Double Trouble

So, what does your well 'ard bike nut do for kicks on a Friday night? Build bikes of course!

I've wanted to race cyclo cross forever; ever since I'd first seen black and white pictures in bike books depicting crazy, mud splattered men attempting to cycle through bogs and shouldering their bikes while clambering wooden obstacles I had realised it was something I had to do. Having come off a fairly successful tail end of the road racing season, I decided to bite the bullet and convert my daily ride into a proper cyclo cross racer.

Much of the last month was spent scouring the internet for the parts I'd need; an inexpensive cyclo cross frame that would still be versatile during the other half of the year and some powerful cantilever brakes. My wheels were also worn from nearly three years of hard daily use, so they'd be up for renewal too. Add to that tyres that were on their last legs, the rear having started to disintegrate a week before, and a badly cut old Michelin being pressed into service as a temporary repair, it would be like a new bike even just with the overhaul.

Replacing the frame and forks would have meant that I'd have a a spare frame, fork and brake set cluttering up our spare room, something I am regularly reminded is a bad thing. The solution was simple. My friend Bryan was after a bike to get around London, I had a spare old mountain bike lying around that was too small but, apart from wheels and crankset, had pretty much all the bits needed to get him going.

About a week back it was time to press the button: lists were complied of all the parts required for each bike, we shopped around for where the best prices could be had and decided on the spec for each build. The trouble started over beers at the Morpeth where Bryan saw a very nicely turned out Kinesis Decade single speed belonging to a member of the Bikeradar commuting forum; this immediately caught his eye. The next day I'd pointed him to the the Brick Lane Bikes gallery - he was quickly becoming hooked. The parts list was revised - no way was Bryan's bike going to be a simple workhorse.

I got back from Swindon at around 6pm on Friday having raided two bike shops, Red Planet Bikes in Swindon and AW Cycles in Reading, for some previously forgotten small parts. I'd got a text from Bryan confirming that the last of what we needed for his bike had arrived in the post. The time to build had arrived!

We started by stripping the Genesis; something that I'd done so many times before but on this occasion it felt special. We put the parts into two separate boxes, those going to my new crosser in one box and those for Bryan's build in another. With the frame stripped, Bryan started cleaning and polishing it. We then got to cleaning all the parts that would be reused and before we knew it we were fed by my darling wife and the bare frame was back on the workstand ready to take on a whole new character.

Bryan had decided on a simple street white, red and blue concept; as it turned out he'd decided to "do it properly", so nothing from the old GT would be used. This would largely be a brand new bike.

The assembly went very smoothly with no major hitches, just a small faff getting the 9-spd front derailleur to work well with the 8-speed chain. In the end the set-up is a compromise and does restrict the combinations that run smoothly - it does not like crossing the chain - but overall it works well. Technical stuff aside, it looks great. The red and blue scheme of tyres and Bontrager bottle cages combined with white Oury grips and FSA carbon wrap cranks looks very cool indeed. Certainly a result in my books.

Next up was my Kinesis 4T cyclo cross bike. With the FiveT having just been launched, but only available from October, I'd managed to get one of the last 4Ts available. The relief I felt when I realised that mine was the last 57cm in stock at Chain Reaction was immense.

We'd started pretty late with this one - just a bit before midnight I'd estimate. Early on I realised that I'd made a mistake when I bought the front cable hanger, having picked a 1" rather than 1 1/8" size. After a bit of swearing and kicking myself I got on with the rest of the build, doing as much as possible before heading off to shower and sleep around 3:30am.

I shot out of bed at 7am, itching to get to the local bike shops to pick up the hanger. While waiting for the shops to open I pondered the fit and realised I'd need a new bar and stem to get the fit 100% right and identical to my race bike. I figured this would be worth it, so decided this would be added to the morning shopping list. Fortunately we have three shops in easy reach, and quickly we'd found the hanger at Luciano and a nice Ritchey stem and bar combo at Evans at a reduced sale price.

Back home I had until about 12:00 to complete the bike and convert the front room back from bike workshop to living room; Mrs Words was visiting from Bath. While I got stuck into my Kinesis, Bryan put the finishing touches on the Genesis - fitting a colour matched Trek computer and some lights.

Apart from that, it was a fun build. I will admit that I had to resort to the fitting instructions for the Tektro CR520 cantis - a process that turned out to be very easy in the end. I'm also quite chuffed with the solution I devised for the front brake cable - using a slightly modified V brake noodle (with teflon internal guide) and a barrel adjuster to make a very smoothly functioning transition into the hanger. It works a treat and the cable action is sweet.

But of course, the big question is how it rides. On road tyres it is fast and responsive. While it is still very much shaded by my race bike, I'd readily take it along to the local crit. The handling is quick but is certainly a lot more friendly than the my race bike. It is very stiff and harsh, and I'm not sure I'd like to try touring on it.

Riding Bryan's bike is a revelation. The wheels, handbuilt CXP22 rims on Tiagra hubs (as on my Kinesis) spin up much easier than the old factory wheels and with the flat bar is feels much more lively. Plus, did I mention that it looks good?