Things you've learnt during your builds...

My Kona just needs 1 or 2 bits of bling and then it'll be finished. It's the first retro build I've done and a few things have become clear...

Getting a frame resprayed is infinitely easier and no more expensive than stripping it, buying paint, painting, and finishing...

You need a plan of how it's going to look so you can buy stuff with a purpose!

You start planning the 2nd before the 1st has been ridden...

The mrs will soon start using the phrase "back in the day" even though she didn't bike back then if you repeat it enough...

And the phrase "old school with a new school twist".

Anyone got any other "pearls of wisdom"?

jam1e":149nhx5c said:

You start planning the 2nd before the 1st has been ridden...

Click to expand...

Oh yes....and sometimes even a 3rd.....

I remember, waayyyyy back when, using a hammer and a piece of wood to bash in a brand new blue CK headset at one time.....hehehehe, it worked well too I must add!

Things wot I have learned from my builds:

1. That Shimano's built-in obsolescence (especially WRT drivetrain) will one day tip some poor soul over the edge into a killing frenzy.

Example:

Planning a weekend away with the bike and coming across a small problem (seat-tube bottle mount position that prevents mounting a non-compact front mech and crank from the spares box).

Having half a dozen bikes to hand, plus a box of spares, but no way of fixing/ swapping parts to make "the chosen one" rideable, due to in-compatible:

Chainring BCD;
chain width;
shifter cable pull ratio;
crank interface;
BB axle length;
chainstay interference;
1-year/ 1-groupset-only BCD or crank tools;
Specific chain-splitting tools and ludicrously expensive re-joining pins
(I could go on)

... is all a bit of a wind-up :evil:

It's enough to make you buy a Rohloff or stick to a 10yr old singlespeed hardtail... oh - wait!

2. And that many "bling" products (CNC mechs? most stuff by Paul Components?) were and are over-hyped, over-priced, ill-conceived, poorly-implemented, un-proven, non-standard, non-serviceable, well-marketed piles of nicely-anodized crap.

I've learned that if you're a wallet, RB is a dangerous place to be.

But fun...

i have learned that you'll need to drive back to the bike shop if you nip in to fit the headset and then leave the internals on their workbench and walk out with the cups and crown race fitted.

and yes you do start thinking about the next build when you are close to finising the build you're on.

the clockwork is all but finished and the next project is the aluminum O, stripping the proflex frame, and rebuilding the cougar interspersed with varying upgrades as and when they arrive for the kona etc.


will it never end?

....I am Pickle's dealer.

LeeDevelopment":34pwvxti said:

jam1e":34pwvxti said:

You start planning the 2nd before the 1st has been ridden...

Click to expand...

Oh yes....and sometimes even a 3rd.....

Click to expand...

i'm still builidng the first with the 8th on the way!!! I keep swapping parts between them all!

Theres not a lot in life that cant be solved by a hour or so on a the bike.

Duct tape and zip ties will fix almost every thing (even if it is for a few moments)

Accept that your retro best will never work as well as a cheap current bike. 10 years of moderate use will inject just enough play into everything that nothing will work quite as you might like it to.