How to turn an uncomfortable road bike into a comfortable townie.

So, I've been riding a bit more lately, and had been looking for a new bike.

I've gotten around on my ridiculous pink fixie for a couple of years now, but it was time for something with gears. (Preferably something a little bit lighter, as despite not having much in the way of a drivetrain, my fixie weighs about 28 lbs.)

I was thinking about buying the latest road bike off bikesdirect.com, as they've got pretty well spec'ed bikes going for hundreds less than what you'd find in the LBS.

I just couldn't do it though. There's a certain aesthetic sensibility running through the Bikerowave , the local bike co-op where I'm a volunteer mechanic. While it's certainly not something anyone takes at all seriously, and we're certainly always happy to help anyone fix any sort of bike, there's a certain consensus on what sort of bike is preferable for the members, and what sort is not. It's almost retro-grouch lite; lugged steel frames are preferable to carbon fiber, bar-end or friction shifters are preferable to brifters, touring geometry is preferable to racing geometry, room for fenders and wider tires is preferable to tight clearances, Brooks saddles are preferable to anything else (at least for the non-vegans),  etc., etc., etc.

Think randonneuring on a budget, and the sort of things turned out by Rivendell and Velo Orange, and you've got the right idea.

I'm partial to this econorando aesthetic myself, but I'm also a sucker for the new and shiny. Ultimately, I couldn't find anything new that met my criteria and budget, as while aluminum is affordable, stiff, and fast, the ride is really harsh, especially if you've been riding on a mellow old steel framed bike with 32mm tires that rides like your grandma's Buick.

The hunt for something old and cool began.


Trying to find a steel framed road bike in my size, for a decent price, on craigslist was kind of a pain, as the bikes are generally either overpriced, or garbage, or both.

Then last Sunday, I saw a listing on for a used 60cm Trek 600 series road bike, I asked some fellow Bikerowavers their thoughts, got the thumbs up, then went down to Carson for a test ride.

I learned a few things about buying a bike.

1. Test ride the bike in daylight, or at least inspect it in a well let area.
2. Don't get too excited by the specs and the price.
3. Inspect the bike FULLY before buying it.

I say I learned these things, but this is in hindsight, because of course, I did NONE OF THEM.

I took it for a quick test ride, it shifted and braked OK, the frame was straight, it looked pretty, I was sold. I asked the guy if he was negotiable on price. He said no, it was $160 firm. I handed him the cash, threw the bike in the trunk, and drove off. A total elapsed time of about 5 minutes.

Here's how it looked when I got it home.

I decided to pump up the tires and give it a test ride and nearly killed myself.

Tiny racing tires pumped up to 115psi are no match for the potholes on Venice Blvd., and the handling gets a little squirrelly, when the front hub has decided to come slightly loose.

This combined with the long reach to the brake levers;

The diabolical Shimano 600 pedals with integrated toe-clips that are a menace to any non-serious rider;

and the downtube shifters that seemed to be MUCH further down than they should have been (I not having ridden a bike with downtube shifters before);

and a wheelset where nearly every spoke nipple had corroded and seized to the spoke, combined for a bike that was completely nightmarish. Think Christine in bicycle form, and you've got the right idea.

So it went back on craigslist (at a bit of a markup, since it was now in West L.A. instead of Carson, and because I assumed other people would be as mindlessly enthusiastic as I had been).

There it sat. OTHER people are not as mindlessly enthusiastic as I am, apparently.

After a few days, in which the only response was somebody who wanted to sell me HIS vintage Trek, I began to rethink things, to see if I could turn this bike into something that wasn't a horrific monstrosity hell-bent on inflicting discomfort and angst and potential injury on its unsuspecting rider.

There were some good points about this bike after all;

all of the components were Shimano 600, which was a pretty sweet setup back in the day;

the frame is made of lugged Reynolds 531cs tubing.

the rear derailleur cable runs THROUGH the right chainstay, rather than below it;

it weighed 24.4lbs, which is pretty good for a complete steel framed 60cm road bike;

it was, at least theoretically, my size;

it was, unlike most bikes today, made in the USA;

and, for better or worse, it was mine.

