This is my favorite because this is the one I put together myself.
Nearly all build it yourself bicycle stories start with a bare frame.
I wasn't necessarily looking to build one myself although I was pretty sure I COULD do it. I was at the end of season warehouse clearance sale held by our local bicycle retail chain, Erik's Bike Shop, when I came across the frame. Eventually I found myself, in the spirit of a clearance sale, making an offer substantially under the number posted on the tag. The sales manager I was dealing with told me that he did not have authority to accept an offer that much under the tag. I took it as evidence of the fact that they really wanted to move the frame when instead of just refusing to sell he told me he would go in the back and get someone who did have authority to consider my offer. Out came Erik. Which is how I ended up paying approximately dealer cost substantially below retail to purchase this frame directly from Erik the Bike Man.
For what I was told were inventory control reasons I could not take possession of the frame from the warehouse sale itself. The frame had to be sent out to one of the stores where I made the pick up. This gave me a week to get started on the other necessary purchases and by about the time the frame made it home packages of bicycle parts became a regular occurrence on our front step.
I also had to buy some tools but here you have wheels, stem, handlebar and I suspect the Campagnolo bit is the chain.
It's 10 speed Chorus, Campagnolo Proton wheelset, Mavic brakes, LOOK carbon stem, a really sweet ride. Here are the front and rear derailers mounted, you can see one of the wheels of the Crown Jewel there corner upper right.
All of the parts came with detailed installation instructions, construction moved along pretty easily. The really hard part was when I had to cut the stem down to the size I wanted. Measure twice, set everything up, measure it again, take a bit to think it over, make sure it is measured properly, attach the fork to the saw guide, saw guide in bench vise, hacksaw ready, cut.
Eventually the LOOK KG 381i was ready for the road. Still completely clean and grease free, it made a one time without any concerns whatsoever appearance in the living room, GRider serving as hand model.
How much do I like this bicycle?
Well, I have ridden it over 20,000 miles is how much I like this bicycle.
3 comments:
I like it too as do many riders looking back at it admiringly as we cross paths. It's a beauty and I was amazed that after you finished building it (no classes or prior experience) and then rode it all the way to the bike shop with no problems.
Nice bike.
I have some idea of how far 20,000 miles is on a bicycle, so take this seriously. Congratulations.
What could possibly be left for the last day? NewLook makes sense, but there are plenty of other bicycles in your house. The Bianchi from Tram 1 is a pretty nice bike, and matches BDE's. I guess that was a background shot earlier. But I haven't seen "my" bike for a while -- probably not as a topic for your last post, though.
I'm done musing. Carry on.
Nice bike.
One more blog in the marathon.
Post a Comment