All together now

Previously on MondoBlahBlah... or...

Read the entire story of the research, acquisition and assembly of my new Cycles Toussaint Velo Routier v2.

When last we met, I had assembled a lot of my new Cycles Toussaint Velo Routier 2.0. I had help  installing the headset and bottom bracket from Big Mig at the local Bicycle Place. Of course I just jammed the seat post in and hung a saddle on it. I got the cassette and crank set on the frame along with the derailleurs. I got the stem and handlebar worked out. I got the front rack, fenders and brakes all attached with reasonably satisfactory results. Nothing left to do but attend to the final details of connecting all the moving parts and actually making the thing work.

Ta da!

So at last the build is more or less complete and the bike is rideable. I haven't yet had the chance to ride it, and I still have some tinkering to do to get the brakes and front derailleur fine-tuned, but the build is essentially complete. What follows are some observations about the bits and pieces of Cycles Toussaint's DIY build kit.

Shifters

Alright, let's hear it for the good guys. After I pointed out to my buddy Angus that bar-top "thumb" shifters just don't belong on a road bike, he sent me a completely new set of MicroSHIFT bar-end shifters. And really nice shifters they seem to be, right down to the red anodized accents that reinforce the red in the Cycles Toussaint logo. Thanks very much to Cycles Toussaint. And I note that one of my readers, phillip Cowan noted in the comments that CT sent him both styles with his order. I'm totally going to take credit for that.    

Brake Levers

I tried using the supplied Dia Compe brake levers, but I couldn't get them to work right. After futzing with them for a while I gave up and put on a pair of Origin8 Pro Force aero levers I bought a couple of years ago with the Fuji in mind. They went on fine, though there's no barrel adjuster; I tried and tried, but I couldn't figure out how to gracefully insert an "in-line" adjuster in the set-up, so the rear brake has no adjuster, which will probably drive me crazy eventually.

I'm also not too happy about the way the "Pro Force" levers look. They're pretty clearly modern Shimano knock-offs and look a bit chunky on the bike. I suspect I'll leave them for a while as I get used to the bike and swap them out for something more aesthetically pleasing (like the Origin8 Classique Sport model) later on.

See the little thingy on top of the lever?
Barrel Adjuster - the kit didn't come with them.

After having installed the Origin8 levers, I figured out what was wrong with the stock Dia Compe levers. They were missing brake lever ferrules which act as a "stop" for the cable housing as it comes out of the lever, producing the tension the cable needs to pull against the brakes. Without them, the brake levers just don't work. Looking at every picture I can find on the internet, I see that every image of the "stock" Velo Routier features nifty looking barrel adjusters where the cable exits the lever housing - I think they were these: https://velo-orange.com/collections/brake-parts/products/dia-compe-cable-adjuster-for-gc202-and-dc204-levers. But no such thing came with the DIY kit, rendering the brakes useless or forcing me to seek out these exotic little parts.

This is just one of the "small parts" irritations with the DIY kit. Cycles Toussaint eventually provided me a handful of shifter cable ferrules and some cable end crimps, but they didn't come with the package - I had to ask for them when I whined about the shifters. I know, niggling details, but the site does say, "We package and ship a complete frame set and build kit to your home (only exclusion is seat and pedals.)" There seems to be some room for interpretation of the word "complete".

Chain

I only mention the chain because Cycles Toussaint sent three, count 'em, three of them. At an MSRP of $36 each, I consider that quite generous. It may be a while before I need a new one. And without prompting, Angus threw in a "master link" when he sent the replacement shifters. Very thoughtful, as it makes it a whole lot easier to install the chain.

Front Derailleur / Crankset

The front derailleur went on without a hitch, but the tolerances were super tight. When the chain gets clear of the derailleur, the crank arm rubs it on each revolution. When I back the derailleur off so the crank arm doesn't rub, but chain grinds against the inside of the derailleur. And every so often the chain gets thrown off the big ring to the outside. I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with the parts. I think I just have to do more fiddling with them to get them set up just right.

Rear Derailleur / Cassette

Matching the shifters and front derailleur, the bike comes with a MicroSHIFT rear derailleur and cassette. On the surface it seems like a nicely integrated 2 x 10 drive train with a nice wide gear range. And mostly that's correct. But the rear derailleur (see photo below) doesn't match the big cog cassette (36 teeth). Basically, it just doesn't shift to the lowest gear. Not a huge deal. A 30T x 34T low gear is still plenty low. And 9 speeds in the rear s more than anyone should need. But still - tempt me with a 10 speed / 36T and then give me a 9 speed / 34T, and I'm bound to feel a little cheated. Again. No biggie. Just seems a bit "close, but no cigar."

