Saturday, May 30, 2026

Pegasus soars

You may recall that in September 2024, in a fit of FOMO, I bought a Crust Lightning Bolt Cantilever frame in Light Sea Green. In my most recent post, I noted that I was nearly finished assembling the the bike, and I can now confirm the I have achieved a state of substantial completion. It's been a longish process, and I'm glad to be [nearly] finished. All that's really left is tinkering with some of the very minor details, such as where exactly to mount the headlight. I think otherwise, the bike has turned out exactly as I hoped. 

Crust Lightning Bolt Cantilever Light Sea Green - XS
The bike is very close to the ideal randonneuse as long described in the pages of Bicycle Quarterly magazine. When interviewed by Russ at Path Less Pedaled, Crust's founder Matt White said, "shake the pages of Bicycle Quarterly and this fell out." Jan Heine himself validated the bike in BQ 70 writing, "The Lightning Bolt takes much of the performance, handling and versatility of our favorite bike and makes them accessible to a greater audience. That is a cause for celebration." I, for one, am definitely celebrating.  

You may recall that this is, in fact, my second Lightning Bolt. Back in 2022, I bought the one in black. It's been my main bike ever since, and I honestly think it's the best bike I've ever ridden. I kept Blackie light, without lighting or fenders. There's a rack, but now decaleur, so I tend to use small bags like the Zimbale in the afore-linked bike check, or the Berthoud Alex Singer Mini Bag. But I wanted to have a full-blown randonneuse, outfitted with fenders and dynamo lighting, so when Crust uncharacteristically put the frames on sale in September, 2024, I had no choice but to grab one. Come on, $975 for the finest steel production frameset ever made? Fuggetaboudit. 

Now it's finally come together after a year and three quarters. As before, I had Travis at Just Riding Along Bike Shop (JRABS) prep the frame and install the headset and bottom bracket. This time though, I let him run the cables and housing and set up the whole drive train. In retrospect I should probably have done the cabling myself, since after fiddling with fenders and the rack, I ended up having to redo it anyway. But I was a bit nervous about installing the front derailer clamp, so I just had him set up the whole thing.  

Campagnolo Veloce 10-speed front derailer

As mentioned in my previous post, I spec'd this bike very similarly to its doppelgänger, looking to create essentially an identical bike for poor weather and winter riding. I stayed with the same drivetrain, featuring MicroSHIFT MTB 2 x 10 bar-end shifters, and their "Mega" rear derailer, paired with Velo-Orange's 46/30 crankset, shifted by a Compagnolo Veloce front mech. The headset is the same 1-inch threaded Campagnolo Record, but the bottom bracket is an Origin8 TorqLite square taper. Pretty much exactly the same set-up as Blackie.   

Origin8 "Classique" levers with MicroSHIFT MTB 2/10 friction shifters

MicroSHIFT "Mega" rear derailer. 47 tooth capacity

The cockpit is where components are just a hair different. I scavenged the 80mm Soma Sutro stem from my old Fuji, and paired it with a pair of 44cm Nitto B132 Grand Randonneur handlebars I bought some time ago. This makes the bars 2cm wider than the 42s on Blackie, just a touch higher and 20mm farther forward. I suspect it all works out in the wash; at least I haven't noticed much difference between the two setups in the admittedly short shakedown rides I've done so far. I also opted, as you'll note in the picture below, for a shiny Japanese Crane bell procured from the local shop Terrapin Bicycles, rather than the spiffy Spurcycle bell I have on my other Crust. 

Soma Sutro stem, Nitto B132 handlebar, and Crane bell
 I used the same Soma Mini Champs-Elysees mini front rack, but here's where I first ran into trouble. There isn't room between the fender and the bottom headset cup to fit the "diving board" rack strut for the rack. I had the same issue with both my Cycles Toussaint Vélo Routier v2 and my previous Lightning Bolt. Sorting out the Vélo Routier took some fancy metal bending, owing to the presence of the center-pull brakes, but for the Lightning Bolt I took the lazy way out and just turned the strut upside down. Not by any means the best solution, but it worked and got me on the bike without having to make another trip to the hardware store. I also didn't have to fiddle with the angle of the brake's straddle cable. 

Fork mounted diving board rack strut
Tire clearance; who needs it?

