Gravel commuter / tourer build

[ChrisEyles]

@Roger Longbottom - darn, saw your reply just too late... I've literally just "won" a pair on ebay in the last five minutes, otherwise I'd have had them gladly as they would have been perfect.

@DCBassman 34t should be plenty as a largest sprocket on the rear since I'll be running a triple up front. Will either go 11t-30t with a 24/32/42 or 13t-34t (will be an 11t-30t with the 11t removed and a 34t added from the spares box) with a 28/38/48 depending on what comes up that I like the look of on ebay.

 

[ChrisEyles]

£31 spent from the currently remaining £54 leaves £23 to finish the build. Even with raiding of the parts bin this looks to be unlikely!

 

[ChrisEyles]

Ooh, wait - just clawed back £8 for the seat post. We're up a smidge to £31!

 

[ChrisEyles]

Since this is clearly no longer going to be possible on a £200 budget I'm going to cheat and tweak the rules...

I've got a box of unused parts (kick stands, bottle cages, old naff saddles & pedals etc) in the garage that has sat dormant for several years, so I'll have a sort through and anything that's not worth keeping will go on ebay towards this little project.

Must say I hadn't realised that a decent set of cable disc calipers would cost as much or more than a reasonably MTB hydraulic disc brakeset, or that road brifters go for several times what a comparable quality MTB shifter does.

 

[Gunk]

£31 spent from the currently remaining £54 leaves £23 to finish the build. Even with raiding of the parts bin this looks to be unlikely!

This sounds like one of my builds, even raiding my stash of parts, I never come in under budget.

 

[figbat]

Since this is clearly no longer going to be possible on a £200 budget I'm going to cheat and tweak the rules...

I've got a box of unused parts (kick stands, bottle cages, old naff saddles & pedals etc) in the garage that has sat dormant for several years, so I'll have a sort through and anything that's not worth keeping will go on ebay towards this little project.

Must say I hadn't realised that a decent set of cable disc calipers would cost as much or more than a reasonably MTB hydraulic disc brakeset, or that road brifters go for several times what a comparable quality MTB shifter does.

It took me time - I watched so many auctions on eBay but finally got my Spyres for £54 (with rotors) and managed to bag a pair of Tiagra levers (with in-line adjusters) for £25. I would have gone hydro but for the huge cost of hydraulic road levers.
I was watching, bidding, losing, watching... for a year or so.

 

[DCBassman]

or that road brifters go for several times what a comparable quality MTB shifter does.

The well-used 3x9 Soras I have cost as much as a brand new set of EZ-Fire ST-EF65-9. Crazy, but that's the market...

 

[ChrisEyles]

Saw these while having a look on the 'bay:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Disc-Bra...867716?hash=item1f10bde984:g:9xsAAOSwcv9e0m4s

They look like a chinese copy of the TRP spyre (i.e. double piston mechanical caliper) - the price is certainly right and I've had very good results with cheap chinese parts in the past (they are just as good as "official" parts, just take a long time to arrive).

I've asked if they're designed for use with short pull or long pull brake levers. I'm betting the answer I get is "you can use them with both road and MTB brake levers"

 

[ChrisEyles]

Even better response than I expected:

"Now it is served by chat robot.
Thank you for your interest in our products.
The available models listed on the listing can be used. If the model you use is not listed in the listing, please tell us your model/ version.We will contact our supplier to confirm it.
You can reply "I need manual service" to ask the customer service girl to solve the problem for you.Usually they will reply you within 48 hours.If you can't wait,recovery robot.

from chatbot"



Guess I'll have to bide my time on a set of TRP Spyres!

 

[figbat]

Saw these while having a look on the 'bay:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Disc-Bra...867716?hash=item1f10bde984:g:9xsAAOSwcv9e0m4s

They look like a chinese copy of the TRP spyre (i.e. double piston mechanical caliper) - the price is certainly right and I've had very good results with cheap chinese parts in the past (they are just as good as "official" parts, just take a long time to arrive).

I've asked if they're designed for use with short pull or long pull brake levers. I'm betting the answer I get is "you can use them with both road and MTB brake levers"

I hope the attention to detail in their design and engineering is better than in their promotional images:

 

[ChrisEyles]

Had the fork apart today to give it a service before topping it up with oil. Unfortunately the rebound top-out springs on the damping rods on each side had sheared - not sure how that could have happened! A big hit shouldn't have caused it, since they're only compressed when the fork tops out when rebounding? Perhaps it just happened from extended use with not enough rebound damping caused by low oil levels...

To compensate for this I'll try running a slightly heavier weight oil in the damper. If this doesn't work I'm considering putting a bit of tubular pipe insulation foam around the bottom of the damper rods to act as a sort of elastomer top out spring.

If this is a stupid idea for some reason I haven't thought of, do tell!

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Hadn't thought of using 700c wheels - are these not normally spaced at 130mm rather than 135mm on the rear? With a steel frame that's no problem, not sure about alloy?

Lovely job on your gravel build, I like that a lot. Thanks for sharing.

Nope 135mm spacing is for disc brakes bikes, same for 26” or 700C

 

[ChrisEyles]

Received the brifters today - one was missing the clamp to fix it to the bars, so have been onto the seller to have a look for this and send it on, or they'll be going back from whence they came.

Also received the headset in the post. The cups are very loose in the frame (can be slotted in by hand) - nothing's going smoothly today! However, a quick test fit with a sardine can shim suggests they will press in nice and firmly with this in place so will do that tomorrow. In the absolute worst case, there's always JB weld as a back-up, but I don't think it'll come to that.

Sold a few more bits today and listed the contents of a big box of unwanted bits that have been sitting in my garage for ages on ebay to fund the calipers.

Promptly splurged it on an STX crankset & pedals. Comes with 42/32/22 chain rings, which I think I'll pair with an 11-28 cassette.

Think it's just the brake calipers, brake cable inners and a front derailleur I need to get now. The front derailleur will be a challenge - ideally it will need a 34.9mm clamp bottom pull triple mech compatible with a 42t chainring and STI shifters, which I'm pretty sure doesn't exist. I'm thinking of using a MTB pull FD, and clamping the cable closer to the pivot point so that the shorter pull of the STI brifter moves the cage the full distance between chain rings. The other option is to get a road pull mech that will play nicely with the STI brifter, but then the cage will be sized for a 53t chain ring, which makes setting it up trickier, as chain rub on the cage tends to be an issue.

Having done a bit of budgeting on a spreadsheet, I am seriously considering riveting together cut up milk bottles to make a mudguard

 

[ChrisEyles]

Thanks @YukonBoy that's good to know - for some reason I had it in my head that 130mm 700c disc wheels were a "thing".

Will almost certainly stick with 26" for this build though.

 

[ChrisEyles]

Pressed in the headset cups this evening using the sardine tin shims, which worked nicely.

Stuck this lot up for sale, will see how much it fetches over the next week.

Touched up a few minor chips in the paint on the frame & fork too. Need some more parts to arrive to make a bit of progress!