Your latest bike project?

[hozn]

Have been meaning to start this thread for awhile.

I am working on a 24″ MTB project for my son.

Starting with a Kona Hula frame that was given by a friend.

Project goals:
– convert to disc brakes
– drop ~10lbs (original bike just under 30lbs, goal 20lbs)
– as much as possible do the build with my son — the recipient of this bike (including the wheels; he’s good at helping lace).

Original frame, stripped down:

This A2Z adapter looks promising. I might modify it and drill into frame dropout if I am not able to easily solve the unit rotating when braking while rolling backwards (I know this will be an issue otherwise):

Committed:

Topic

[hozn]

Yeah, I imagine they would last for a ride (?) But probably not worth an extended test. Nice to see more folks trying out RT. Seems like a trend with merit. Hopefully more tire options will come with time, though the Pro One are pretty nice tires.

[hozn]

@hozn 156158 wrote:

But Nancy indicated that this is available with fender mounts upon request. Awesome!

Looks good! The crown drilling is pretty close to the bottom of the fork crown, but it will probably be fine since holding up fenders isn’t a high-stress job.

I am a little annoyed these CX forks don’t have axle threads in the fork. In practice, it looks like the thru-axle will work just fine with the (e-type-esque ) “nut” that sits in the fork. I am happy to leave QR (or 9/10mm “thru bolts”) behind.

[hozn]

@hozn 155918 wrote:

[IMG]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_VhLL_zikeF-xaHId9-ipwMNmgr-YubzaHe6mKTTTCwM9v_mc-EwL3tooB93DkmqHSYNi6vqX0fuE1Xnn-J5cKKeNhD69bPB4OD1uDrk3J2u0_HP281YHX2jMwJqSQDMWMwwfQ09uQFbNsYfox_u06MZ-ti6sAS1ByjxmL0r0GbeaTqsy7fDvdxCGcTYONaZj-cWLmvcYJvNoO8Ax8H_pr5rIU1fvxuGJQtzkbOGtLoAiszUO_cxfi5uTLu9x01zkJk8VzvRr3O-wPSL_F_s9jnV3sNlahtoUdgIgMKQhD7v2DhOko_Q85b47sKyHWtMx3KbyXGszQXN5oWXr7fjC5JgkDqIyfObrptwOztwU1ZebSjBcm9JQlUAFHgiy-5tneY1eUoEtPaNAECBNXAyMz5jGjAWTH94Xx4_SuHNb9LlmPpwhPy3D0FxdfGSu3ZkruQ8Hlrm1lZVy7ejC78OTOytf77TreJjyrOkoGONUKRfSEMmxtAulMkZW6KsT4_TMlb_F8ljZ9KZrPmET_2HPu93of9nIn0e0G3Es-TFfaF96MPpFDtIPtS58LvDwJjcr6rcph2hzkZy927vJTARIU0uM9scKE8yblSsIpcwXkRMfj1q4MOfTw=w1636-h1155-no[/IMG]
I think that’ll be the final version.

And it’s finished!

[IMG]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/op_OQ0P09PTQn83AnuLMkoLOvalK2WTSg2CZCSsM-zrb0YERQx0csRX-3x6anwwJ3HOJWQ5GO94JLIv8gmv0XhDoE6g7_5MgWnSQwK9pI634UKTWAYeEiwWGPGP4HXOyNDIgT-pUOFAhwoZ14uOUeOPecz7zw-g-sIv-mJq7uGluIUXafrk_lJPym5RsoUT8_bn6dZjQtNqUkTB3GO4NefWZbnpnn3ubCq4zSF7VahpGhDV6mEYi8Tr21rhApIuNRhDniFOz1dMyOVTUdnpqz87QL2Snkji-GFfo939VLYULLmhxUwZI2hd8RrU6fnQStj6q42JWmPY6rfYt3XdyQXeLYvu3j_sw39xLAxFcAbXZtwk1lSxrytN1qnpYolV6nE9x9r0fQ19c9eVIjiepGzpmjt0KzTyUgEmrW7ayn3f7Wc6OXmgTuQZ6C0j9wTnup-NOnYlTWakiJFjGI_Om2SM00m2b-7-P9eJbkvR4oPj4epuWcDTYSzzQk9PfjkbrmAZmdJKlHOsjImbUx5sBKzvo9mUuzBhI7I50p5MjT9Ir_aP6JxtKo8smpyEZTFoKq69OKJwmgWGvnKfNgIySyr-hsWCSY5x4C3_08N1OyG04VCpPQsnfiA=w800-h600-no[/IMG]

