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 bike, and I can now confirm that 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 bikes 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 no 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. 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. 

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.

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

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! 

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... 

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.

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 

 Build List

• Handlebar: Nitto B132 Grand Randonneur (44 cm)
• Stem: Soma Sutro (80mm)
• Shifters: MicroSHIFT BS-M10 MTB Bar End (2/3 x 10) 
• Brake Levers: Origin 8 Classique Sport Road Levers
• Front Rack: Soma Champs-Elysees Stainless Mini Rack 
• Front Bag: Acorn Medium Rando
• Computer: Garmin Edge 25 (discontinued)
• Bell: Crane E-Ne (chrome)
• Brakes: Avid Shorty Ultimate Cantilever Brakes (set to "Narrow")
• Crankset: Velo Orange Grand Cru 50.4 BCD Crankset 46/30, (165 mm crankarm)
• Bottom Bracket: Origin8 TorqLite (68x118)
• Pedals: Shimano PD-M540 SPD Clipless Pedals Silver 
• Front Derailleur Clamp: Venzo 28.6 Braze On Adapter - Silver 
• Front Derailleur: Campagnolo Veloce (9/10 Speed)
• Rear Derailleur: MicroSHIFT XLE RD-M62L
• Cassette: SHIMANO CS-M4100 Deore Cassette 10 Speed (11t - 42t)
• Seatpost: Nitto S65 (250 mm)
  
• Wheels: Crust WR Rim Brake (dynamo)
• Tires: Pacenti Pari-moto (42 mm) 
• Pump: Silca Impero Ultimate II frame pump
• Bottle Cages: Velo Orange Moderniste
• Saddle: Specialized Avatar (discontinued)
• Front Cable Hanger: Crust 1" 24 Palms Headset Spacer + Cable Hanger Kit (silver)
• Rear Cable Hanger: Nitto AS-1

New Crustation

Remember this? Well, it now looks like this:

2024 Crust Cantilever Lightning Bolt, XS in Light Sea Green

The build is nearly complete - just got to sort out the front rack, and wrap the handlebars and drive-side chainstay. It's pretty similar to my black 2022 Lightning Bolt, though I'm using Crust's dynamo wheelset, a Sutro Quill Stem from Soma Fabrications, and of course, have added a set of Velo Orange wavy fenders. 

Once I get it complete, I'll provide details and a bit more context about why on earth I have built a nearly exact duplicate of a bike I already own. More anon...

Attack of the N+1 monster

You may find yourself at the corner of Hull and East 35th Street s in Richmond Virginia. DON'T be fooled by the friendly, inviting colors of the buildings. Whatever you do, don't go in there. It's a trap!

What a lovely, colorful building...

Gee, I wonder what's behind that door...

No, don't. Do not ring the bell!

Trust me, if you go in there, it will cost you dearly. This is where the N+1 monster lives. You will only be able to leave once you have spent a lot of money and given your heart to yet another magical steel bike. You don't need another bike. You don't need another set of lightweight 650b wheels, especially not a set with a dynamo hub. Do yourself a favor. Just turn around a walk away. 

Shit. I bought another Crust Lightning Bolt. This time in Light Sea Green. Oh, for Kröd's sake. 

Light sea green N+1 monster

Bike Check: 2022 Crust Cantilever Lightning Bolt

As you may know, I bought a Crust Lightning Bolt with cantilever brakes in the winter of 2022. The much-vaunted CantiBolt! It took me a year or so to assemble all the parts, prep the frame and ultimately build up the bike. You can read about it here, should you be so inclined. Now, after a year and a couple of thousand miles riding it, I thought I'd do a retrospective review.

Crust Canti-Bolt

Below, for reference, is the current build list. It's essentially the same as the original build, though some details have changed. Stepping out the door for yesterday's ride, the bike weighed 31.2 pounds, including two full 21 oz. Camelbak Ice water bottles, phone, wallet, snacks, etc. I've even got a modest cable lock in the bag. That's summer time ready-to-ride weight. Winter would weigh more because more clothes, but I tend to ride my Cycles Toussaint in the winter, since it's fendered and has the larger Acorn Boxy Rando bag affixed with a decaleur. 

