| New Frame (30/12/06) My first steel MTB. (Well technically not the first, but we ignore my Apollo Slammer from Halfords. Besides, that was steel in a bad way.) On One have done a geared version of their classic Inbred steel frame. I also considered a DMR and a Voodoo frame which a bloke in Cycleworks was showing me (the Wanga did look nice, but it was pricey and there were no geometry details available). So I went with the On One Inbred. It's had good reviews over the years. Originally a singlespeed, there was a "convertible" version but On One have had a batch of geared Inbreds built and they are a bargain. I've just bought the bare frame so it will be my first complete bike build. Although individually I've done all the steps involved, I suspect there will be a satisfaction in having "built it myself". Rather like computers, bikes are modular so its just a question of buying compatible gear from a number of manufacturers and bolting it together. No skill at all... ha! Now that Judy isn't very well (after the rear mech incident) I'm going to nick a few parts from her: Marzocchi forks (which in truth were about 10mm too high for her) and the Hayes disc brakes. I've also ordered XT shifters, XT front and rear mechs, XT bottom bracket and an FSA Afterburner XC chainset. I've also got some Truvativ finish kit lying around. I want to build this up into a fun XC hardtail. Not incredibly light, but reasonably strong. |
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| Arrival (no, not the Abba album) (03/01/07) Those guys at On One certainly don't hang around. The new frame arrived about half an hour ago. The weight seems reasonable (just over 4lbs). On the face of it everything looks great, no blemishes in the paintwork, everything as expected. The only downer is that CRC haven't yet dispatched my order. Unfortunately that means no BB or headset (which are the first things I'd get to work on) so I can't really do anything except admire the paintwork. Actually that's not true... there is one crucial (but rather dull) thing that you should do to a steel frame and that is to protect the inside. I can't get hold of any Framesaver within a reasonable timespan, I considered Waxoyl from Halfords. However my bikes live inside near a radiator and it is possible that the Waxoyl would come running back out the frame if it got warm. I have actually heard of this happening (it isn't just my paranoia). So instead I'm going all retro and using linseed oil. This should dry to leave a residue behind which I hope will protect the frame. The areas to pay most attention to are the chain/seat stays as they are quite thin and have lots of entry points for water. I'll be using a 5ml syringe to inject the oil which I'll then slosh around for a bit. The other job is to seal up the brake bosses. I'll be using some of that bathroom silicone sealant. Some holes need to be left open for air to circulate (e.g., those down by the dropouts). You can't actually stop water getting in (and even if you could there'd still be condensation) so you may as well allow it an exit route. But the brake bosses will look neater when filled and I can remove the rubber at any time if I decide to revert to V brakes (seems unlikely, but...). So far top marks to On One. I can't wait to see how it rides! Just need the stuff from CRC to turn up... |
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| Sealing up the brake bosses... I left the air holes down by the dropouts and at the top of the seatstays clear. They are there for a reason. |   |
| More building... (04/01/07) My CRC order turned up today. Weirdly it seemed to have been wrapped mostly in a bin-liner and the best part of a roll of parcel tape. When I eventually got in to it, I found my new BB, shifters, front mech and cranks. Yay! 1. First job - headset pressing. I know you can bodge this with a hammer/wood/threaded rod/QR skewer... but I like to do things properly. This was actually not a particularly easy pressing since the top cup really didn't want to sit level in order for me to press it. Just after I took this photo I disassembled the whole thing and pressed the cups in one at a time. It was a bit of a faff, but the one thing you really don't want happening is a cup going in crooked. So it is better to go carefully than risk mangling the headtube. I used a Cyclus headset press which is certainly good enough for most people. I've used this tool three times so its paid for itself already. 2. Next job - bottom bracket. Mine screwed in very happily from the drive side (i.e. the main cartridge bottom bracket). But the cup it meets the other side was much more difficult. I used a Shimano XT bottom bracket so the metal body of the BB meets a metal cup (rather than plastic which is more common). However it really didn't want to go in. I visually checked the threads (which seemed clear) and tried again. Over several tries I inched it in a bit further. Wondering whether it was BB cup or BB shell at fault I tried a spare plastic shell. It went in with some effort, but easier than the metal XT cup. The danger with bottom brackets in cross-threading them in the shell. So normally I like to thread them in by hand - my thinking being that if I can screw them in part way with my fingers then I haven't cross-threaded them. So this little adventure did violate those personal rules. Eventually I got both sides of the BB snugged in tight and checked them with a torque wrench. It goes without saying I packed in a fair bit of waterproof Finishline grease. Given the tightness and time of year (mucky winter), I'll be checking this BB hasn't seized in a couple of months. It may at some point be advantageous to replace the PTFE grease with an anti seize (I'm thinking copper or lithium grease). 