[IMG]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/98NLTv0OSoMaGUfxEaWQ0LJuVuAcgfdyAf0y-G7vHxQma4I826zHBIp8K_Ch5SlPjo0WXViZ9EmLmkp1pffbwNjJOXTMf1_-xDLGZTFAnoxIVn0EH-qDQxyt6OUQUrlCEy_RkXV1_wiUVjmcgH2xMO0APRHJ2zncJV5c0YZhlanAEILaG_jAK1v1MxPgZSFDXAVHE1rcwqnrQsdC_QBEbjUmssLMt_32sXh7JBUg1LfsVJO7XiqaNQwTQBuFzG3eEqOJg2vLlgF5AzpFQk_nDI2fhjOQoPlJC4o9k5lL_y-UQzSral5jNjTW2L59SZ9QKVW43leVkjZfbGgsXc0DLdyve0D-hwxU_kcnVocfR7GLHYz7Ua0AWMibIyzLA75nM3pFtkuHInVO2LfHIwDiHHYW__8sdOqn7hi7_bdUSvqSL2pvGrDv8k_vospxFqQ2_s-fAkbXkt1vAqUrhgKJ5XjrRqn5y1mm7okCi9zP4B3IqkfNzfJAjMd_IVicuPUCXLbIYdQOexnTmnCKdoBIT91-GTtJzKc85fSJfT0vHNSe50hH8dadDV9NBZSI5TI7ll_6XKc4tJyi46aY7D7Ta9gW3Iv09ZdJ0LmZuP5Bln5xQ5Al8g=w800-h600-no[/IMG]

[IMG]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/YbpQhWiUk10WCI6A5xJJqG9lBFyec9m3gsMu29NsyT00N40fozRp9zgg9f0TMX9jca72lWUCilMOG-Drxi4KyrJ_EouQ6NRAKuAHpJRit-Vu4LXOeqFeMW9FOX2R42A0TmbRnxugs-EsmMUyxFDqIs0iob1dGPWjdMESLZVBqeBpOgbHG7dKwITIlM_6zYwPAdEApgTwI2ubonTEBDdoCNZBgsfaOnbqPLrh5O9oUJEC81LDxLzUjqpR2nEDW-g_ZZ3KEPNIXWWlFaq8b-dEvduHtTf_LlWLBholDiCkpf6_NtQeGLwS5B0OJ95qlK2Or0qh19C_vA2gAErNoAh8c_K8BpMCkCj_gTgCpYwvLcx5JX-sKkz_nfcah4CVNG6zptAcKM4qVaiujeUOCPwcogOgVUJcofZl-aTtAUn_s8SJtXfkJp_xAfr0tpElcjNXHn32h1QTKwl1Fkn4u2yqH5tvoQvOhIFioxsuNFAdQiQKSxwWbq1qiKUm0LpwMl7AOeGQOlAZVOmZ_rKnKWBmTohkf-QzIgCOYheMiEaCCg0xVoeY7Nsjipt2wfMPe2qYzqbc0N8DGWwTDu7kyaIddsu6t9E-Bv1lLa4bVvHosMlQvlnzpw=w800-h600-no[/IMG]

[anomad]

Is that titanium? I genuinely interested in how this turns out for you as a complete bike. Forgive me if I didn’t follow the thread completely. But you had this welded up to your specs in Asia?

I couldn’t help but notice by the geometry chart that we’re pretty close on size. What are your final saddle height and set back numbers? I run about 83-84 centimeters saddle height (top of saddle to BB center) and about 5 centimeters from the nose to the BB center (depending on saddle and bike of course). My favorite bike has a 58.5 cm center to center top tube length, but also a fairly long 120mm stem. My other favorite bike has a virtual 60cm top tube length.

[hozn]

@anomad 158376 wrote:

Is that titanium? I genuinely interested in how this turns out for you as a complete bike. Forgive me if I didn’t follow the thread completely. But you had this welded up to your specs in Asia?

I couldn’t help but notice by the geometry chart that we’re pretty close on size. What are your final saddle height and set back numbers? I run about 83-84 centimeters saddle height (top of saddle to BB center) and about 5 centimeters from the nose to the BB center (depending on saddle and bike of course). My favorite bike has a 58.5 cm center to center top tube length, but also a fairly long 120mm stem. My other favorite bike has a virtual 60cm top tube length.

Yeah, this will be my second bike from Waltly Titanium (http://www.waltlytitanium.com/). I have been really happy with my ti disc road bike so I figured I would use them again for this frame idea.

Yes, my ideal STA is right around 73.5° which puts saddle nose between 5.5-6.5cm back from BB. My center of BB to top.of saddle is right around 82cm. My road bike is 58cm ETT with a 110mm stem. I like my current (Habanero Cycles) commuter which has a 59cm ETT with a 100mm stem. I am not entirely sure why people always size down for cross frames; I prefer shorter stems there. But then I use mine more like a gravel frame.

So, yeah, it sounds like we are close in size; I might be a bit shorter dimension or just prefer things more compact upper-body-wise.

Now that this frame is done (once built up), I am going to sell my titanium hab cycles frame + Spot fork + primary wheelset + spare-for-parts-monstercross2017-dented-my-rims-wheelset. I have loved hab cycles frame, but don’t have space to n+1.