Various and Sundry

Pump Pegs

A useless appendage - pump peg
forever to remain empty. 

So despite all the really positive aspects of this bike, not the least of which is that it exists at all, there is a really glaring issue I have with it, and that concerns what might be among the most inconsequential details; the pump pegs. One of the truly coolest, quirkiest details on the Velo Routier's frame, the thing that most explicitly pays homage to the constructeurs whose work inspired its design is the dedicated pegs for a frame pump on the left seat stay. Not that single bump on the head tube that some "retro" bikes have, but serious, elegant top and bottom pegs for a classic "pencil" pump. When I saw them I just flipped out - that's a sign of just how seriously these guys at Cycles Toussaint are taking the design of this bike, I thought. What a shame then when I find that they will never fulfill their purpose because there's no such thing as a pump that fits the pegs.

It's not that there are no pumps designed to fit such pegs. In fact Zefal makes a really attractive one, the Classic Lapize. But it doesn't fit. It measures 375 mm or 14.8 inches. The distance between the pegs is 14 5/16 inches or about 363.54 mm. I could conceivably squeeze in a small HPX pump, but it looks like stupid and the connection points just aren't right. It's designed to fit in the spaces of the frame, not between pump pegs. So I'll probably carry a mini-pump in the handlebar bag or use a full size frame pump under the top tube and ride with an empty space between the pump pegs, a forever aspirational void, an unfulfilled longing for elegance and purpose. Pity.

Well, okay, enough with the build. The real question is, how does this low trail 650b bike ride? Stay tuned faithful reader, for my initial review in the next post.

The Front End

Previously on MondoBlahBlah... or...

Read the entire story of the research, acquisition and assembly of my new Cycles Toussaint Velo Routier v2.

Hey, that looks kind of like a bike

So now the frame and fork I bought is assembled into a frame set. It's easy enough to hang some wheels on it, stem and handlebars, put on the brakes, jam the seat post into the frame and put a saddle on it. Now it's starting to look like a bike. This is the first time I'm able to actually straddle it and make sure it's going to fit. It looks like the fit is perfect - like a proper bike with a proper diamond frame. Not a compact "modern" bike with a meter of seat post and a "slammed" stem, but a beautifully proportioned bike with the handlebars right around the same height as the saddle. Visually graceful, with classic lines and elegant curves. Will it feel as great as it looks? We'll have to wait until the build is complete to find out, but I generally find that what looks right tends to be right. Time will tell.

The Cockpit

I haven't run the cables yet since I'm still waiting to see what my buddy Angus has in store for me after I nagged him about the inappropriateness of bar-top thumb shifters on a classic road bike. Also, before I complete the drive train, there are a few things up at the front of the bike that I want to work out, since they are central to the entire concept of the 650b Randonneur style bike and they are all interconnected; the front rack, the stem and bars and the front fender.

The Front Rack
No way around it - low trail rando-style bikes are supposed to have delightful handlebar bags sitting on little racks attached to the forks. That's practically the whole point. Cycles Toussaint doesn't include a front rack with the DIY build kit, which is just as well, since I'm not crazy about the rack they designed for this bike anyway. And besides, like just about everything else on these bikes, each rider is likely to have their own preference anyway. I know I do.

The Velo Orange Rando Rack
w/ integrated decaleur

When I set up my '86 Fuji, I installed a nifty little rack that Dia Compe designed to bolt onto its 610 Center-pull brakes. It is an ingenious design and in concert with a solid decaleur that stabilizes the load and distributes the bag's weight appropriately, it would probably work really well. Unfortunately I never quite got around to installing a decaleur, so the bag's weight tended to lean forward on the rack which ultimately caused the mounting tabs to snap. D'oh!

So for the Velo Routier I have decided to go with what seems to be the easiest solution to a solid, stable handlebar bag solution - Velo Orange's Randonneur Front Rack with Integrated Decaleur. The integrated decaleur means I don't have to figure out how to mount a separate decaleur on the bike. I don't have to worry about getting the height and depth right. I don't have to decide whether to use a stem mounted unit or a headset mounted unit. If the rack fits the bag and it fits the bike, I should be good to go. At least that's the idea...

Handlebars and Stem

Pre-fab cockpit from Cycles Toussaint

The Velo Routier DIY kit comes with a pre-assembled 100mm Kalloy stem mounted to a deep drop, round bend handlebar on which Dia Compe brake levers have already been attached. The stem was not going to work because of its proximity to the decaleur/bag. I thought from the beginning that I might want a shorter stem, just to make the riding position more upright, but I figured I'd try what came with the bike before switching. But after placing the front rack in place, I could see that the decaleur would be too close to the handlebars.

