur along the way. Also, if i need to change a part or something, instead of relying on some dude in a bike shop, i feel i can make an informed decision on what will work best for me. Maintenance will also be easier now i know whats what.
Overall it’s a really satisfying experience and i feel Montreal and I have both grown together in what can only be described as a beautiful thing, ha ha.
Ultimately, I feel pretty confident of Montreal’s ability to spin me down to Argentina, and thats all that counts…..
Thank you:
Scott and Pam at Earth Cycles in Santa Cruz.
dude at the bakery for giving me extra donuts.
Jeff for cycling with me to Scotts Valley.
