Chinese Carbon Bike Build (CCBB or C2B2)

[vvill]

@GB 117334 wrote:

Despite ordering from different websites at least 2 weeks apart the wheel parts (excluding red nips) arrived yesterday. Weekend project – figure out lacing.

Not radial!

[GB]

@vvill 117339 wrote:

Not radial!

[HR][/HR]

Something I didn’t know before, spoke length changes based on lacing pattern. I locked in 2x lacing when I ordered the spokes.

The red nipples arrived from Taiwan yesterday. Are they red enough? I’m thinking yes. Also shown, red cable clamps. These are aluminum and are definitely a more vivid red. Should I apply lube/grease to the nips or the washers? I was planning on linseed oil for the spoke threads, good idea or not?

Thanks

[GB]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]8939[/ATTACH]

I’ve got the parts (minus saddle and pedals). The question is, can I build it in time for Kill Bill?

[vvill]

@GB 118661 wrote:

The question is, can I build it in time for Kill Bill?

Yes.

(As for your other questions in the previous post – I have no idea, I’ve never built a wheel before.)

[hozn]

@GB 117622 wrote:

The red nipples arrived from Taiwan yesterday. Are they red enough? I’m thinking yes. Also shown, red cable clamps. These are aluminum and are definitely a more vivid red. Should I apply lube/grease to the nips or the washers? I was planning on linseed oil for the spoke threads, good idea or not?

Are you doing the full wheel build? Bravo!

I used to use linseed oil; now I just use motor oil. Linseed oil helps prevent any unwinding of spokes, but this really isn’t an issue if things are tensioned properly. Plus linseed oil starts setting (drying) while using it, so if it’s gonna take more than a few hours for the build, turning the nipples might be a little gummier by the end. But if you want your house to smell like a woodworking shop, choose linseed oil.

I would budget 3 or 4 hours per wheel. It might take more time and it might take less time — but it shouldn’t take too much less (or you’re rushing it and the build quality will suffer). Figure 60-90 minutes of lacing and getting the nipples all wound down to exactly the same place on the spokes (budgeting in some time for mistakes or lost nipples in the rims). And then another couple hours for tensioning and lateral + radial truing. There are several iterations of these steps, which is why it’s slow. And don’t forget stress relieving during the build. And don’t be shy about tension; you want 120-130kgf on the rear DS or front disc side of the wheels. Double check the rim specs, but I believe they’re rated for tensions in that range.

Good luck!

[GB]

@GB 117254 wrote:

The plan is for me to do the leg work on lacing the spokes and check in with Hozn for truing and tensioning. We’ll see how reality works out.

Plan B – Beg Hozn to build the wheels. Getting little spoke nipples plus little spoke washers through little spoke holes in the right order is very tricky.

I started with the wheels thinking I’d get through those then give them to Hozn for the detailed work while I assembled the bike. Turns out I made basically no progress on the wheels and as a result, no progress on the bike. So I’ve abandoned that plan, skipped the wheels and started working on the bike. As a result I realized that the front deraulier clamp I ordered in size 31.8mm is too small for my seat tube. The seat clamp is 31.8 and fits the tube, the tube flairs at the base and I need a 34mm clamp. Also realized that although I have the shift cable and housing I can’t install it yet because I don’t have ferules, little metal inserts that protect the ends of the cable housing from the cable. Both of these issues were resolved with Amazon 2 day shipping. Although I’ll have 25 ferules.

I figured out (watched the YouTube video for) attaching hydraulic cables, which was something I was a little nervous about. The system still doesn’t have the hydraulic fluid in it yet, but the connection process seems simple enough. Only ordering 1 brake line was another oversight.

Something that went surprisingly well – routing the cables through the frame. ICAN thoughtfully left little straws in the frame to guide the cables, so I just inserted and pushed. Something that I’m still trying to figure out – how to attach the cable housing to the frame where the cables go in. Any thoughts?

Here are some pics.

[hozn]

No problem on the wheels! — but would request them unlaced (i.e. not half laced), as I’d prefer to start from clean slate. Nothing worse than getting near completion of a wheel and realizing one of the spokes was on wrong side.

