Showing posts sorted by date for query velo routier. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query velo routier. Sort by relevance Show all posts

Saturday, May 30, 2026

Pegasus soars

You may recall that in September 2024, in a fit of FOMO, I bought a Crust Lightning Bolt Cantilever frame in Light Sea Green. In my most recent post, I noted that I was nearly finished assembling the 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. 

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

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

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

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

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

Crappy bar tape works fine as a chainstay protector

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

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

Blue Lug mini pizza reflector
Reflective Blue Lug energy!

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

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

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

All dressed up and ready to go

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

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

Pegasus, carrier of Zeus' thunderbolts 

 Build List

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Sunday, September 8, 2024

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

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...

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Monday, July 31, 2023

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. 

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Friday, March 24, 2023

Sub Compact

The front derailleur on my current road bike has been a problem since I got it. If you want the whole story, you can read it here: https://mondoblahblah.blogspot.com/2018/04/all-together-now.html

The microSHIFT derailleur supplied with the Cycles Toussaint Velo Routier v2 DIY build kit was just never quite right. It worked, but in order to shift to the large chainring I had to "overshift" so that the outer plate rubbed the inside of the crank arm and then trim the derailleur back once the chain made the move to the big ring. 

The crank arm didn't completely come to a stop when it made contact with the derailleur cage, but to avoid as much "rubbing" as I could, I tried to shift up only after the drive-side pedal passed the 12 o'clock position and have all trimming complete before it reached the 9 o'clock spot. Obviously harder when pedaling at a high cadence.

I got used to the motion, so it wasn't a huge problem. Since I spend about 95% of my time on the big 46 tooth ring, it wasn't much more than a minor annoyance. But the derailleur never actually worked the way it's supposed to, and it spent far more time rubbing on the crank arm than should ever be the case. We do it all the time, but we should never have to conform our behavior to compensate for the inadequacy of our equipment. We deserve to have stuff that works!

microSHIFT 9/10-speed front derailleur

These "winter months" tend to be when I attend to the routine maintenance of my bikes in preparation for the much more active spring riding season. This year I needed to re-wrap the handlebars and while I was doing that I thought I'd try a different cable routing for my bar-end shifters, running the cables under the bar wrap rather than having the big swoopy loops of cable housing jutting out over the front wheel where is kind of interferes with my rack-mounted handlebar bag. AND while I was at THAT, I might just as well see if I could do something about the annoying front derailleur.

After removing the microShift unit, I immediately noticed two things about it:  

  1. The model number does not match that listed on the Cycles Toussaint site (FD-R62 vs. FD-R74E)
  2. It is marked "9/10 Flat Handlebar"

microSHIFT FD-R62 9/10-speed front derailleur

I honestly have no idea if either of these things matter at all. They are both old, retired parts numbers and I'm not sufficiently interested to know if there was a mistake in my order. At this point I could probably just live with it forever, gripe from time to time and just get on with my life. But I have an Ultegra derailleur gathering dust so...  

I had recently run into the old Microsoft Ultegra 10-speed front derailleur in my parts bin. It's a remnant of my midlife crisis super bike, and it's just been sitting in the bin since I stupidly drove into a parking garage with it bolted to my roof rack. 

Now I am not sophisticated about chain lines, spindle length, etc. I used to believe that Shimano components won't work with anything other than other Shimano components, and even then only from the same groupset from the same generation. But I have recently come to believe that friction shifting can cure nearly all technical problems with bikes (thanks Russ!). So I figured I'd swap the Ultegra for the microSHIFT and see if it works any better. In the worst case I'd just have to swap them back, so what's to lose?

Shimano Ultegra 10-speed front derailleur

You probably won't be surprised to learn that of course the Shimano derailleur works better. At least it is easier to adjust so that the chain moves to the big ring without the derailleur rubbing on the crank arm. And it shifts down just as reliably. Altogether it just provides a much more confidence inspiring shifting experience. It does seem to take more "trimming" when I'm cross chaining. I think the Ultegra cage, which is specifically 10-speed only, not 9/10-speed, is narrower than the microSHIFT's, which would account for the difference. Saint Sheldon confirms. 

I suspect I'll spend more time trimming at the outside edges of the shifting range, and I'll see if that drives me crazy. For the moment, it's just nice to be able to pull up to the big ring in a single motion without having to think about where the crank arm is in its rotation 

So the moral of the story is that you should never leave an expensive Shimano component lying around in a box when you have an equivalent budget part you aren't happy with. Slap it on, see if it works. What have you got to lose?

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Sunday, March 19, 2023

Cruzing with friction

Among my ever-growing fleet of bicycles, there is a a very much neglected bike from the early nineties that was long ago relegated to the garage in favor of more road focused models. I recently had occasion to drag it out of obscurity and reconsider it. 

The bike in question is a 1993 Specialized Crossroads Cruz, a steel "hybrid". It was the first "adult" bike I ever bought and though it has given me a great deal of pleasure over the years, it had fallen into disfavor be cause in many ways it was a really poor choice. There's nothing inherently wrong with the style of bike, and it was pretty well made, despite being way down at the bottom price point. But bike's frame is way too small for me, the 700c x 35 wheels are way too big for the frame, and consequently there's a horrific amount of toe overlap, not to mention about two feet of exposed seat post! Though it has super low gearing (48-38-28 triple with a 30 tooth low gear in the back), the thing is heavy as sin. 