3. Attach cranks - I was very clear I wanted octalink cranks because a) I already use octalink and having compatible technologies is useful and b) I keep hearing bad things about ISIS. My FSA cranks came with self-extracting crank bolts which was a nice touch (especially considering they are mid-range cranks rather than posh). Sadly they didn't have instructions and I've never encountered them before. It turns out that you place the crank onto the bottom bracket. Then, having greased up the bolt nicely you screw it into the crank by the outer lock ring. (For this you need a pin spanner. Happily the Shimano chain ring peg spanner - usually about three quid - has the necessary pins on the end). Then once the lock ring is snug you use the M8 bolt to tighten down the cranks onto the BB. To remove, just turn the bolt anti-clockwise. It feels easy at first, then gets really tight and the bolt starts pushing the cranks off. 4. Next I installed the forks into the headset. I'll worry about pre-loading the headset later, for now I just want them in place. I installed some Marzocchi MX Comp ETA forks which came from Kikapu via Judy (RIP). Since all my bikes use the same headset (FSA DH Pig Pro) I didn't need to install a new crown-race onto the forks. I don't like star-nuts so I preload my headset/forks using an Azonic Headlock. It's a touch OTT for my XC riding but it is a very sensible design and well worth considering for those situations where headsets repeatedly come loose. Today's Conclusion: I also bolted the front and rear mechs in place (I'll adjust them later). I also bolted on the disc brake calipers and attached all the levers (temporarily) to the bars. I don't know what bar height I'll want so for now I have a silly number of headset spacers. But at the end of the day, if you cut the fork steerer too short you can't put it back... The only problem I have encountered is that Inbreds are clearly designed for continuous cable outers. So I'm going to need to order some cable outers for my gears. To be safe I'll be buying 4m. Tomorrow I'll be trying to buy the cable outers and then (hopefully adjusting the front and rear mechs. In other bike news: Kikapu is back from the Kona hospital so I may be rather overwhelmed by (re)building bikes. |
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| Finished (almost) - 06/01/07 I picked up some continuous outer cables for my gears. I ended up using about 3m. So the gears are now all working which is great. The cranks look superb. I'm really lucky that the spare parts I used also fitted in with the black and white colour scheme. On One suggest a narrow chainline, but also make the point that really the chainline is an issue for crank manufacturers and so on. Fair point, but I ended up with a 48mm chainline (with the 113mm bottom bracket). The large chainring looks really close to the chainstay. Hmmm... we'll see. I've been retruing wheels this winter so I've got some nice XC717 rims on Hope XC hubs to put on the bike. I've also dug out some Panaracer Cinder tyres which are wide, black, nobbly tyres. I picked up some clear/black Planet X (On One's sister company) grips for a fiver. I've also temporarily borrowed the Easton seatpost and Fizik Gobi saddle from Kikapu whilst she is off the road. |
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| First ride - 13/01/07 Had to wait a few days for my first ride. I blame this on a stinking cold and a two day conference I had to prepare for and attend. Anyway went for my first ride today. It all seems really promising. I couldn't go far because I keep coughing but clearly I've bought the right size frame (phew!). And it does have more life to it than an alu frame. Little bit heavy but definitely nice. One problem. I do need to change the chainline. 48mm is too close and I've scratched up the paint on the chainstay. Bugger. Luckily it is hidden but I'll need to cover that up with something so it doesn't rust. I'll probably use nail varnish. Anyway, this means I either need to change my cranks (I don't think so!) go get a longer bottom bracket. The next size up is 118mm which will bring each side out by another 2.5mm. That will certainly be well within the adjustment range of the Shimano XT front mech. (Shimano advise a 50mm chainline, I'll be at 50.5mm). This turned out to be a pain to get a hold of since it is a slightly odd size. Luckily a few phone calls later and I'd picked up a Deore model from the Guildford branch of Cycleworks. Well I could have ordered one off the internet but I've already waited so long to ride this bike... So this afternoon I fitted the new bottom bracket and re-adjusted the front mech. Probably took about twenty minutes. I'm actually quite pleased though because everything else works. |
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| First ride (take two) - 14/01/07 Went for a ride this morning. Unfortunately not too far because I'm coughing a lot and there is so much mud everywhere. The bike rides really well. I can see why people get so excited about Inbreds and steel. Really slick shifting of gears too. It reminds you how much better brand new well-adjusted kit is. Conclusion I'll post some photos up in the next few days. But I'm very pleased. Hopefully if you've found this page through google and you are building up a similar frame this will give you some inspiration and perhaps a few tips to consider. |
