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...

Forward into the past*

Among my modest stable of velocopedal conveyances, there is a little gem I picked up a few years ago on Craigslist for $175. It is a 1986 Fuji Allegro, a prime example of late Bike Boom Japanese production; toward the lower end of Fuji's product line, it featured a proprietary triple-butted lugged "Valite" steel frame outfitted with a typical mix of components from Nitto, Suntour, Sugino and Dia Compe. All the great pre-Shimano Asian names. I used the bike as a commuter for about six years, but after a job change a couple of years ago, the ol' Allegro kind of fell into a bit of neglect. As I have been doing some work on my primary bike, I figured I'd go ahead and gussy up the old Fuji while I was at it.

1986 Fuji Allegro

Off the factory floor the Allegro featured typical-for-the-time stem-mounted friction shifters, extension or "suicide" brake levers and foam handlebar grips. All the hallmarks of cheap mass-production bikes of the times. Yikes! The unfortunate choice of such "fashionable" components obscures the underlying quality of an otherwise fairly well-made bike. 

Judging from the sticker at the base of the seat tube, my Allegro was originally sold by the Killeen Bicycle Center of Killeen, Texas. And from the looks of it, somebody rode the snot out of it. There is a groove worn into the front derailleur where somebody seems to have routinely failed to trim it after shifting to the smallest cog on the rear cluster. To its credit, the bombproof SunTour ARX derailleur still works just fine regardless, as do all the components on the bike. By the time I got it, there was a suede Selle San Marco saddle (a Concor?) on it but otherwise it seemed to be in more or less original. The guy who sold it to me, a prodigious Craigslist bike-flipper, had moved the shifters to the downtube, ran some new cables and generally cleaned it up a bit, but it still had the original wheels, foam grips and pedals, or reasonable facsimiles thereof.     

When I took stewardship, the first thing I did was replace the single-pivot side-pull Dia Compe brakes. I replaced them with much better looking Gran Compe 610 center-pulls, though in honesty they don't work appreciably better. But they look fantastic and at the time I was plunging headlong toward the Jan Heine abyss. I swapped the suede saddle for a new-at-the-time Brooks Cambium, put on some Velo Orange fenders, attached a Pletscher rack on which to mount some saddle bags and in so doing created a pretty dependable commuter that served me quite well for a few years. Though after getting mistreated and neglected for the better part of a decade, it seemed a good time for a bit of an overhaul. But where to start?

Panaracer Pasela 27 x 1 1/8 tires

Wheels

Those super-long valve stems are protruding from a newly acquired set of wheels. The original wheels had seen better days, with grinding bearings in the hubs, rusty spokes and brake surfaces that were gouged and gritty. Given my recent positive experience putting new wheels on my main bike, I figured I'd start there. 

Quality 27 inch wheels are a bit hard to come by these days. A lot of people would take the opportunity to convert to a 700c wheel, and believe me, I was sorely tempted. Or I could have picked up a nice, shiny set of 27s from Velo Orange, if I got lucky enough to grab 'em during the occasional windows during which they are in stock. In the end I went simple and bought an inexpensive Wheel Master Weinmann LP18 Wheel Set from Amazon.com. $154 for the set. Nothing to write home about, but the rims are relatively straight, the spokes aren't rusty and the hubs don't grind, so they should be an improvement on the 35 year old hoops that were on it; and these seem to be fairly sturdy and well built. I picked up a new six speed 14-28 tooth Shimano freewheel, a new chain and we were off to the races. 

Tires

Quality 27 x 11/8 inch tires are difficult to come by these days too, but fortunately the geniuses over at Panaracer are still making them. The tread on the Pacela Protite tires runs to the thick side, but the rubber compound feels great and the sidewalls seem light and supple compared to the Kenda tires I had on it before. Of course they cost twice as much, but I am finding that it's well worth investing in quality rubber. 

Brakes

And I left on the Gran Compe 610 bridge-mounted center-pull brakes I bought for the bike when I first got it. The brakes suck compared to the direct-mounted center-pulls on the Velo Routier, and they make me understand why manufacturers eventually abandoned the design in favor of dual-pivot side-pulls, but they look so good on the bike that I left them. I put in some Kool Stop salmon pads which help a bit, but the brakes still suck. Ah, vanity...