[dkel]

Some of you may remember My fixed gear project. That bike was never quite big enough for me, but since that frame just fell in my lap, I was glad to putz around with it, especially since it was the first bike I built up myself. Well, lately I’ve been looking for an inexpensive, SS-ready, chromoly frame to swap in so I can get some use out of the components again, and I finally found this on Planet X. I had been looking at State Bicycle for a while, but the only steel framesets they are currently offering are their Simpsons themed frames, which aren’t quite what I’m looking for; I’m also too lazy to troll used offerings till I see something that will work. The Holdsworth is very inexpensive, will take the component mashup I currently have (except for the headset), and isn’t a bad looking bike, especially for the price. I haven’t pulled the trigger yet, but I’m pretty close, unless one of you gurus can come up with a better option at a similar price point.

On a related topic, I’m thinking of building my first wheel for this bike, using a Sturmey S2 kick-shift two-speed hub. Anyone have any experience riding one of those?

[TwoWheelsDC]

@dkel 158872 wrote:

Some of you may remember My fixed gear project. That bike was never quite big enough for me, but since that frame just fell in my lap, I was glad to putz around with it, especially since it was the first bike I built up myself. Well, lately I’ve been looking for an inexpensive, SS-ready, chromoly frame to swap in so I can get some use out of the components again, and I finally found this on Planet X. I had been looking at State Bicycle for a while, but the only steel framesets they are currently offering are their Simpsons themed frames, which aren’t quite what I’m looking for; I’m also too lazy to troll used offerings till I see something that will work. The Holdsworth is very inexpensive, will take the component mashup I currently have (except for the headset), and isn’t a bad looking bike, especially for the price. I haven’t pulled the trigger yet, but I’m pretty close, unless one of you gurus can come up with a better option at a similar price point.

On a related topic, I’m thinking of building my first wheel for this bike, using a Sturmey S2 kick-shift two-speed hub. Anyone have any experience riding one of those?

Look into the Pake Rumrunner, which is generally highly regarded and seemingly within your budget…you’ll need to get the fork separately though, but that’s easy enough. Would also allow you to get a disc fork if you wanted to really go wild. Fixed gear with hyrdos!

https://www.retro-gression.com/collections/pake/products/pake-rum-runner-frame

[dkel]

I saw the Rum Runner, but was a little put off by having to get the fork separately. It also has a slightly more aggressive geometry than I was looking for, but that’s me being picky. I do like the bare metal look of the “dirty nickel” option.

[hozn]

@dkel 158877 wrote:

I saw the Rum Runner, but was a little put off by having to get the fork separately. It also has a slightly more aggressive geometry than I was looking for, but that’s me being picky. I do like the bare metal look of the “dirty nickel” option.

I just love: “no bottle bosses”. Brilliant. So it’s a bike designed for trips that last 30 minutes or less.

[dkel]

@hozn 158879 wrote:

I just love: “no bottle bosses”. Brilliant. So it’s a bike designed for trips that last 30 minutes or less.

I noticed that too. One of the problems I have been having is that frames with track fork ends tend to be track bikes: either they have track geometry rather than road geometry, or they are high on style and low on functionality, or both. SS road bikes tend to be expensive: i.e. $500+ for a frameset rather than $200. This is a cheap build, so I’m not going to go overboard on a frame.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@hozn 158879 wrote:

I just love: “no bottle bosses”. Brilliant. So it’s a bike designed for trips that last 30 minutes or less.

I did the 106 mile Tour of Richmond on my Cinelli with no bottle cages….that’s what jersey pockets are for!

[peterw_diy]

@TwoWheelsDC 158887 wrote:

I did the 106 mile Tour of Richmond on my Cinelli with no bottle cages….that’s what jersey pockets are for!

Or hose clamps for the a aesthetically ambivalent. Or rivnuts for the gutsy.

[hozn]

@TwoWheelsDC 158887 wrote:

I did the 106 mile Tour of Richmond on my Cinelli with no bottle cages….that’s what jersey pockets are for!

I guess you could use a CamelBak too

I do use my middle pocket for a third bottle when I need to go 3 hours between stops. But filling my pockets with bottles because my bike is too good to help me is a bridge too far!

It’s all on a spectrum, I suppose. I did afterall remove a cable stop for at least partially aesthetic reasons.

[ShawnoftheDread]

@dkel 158877 wrote:

I saw the Rum Runner, but was a little put off by having to get the fork separately. It also has a slightly more aggressive geometry than I was looking for, but that’s me being picky. I do like the bare metal look of the “dirty nickel” option.

Have you considered a Steamroller?

[dkel]

@ShawnoftheDread 158897 wrote:

Have you considered a Steamroller?

Yeah, it’s twice as expensive, even after shipping on that Holdsworth from the UK. Also, “drink more water yellow” is not my fave color (but I really liked last year’s “monkey butt red”).

[Author]

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