Build List

• Handlebar: Nitto B132 Grand Randonneur (42 cm)
• Stem: Nitto Technomic (60 mm) 
• Shifters: MicroSHIFT BS-M10 MTB Bar End (2/3 x 10) 
• Brake Levers: Origin 8 Classique Sport Road Levers
• Front Rack: Soma Champs-Elysees Stainless Mini Rack 
• Front Bag: Zimbale Bicycle Waterproof Canvas Front Rackbag - 2 Liter Capacity - Black
• Computer: Garmin Edge 25 (discontinued)
• Bell: Spurcycle Original Bell - Raw 
• Brakes: Avid Shorty Ultimate Cantilever Brakes (set to "Narrow")
• Crankset: Velo Orange Grand Cru 50.4 BCD Crankset 46/30, (165 mm crankarm)
• Bottom Bracket: IRD QB55 JIS BB (118 mm)
• Pedals: Shimano PD-M540 SPD Clipless Pedals Silver 
• Front Derailleur Clamp: Venzo 28.6 Braze On Adapter - Black 
• Front Derailleur: Campagnolo Veloce (9/10 Speed)
• Rear Derailleur: MicroSHIFT XLE RD-M62L
• Cassette: SHIMANO CS-M4100 Deore Cassette 10 Speed (11t - 42t)
• Seatpost: Nitto S65 (250 mm)
  
• Wheels: Pacenti Brevet 650 B
• Tires: Pacenti Pari-moto (42 mm) 
• Pump: Silca Impero Ultimate II frame pump
• Bottle Cages: Bontrager Pro Carbon Fiber
• Saddle: Selle Italia "Man" Gel Flow Saddle (discontinued)
• Saddle Bag: Brooks Isle of Wight Saddle Bag (discontinued)
• Cable Hangers: Tektro 1246A Brake Yoke (discontinued?)
• Rear Cable Hanger: Surly

The drivetrain definitely seemed like a risky "mullet" proposition, mixing the Velo Orange sub-compact crankset (road) with the MicroSHIFT ultra-low-geared rear derailleur (MTB). I had to switch from the elegant Silver bar-end shifters I was planning to use for the MicroSHIFT MTB barcons, which have more cable pull. I am happy to report that the system works swimmingly. With friction shifting, all things are possible. I can't imagine a better shifting, more versatile system. With a low gear of 30t (front) x 42t (rear), the Cantibolt is a climbing beast. Though I've fantasized about swapping to the Velo Orange "Drillium" crankset, featuring a 48t x 34t, I find that I'm not so limited by the 46 tooth top gear that I really need it. I think I'd rather have the low 30 tooth gear - I'm not getting any younger.

Mullet drive train to conquer any climb

Brakes, handlebars, shifters, etc., haven't changed since I built up the bike, but I've added the front bag and the frame pump.The bag is a cheap(ish) Korean Zimbale brand bag I bought from Amazon. Though I liked the design with its low profile, I disliked its sticky zipper and poorly laid out leather/Velcro rack attachment points. I actually returned it and got my money back... twice. But it seems to be one of those notorious products the company doesn't want back. Or they went out of business right in the middle of my transaction. Not sure. I returned it twice and it came back to me both times. Ultimately I figured it was meant for me. And it looks pretty good on the bike, don't you think?

Zimbale front rack bag.

I modified the attachment straps so they worked with my rack, and gave the zipper a good lubing. It's still not my favorite bag, but it does the job, so I'll keep it on the bike until something better comes along, or I finally get around to installing the decaleur I have sitting in the parts bin, so I can use my Acorn bag. Combined with the now discontinued Brooks Isle of Wight saddle bag, in which I keep extra tubes, tools, etc., I can carry a lot of stuff without having a gigantic bag. I've got plenty of room for everything I need.

Selle Italia "Man" saddle, Brooks saddle bag, Silca pump and Avid Shorty brakes.