Gran Compe 610 Center-pull brakes with Tektro straddle cable

Cockpit

If you followed the saga of the building of my Cycles Toussaint Velo Routier, you know that during that build I abandoned the kit's handlebars and stem, instead scavenging the Fuji's Nitto "Young" stem and Nitto B114 "Olympiad" handlebar. At some point I always intended to move the Fuji's cockpit back from whence it came and install a new Soma Fabrications stem with a Velo Orange "Course" handlebar I picked up a few years ago. But, I've become quite fond of the 70 mm stem and relatively short reach Nitto handlebar, so I left them on the Velo Routier and installed the Soma/VO rig on the Fuji. The reach on this combination is quite a bit longer than the original setup, but I use the bike for shorter efforts and it just looks so damn cool I think I'll leave it. 

1986 Fuji Allegro w/ Soma stem and Velo Orange "Course" bars

Velo Orange doesn't offer the bar anymore, which was basically a re-imagining of the classic Maes Parallel anymore, which is a real shame. They seem to be following the Crust model of funky, "modern" gravel-informed bars, along with disk brakes. (Don't get me wrong; I love Crust and if they ever produce another Lightning Bolt or Romanceür with cantilever brakes, I will snap one up as sure as Bob's your uncle. But the Crust guys ride bikes primarily off-road and like their handlebars super-wide which offends my admittedly retrogrouchy aesthetic sensibilities). I better pick up one of the classically styled Randonneur bars while Velo Orange still makes them, since they've now introduced a goofy looking "Nouveau Randonneur" featuring ultra-shallow drops and extremely short reach and look nothing at all like an actual Randonneur bar. Pretty soon their bikes will all look like Specialized gravel bikes, only with vaguely french sounding names. 

Levers

I mounted the DiaCompe Touring Brake Levers with QR that came with the Velo Routier DIY kit. I initially rejected the notion of using these levers with their swoopy cables. Even too retro for me. The original levers that came on the Allegro were aero, meaning the cables exited the hoods under the bar tape like more "modern" brakes. But the original levers (which weren't the original levers, but a weird looking set of white levers) got seriously scraped up in a minor fall I took a few years back and I figured I'd go ahead and install the ones supplied by Cycles Toussaint. I had bought some brake lever cable adjusters shortly after getting the DIY package (they were left out of the original shipment of my new bike), so I went ahead and used the DiaCompe touring levers. And man, I'm glad I did. They're great. The hoods feel terrific in the hand, the cables with their shiny braided finish look just great, and notwithstanding the somewhat inadequate brakes they actuate, they work really well.

Finally, I wrapped the bars with Cinelli cork tape which has become my go-to colorway on classically styled bikes with brown appointments. I just think it complements the gumwall tires, the brown brake hoods and the leather saddle in a way black just doesn't. 

But do the handlebars have Prosecco corks for bar-end plugs? you ask. You're goddamn right they do!

Prosecco cork bar-end plug? Check!

Perch

Astute observers will note I installed the recently abandoned Brooks B-17 Imperial I dumped from my primary bike. I recently read a kind of negative review of that model by the esteemed Brooks at the Retrogrouch. He noted that he thought maybe the factory-installed laces may be keeping the saddle from flexing the way a standard B-17 does. So I have removed the laces and I'll give it another shot. The Fuji won't get long rides like my other bike, so maybe over time the Brooks will do what they are supposed to do and become my favorite saddle ever!

So the bike is back in ride-able condition and has had some noteworthy improvements made. Now the only thing it really needs is a new bottom bracket. I noticed while giving it a good clean that there was some pretty serious wiggling around down there. Despite having developed a large amount of confidence working on a nearly every other component of the bike, there are two areas I'm still hesitant about: head sets and bottom brackets. So I'll take it into the guy and get that swapped out. After that, all there is to do is work out the luggage. I'll probably put on a rack or basket to make it more practical as a flipflop / around town / grocery getter. But that will be another adventure altogether. So stay tuned... 

 * That's right, folks, I'm a Firesign Theater fan.

Avenue de la Republique, Nice, France

Urago hand-made French 10-speed bicycle

There is what I believe to be a 1974 Urago bicycle in my garage. It was my number one riding buddy Z's college bike, and when retiring to the more forgiving climate of the American Southwest last year, he elected to leave it in my hands rather than transport it.

For a variety of reasons, not the least being that it is at least six millimeters too large for me, am not really able to ride it. But even if it was the right size, I probably wouldn't because the beautiful, handmade French frame has been the victim of a vengeful ex-wife with a ball peen hammer. Hell hath no fury. The Urago unfortunately exhibits wifey's handiwork in the form of prominent dents on the top tube and a creative yet obviously amateur red, white and blue spray painted "fade" finish Z applied in an attempt to cover the damage. Too bad. So not only will I never ride this bike, but it seems unlikely anyone will. The top tube would have to be replaced, which is possible, given that it's a lugged frame, but I can't see anyone investing the money to resurrect this particular bike. I certainly wouldn't.