So for routing the cables through the frame, I believe the straws they provide — assuming they are like the ones I have — are just there for initial guides and should be removed once the cables are routed through. Keep them around for next time you need to change cables, though.

I would get all your shifter housing cut and in place (taped down to bars, etc.) first, before running any cables, but that is probably obvious. You should probably try to get your stem in the position that you expect it to be in — may be hard w/o riding, but you can at least start with your road bike — since that can affect housing length. (I assume you’re not planning to leave that much steerer below the stem; that looks like a potentially dangerous amount on a carbon fork — I think max 40mm? May depend on the fork & steerer plug setup.) You will want to trim your fork down as soon as you figure out what height you want, since the stem should be clamping the fork where it is reinforced by the steerer plug (i.e. at the top of the fork).

Some frames accommodate full cable housing through the frame; others have cable stops and expect the housing to end at the grommets in the frame. Not sure from photo, but looks like you may have the latter? (Also did you throw out the liner hose for the FD cable?) Nothing is needed to “attach” the housing to the frame — just put on an end cap and it will be held in place by the fact that the cables are always under tension. For the end caps (I just call the actual cable end caps “ferrules” though I think the housing caps can also be called ferrules?), just make sure you ordered the size that matches your housing. Shifter housing is typically 4mm; brake housing (obviously not relevant for you) is 5mm. I often use “universal” jagwire housing which is 5mm for both shift and brake cables.

Loving the red hydro cables. You went all in on this red & black color scheme!

[GB]

@hozn 119501 wrote:

No problem on the wheels! — but would request them unlaced (i.e. not half laced), as I’d prefer to start from clean slate. Nothing worse than getting near completion of a wheel and realizing one of the spokes was on wrong side.

So for routing the cables through the frame, I believe the straws they provide — assuming they are like the ones I have — are just there for initial guides and should be removed once the cables are routed through. Keep them around for next time you need to change cables, though.

I would get all your shifter housing cut and in place (taped down to bars, etc.) first, before running any cables, but that is probably obvious. You should probably try to get your stem in the position that you expect it to be in — may be hard w/o riding, but you can at least start with your road bike — since that can affect housing length. (I assume you’re not planning to leave that much steerer below the stem; that looks like a potentially dangerous amount on a carbon fork — I think max 40mm? May depend on the fork & steerer plug setup.) You will want to trim your fork down as soon as you figure out what height you want, since the stem should be clamping the fork where it is reinforced by the steerer plug (i.e. at the top of the fork).

Some frames accommodate full cable housing through the frame; others have cable stops and expect the housing to end at the grommets in the frame. Not sure from photo, but looks like you may have the latter? (Also did you throw out the liner hose for the FD cable?) Nothing is needed to “attach” the housing to the frame — just put on an end cap and it will be held in place by the fact that the cables are always under tension. For the end caps (I just call the actual cable end caps “ferrules” though I think the housing caps can also be called ferrules?), just make sure you ordered the size that matches your housing. Shifter housing is typically 4mm; brake housing (obviously not relevant for you) is 5mm. I often use “universal” jagwire housing which is 5mm for both shift and brake cables.

Loving the red hydro cables. You went all in on this red & black color scheme!

You don’t want to start with my half baked 1/4 kinda finished wheel set?

For the straws, I saw a video with the kind you’re talking about, mine are not like that. Straw, while a good word, probably isn’t the best given that there are actually straws used. Mine is more like an internal tubing built into the frame.

Yes I ran the cable without the housing just to figure out how it goes. I’ll take it out when I put the housing on. I did read a post somewhere from guy that cut his housing to length with the cable in it. Glad I read that review otherwise I could definitely see that happening.

Yes, I think my frame is intended to have the cable housing stop at the frame. Thanks for confirming that tension should hold it in place. Why tape the housing to the bars before running the cable? That seems like it would make things a (very little) bit harder.