COMPARE & CONTRAST

It is interesting to note the differences between riding a 700c x 25mm racing bike, and a traditional steel 650b x 42mm rando rig, but it's a bit of a false equivalency. The two styles are optimized for different objectives; pure speed for the racing bike; comfort, versatility and efficiency for the randonneuse. In a way, they represent a natural progression for many a seasoned rider as we move from our thrill-seeking youth to a more mature, sustainable riding style as we age. At least that's how it has been for me. I'm 61 years old - my 53/39 years are behind me.

The only fair comparison I can make is between the Crust CantiBolt and the Vélo Routier, as they are both low trail, 650B bikes made from lightweight, TIG-welded steel and ride on similarly wide tires (42mm for the Lightning Bolt and 38mm for the VR). But the comparison kind of ends there, because to be a fair comparison, all the components on the two bikes should be matched, and they're not.

But I'm not gonna let that stop me!

The Vélo Routier was my first "rando" frame and the first bike I assembled more or less by myself. I bought it as a DIY kit, with all the parts chosen by Cycles Toussaint, though I ended up using a stem and handlebar combination from the parts bin which shortened the reach a bit. Still, the resultant stack and reach of the two bikes are very close. The Routier's total price came to about $1,350 (US) plus shipping, or just a bit more than the Crust's frameset alone. So, let's say it was the epitome of an "entry level" spec. A good way to get started, but I'd never do it that way today. Knowing what I now know, I'd choose individual parts, though of course I'd spend a heckuva lot more money to do so.

Cycles Toussaint Vélo Routier

Now that the Crust is completely dialed in, and having spent a bit of time with it, I can safely say that it is without a doubt the best bike I've ever owned, and probably the best bike I've ever ridden. That list includes a 2002 Trek 2000, an aluminum "racing style" bike with 105 components, a 2011 Trek Madone (Ultegra components), an '86 Fuji Allegro seven-speed, and a Cycles Toussaint Vélo Routier version 2. I also spent a week riding across Italy on a Van Nicholas titanium touring bike once upon a time. But the main comparison is to my other rando bike, the Vélo Routier, on which I have around 10,000 miles at this point.

Everything about the Lightning Bolt seems marginally, and in some ways vastly better than any of these bikes. All the lessons learned from building the Vélo Routier were applied to the build of the Crust, and better parts were individually chosen rather than bought as an entry-level set. I can't help but think the better components account for a sizeable share of the different qualities of the two bikes. But can a better headset or bottom bracket really make that much difference? Or is the Lightning Bolt better than the Vélo Routier because of better design, including better geometry, steel, etc. I'm not about to spend the money to match the bikes' components, but I'll engage in a bit speculation...

REAL STEEL

I'll talk about differences in component quality and geometry in a minute, but first things first. Though they look pretty similar in most respects, the primary difference between the construction of the two bikes is the steel. I'm no metallurgist, but here's what I know (which is to say, have found on the internet). The Vélo Routier is made from oversize (OS) .8/.5/.8 4130 chromoly. That's thin-walled by most standards, as I understand it, similar to Reynolds 531C. The Lightning Bolt is made from standard diameter .7/.4/.7 heat-treated chromoly steel. In bicycle terms that's "extra-thin-walled, traditional-diameter tubing. More or less the same spec as the René Herse Kaisei Superlight tubeset or Reynolds 753. The Lightning Bolt's lore has it that Matt Whitehead, Crust's founder, had to sign a waver indemnifying the manufacturer (MaxWay?) from liability for owners doing inappropriate things with this bike. Hence the rider weight limit of 100kg / 220 lbs and the warnings not to "go all Evel Knievel thinking you're Missy Giove bombing this thing down some single track. It's not designed for that." 

So, the Crust's tubes are thinner in both diameter and wall thickness than those of the Cycles Toussaint. This doesn't seem to impact the final "ride-ready" bikes' weight much (they end up being within about 16 ounces of each other). But it may contribute significantly to differences in the bikes' "feel". I think. Again, that's based more on what I've read, mostly in Bicycle Quarterly, than anything I can prove. 

Is it simply thinner steel that makes the Lightning Bolt feel so much better than my other bikes? Not exactly. The steel may be a large part of the reason the bike is more comfortable than the Vélo Routier, but there are obviously other factors at play. Here's a quick list of the general impressions of the two bikes' handling with my guesses as to possible causes.