Nitto Young Stem / Olympiad Handlebar

Because I am short, the bike's headtube is kind of short, and the 8 inch tall Acorn Boxy Rando handlebar bag comes right up to the bar height or even a bit above it. With the long stem I think it would crowd my fingers. So I've swapped the stem and handlebars for the 70mm Nitto "Young" stem and classic Nitto B114 "Olympiad" handlebar which have about 10mm less drop than the Kalloy bars and about 50mm less total reach. Hopefully the shorter stem and reach of this setup won't be detrimental to the handling of the bike - did Angus and Evan choose the 100mm stem because it's the optimal size for this bike? - I doubt it, since all sizes of the frame come with the same length stem.

I was initially going to just swap out the 100mm Kalloy stem for the Fuji's shorter 70mm Nitto stem and keep the Kalloy handlebars but it turns out that contrary to the Cycles Toussaint website, the handlebars need a 26mm clamp, while the Nitto is a 25.4mm. Though annoying, it's understandable - most new handlebars are 26mm. So I ended up moving both the stem and bars. The fit is pretty good around the handlebar bag, but the bars are too narrow for me at 40cm. To get where I think I want to be, I may have to go with an entirely new setup with a new stem and bar, but for now I'm going to leave it with the Fuji setup and see if I can live with it.

Fenders

What, you might fairly ask, do handlebars have to do with fenders? Well, everything in the front seems to be interconnected in some way. The fenders are ideally attached to the rack which adds additional support for each. And the brakes have to have sufficient clearance to clear the rack strut. So the fender's connected to the rack strut, the rack strut's connected to the decaleur, the decaleur's aligned with the handlebar and stem and the brakes straddle the rack strut. None of this is all that hard, it's just that to get it all right means doing things in the right order and it requires me to have about four hands to hold everything in the right place while the final, essential bolt is tightened. But I've done this part before with the Fuji, so it was just a matter of putting aside a couple of hours to tweak the positions of everything. The key was getting the rack strut bent to the correct position so it wouldn't interfere with the brakes and would attach gracefully to the rack and fender using a single bolt. It's handy to have a bench vise for that bending, but you could do it with some solid pliers or even just leaning on it on the edge of a table.

Yep, starting to look like a bike.

You may notice that the front fender tab is mounted to the front of the crown's brake bolt. I had initially thought it would mount to the rear of side of the crown, but it somehow just didn't fit right that way. It was impossible to get a proper fender line when it was connected there. When I moved the tab to the front of the crown, everything lined right up. Not a huge deal, really, but as a result of that placement, the bottom of the fender lines up just above the axle of the crank set. I'm just going to go out on a limb and guess this arrangement will lead to some pretty damp tootsies on that first wet ride. I probably better just think in terms of getting some mud guards right away and I should probably get the long ones.

For those of you who have never installed a set of fenders like this before, here's a pretty good video explaining it. The only thing I will say is that I prefer a slightly more refined finish so I wouldn't use the bolt cutters - I would used a sharpie, hacksaw and file to get the fender struts to the right length and smooth them out so the aren't jagged and sharp. Of course having said that, I'm happy to report that the struts that came with the Cycles Toussaint DIY build kit didn't require cutting at all. I think if the rear dropout was vertical it could have been a bit crowded, but with the semi-horizontal dropout there's plenty of room for the slight excess length of the strut.

Brakes

Cool-Stop brake pads on Dia-Compe 750s

Astute readers may have noticed that I have swapped out the stock Dia Compe brake pads for some Kool-Stop brake shoes and dual compound pads. Hopefully that will add some grip to brakes that are routinely described as "mushy". If the Dia Compe 750s just can't do the job, I'll swap them out for a pair of 1974 Mafac Racers from a friend's old college bike. Jan Heine raves about the similar Mafac Raids as if they are the best brakes ever made. We'll see.

Alright, sure, so now I've got a bunch of components bolted to a bike frame. So what? Can I ride it? No. I still have to install the brake levers, the shifters, put a chain on it, run some cables and figure out how to adjust it all. Only then will it be a bike. I'm still waiting to see if my buddy Angus is really going to send me an alternative to the thumb shifters the bike shipped with, but I'm eager to get this baby on the road, so I may not be able to wait. It looks so much like a bike, it seems a shame to just have it sitting there on the stand in the garage. Spring is in the air and a young man's fancy turns to thoughts of asphalt! Come on man, let's get this show on the road.

So join us for our next exciting episode of Mondo Blah Blah when I install the drive train and hopefully complete the build.