Margo II: the build (project thread)
 

So as you may or may not know, Harold and I recently parted with our good friend Margot.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...HTwithbags.jpg


She was a good bike, but there's a new utility-bike coming soon that will be better suited to my needs.
Since said bike will only be sold as a frameset, I'll soon be building up my first bike from scratch.
Funny thing is that I believe the hard part is already over. It turns out that just choosing the parts is an unbelievably tough thing to do. The choices are truly endless, but at the same time, there are pretty strict limits to part-compatibility.
Do you need a front derailleur with a 28.6mm clamp or a 31.8mm?? Now just a dozen more little things like that...:eek:

So here's what I have amassed so far.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...r/IMG_5198.jpg

The keen-eyed among you may notice two seatposts, (neither of which is the correct one) and two front derailleurs (one of which is the right one). I learned a few of those parts-compatability lessons the hard way.

Shown above:
Nitto Albatross handlebars
120mm 15 degree rise stem
Shellacked cork grips
Shimano Dura-Ace bar end shifters
Tektro brake levers
Avid BB7 brakes (203mm front and 165mm rear)
Brooks B73 saddle
FSA the pig pro DH headset
Sugino MTB crankset with 42-32-22 rings
11-34t nine-speed cassette
26" 36 spoke disc brake wheelset
Shimano XT rear derailleur
Shimano XT front derailleur
Kalloy seatpost
Eggbeater mallet pedals
Various cables
Two 9-speed chains

And here's what I don't have yet.

http://www.surlybikes.com/new/images/bigdummy.jpg

Hopefully I will pick it up around February 25, when I'm back in Missouri. This particular frameset has had it's release date pushed back countless times now, but it's supposed to come out in mid-Feb, so I'm keepin' hope alive.


I know the thread's a little premature, but I couldn't help myself :D
I'm gettin' too excited about it not to post.

Just got word from my LBS that the frame will be waiting for me when I get there on Saturday :D

Pics of the headset and BB install to follow as soon as my parents 28k modem allows.

In buying my new bike, I considered trying to do a build, but I gave up for lack of knowledge on compatibility. This definitely looks fun (and informative for me) so keep posting the details. Thanks!

The Waiting Game, or "About Shipping Bikes"
 

So, my frame was indeed waiting for me in Missouri, but a problem remained. How to get it back to California?

Sure, I could have just bought the damn thing from a bike shop here in Cali, but I wanted to support my old LBS, those guys are frickin' awesome.

Because of the sheer size of the boxed frame, shipping was going to be a nightmare. UPS, FedEx and DHL would have charged "oversize III" charges (the box is about 66" x 22" x 12") and it would have cost about $120.

I would have been able to take it back to Cali on the airline for $80 extra if only the plane would have been a 757 or bigger. (I had a connector flight on a regional jet) If you ship a "regular" sized bicycle you may not have to pay the $80. :thumbup:

So at Karl's (the shop owners) recommendation I looked into shipping via Greyhound. It allegedly takes 7-10 business days to ship Greyhound, and that's pretty good. Normal UPS ground takes about that long in my area. But by far the best thing about it is the price. It only cost about $58 to ship by Greyhound.

Oh, and in the rest of the build, I won't be covering headset installation because I had my LBS do that part for me. Since I don't install that many headsets it's a lot more economical for me to pay them to do it than to buy my own tools ($175ish for the park press/crown race tools)

You must have the patience of an oyster. It's not my ride and I can hardly stand it. Look forward to pic's when it make it home. Are those the wheels and tires you will be running?

Was that a Brooks saddle on the original Surly?

All good things to those who wait...

Or something like that :)

And yeah, those are the wheels and tires I'll be using. I just ordered bigger (slick 2.3") tires today, so those will be going on when I get them.

And the Brooks is new, I sold the old one with the bike, This one is a bit wider and has three coil springs instead of "just" two :D
It took exactly zero miles of breaking-in to be comfy.
The saddle was a pretty big consideration when I was choosing parts, I'm gonna have a pretty upright seating position with the "albatross" handlebars, so a wider saddle is pretty important.

OK, so what's up with the funky architecture at the back of the frame? Is it an extended wheelbase... sort of an OEM xtra-cycle?

exactly like an OEM xtracycle!