STEERING

The Vélo Routier always felt a bit unsettled. It requires constant attention from the pilot, lest it wanders off course. The Lightning Bolt, on the other hand, is much steadier, requiring only light steering inputs, and holds its line quite well. Not quite the "on rails" feeling of my higher trail racing bikes, but definitely striking that elusive balance between responsive and predictable. In short, the Crust's handling is confidence-inspiring, while the Vélo Routier's is a bit twitchy. But is that because of the relatively minor geometric differences, the steel used for the fork, or is it to do with component choices? The stem in the VR's DIY kit was at least 20mm longer than the 70mm Nitto I actually used. The handlebar also had a longer reach, and was wider. The DIY kit came with a needle bearing headset, usually spec'd to dampen low trail bikes' tendency to shimmy at speed. Were those choices made by Cycles Toussaint to compensate for the frameset's inherently skittish tendencies?

Note that the chart below comparing the two bikes displays an anomaly. Cycles Toussaint claims the Vélo Routier's trail as 30mm. BikeInsights.com lists it as a "calculated" 18.8mm. Big difference. I don't know how to sort out the discrepancy, but if it is indeed 18mm, well there you go - that's just too low, and waaaayyy lower than the Crust's 40mm. Could be it. Even if we give the designers the benefit of the doubt, there's a 10mm difference between the two. The Routier's 30mm is considered very low, and the Crust's 40.2mm fits in the high side of the conventional definition of "low" trail.

Bikeinsights.com comparison of the two bikes

Is the difference in trail the reason for the two bikes substantial disparity in steering? Everything else, i.e., shorter wheelbase, shorter chainstay, shorter stem, higher bottom bracket, would argue that the Lightning Bolt should be the twitchier of the two, but that's not the case. So, I'll assume the difference in trail is the primary element that accounts for the disparate character of the bikes' handling. One day I'll swap out the NECO headset on the Vélo Routier and see if that makes a difference. I also plan to move the Routier's rear wheel to the absolute longest chainstay length allowed by the semi-horizontal dropout. Maybe that'll help.

Also worth reiterating is that the bikes have different tire sizes. Not sure how much impact this has on steering, but as tire size affects trail, it has to be considered a factor. The Vélo Routier runs on ultralight 38mm Compass/Re Loup-Loup Pass tires and the Lightning Bolt sports 42mm Pacenti Pari-motos.

ACCELERATION

The Crust wins this category hands-down. Input at the pedals sends the bike forward with very little resistance, where the Vélo Routier takes a few pedal revolutions to wind up. The chainring gearing is the same (46/30), so that's not it. The cassettes have different low gears, but I'm rarely starting from the bottom, so I doubt that's it. Is it the cheap bottom bracket on the VR? I did use a high quality IRD BB when spec'ing the Crust, so... Heavier wheels from the Routier's DIY package? Yes, but I've used the same set of wheels on both bikes and there is still a very noticeable difference in the bikes' responsiveness. Is the springiness of the thinner steel responsible for the magical transfer of energy from potential to kinetic? Whatever the reason, the Crust just feels lighter, spins up faster, and gets closer to what Jan Heine might describe as planing.

BRAKING TOO (cantilever boogaloo)

Direct-mount center-pull brakes are the best rim brakes ever made. Right? And cantilever brakes are a horrible, squealing anachronism that should immediately be replaced with V-brakes. Right? Well, the Avid Shorty Ultimate canti's I put on the Crust are just magnificent. These cantilever brakes work every bit as well as any rim brakes I've used. They're light, they're easy to mount and fine tune, they use "regular" road brake pads, and they're black!

Avid Shorty Ultimate cantilever brakes

The direct mounted center-pull Dia Compe 750 brakes that came with the Cycles Toussaint work fine, but not as well as the Shortys. I should probably figure out how to install the vintage Mafac Racer brakes I have in the parts bin on the VR, but I'm lazy, so I live with good enough.

