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Bloody Mary Sprungfeld
Bloody Mary Sprungfeld

I finished my new bike! This is the first bike I've built, and it's a beautiful mongrel. (Non-bike nerds can stop reading here.)

I started with a Centurion Elite steel 10-speed from the early 1980s. The huge frame, which I just barely clear, will hopefully act as a theft deterrent.

The drivetrain is somewhat peculiar. In order to use the original oldie-but-goody Suntour derailers, I have a double crankset, but since I will be using this for touring or shorter rambles through hilly terrain, I have a 42-tooth "middle" gear and a 26-tooth granny, no high gear. The rear is an 8-speed wide-range cassette, 11-32t, giving the following usable gears:

26/32 = 0.8
26/28 = 0.9
26/24 = 1.1
26/21 = 1.2
26/18 = 1.4
42/24 = 1.8
42/21 = 2.0
42/18 = 2.3
42/15 = 2.8
42/13 = 3.2
42/11 = 3.8

42/11 is actually higher than the original high gear, 52/14, and the low gear is way lower than the original 40/28. I could probably stand to replace the bottom bracket spindle with a shorter one, which would hopefully let me use the big ring with the entire range of the cassette, but it's like this for now. These are "cyclocross" crank arms - super tough, probably too tough and heavy, actually.

I had intended to mount the original downtube shifters on the bar ends, but unfortunately the shifters were too wide to mount right, and I had to buy new-old-stock shifters. These are Suntour ratcheting downtube friction shifters, like the originals, just skinnier. While I am developing a sense memory for the shifter positions, I have a little piece of electrical tape that indicates the range that is usable with both chainrings.

I'm proud that I built my first wheel set, a couple of 700C wheels in place of the original 27-inchers. They are Tiagra hubs, Velocity Dyad rims, and primo triple-butted DT spokes - 36 in the back, 32 in front, just because. The tires are 32mm Schwalbe Marathons.

I put on aero brake levers and cross levers to use with the original brakes. The original handlebars were really narrow, having barely enough room for the cross levers, so I got a couple extra centimeters by swapping the handlebars with my other bike.

I ran white cable housing everywhere, though I realize now that black would have looked better. I also forgot to run the shifter cables under the bar tape. Oh well.

The saddle is a Brooks Champion Flyer.

Only the pedals have plastic reflectors, but the tires are reflective, and there's reflective tape on the frame and cranks, and my panniers have big reflective patches, and I use lights at night, anyway.

Big thanks to Goody for his tools and help, and to Sheldon Brown and various other resources.

Here's to many good years to come, Mary!

Attribution Noncommercial Some rights reserved
Taken on: April 26, 2011
Tags: Everybody's photos tagged with bike bike
Camera: Pentax K10D, f/2.8, 1/750 sec, 50mm (=75mm), ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)
Camera: Pentax K10D
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure Time: 0.001 sec (1/750)
Focal Length: 50mm (35mm equivalent: 75mm)
ISO: 100
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program: Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual
Metering Mode: Multi-segment
White Balance: Manual
Color Space: sRGB
Software: K10D Ver 1.30
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Bloody Mary Sprungfeld

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