I will nevertheless cherish and make useful what parts I can, and hope to maintain at least some parts as mementos of the decade or more Z and I rode together.

Mafac "Racer" center-pull brakes

Most of the components are nothing particularly special. The drive train was obviously overhauled in the late seventies or maybe early eighties, replacing what were almost certainly a mix of Simplex and Spécialités T.A. with 10-speed Shimano 105. There are still some leftovers from the original build, including some cheap looking Simplex shift levers and a great looking Pivo stem. I will definitely scavenge these parts, though I can't imagine actually using them. I'm never going back to a 5-gear rear cluster, and there's a possibility that the the Pivo is one of the notorious French "death stems". Even if it's not dangerous, the Pivo is probably too long for me, and would likely only fit an antique handlebar - like my mid-80's Nitto Olympiad. So I likely won't use these parts, but couldn't bear to get rid of them.

The parts I'm eager to scavenge, and am most likely to use are the brakes. Typical of European bikes of the time, the Urago came with MAFAC "Racer" center-pull brakes, mounted on a plate to the bolt hole in the middle of the fork crown. That was pretty standard during the bike boom. The "Racer" was not the top of MAFAC's line, but according to both Sheldon Brown and Jan Heine, they are still among the best brakes ever made, especially when direct-mounted to dedicated braze-ons like I have on the Velo Routier. The plastic parts are beyond their prime, but everything else is probably as good as ever. Fortunately, Rene Herse sells a rebuild kit for MAFAC brakes that replaces the plastic bits with brass and will generally rehabilitate the brakes. The Diacompe 750s now on my Velo Routier work just fine (my next post will likely be about them) and there's no need to swap - but c'mon, MAFAC.

MAFAC Brake Levers with OEM "gum" hoods

I'll probably take the MAFAC branded brake levers too, but I'm not sure I'll use them any time soon. I really love the Origin 8 Classiq aero set I have with the brown hoods and the drillium levers. But I'll toss 'em in the box and see if a need ever arrives. I'll probably want to pick up some hood covers from Velo Orange while I'm at it - I can't believe they'll be around forever and the originals are pretty well dry rotted.

The other thing I'll probably scavenge from the Urago is the wheels. They're 27 inch wheels like the ones I have on my Fuji, though they look to be in a lot better shape. I'll have to see if the hubs will accommodate the two extra gears (the Fuji is an '86 14-speed while the Urago is a '74 10-speed), but I think they should, and this will buy the old rice-cranker a few more years until I have to decide whether to convert to 700c.

Center-pull cable guide, "DEPOSE"

There's also a cheap but intriguing cable stay that reads, "DEPOSE". I presume the word is  dépose meaning to "take down".  I'll definitely keep that, though I'm not sure it would work on most modern bikes or that I'd ever need to use it.

As the weather warms up I'll probably get out the Dremel and try to polish up the Racers. I've got a new stem and handlebar I've been wanting to install on the Vélo Routier and I really should put the Fuji back in working order - I scavenged it for parts during the Routier build and have never really put it back together. So as the weather gets nicer I'll probably pull out the bike stand and tend to a couple of these pandemic projects. Right after I clean the gutters and do all the pruning and lay down some mulch. Oh, fuckit, I think I'll just go for a ride instead...

You take the high trail, I'll take the low trail

Previously on MondoBlahBlah...

Okay, so I've decided I want to try a low trail "Randonneur" style bike with 650b wheels and wide tires. Now what? Where do I find one? The local bike shop? Maybe in Seattle or Portland, but not in Bethesda, Maryland.

I could run down to the local Masi dealer and see if they'd be willing to bring in one of their Speciale Randonneurs for me to test ride, but at 41 mm of fork trail it's only barely "low trail", and with no fork braze-ons for the type of mini rack typical of any bike labeled "Randonneur" I'm loath to include it among my choices. And that round crown fork is just a deal breaker for me. So, nice try Masi, but though it's headed in the right direction, the Speciale is just not quite there yet. So with no local bike shop choices, it's off to the internet!

