The weather has been somewhat unpredictable lately, so the maiden voyage has been postponed a couple of times.\u00a0 Today is the day – sun and a high temp in the 50s.<\/p>\n
I think the handlebar and levers are pretty close to their final positions, but I haven’t wrapped the bars yet.\u00a0 Today’s ride will tell me if any adjustments need to be made.<\/p>\n
I’m going to try 45F\/50R tire pressures for today.\u00a0 That’s probably higher than I will run at Unbound Gravel, but it’s just a starting point, not the end.<\/p>\n
I’m really looking forward to the ride.\u00a0 It seems like this build has taken a long time, but in reality it has not.\u00a0 Mounting the tubeless tires was a frustrating exercise, but I learned how to get it done, so that’s a plus.\u00a0 The hydraulic brakes were a bit frustrating for a couple of reasons.\u00a0 First, the Shimano BH90 hose kit didn’t have enough hose to do the front and rear brake.\u00a0 Coming from brake\/housing kits for rim brake bikes that have enough housing and cables to completely replace both brake sets, this was really annoying.\u00a0 There’s not really much of an excuse to short the consumer in this way.\u00a0 Secondly, there are tools that make the job much easier, but they aren’t cheap.\u00a0 Since this is (hopefully) a one-time task, I chose to have a bike shop install the hoses.<\/p>\n
I’ll report back after the ride, and add some photos too.\u00a0 Once I get the bars and levers in their final positions, I’ll wrap the bars and this build will be done.<\/p>\n
No major issues during the ride, but I had to tighten the levers after the first mile or so.\u00a0 They would twist inwards but not outwards.\u00a0 Took a couple of minutes but after that all was good.\u00a0 The bike rides well, the 45F\/50R tire pressures worked well for pavement.\u00a0 Will probably lower the pressure 5 psi or so for gravel and see how it rides.<\/p>\n
The bar position is fine, no change needed.\u00a0 The bars are wider than I used to, and the lower part of the drops twists out even further.\u00a0 I’m not used to them yet, but riding in the drops wasn’t uncomfortable, just unusual.\u00a0 Give me some time on this one.\u00a0 I have a drop bar that’s 42cm wide, and I might decide to use it instead.<\/p>\n
The pedals aren’t the ones I will use going forward but I had them so I used them.\u00a0 Pedals are pretty much pedals.\u00a0 No issues shifting or braking, I did a couple of hard stops to heat up the pads, and then a couple of long brake applications as well.\u00a0 No squealing or chattering – this is with the organic pads (not the sintered pads).\u00a0 The BB is working well, no squeaking at all, just smooth rotation as you’d expect.<\/p>\n
The chain lube seems to be working very well.\u00a0 No noise from the chain, and wiping a finger on the chain after the ride showed clean.\u00a0 No black streaks like wet lubes generally leave.\u00a0 One ride doesn’t make a very complete evaluation, but the next few rides should give me a pretty good idea if it will live up to the advertising and the online reviews.<\/p>\n
Sorry, no photos tonight.\u00a0 It’s too dark.\u00a0 I’ll take some first chance I get and post them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The weather has been somewhat unpredictable lately, so the maiden voyage has been postponed a couple of times.\u00a0 Today is the day – sun and a high temp in the 50s. I think the handlebar and levers are pretty close to their final positions, but I haven’t wrapped the bars yet.\u00a0 Today’s ride will tell … <\/p>\n