Starting the build of the Prototype

What a weekend! Bikes bikes bikes. Heaven. ;-)

With the arrival of the prototype frame immiment, we have purchased all the parts required for the first test build - which will be in the format of a conventionally geared, but disc braked cross bike. Certainly, it isn't suitable for the top level of Cross, where discs are outlawed. But that is missing the point. This bike (among other things) is aimed at being fun in the mud. Plus, it will have several other cards up its sleeve.


One of the first components to arrive were the rims and spokes. I'd picked the hubs up a while ago and they'd been staring at me accusingly for the last month or so. The kit is not especially exotic, but I expect it certainly will do the job well; Halo Aerotrack rims laced on Shimano LX hubs with DT Swiss Competition spokes. Friday night I started the front and now, Sunday, I'm feeling pretty chuffed with myself having just finished the rear. And if I may say, the result looks pretty hot indeed.

That said, I haven't been working on them all the way through. It was a good weekend, a lot of Saturday spent wandering around town doing a lot of window shopping, and today preparing my cross bike for next weekend; it had been caked with mud after the last outing at Herne Hill and had only been hosed off and the chain lubed to prevent corrosion. Today I did a nice strip down, and re-lube - and I cleaned all the mud out of everything.

All in all, a knackering weekend, but well worth it now having a spotlessly clean cross bike, but more importantly a pair of kick-ass looking wheels for the first Such Bikes prototype.

Wheelbuilding and a new look ...

In spite of my racing has taken a back seat (due to asthma related chest issues) I've been having a lot of bike based fun lately.

So in the meantime I've playing as usual, mostly just tweaking The Pig to get it running even sweeter for the commute. This has largely been just fundamentals like gear and brake adjustments, a cable replacement, new brake pads and fitting some remarkably useful SKS Beavertail mudguards (that I had expected would be terrible, but that work surprisingly well). So nothing terribly exciting. I had originally fitted my much-loved and well-worn Selle San Marco Rolls saddle, but with the coming of winter and increasingly damp weather, I fitted an old synthetic MTB saddle I had lying around that is arguably just as comfy, but I don't mind leaving outside in the off shower.

I had discovered that The Pig's old steel hubs were well past their sell-by. They felt really gritty, with a lot of play. Stripping them revealed a good deal of pitting, and some interestingly egg shaped "balls". So I'd been aiming to get a new pair of cheapie wheels at some point. Then, somewhat fortuitously, my friend Ryan donated a pair of old wheels off his Specialized Crosstown - the rims were wobbly, but the hubs still in relatively good nick.

After procuring a relatively inexpensive Tacx truing stand and a decent dishing tool, I set about stripping Ryan's old front wheel and The Pig's front. I was running under the assumption that The Pig's old rim was still straight, which thankfully proved to be the case. The new old hub proved to be in good nick, and a good clean and re-greasing of the bearings had it spinning sweetly again.

Following Sheldon's wheelbuilding guide, I set myself at the task. Lacing was easy enough, and I think I probably made the requisite number of lacing errors to make sure that in future I'll pay more attention to what I'm doing and not let my mind drift. And perhaps keep the pint of Bombardier for after the job, not before. Anyhow, long story short, after about 3 hours of trial, error and a few curses, the wheel ended up tight and true. A hammering on commute over the next week, with the best that London's tarmac can throw at it, will prove how well I've built it. I'm caressing the table.

The new look? My friend and partner Andy and I have been cooking ideas for developing Such that we'll kick start in the coming months. I'm sure that is going to be a great ride indeed!