There are only a few companies producing low trail frames and forks that satisfy my requirements. It's still a niche design and the reality of the market is such that the really nice models tend to be a bit to the pricey side. Here I would include the Boulder Bicycles All Road and the Box Dog Pelican. These are gorgeous, small batch, American made bikes, lovingly crafted by artisan craftsmen. Once you get them outfitted with the kinds of accessories they are designed to have, you'd be lucky to get away for under about $4,000. A very reasonable price for a well made bike likely to be handed down to your children, especially in an age when a Chinese-made mid-priced plastic racer can easily run much more than that. But it's a lot to pay for a bike with unfamiliar geometry. It's a lot to pay to see if you like it.

So before going all-in on the low trail concept, a lot of us want to try the entry level, to see if it is all that it's cracked up to be. After all I didn't buy a $5,000 carbon fiber racing bike until after I had ridden a much less expensive aluminum version for nearly a decade.

There are really two options to get into a low trail 650b on a budget; two companies that have taken the risk of producing economical bikes for Bicycle Quarterly (BQ) fans. Soma Fabrications of San Francisco and Cycles Toussaint of Calgary, Alberta. Both companies offer Taiwanese frames based more or less on the designs championed by BQ for about $500 US. I should add that Velo Orange of Annapolis, Maryland also makes such a frame, but their Polyvalent is about $100 more expensive. All three bikes share very similar geometry, the ability to ride wide, fendered tires and easily mount front racks for those gorgeous French handlebar bags. All are made with similarly sized chromoly tubing (.8/.5/.8 the smaller sizes, with .9/6/.9 on larger frames), which Jan thinks is a bit stout, but which is probably about as thin as you're ever likely to see on a production bike - remember, these have to support 135 pound racers and 280 pound cruisers. I am to the heavy side of the cyclist weight classification, closing in on two hundred pounds, so the slightly thicker tubing is probably just fine.

The Polyvalent's Disk-ready fork

Though there are tons of tiny differences between the three models, the primary functional difference between them is the brakes. If you feel strongly about brakes, this is an easy way to choose. The Soma Fabrications Grand Randonneur has forks for cantilever brakes, the Velo Orange Polyvalent has forks for disk brakes and the Cycles Toussaint Velo Routier has forks for the ever-so-exotic brazed on center-pulls. The center pulls and cantilevers are pure retro, though the cantilever frame bosses can accommodate linear-pull brakes, which are said to offer greater braking power than cantilevers. Anyway, if you want a low trail bike built around your preferred style of brakes, there you go.

Style Points

Of course you may be more concerned about style, and there are marked differences there too. The Soma GR has a really lovely white frame with maroon accents. The Velo Routier in its current version is "tricolor", basically royal blue with a red and white logo. The new Polyvalent is offered in a lovely "deep emerald" green and a sort of pastel lilac. I personally hate the lilac, but find the other three really attractive.

The Polyvalent has the extra disk brake braze-ons, which no self respecting retrogrouch could tolerate but which probably provides the most confident braking of the three. The fork crown also seems to be somewhat unconventional, though it's hard to tell from the photographs on the site.  The Velo Routier has traditional, classic frame geometry. It does feature pump pegs on the left seat stay, which allows you to sport a snazzy pump in a really cool place, if you go in for that sort of thing.

Soma Fabrications Grand Randonneur

The latest Grand Randonneur has the loveliest fork of the three, with an elegant "French Flick", a tight bend low on the forks that provides the rake. But the GR has a sloping top tube, which definitely marks it as a "modern" bike, while the other two have level top tubes. There have been some complaints on the forums (I know, it should be "fora" but who says that?!!) that the GR frame looks too small, in the way many modern bikes with "compact" geometry do. Jan Heine noted that in his Bicycle Quarterly review. But I've also read that the geometry is stacked higher in the front providing a more upright position. I don't have one to measure, so I can't say. Still, "traditional" bikes like this generally feature level top tubes and actually tend, as their predecessors did, to be a bit bigger than "modern" bikes, showing less seat post and stem length. That difference marks the GR as a stand-out, though not necessarily in a good way.

Velo Routier Semi-Horizontal Drop Outs

One other note that might determine a winner among these three choices. The second generation of the Velo Routier has a semi-horizontal rear drop out (the other two have the now pretty much standard vertical dropout). It allows for easy conversion to a single speed or internally geared hub both of which can require chain tensioning by sliding the axle fore or aft in the drop out. You see this on a lot of older bikes, but not on many new ones. This is a deal breaker for some riders, as it can make it a real pain in the ass to change tires, particularly on a fendered bike. So there's that.