The hardest day at work ever...
 

So about 30 minutes after I got to work today I get a call from Greyhound.

My bike is in, I can go pick it up whenever I want.

Sweet. :D

Oh wait, I'm at work. :mad:

Must work faster!!! :eek:



Several hours later, I'm glad I have a hatchback. This same box won't fit in my wifes Cavalier or my parents Plymouth Breeze.
(apologies in advance for the crappy pic. white cars in the sun aren't exactly easy on the camera...)

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...r/IMG_5292.jpg



And here's what was in the box.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...r/IMG_5294.jpg

Where to begin?
 

So. Step one. Install the fork.

Pretty easy really, just slide it in the headtube, slide the top bearing, spacers and stem over the forktube. Cap it all off with the headset cap, tighten, and you're done.


Next, we have the bottom bracket (BB)

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...r/IMG_5296.jpg



So you need a special tool for most bottom brackets. Older bikes (and a lot of cheap department-store bikes) use different tools, but the one I'm using in the picture is pretty standard for "modern" bikes of decent-and-above quality.


To install your BB, simply grease the threads, install the cartridge first (the big part) and then put in the other (smaller) side.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...r/IMG_5297.jpg


Now the cranks. Slip them over the BB axle and then put in the bolts so they don't fall off. Tighten and you're done.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...r/IMG_5298.jpg



Pedals need to go on next. Depending on your pedals you'll have to use either a hex wrench or a pedal wrench (sometimes you can use either). In my case I use a hex wrench, the pedal wrench is just there for show.

Oh, and don't forget, pedals are threaded backwards on the drive side. So on the drive side (the side with the chain) it's "Righty-Loosey, Lefty-Tighty"
:thumbup:

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...r/IMG_5302.jpg



Now throw on those wheels and a seat and it's actually starting to look like a bicycle.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...r/IMG_5299.jpg

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. ;)

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...r/IMG_5304.jpg



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.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...r/IMG_5310.jpg



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.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...r/IMG_5311.jpg



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



http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...r/IMG_5312.jpg



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.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...r/IMG_5314.jpg



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

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...r/IMG_5319.jpg

In the home stretch
 

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

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...r/IMG_5320.jpg



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 :)

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...r/IMG_5316.jpg



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

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...r/IMG_5315.jpg



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.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...r/IMG_5317.jpg



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

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. :D


http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...r/IMG_5322.jpg

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. :)

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 :)

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

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. :D



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.

Finishing touches
 

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.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...nmeyer/BD1.jpg



http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...nmeyer/BD2.jpg



http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...nmeyer/BD3.jpg

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? :turtle: Also have you weighed it yet now that it's all together?

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.

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 :)

Next question: what's your plan for this bike? Are you going somewhere with it? Or is it just your SUB? (Sport Utility Bike)

Next next question: how's the seat? Looks like a carnival ride - don't you bounce around a lot while pedalling?

That's really cool.

One of my employees has a Fisher/ExtraCycle conversion. He rides to work everyday, and swings buy grocery on his way home. He can also pile two of his kids on bike and make a trip to the market. Pretty darn versitile. Once it get's going, it rolls pretty good. But those short hills can be tough with only a 1x9 setup. A triple sound more comforting.

It's just my SUB for now. It's pretty great for those trips to the grocery store and such. The biggest load I've hauled so far was my wife. She sat on the back for a little spin around the block.
With the weight of a whole nother person on the back, it really wasn't that bad in terms of handling. My old bike handled about the same with only ~90lbs on the rear rack. And with the new bike I don't have to worry about pinch flats with all the extra load. :thumbup:

You seem to be quite enthralled with the seat. :D

It's not really noticeably bouncy unless you go over a big bump or something. The springs in Brooks saddles are really quite stiff, they just take the edge of the big jolts.

Oh man...:D
She doesn't have an account here, does she?;)

It's just that my dad has one of those bendy bikes (foldable) with springs in the seat, and a certain pedal RPM seems to hit the natural frequency of the springs and all hell breaks loose! You start bouncing up & down, feet flying off pedals, life flashing before eyes...

I guess his springs are worn out or too soft.

How about an update on Margo II. How's it working out?