Frankenbike 2.0

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.​

Overall I was loving Frankenbike 1.0, but the stem shifters were going to have to go at some point. The manner in which they were mounted created an issue whereby I couldn't shift into the little ring of the triple crank. The shifter couldn't get past the top of the Ritchey stem, which bulges out. That meant on really steep gradients, I would run out of gears.

Normally I'm a pretty good climber, so initially I wasn't too worried. What I didn't account for was that on version 1.1, I had installed one-inch tires with very light treads and that meant that in situations where there was any moisture on the ground whatsoever, or the gravel was loose, I couldn't get out of the saddle or I would spin out. On hills like Tupper's Knob, that's a significant hindrance. The other factor is that Frankenbike weighs just over 30lbs on its own and 36lbs when loaded with water, bag with repair kit, bell and bike computer. So I really ended up wanting that little ring. 

The lack of braking on Frankenbike has already been covered and the 105 brake levers had to go. Enough said on that already. 

I started to research my shifting options and invariably I ended up on SheldonBrown.com and a bunch of other bike sites (like bikeforums.net) looking for similar projects. Taking a page from the Bike Dump playbook, I landed on the idea of installing bar-end shifters in friction mode. Essentially Shimano compatible shifting is the same for MTB and road bikes, which opens up a lot of options. I also could have possibly gone with Microshift 3 x 7-speed brifters, but in 2020 they were sold out pretty much globally. 

As fate would have it, in August of 2020 I wound up in Halifax (after a 2 week quarantine in the Maritime bubble) and lo and behold Cyclesmith had both Dura-Ace, 9-speed, bar-end shifters and TRP brake levers in stock. That was a stroke of luck because I investigated these parts on every website I could possibly find, and checked all the local stores and everything was sold out. I saved some of my ongoing research to create the "time-waster", so that's at least going to good use. 

This find at Cyclesmith was also fortuitous, because I had been riding more and more, and as soon as I got home to Ottawa in early September it was almost time for Howie's Roubaix, a 125km loop of Ottawa on the Greenbelt trails. For that I needed a safe, comfortable Greenbelt Bike. 

With that deadline looming over me I threw myself into rebuilding the cockpit yet again- adding better cable stops on both the front and rear (Surly) from Velo Orange and installing the new levers and bar-end shifters. I ended acquiring some new tools- especially high-quality cable cutters- and got everything tuned up.

Surprisingly the shifting was almost flawless in friction mode, pretty much out of the gate. That was impressive to me simply because it is the first time I have ever completely re-cabled a drivetrain. I know that's not a big deal for a lot of people, I had just never tried before. 

The braking even improved with the new TRP levers! The comfort level is night and day compared to the 105 levers. The hood shape is wider, the rubber still firm, but softer and the lever shape itself is far superior it terms of applying power. 

I got pretty good at adjusting the cantilever brakes and tightening the cables. Between that and the shifting working out, my confidence in my mechanical ability really grew. I got a lot of satisfaction from that. 

I also had the good fortune to later pick up a new-to-me Fizik saddle and some brand new 26" tires from the Ottawa Bicycle Classified Facebook page. Like many bike parts, 26" bike tires were sold out all over the place in 2020, as people unearthed their old bikes to escape being house-bound. Someone sold me a the tires as a take-off from a new kids bike. 

The new saddle was a great addition, but doubling the volume of the tires from 1" to 2" and being able to ride with lower tire pressure made a huge difference. I rode the 125km Exploro ride on the 1" tires and in hindsight, I would have been so much happier on the larger volume tires. 

Initially I went too low on the tire pressure and got pinch flats- no tubeless conversion for me yet- but once I got them dialled in, the bike you see here was comparatively speaking, a dream to ride.

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