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The big headline here is:
Any 7-speed Shimano Hyperglide Freehub will actually work with 8 or 9 sprockets, without any modification! What you need to do is to use 8 of the sprockets from a 9-speed cassette, with the 9-speed spacers -- or 9 of the sprockets from a 10-speed cassette. Sheldon Brown

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A word about paint

4/11/2021

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This is a pretty dramatic transformation. The paint on Frankenbike was not in good shape after 30 years of drops and dings. When I first got the bike I had covered most of it in little skeleton stickers that I got from Mrs. Tiggy Winkles where I was working in their warehouse- see the very first post in this series for the backstory. After all these years, in anticipation of getting the bike painted, I decided to peel them off one by one. I also tried to get the Powerbar stickers off the head tube and seat post and even with a razor blade I couldn't get under it to lift it off. It just flaked away in little shards......

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Frankenbike 3.0

3/28/2021

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So.... over the winter, this bike was completely stripped down, repainted and rebuilt almost entirely, save for the wheels and stem. I'll go through the rebuild piece by piece in a series of future posts, starting with the paint. Most of the parts I sourced are shown in the Interweb Time Waster, because honestly, with what it going on in the world, it took a while to figure out what was going to work here and acquire everything required. In the meantime, enjoy a few photos.

Frankenbike 3.0

The "9 of 10" Deore drivetrain and Triple Clipper crank

9 speeds on a 7 speed freehub body

Grand Cru Zeste brakes- they work!

The rad looking Surly cable stop completes the powerful braking set up

The wide profile of the Grand Cru brakes add leverage and extra power, the braided cables from Velo Orange add extra class

Dajia Cycleworks Far Bars provide cost effective, yet superior handling.

Bottle cage bolts from Wolf Tooth and Tange decal from VeloCals

Crank Brothers Eggbeater 3 pedals- perfect for Frankenbike 3.0

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What's a Greenbelt Bike?

3/22/2021

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Prior to unveiling Frankenbike 3.0, I thought it was time to address what's obviously been on your mind, namely what's a Greenbelt Bike?

I'll keep this relatively short, I think: While I'm not totally married to this position, I think that a 90's hard-tail mountain bike, converted to a gravel bike with drop bars is the ideal bike for riding the NCC Greenbelt Trails in Ottawa.

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Frankenbike 3.0: Coming Soon

3/10/2021

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Frankenbike 2.0

3/4/2021

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Frankenbike 2.0 represented a quantum leap forward in self-sufficiency for me. Despite owning bikes forever, I was often reluctant to take things apart because I wasn't overly confident in my mechanical skills. There's nothing wrong with paying a professional mechanic, but equally I owed it to myself to learn how to take a bike apart and put it back together. This overhaul got me on my way.

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Frankenbike 1.1

3/1/2021

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Frankenbike 1.0 lasted about 45 days in 2019. Between the complete absence of braking, poor handling, and lack of overall comfort something had to give. This led me to take the Easton EC90 carbon bars and Ritchey WCS stem off of my steel Merckx and perform a transplant. The knock-on effect was a purchase of a new Deda cockpit for the Merckx that has the same bar shape and stem length as my Colnago. So that's just a huge all around win.

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Frankenbike 1.0

2/26/2021

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I'm calling this Frankenbike Version 1.0 because as this blog will demonstrate, things have continued to evolve over time......

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Frankenbike, a love story

2/15/2021

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"Casual rides of up to 15 miles, flat-to-rolling terrain, pavement to moderate fire trails. Versatile and fun to ride." - Bridgestone Bicycle Catalogue 1992

In the beginning Frankenbike was not special at all, it was just an entry level mountain bike. This harks back to the days before suspension was a thing and a quick release on the seat post was considered new technology.

When I purchased this bike in 1992, it wasn't to ride the Greenbelt trails in Ottawa, although based on the description above, that would have made total sense. We'll come back to that later though.

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Frankenbike
vs.
The Ripper

Ottawa's Raddest
Greenbelt Bikes?

The Ripper

The 9-of-10 Drivetrain

A word about paint

Frankenbike 3.0

What's a Greenbelt Bike?

Frankenbike 3.0: Coming Soon

Frankenbike 2.0

Frankenbike 1.1

Frankenbike 1.0

Frankenbike, a love story

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Categories

Frankenbikevs.​The Ripper

Ottawa's Raddest​Greenbelt Bikes?

Author

Archives

Categories

Frankenbike
vs.
The Ripper

Ottawa's Raddest
Greenbelt Bikes?