Since nobody else wanted it, I figured I might as well have a shot at restoring it and modifying it to meet my needs, which, being a co-op bike mechanic and all, should be just the sort of thing I was good at.

I started with the wheelset. I yanked the tires and tubes, rebuilt the hubs (which involved digging out grease that had dried solid, and replacing all of the bearings) and put penetrating oil on end of each spoke nipple, and let it sit overnight. The next day, I had a shot at truing the wheels, and while there were a couple of spokes that remained immobile, the wheels got pretty straight.
 
I bought some Panaracer Pasela Tourguard tires, some new tubes, and some cheap rubber rim strips, and mounted the tires. Only to have the tube go flat because the rubber rim strip slipped and exposed some of the spoke holes, which then cut the tube when it was inflated.

I ruined 2 tubes this way, before going to the Velox rim strip tape instead of the rubber rim strips. Of course, even though I'd tried to wipe away most of the penetrating oil from the wheel truing endeavor, there was enough left to keep the  tape from sticking, so I ruined a couple more tubes the same way as I had with the rubber strips.

Dismounting and remounting a tire 4 times in a row, with a fresh tube each time, because you've goofed up mounting the rip strips is just as delightfully fulfilling as you might expect, which is to say, not at all.

Luckily, one of my fellow mechanics recommended using Ritchey Snap On Rim Strips, which I did. These worked successfully, which kept the bike out of the dumpster and me from having a stroke.

Panaracer Paselas are THE tire to get if you're interested in something durable and comfortable. Holy cow! They have about the most pleasant ride of any tire I've ever tried, and the fact that flats are few and far between is even more of a plus.

That done, it was time for some pedals that were safe for use with running shoes, a better seat, and a kickstand.

(Why more people don't have kickstands on their bikes is beyond me. They don't weigh very much, and being able to leave your bike standing upright, without having to find something to lean it against, or just dumping it on the ground, is HUGELY convenient, especially if you're a fan of the nocturnal social cycling scene.)

Then it was time for a new handlebar, new grips, some new Falcon friction shifters, new brake levers and brake pads, and some downtube cable stops (which our shop manager just happened to have a set of that he wanted to part with, because they did not meet his aesthetic criteria).

The cable stops work great. The shifters are not so great. Being metal and plastic and made of about the lowest grade of Chinese manufacturing (which is nice because they're cheap, and not so nice when you have to buy them more then once) the plastic is a little fragile, so I ruined one of them the first time I tried shifting and had to replace it. (All told, the cost for the build came to about $300 all in (EDIT: closer to $350 with the new levers/shifters), including the initial purchase of the bike, which is less  than the new road bikes I'd been considering, and much better than anything I could get new for that much. (It would have been cheaper had I not ruined one of the shifters and multiple inner tubes and swapped multiple sets of rim strips during the build.))

It all came together though, and instead of a cockpit where the brakes and shifters are in different places, all of them nearly out of reach, the new set up is now much more comfortable and convenient.

With all the new parts, a large bell, and front and rear lights, the bike weighs in at 25.9lbs. Not ultralight by a long stretch, but not too shabby.

With everything on and tightened down, it was time for a test ride.

What a difference!

Rather than bouncing all over the place, the newer wider tires and freshly packed hubs rolled straight and soaked up the bumps, the brakes were easy to reach and stopped effectively, the gears shifted easily, the pedals were far more accommodating, and overall, the bike is a joy to ride and not an exercise in masochistic frustration.

Here's how it looks now.

I think it came out pretty nice.

Now I just need to ride it more, before I decide to tear it back apart and have it powdercoated and rebuild it from the frame up.

If a project like this sounds like fun to you, the Bikerowave, or any local bike co-op, can help you out.

Update from the following day: The cheap and crappy shifters began to fail again, and the cheap brake levers began collapsing, then when I went out for a ride, I noticed the headset was flexing, and the brakes were squeaking. Cue wheel truing, headset tightening, replacing the brake levers again and replacing the shifters again, and we're back in business. Hopefully things will be rideable for a bit now.