All of which is to say, the cantilever brakes on the Crust are every bit as good as or better than the center-pulls on the VR, as well as the Ultegras and 105 dual-pivot side-pulls that came on both of my racing bikes. I'm sure many would ask, why fuck with obsolete technology when a vastly better technology exists, i.e., disc brakes? Answers: 

• Ride quality: rim brakes allow a flexy fork which imparts a sublime ride, likely a large part of what makes this bike better than the VR. As Matt notes in the Lightning Bolt's product description, "This frame is designed to flex and feel like you're actually floating millimeters above the road on top of Dynamic clouds." Too right.
  
• Mechanical simplicity and easy of maintenance: disc brakes just seem more complicated and difficult to maintain. My riding fantasies are mostly built around long rides in remote places. I want to be able to fix just about anything that goes wrong on the bike, and rim brakes are way easier to adjust. Plus, my bikes will never stop working because they spring a leak or because a battery dies.  
  

 "But disk brakes are better, newer, whatever..." Okay, sure, fine, whatever. As the Bike Farmer says, my rim brakes are "good enough for who it's for." Rim brakes were good enough for Fausto Coppi and Eddy Mercks; they're good enough for me. And the Avid Shorty Ultimate brakes are as good or better than I've ever owned. So there.

CONCLUSION 

So where does this leave us? Well, dammit, I've become spoiled having a bike that is so much more pleasant to ride. I love my Cycles Toussaint Vélo Routier. It is a very special bike, being the first production bike I have ever seen with bosses for direct-mounting center-pull brakes, usually available only on bespoke frames. But I find that ever since the Crust Lightning Bolt became rideable, that's the bike I grab when headed out the door. These days I only go to the VR when there's a problem with the Crust, or when I need the fenders. But while riding it, I now find myself pining for the ride quality of the Lightning Bolt. Kinda sucks. Like trying fine wine or good craft beer. Once you know, you can't go back.

Reflective triangle? Check!

Now I find myself asking if I'll ever really want to ride a bike that isn't the Lightning Bolt. I'll always hang onto my 90's Specialized Crossroads Cruz, for around town and as a back-country hunting bike. But unless the Crust is down for maintenance, I can't see riding the Cycles Toussaint, the 00's Trek 2000 or the Fuji much anymore. I'm inclined to let those bikes go, to clear space and maybe pass them along to someone who would use and value them. 

And now that Crust is having a very unusual sale on the remaining CantiBolts in their inventory (under 1,000 freedom tickets for the best frameset I've ever ridden?!), I'm struck by the terror that once the current crop is sold, there will never be such a magnificent production bike available. While that would constitute a travesty to me, I'm pretty sure the rest of the world would hardly notice, and Crust would get along just fine selling Bomboras and Evasions.

Crap. It's altogether possible there will be another Lightning Bolt in my stable before too long. This time in Light Sea Green with cartoony doodle graphics and yet another silly typeface. Ugh...

Coming Soon - Crust Cantibolt build

OneDrive informs me that one year ago today I took delivery of a new bicycle frame, a Crust Lightning Bolt Cantilever. I had bought it completely as an impulse purchase, based, as I'm sure is common on the insanely positive review in Bicycle Quarterly combined with the slick "Galaxy" colorway. 

OneDrive photos of the newly arrived Crust CantiBolt

Because I hadn't really intended to buy the bike, I wasn't really prepared to actually put it together. I just didn't want to miss out on getting one of these extraordinary frames in my size. So until the last few weeks the frame has just been sitting in its box waiting to be turned into a frame. 

Since that time I have collected a bunch of the necessary parts to complete the build. Lingering covid-19 supply chain problems have caused delays and increased expense, though last week I had the frame prepped and headset installed by the fine team at Just Riding Along Bicycle Shop in Laytonsville, Maryland. Really great shop, and they speak "steel".  

In the coming weeks I'll be writing up a detailed description of the build process and spec. For the moment, here's how it's looking:

Crust CantiBolt with headset, bottom bracket and seat post installed 

The stem is not what will ultimately be installed (it'll be way shorter), the seat post is not set to the correct height (it too will be way shorter), but I wanted to put enough of the pieces together to make it start looking like a bike. 