1993 Specialized Crossroads Cruz
1993 Specialized Crossroads Cruz

But as frequent readers of this blog will know, my two greatest passions are cycling and deer hunting. Suddenly last year it occurred to me to combine the two, to reduce the miles of walking to and from my stand and possibly extend my range somewhat. There's no way I would use one of my precious road bikes for a hunting bike. It has to be able to sit out in the forest chained to a tree in all kinds of weather. It has to carry a rifle or a crossbow for Krod's sake. And I was not about to buy a new mountain bike for the purpose - the whole thing was an unproven concept. So I dug the Crossroads out of the garage, blew some dust off of it, and gave it a once-over. 


Turns out, despite having languished for over two decades, the bike was in pretty serviceable shape, working, more or less as designed. The one thing that wasn't, and frankly hadn't been for a while was the thumb shifters. The grease meant to lubricate the moving parts had obviously congealed into a thick goo, and though it was possible to shift "up", increasing tension on the cables, down shifts were not happening predictably because the index system's ratchets were all gummed up. I tried blasting them with WD40 (the only application in which I would ever let WD40 touch one of my bikes), but after several applications and some serious soaking, they still weren't shifting right. 

OEM: Shimano 100 GS thumb shifters

Fortunately, the gearing is so forgiving, and most of the riding I did during the season was limited to relatively flat forest roads, so I went ahead and used the bike as-is and it worked out fine. I had a very successful deer season and came back resolved to give the bike the TLC it deserves for schlepping me back and forth through the forest with all me gear. 

The first order of business was new brake pads, immediately followed by a replacement of the shifters. Ardent readers may recall that when I ordered my Cycles Toussaint Velo Routier v2 back in 2018, they inadvertently shipped it with a set of MicroShift thumb shifters instead of the preferred bar-end shifters. When notified of the error, they graciously sent me a replacement, but never asked for the accidentally shipped thumbies back. So out of the parts bin they came, and onto the Crossroads they went, along with all new cabling et voilà! the ol' girl shifts like a youngster.

Microshift thumb shifters
Microshift thumb shifters

And not only is the shifting as good as or better than ever, the friction shifters weigh less than half what their predecessors weighed. Not that the "saved" grams matter much on a 35 pound bike, but hey, take what you can get. 

Microshift friction "thumbies"

Of course now that I've got the shifting and braking all sorted out and working well, I have started to notice what seems like some pretty pronounced looseness in the headset. And the chain, which I don't think has ever been replaced, seems pretty well shot. Which means I also need to get a new cassette... Oy, it never ends! 
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Thursday, August 12, 2021

The Lighten-ing: Seatpost

I recently described the upgrade to the set of wheels on my Cycles Toussaint Vélo Routier v2, a low-trail, 650b bike. Not that you care, but you can read it here: https://mondoblahblah.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-lighten-ing-wheels.html

There are a few other upgrades I've been meaning to make, foremost among them, a new seat post. There was nothing inherently wrong with the Kalloy seatpost that came with the Velo Routier DIY package. It is a simple, classic-looking seatpost that fits this bike perfectly. But there was a minor (hopefully just cosmetic) manufacturing defect that has always bugged me a bit. At the rear of the post there was a tiny "dot" of adhesive foil stuck on for no apparent reason. One day I mindlessly started picking at it, as one might a scab, and once pealed off, it revealed a hole in the post, an obvious defect in from the casting of the aluminum. What have we here?! I exclaimed.

Kalloy seat post with foil concealing the manufacturing defect


Kalloy seat post from Cycles Toussaint

Too lazy to make a fuss over a $19 seatpost, and presuming the defect doesn't constitute a high risk of failure, I left it. If that's the bike's biggest problem, I'm certainly happy to live with it. And did. For a long time. But then the binder bolt on the Managing Partner's fancy-schmancy carbon fibre Specialized seatpost snapped off. 

Well, as you may imagine, while purchasing a new seat post for her, I couldn't resist the temptation to slip an extra into the ol' René Herse Cycles shopping basket. So it is that the Vélo Routier has come to sport what I think is one of the nicest looking seatposts available, the S65.

Nitto S65 "Crystal Fellow" seatpost

Nitto S65 "Crystal Fellow" seatpost - profile view

Nitto S65 "Crystal Fellow" seatpost - saddle cut-out view!

Nitto S65 "Crystal Fellow" seatpost - box

Now I am plum jiggered if I know why it's called "Crystal Fellow". Sounds like a sex toy. But as the box says, it is forged alloy pillar seatpost made in Tokyo, Japan. The Managing Partner's bike is a teeny-tiny "compact" frame, so she needed the 300mm version, while my Vélo Routier shows only the traditional "fist-full of post" so I got the 250mm. It's the same length as the original Kalloy post. So, of course I had to weigh them!

The Kalloy seatpost weighs 261 grams

The Nitto S65 "Crystal Fellow" seatpost in 250 saves 10 grams!

In addition to being marginally lighter (c'mon, ten grams?!) the Nitto is forged, which I presume means it is stronger than the obviously cast (K)alloy post. I suspect this makes the point about weight: saving that 10 grams cost me about $86 with shipping. So, you know, about $9 per gram. Cheap by bicycle standards but given there was nothing functionally wrong with the original, a bit of an unnecessary extravagance to be sure. Nevertheless, I love Nitto products, want to encourage the company to keep making them, think the "Crystal Fellow" looks just a bit nicer and hey, 10 grams is ten grams, am I right?

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