Margo II: the build (project thread)

[AndrewJ]

Next on the agenda is the brakes. Since I'm using disc brakes they're pretty simple to install. Slide them over the rotors, line up the holes and bolt them down.

As I was to find out later, adjustment is a whole different story. It got bad, I even had to go read the manual.





And what utility bike isn't complete without a set of full fenders?
Only problem is that with all the extra tubing and disc brakes to go around there was some serious bending going on to get the fenders to clear.





Once everything was bent into shape, I still was a bit paranoid about the fender-stays hitting in a few places, so I put little pieces of heat-shrink tubing over them to stop any rubbing.





Now the rear derailleur. It pretty much just bolts on. Fairly self-explanatory.







The front derailleur is a bit more difficult. Most will probably be a clamp-on type like mine, but there are a few others types, braze-ons and one that uses a funky metal bracket.

Either way, you need to make sure that the cage clears the teeth of the big chainring by about 1-2mm. And make sure it's all parallel. When you're satisfied with it's position, tighten up the clamp bolt.





Oh, and if you have a kickstand, put that on ASAP, it makes life much easier

[AndrewJ]

So, with some handlebars on there it really looks like something.





And of course then you can get to the super-fun business of getting all the cables put on. This will vary a bit from bike-to-bike. If all else fails, look at pictures online to figure it out





With all the cables hooked up, it's time to put the chain on. Or in my case, chains.





Move your derailleurs into the position over the big chainring in front, and the big cog in back. (big-big, you know the one combination you never want to actually ride in?)

Thread your chain through all it's cogs and derailleurs and pull it as tight as you can over the big-big rings. At that point, all the excess chain will have to be removed. You'll need a chain-tool to do this.

Put the link in that you want broken, twist like hell, and you've got a shorter chain.





So there it is. You've got a complete bike. It's probably wildly out of adjustment, but it's all there.

Hell, I even managed to resist riding it till I made sure the brakes were in adjustment enough to stop me.
I even found out that it has enough braking power to pull a decent endo.

[MetroMPG]

If you can endo an extended wheelbase bike, that's sum good brakin'! I didn't read anything about bleeding, so I'll assume that (a) the endo ended well, and (b) they're not hydraulic discs, yeah?

Also: that's a crazy seat. Looks funhouse.

Also also: the black/olive drab makes it look like a military bike.

[AndrewJ]

Yeah, you assumed right

The endo did end well. I find that I have a built in endo-saftey-mechanisim somwhere deep in my brain that makes my hand let go of the brakes when I start endo'ing.
That's probably for the best.

And yes they're mechanical disc brakes, so they're cable-actuated.

Well, I gotta go adjust some more stuff. Gotta try to get in another little ride before work

[Lazarus]

She beautiful How long did it take to get her together? Very nice job. W00T

[AndrewJ]

Lets see....

I got it home at about 1:00 and got in my first test ride by about 7:30. Keep in mind I'd been at work for about 4 hours in-between there.

Turns out it doesn't take long to put a bike together if you're super-excited about it.



Oh, and I forgot to show how to put a cassette on the wheel, so those will be coming up in a few minutes....

And if you have any requests for bits I never mentioned, post 'em up.

[AndrewJ]

So the other day I got in the xtracycle parts, the v-racks and freeloader bags, and snapdeck to be specific. I also got some Kenda Kniption 2.3" street tires to finish it all off.

Oh, and somewhere inbetween all that I got the Wald basket put on the front. Lucky for me the fork of the Big Dummy has lowrider rack eyelets that fit up with the Wald very well. Wald baskets typically have the support brace (the lower bar) mounted trough the bikes front axle nuts or quick-release.
However, if you have a disc brake on the front, as I do, that's a VERY bad idea.

Front disc brakes under braking force exert pretty significant downforce on the axle, down as in self-ejecting. If your front axle isn't very tight and you brake hard with discs your front wheel will probably extract itself from your fork in a very quick and painful way.

So, with front discs, make sure the quick release is super-tight and don't put anything between the QR and the fork (like a Wald basket support) that could make slippage easier.

[Lazarus]

Very nice job Andrew. Few question: I see you have two shifter but it looks like a single ring in the front from the pic angle. With that kind of load what chain rings are you running, what the rear cassett, and what's in the basket? Also have you weighed it yet now that it's all together?

[AndrewJ]

I just weighed it, it's about 49lbs.

There's a triple chainring up front, and a nine-speed cassette in back.
The chainrings are 42-32-22.
The cassette is 34-11.

So the resulting gearing goes from 100.8 gear-inches to 17.1 gear inches.

And my front light and battery are currently ziptied into the front basket, keeps the handlebars uncluttered that way.

[Gone4]

Wow that's a pretty unique bike. Definitely purpose built. The frame is really neat looking. It's not necessarily something I'd want to leave unattended in the city, though.

I hope the new ride suits you well