Gravel bike? Humbug, Scotland needs proper All Terrain bikes

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That's come together very nicely Brian, I actually like the silver crank with black chaining, it kind of mimics the wheels
I don't see anything wrong with adding another cog on the other side of the wheel, you can only use one cog at any given time anyway, might as well have a couple to choose from.

Damn! Not quite there yet. My cabling ideas came to naught when I discovered that I didn't have enough road inners. (Actually I had a few, but they're all used and nothing the right length for the rear.) I wasted half a day trying various combinations to no avail.

I was going to leave it at that until I got some, but a quick change of plan and I fitted Satori Minotaur bars which are very close in shape to Great North Road bars - which were a popular choice with Rough Stuffers in my day. They can be flipped over to give an upright position for weekday commuting and down for weekend fun. That's why I've used the lock-on grips. Maybe matching them to the Reynolds stickers is going too far?

The bars are mounted on an old short forged GB girder stem that got a quick clean up because it had a bit too much 'patina' after a few decades in my "one_day_I'll_need_this' box. I gave it a shiny new SS clamp bolt to celebrate its return from retirement.

I would prefer to use the dropbars because I think they look better, and they are actual Dawes Concorde bars from the era I'm trying to emulate.

That meant I could use mtb levers, rather nice Dia-Compe ones that have been waiting around for ages, and I've plenty mtb cables. I set the rear up as normal with a straddle cable.

For the front I've used one of those dohickeys that fit in the fork crown hole. This is to obviate the fork judder that you get from using cables coming bare from the headset down. The gadget has one negative against it from the start, there's a different ratio of pull on each side. This means one pad moves further than the other. I'll see how that goes and if I don't like the action, I'll bin it and use a straddle cable.. (The brake arms move unsymmetrically, and I'm suspicious of what benefit that is.)



Tomorrow, I'll be taking it for a ride to see if this is an idea worth pursuing.

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Theres a solution to every problem Brian and I quite like the use of mtb brake levers on those bars, looks rather neat.
I've been using one of those front brake doohickeys, and whilst it took a bit of fettling to set up , I found it worked quite well, can't say i noticed uneven brake pull, mind you, they're finicky fekkers.

Looking smart mate, I like the Satori bars, nice.
Hopefully we will get a ride together later in the week and see how it goes in person.

Jamie

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Fabulous looking machine though the ride position makes my neck hurt

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Epicyclo, stop playing around with that right now as that looks fab.
Had those cantilever rockers on my Delta V. Take a bit of fettling but pad distance should be equal both sides. If not it usually means the cable length of the long cable needs adjusted. Can also tell if it’s not quite right as the lever will feel squishy. They work really well once they’re right though. Extra leverage squeezes more power out of the canti’s. That’s why Cannondale called there’s Force 40, as they claimed 40% more power. Pace used similar design on the back of their RC35’s.

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Tektro had purple anodised ones back in the day, called them brake boosters. When set up right they work pretty well but I never got the hang of them on my Townsend Beartooth. In fact they were the impetus for me to go v brake in 1997 with some shimano m600's

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clubby":bgs8i081 said:

Epicyclo, stop playing around with that right now as that looks fab...

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Thanks for the info on the doohickey thingy.

I haven't bought roadie brake cables yet, so maybe I'm thinking the same.

What frustration! It's pissed down all day so no ride, but tested my new Lidl poncho in the rain. It's ace.

Tomorrow isn't looking any better.

Ah well, the seatpost needs polishing.

It's finished and been ridden. Doesn't look much different, just a few adjustments, and bits tightened up.




That hub really does deserve a nice shiny fixed cog in that empty space - even if it's only to protect the threads from corrosion.




BTW when I say finished, I mean for the present. I still intend to try the dropbars, but first I'll put a hundred or so miles on it to see how it handles.

How does it ride? It's got a slacker HA than I like, but I think more weight on the front would benefit it, plus moving the saddle forward. Then it would need a longer stem, which luckily I have.

It's only been round the block a couple of times, but feels promising, nice and tight. I'm taking it out tomorrow for a longer ride because it should be dry by then.

Only niggle is the doohickey at the front.

I also want to tackle some dirt with the slick tyres.

On the basis of how this feels so far, I suggest grabbing any decent 531 lugged mtb frame from the 1980s - go up a size from your mtb size - and have a crack at doing this yourself. Re-use is even better than recycling after all.

Looks great.