For the green Crust, that solution wouldn't work, because the fender is in the way. So I bit the bullet and bought a chrome spacer that moves the strut forward enough to clear the headset cup. Everything about the solution is superior. The diving board didn't need to be bent much, it doesn't interfere with the fender, and it generally just looks more "right". I've subsequently added a spacer to Blackie, so both bikes are set up the same, i.e., correctly.

diving board
1/4 x 1/4 inch chrome spacer pushes out the rack strut from the fork crown
At the sharp end of the fender I mounted a Busch + Müller IQ-XS dynamo headlight using the included mount, taking advantage of the Crust dynamo wheelset I bought with the frameset. I'm not crazy about how far forward it puts the light, and may end up trying to mount it below the rack using a Nitto lamp holder (#7), or the très cool DIY chainring solution. 
 

Busch + Müller IQ-XS dynamo headlight
Busch + Müller IQ-XS dynamo headlight

Though I had initially planned to use a plastic chainstay protector, I ultimately decided to use bar tape to match the handlebars. I had contemplated wrapping the chainstay in that cloth tape/twine Rivendellian way, but abandoned the idea because I'm just too lazy and don't have any cloth tape or shellac and am not inclined to wrap my handlebars that way. Also, I had bought some cheapo "celeste" tape on eBay and completely hate it - it won't last on the handlebars for long - so I had a bunch of it at the ready. So, I'll peel off the adhesive and keep it around to wrap the chainstay. I might even try it on Blackie, just for shiz and giggles.   

Crappy bar tape works fine as a chainstay protector

Crust says, "The Bolt's Fork features our new Gran Trajet Fork Crown meaning they suit a 48b tire perfectly, and will fit 42s with fenders. The Gran Trajet fork crown is designed to perfectly mimic the arch of a fender like the Honjo Smooth 62, to leave you with a seamless look." I'm not a fan of smooth fenders, since they tend to show the inevitable scratches and dents. I thought I might get away with the SimWorks by Honjo Turtle 58 fenders, which have that traditional "hammered" texture, but they've been out of stock the entire time I've been looking for them. 

On my two other fendered bikes, I've used Velo Orange fenders and have been pleased with them. Though I was extremely hesitant to go with the Wavy 58mm model, fearing they would just be too weird looking, they were immediately available and seemed like they'd be the right size. In the end I'm glad I did. The bike has a typically Crust-ian funky aesthetic, with its ridiculous Cooper lettering and the odd doodles all over the frame, so I figured what the hell, might as well lean into the funkiness with the mind-bendingly psychedelic wavy chrome. Thrown on a Blue Lug mini triangle reflector for some alt-bike cred, and I think the whole package looks pretty good. Plus, they went on with relative ease. No issues with the front derailer. No funky drilling needed. I did have to do just a bit of metal bending to squeeze the front edge of the rear fender between the chainstays, but nothing you'd really notice. And they integrated with the rack perfectly, so there's a bolt fastening the two together, which gives them both a more solid structure. AND, I got the fenders on sale for just over half what the Honjos would have cost. Score! 

Blue Lug mini pizza reflector
Reflective Blue Lug energy!

Speaking of the bike's doodles, I presume the figure to the left of the decal is Zeus, but does anyone know who the woman to the right is? Hera? Aphrodite? Astrapè? And what about the constellations and urn on the inside of the non-drive side chain stay? Anybody got any ideas about possible meanings? Anyhow... 

Zeus!Hera?
Zues and a mystery woman adorn the Lightning Bolt's downtube

So now the bike itself is in pretty good shape, with all the functional bits working. I added a pair of Velo Orange Moderniste stainless steel bottle cages, a Silca Impero Ultimate II frame pump, and what turns out to be one of the last Acorn Medium Rando handlebar bags (they just announced their retirement). The saddle is an old Specialized Avatar I had in the bin of unloved saddles, and the Shimano PD-M540 pedals were scavenged from another bike. 

All dressed up and ready to go

Of course what self-respecting Crust owner wouldn't "virtue signal" with some enamel pins, so the bag got one each from The Satanic Temple of Salem, Massachusetts, Crust and Blue Lug's famous Tobidashi kun.

Acorn brand Medium Rando Bag
One of the last of the Acorn Rando bags
 Now there's nothing left to do but ride. Time to let Pegasus soar! See you on the roads. I'll be the one with the goofy grin on his face.  

Pegasus, carrier of Zeus' thunderbolts 

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