Nothing else to report just yet, but for those of you interested in such things, there will be more to come soon. 

Crustier and Crusteür

The new Lightning Bolt has arrived!

Some of you will know that I recently purchased a new Crust Lightning Bolt Canti frame. The main reason I bought it was the glowing review in Bicycle Quarterly. They basically said the bike nearly equaled the performance of the bespoke, custom bikes they ride, at a fraction of the cost. Having spent the past few years happily riding a Cycles Toussaint Vélo Routier, a budget variant on the same theme, i.e., a low trail, 650b rando bike, I was intrigued. I went on about my hopes for the bike in the previous post, and will provide details about the eventual build and impressions of the bike in future posts, but today I thought I'd assemble a list of links to other people's conversations around both Crust, the company, and the Lightning Bolt. Most of these resources refer to models prior to the 2022 version, but I think they're still relevant, or at least interesting to me. So, without further ado...

Path Less Pedaled
https://youtu.be/nEDra8YR8-s?t=261
"It's basically Bicycle Quarterly. Shake Bicycle Quarterly, this fell out of the pages." Matt  https://youtu.be/q5eJzXVzKFg
https://youtu.be/vYneDSM9JTY

The Radavist
https://theradavist.com/2019/09/ultra-romances-crust-lightning-bolt-is-lighter-than-a-soft-whisper/
https://theradavist.com/2020/03/nams-crust-bikes-cantibolt-lightning-bolt-thrower/
https://theradavist.com/2021/05/readers-rides-tins-crust-bikes-canti-lightning-bolt-in-central-florida/

Blue Lug Crust Videos (Japanese - turn on CC for enjoyably awkward subtitles)
https://youtu.be/LHuGZOdRArs
https://youtu.be/upoTnEgiFaY
https://youtu.be/-Wcca6XwTX0 

How Centaur/Mermaids say, "I love you"

Crustaceous sky fire

There's an entire hemisphere of my brain that can't believe I bought a Crust Cantilever Lightning Bolt. It's the side that drew me to graphic design with an emphasis on the written word. The hemisphere that makes me a font-weeny that pours over The Elements of Typographic Style, and have opinions about the differences between Helvetica and Arial. Christ, I obsess over typefaces even when writing utterly unimportant documents. Note for the Amazon guy to leave a package on the porch? Definitely Garamond. So how on earth did I end up with a bike whose model name is rendered in some kind of faux graffiti-esque face?

Crust Lightning Bolt Canti

And don't even get me started on the brand's pink Rocky Horror Picture Show typeface, book-ended by literal lightning bolt clip art and South Beach pastel colored banding. Dear Kröd.

Crust brand name in pink "grunge" typeface

Is it supposed to be some kind of skate punk thing? Homage to BMX? Don't get me wrong. I've been known to defend even the much despised Comic Sans typeface. Horrid in most places, but perfectly appropriate in a comic strip. Likewise the Lightning Bolt's type/iconography. It would sort of make sense on a skateboard or some of the brand's other models - the bikes that look like you'd naturally see them popping above the coping of an empty swimming pool. The Scapegoat maybe? Dude. Brah. Radical.

But on this bike? The Lightning Bolt's frame is a modeled on Jan Heine's classic French Réne Herse Randonneuse. Not exactly the heritage you'd expect from this typographic styling. All I can imagine is that the Crust guys came up with the name Lightning Bolt because they expected this lightweight to be fast, and the rest just followed from that. What a shame. But look, a bike designer gets to choose whatever graphics they want on their bike. I get it. If this is an expression of Crust's sensibility, why should they care what I think? Buy the bike or don't, pops. 

So given all that, what was I thinking? How could I bring myself to plunk down so much cash for a bike that irritates me every time I look at it? Well, it's precisely because it seems to be such a GREAT copy of that 1952 Réne Herse that I could not resist. Matt is obviously seriously into bikes. You'd have to be to think it's a good idea to get into such a crazy industry. And as a dedicated non-competitive, Path Less Pedaled, "Supple Life" type disciple of Bicycle Quarterly, he built a super-light, thin-walled, low trail, 650b Rando bike. But he did it his way. And his way, if the packing tape on the box in which the Lightning Bolt was shipped is any indication, is a bit zany. Tropic punk? Psychedelic metal? Nerdcore?