And finally, Soma and Velo Orange bikes all seem to feature proper head badges, and pretty attractive ones at that. The Velo Routier has a decal in its place. Not a big deal for me, as I'll usually have a handlebar bag covering it anyway, but head badges are lovely things and it's kind of a shame Cycles Toussaint chose the decal instead.

Alright, so having painstakingly considered all the options, which one did I go with? The answer after the break...

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.

Crust Lightning Bolt Canti - It's Alive!

If you have been following the Crust Canti Lightning Bolt build bouncing ball, you will no doubt have been on tenterhooks waiting for the latest installment. Well, here it is. 

2022 Crust Lightning Bolt Cantilever - complete

The build took a bit longer than I planned, which of course I knew it would. But it's finally done and roadworthy. 

As can be seen in the photos, I tended toward a modern build with a mulletish drivetrain, employing the Avid Shorty Ultimate cantilever brakes and re-using a pair of Bontrager carbon fiber bottle cages. The front derailleur and headset are both by Campagnolo, the rear derailleur and shift levers are by MicroShift, the cassette is a Shimano Deore 11-42, and the crank is VeloOrange's 46t/30t. That's right, it has a low gear of 30/42. That's not a bicycle drivetrain - that's a stevedore's winch! I used an existing Selle Italia "Man" saddle and a set of Origin8 Classique brake levers I bought some years ago in anticipation of the end of sensible componentry.

Here's a list of the components for reference:

Weights and Measures

The weights above are pretty close. Without water bottles, but WITH a saddle bag containing everything I need for roadside repairs plus a small cable lock, it comes in right at 10.9 kg or exactly 24 lbs in old money. It's got to be the lightest production steel frame in existence, combined with some pretty darned light components. No doubt it could be shaved down some more, but to what end? Even in my hard bike case, the package should come in just under 50 pounds, so I should be good to go for Europe when the time comes! 

The Lightning Bolt, ready to ride, weighs just over 24 lbs!

Brakes

Okay, I don't know shit about cantilever brakes. Makes you wonder why I would buy a bike made specifically for this type of brake. Save the rim brake, I guess. I'm hoping to live my entire bike life without evolving to disk brakes, hydraulic components, or an electronically controlled drivetrain. Not so much retro grouch as technophobe. I was sorely tempted to try Rene Herse cantis, but man, the price. After much time scouring the web for reviews, I settled, as noted earlier, on the Avid Shorty Ultimates. They seem to be kind of the most "modern" interpretation of the cantilever, are super lightweight, look appropriate with the black frame and derailleurs, and judging from about 360 miles of riding with them, work great. 

 

Avid Shorty Ultimate cantilever brakes

Cockpit

Handlebars

I kind of backed myself into a corner by deciding I needed to try one of Nitto's B132 Grand Randonneur handlebars, reputed to be one of the most comfortable long distance bars ever made. The GR has long 120mm reach compared to more "modern" bars, so I decided I needed a shorter stem. On my current bike I have a 70mm Nitto stem and the Olympiade B114 handlebar which has 100mm reach. That 170mm combination feels about right. So, I decided I needed a 50/60mm Technomic stem which, with the 120mm handlebar reach and the Lightning Bolt's slightly shorter reach, would give me a position similar to what I'm used to. Simple, right? 60mm normal stem and a Nitto B132 handlebar. How hard could it be? Well... 

Nitto Grand "Raund one ur" B132 handlebar

I only just noticed they misspelled Randonneur! Not on the Nitto web page, not on the package, but on the engraving on the handlebar itself. The misspelling is literally etched in aluminum! Glad I'm not the only one who can't spell French words. Nevertheless, it's this one:

Nitto B132 handlebar specification

I went narrow, because according to GCN I'll shave valuable aero watts! https://youtu.be/muMYrFJkmWM

Stem
I didn't want the 225mm "tall" stem (I haven't entered my Rivendell "tallux" years quite yet). The handlebar's clamp area is 25.4mm and I didn't want to have to use shims on a stem with a 26mm clamp diameter. No kludges. I want exactly what I want and don't want to compromise, dammit! So it took a while to get the necessary parts together. I ordered the "standard" Nitto Technomic from Rene Herse. Took a while, but it was worth the wait!

So there it is in a nutshell. There were a lot of little decisions and details along the way, some of which I may write about later, but this lays out all the essential parts. So far I am super happy with it. It feels both "faster" and more stable than my Velo Routier, which I'm sorry to report I haven't touched since I got the Crust finished. I'll provide my impressions of the differences and ride quality after I've had a chance to spend more time on the bike.