This last weekend I took it on a mixed terrain ride, about 35 miles with over 3500ft of climbing. I was shocked with how well it handled the route. The lack of friction in the system as a whole, from the white industries hubs, to dura ace bottom bracket, to rene herse extralight tires, made my drop-bar bike feel neglected and abused, that is to say, this bike feels like butter. This sensation was amplified by swapping in SPD pedals for the first time and feeling “connected.” The forward position of the Ortho bars are fantastic for out of the saddle climbing leverage, or on the saddle technical climbing on singletrack, elbows flared down. With 48mm slicks aired a bit down, the long chainstays allowed me to have enough traction to only have to walk one segment. I can’t wait to try it with the Rene Herse knobby equivalent. The ability to tap into a restorative position (aka the default riding position) made the entire route so utterly comfortable, without a hint of a back or neck ache developing. Not something I would be able to say on my drop-bar bike, which has bars levels with the saddle mind you.
[image: IMG_3348.JPG] There is so much to write about, I will let you ask any questions you have. Look for a ride report after this weekend, where I will strip the racks off and ride 60+ miles with 10,000ft of climbing with this at the LA Invitational ride. On Tuesday, May 14, 2024 at 4:56:44 PM UTC-7 Armand Kizirian wrote: > The complete build list is as follows. *View all photos here. > <https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/1wbpogiix44fmt9b40o6j/APG3fbw3AAQbjYtT-PK3JrY?rlkey=0dkhnviwb33ouz7tkhl45nqqf&dl=0> > > * > > Cockpit features a Nitto 135mm Faceplater Stem with Rons Ortho Bars, > Brooks leather ergon grips with Simworks purple bar ends, Rivendell S2 > friction shifters, with harlequin style newbuams purple/yellow wrap with > clear shellac, and a stem-mounted spurcycle bell. S83 seatpost with Brooks > B17 titanium. NOS Dura-Ace headset. > > [image: IMG_3282.JPG] > > Brakes feature Paul Canti Levers with Touring Canti’s, Moon units, and > Hunter cycles Nugz for extra cable adjustment. Rene herse and nitto cable > hangars. Yokozuna reaction compressionless housing. All capped off with > Forager cycles cable cherries. Kool stop brake pads with the grey e-bike > pad compound. This was my final hurrah to test the ultimate canti-lever > brake setup and deem its worthiness as a brake. It has not passed by test. > Riv recommends v-brakes for several valid reasons. > > Custom wheelset featuring White Industries MI5 hubs laced to Velocity > Quill rims with Sapim spokes and brass nipples, 32h front, 36h rear, all > polished. Rene Herse Tires, 48mm Hatcher Pass and Oracle Ridge. I will > likely keep an endurance casing Oracle ridge as a final tire choice, setup > tubeless with Ultradynamico brass tubeless valves. I like riding fast, > especially on dirt. > > Drivetrain features an ultra rare 110/73bcd Middleburn lightweight road > triple with 42/28t gearing and Rivendell chain guard and brass > self-extractors. Aluminum Sugino 28t chainring and aluminum chainring > hardware for weight reduction. NOS Dura-Ace 7700 sealed cartridge Bottom > bracket. Pedals are MKS Pretzel with shorter 4-5mm length brass set screws > to replace the 6mm long aggressive steel pins. Ultegra PD-ES600 SPD pedals > for longer rides when I want to be clipped in. Deore XT 9-speed 11-34 > cassette, with NOS Dura Ace 7700 mid-cage rear derailleur (wolftooth > roadlink to clear the 34t), Dura Ace 7800 double front derailleur. KMC > 10-speed X10SL with the gold treatment, because, gold! This all shifts > *wonderfully.* > > Accessories include Nitto F32 front rack with Tanaka stainless steel > basket held by Voile mini straps, Nitto 32r rear rack with cygolite rear > light mount. Front rack features upcycled 28t chainring for my cygolite > go-pro mount (blue lug style) and M6 brass set screws to fill the unused > braze-ons. Blue Lug yellow X-Strap bungee cords front and rear, with the x2 > rainbow Rivendell straps laced through the basket to handle any odd things > to carry on the fly. Beautiful Nitto R bottle cage on top, with ultra rare > matching Nitto BG-L 1-liter bottle cage on the bottom. Greenfield kickstand > wrapped with newbaums purple. Purple Blue Lug Koma lights front and rear at > the drop-outs for when I forget to bring my nicer lights. Newbaums wrap on > top tube for convenient handle grip when carrying up/down stairs to the > train. Blue lug style newbaums chainstay guard. Hemp twine features > everywhere. Lastly, any unused braze-ons are populated with M5 brass set > screws, including the backside of the utilized hourglass mounts 😉 > > Security includes hexlox axles, with the same keyed inserts for the > seatpost clamp, stem, and saddle. GPS sticker for theft deterrent. Hidden > air tag. Serial number registered in two bike indexes. I purchased a > Kryptonite mini New York u-lock off ebay ($60 new!). It is absurd and > confidence inspiring. Makes my evolution mini u-lock look like a joke. > > One bit I forgot to mention. The inner position of the lower rear right > rack mount are positioned perfectly for a chain holder, as 80's touring > bikes used to have. An Acetal bushing with delrin washers result in not > just a chain holder, but the ability to backpedal and lube the chain wit > the wheel off. > > > Thanks for reading! > Armand > Santa Monica, CA > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/b715f8e2-1c9a-48ad-b5f4-9c1e4478cce0n%40googlegroups.com.