Will Ferrell in Wedding Crashers w/ Crust logo on forehead

Crust's packing tape expresses their sense of humor

So, who am I to judge? You want the bike or not? Okay, yes. I want it. By the time it became available, I wanted it a lot. Maybe the result of perceived scarcity following the long wait associated with the pandemic supply chain issues of the past two years. Maybe the pre-sale note saying, "things are looking a bit dicey for Crust". Maybe just N+1 syndrome. Maybe the return to a horizontal top tube, combined with the sparkly black "Galaxy" paint job that got me. Probably all of the above. But in the end, it is the prospect of the bike itself that forced my hand. 

Cycles Toussaint Vélo Routier, Version 2

You may recall that in Spring of 2018 I bought a Cycles Toussaint Vélo Routier. Like the Lightning Bolt, it is a Taiwanese, low-trail, 605b bike. It is, by its makers' own admission, an "entry level" bike, though I think that is so only in the sense that the components that came in the DIY build kit were entry level. The frame and fork have a couple of unique and glorious design elements that set the bike above and beyond every other production bike in it's category, the most striking of which is that it was spec'd for direct-mount, long reach, center-pull brakes. Unheard of. Even the tubing chosen for the Vélo Routier was as light as made sense for a production bike, using "oversize" (1 1/8") 4130 Cro-moly steel in .8/.5/.8. Honestly this a bike that could only have been built by a fanatic who didn't need the money. 

But Taiwanese builders are used to building mass production bikes to safety standards that assure they won't get sued, so that "light" steel, roughly equivalent to Reynolds 531, is still stiffer than the .7.4.7 Jan recommends for bikes that "plane". You want that kind of steel in a production frame, you gotta sign a waiver. Legend is, Matt Whitehead is just crazy enough to sign such a waiver, and spec a fork that is much more slender than the one on the VR. Word is the Lightning Bolt is basically the same spec as Jan Heine's Mule. Whatever the case, the Lightning Bolt frame and fork weigh about 180 grams less, over half of which (93 grams) is in the fork. 

The other, perhaps more significant difference between the Vélo Routier and the Lightning Bolt is in the geometry. Though Bike Insights shows a calculated trail for the VR at a ridiculously low 18.8mm, Cycles Toussaint themselves claim 30mm. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. But even the 30mm is very low by conventional standards. The Lightning Bolt comes in at 40.2mm (for the 42mm tires I plan to ride). The Lightning Bolt's wheelbase is a bit shorter, as is its chainstay. The bottom bracket is also a bit higher on the Crust. In theory, all of these very minor differences should yield a bike that is quite similar to my old one, but with possibly a little less "twitchy" feeling due to the higher trail. But other elements can have an effect too, like handlebar width, crank and stem length. I haven't gotten the build worked out yet - the frame was a bit of an impulse buy, so I haven't thought through the components yet. Any way you cut it, I expect the differences to be subtle. Time will tell.

Crust sticker included in the box in which the bike shipped!

Lastly, there are a couple of elements floating around in my brain. First, there is still no brake attachment on the chainstay bridge. Not a deal-breaker by any means, and it probably saves weight - but they are elegant for any center-pull brake set-up, and the original prototype had them, so I can't help but be a bit disappointed. BUT, and I shouldn't be so excited about this, the Lightning Bolt has vertical rear dropouts. Now this is just about the most persnickety little thing, but the Vélo Routier has horizontal dropouts. Not a huge deal, but it caused me a lot of trouble early on, requiring me to purchase internal cam quick-release skewers, and it makes changing a rear tire difficult when the bike has fenders.Again, not the worst thing in the world, but I'm genuinely happy to see the more typical dropouts on the Crust.

Okay, enough for now. I'll post more as I start to think about the build. It's my intention to use a few parts from the ol' Parts Bin, mixed with some new "dream bike" parts that I'll have to save up for. Stay tuned.

...like you’re the star of the Brevet, leading everyone into a marshmallow and ice cream victory meal.