I’ll probably cut the housing with stem as is and then circle back to it when I trim the stem. (It’s much easier to cut the housing shorter (or live with it a little too long) than it is to cut either the stem or housing longer).

“did you throw out the liner hose for the FD cable?” The answer is no, because I haven’t thrown out anything, but is the liner hose the same as the cable housing? Just because I haven’t thrown it out, doesn’t mean that I have it.

“the stem should be clamping the fork where it is reinforced by the steerer plug”. Thanks, this makes sense but I hadn’t thought about it.

“just make sure you ordered the size that matches your housing.” …. We’ll find out in a day or two #learningasigo #readmoreinstructionsbuymoreslowly #thisisgettingexpensive #stillcheaperthanafullyassembledbike

Yes I’m happy with the colors so far. She was going to called Betty, as in Ram Jam’s Black Betty, but I’m wondering if she should be someone from 50 Shades because she’ll have 50 shades of red by the time I’m done. Betty is still the heavy favorite.

[hozn]

@GB 119521 wrote:

For the straws, I saw a video with the kind you’re talking about, mine are not like that. Straw, while a good word, probably isn’t the best given that there are actually straws used. Mine is more like an internal tubing built into the frame.

Ah this makes sense — and also addresses my later “Did you throw out liner hose” question. I was confusing terms too — I meant the guide straws thingy, but obviously not relevant. This is a nice setup.

Yes, I think my frame is intended to have the cable housing stop at the frame. Thanks for confirming that tension should hold it in place. Why tape the housing to the bars before running the cable? That seems like it would make things a (very little) bit harder.

Yeah, you don’t have to do that. I just like putting all the housing in place so I can check that lengths are correct, but you can also cut housing to length and then thread it onto the cable. Probably a little easier feeding the cable into the levers without also lining it up with the hole in the housing.

I’ll probably cut the housing with stem as is and then circle back to it when I trim the stem. (It’s much easier to cut the housing shorter (or live with it a little too long) than it is to cut either the stem or housing longer).

Yes, definitely don’t cut the *steerer* too short. Only caveat is that if you leave your housing way too long, you may have to buy new cables when you decide to trim it. (pulling out already cut-to-length cables and then expecting to re-insert them doesn’t always work out — if cable end gets at all frayed.) You should be able to have a housing length that will work when you size down the steerer. The places where the cable touches the frame will probably change so hold off on putting anti-rub stickers on the frame until you’ve figured out your stem height.

I would be worried about riding around with that much exposed/unreinforced steerer under the stem, though. Maybe it just looks like a lot and it’s within safety tolerance, I don’t know.

“just make sure you ordered the size that matches your housing.” …. We’ll find out in a day or two #learningasigo #readmoreinstructionsbuymoreslowly #thisisgettingexpensive #stillcheaperthanafullyassembledbike

Yes, there’s a significant “oops-I-ordered-the-wrong-part” tax when building your own bikes. This gets smaller over time/with-experience, but the bicycle industry also works hard to keep changing up design “standards” to keep us on the steep part of the learning curve.

Coming together nicely, though!

[GB]

I finally had a weekend to work on the bike, and the parts needed. I’ve got the shift cables and housing in place. I used jagwire sealed shift cables which should help keep things crisp during muddy rides. Although it must add some friction to regular shifting.

I wasn’t sure about the routing for the front brake line and I took what I think is a somewhat unusual line, but the housing seemed to lay more naturally this way than when I ran it straight down from the bar.

Still left to do:
Tune the shifting
Fill the hydraulic fluid
Bar tape
Seat
Pedals

Thanks Hozn for the wheels.

[GB]

Sealed cables and cable routing.

[hozn]

Front brake hose doesn’t need to wrap around bike; just route straight down. It looks like your housing might be a little long across the board too?

[hozn]

It looks like cables are also on wrong sides of the bike — or do they cross them inside the frame?

[GB]

@hozn 120762 wrote:

It looks like cables are also on wrong sides of the bike — or do they cross them inside the frame?

They cross inside the frame.

[hozn]

Huh, interesting! I haven’t seen that before, but it certainly looks clean to cross the cables.

[Author]

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