I cut the boom

[bladderhead]

I did it. I cut the boom.

I was thinking about this for a long time. I ride on my insteps rather than the balls of my feet, which means my in-seam is effectively short. I have been riding the Grasshopper like this for years, and on that bike I have the boom as far in as possible. On the Silvio, I gradually pulled the boom in, but then the handlebars were getting too close. I wanted to try leaning forward and pulling on the bars, but the clamp was in my sternum.

So I took the whole thing to bits and lopped 6 cm off. With a hacksaw. The clamp that holds the steerer onto the boom was a useful guide.

Lots of test-riding, taking the brakes off and turning the bars round etc, but now I think it works better. The space between the bars and my knees is now a space between the bars and my chest. By leaning and pulling, I climbed the Big Hill in third gear. Before, I could barely do it in first.

 

[Bruce B]

During assembly I also found it necessary to shorten a tube on the V20. I chose the slider (the smaller diameter tube) and shortened it by about the same length as you did. The bottom bracket is higher, the handlebars are lower, there is more cockpit room and forward vision is better.

 

[ReklinedRider]

Pics, bladderhead? (Por favor)

 

[bladderhead]

Does my boom look big in this?

 

[hamishbarker]

what happened to your rear fender to make it stand so far away from the tire?

 

[bladderhead]

Do not know if these images are useful. Maybe you can see that the boom or steerer look unusually short, compared to all the other millions of Silvios everywhere.

I reversed the handlebars. In the normal position, the bar-ends are forward of the clamp. When I moved the clamp forward, I could hardly reach the bar-ends. I am trying to get it so the clamp is forward of the bar-ends. I am considering new handlebars.

 

[bladderhead]

Rear mudguard just seemed to do that.

I hate mudguards, but I hate not having them. They are an utter torment, but the alternative is to coat myself and the bike in muck, so much so that the bike doubles its weight. Here in dear old Blighty, in winter, you ride for 10 minutes and come back absolutely pebbledashed. I used to see lumps of mud from the back wheel, flying forward over my head.

The mudguards are on, and they have not started coming loose recently. Leave well alone.

 

[ReklinedRider]

Do not know if these images are useful. Maybe you can see that the boom or steerer look unusually short, compared to all the other millions of Silvios everywhere.

I reversed the handlebars. In the normal position, the bar-ends are forward of the clamp. When I moved the clamp forward, I could hardly reach the bar-ends. I am trying to get it so the clamp is forward of the bar-ends. I am considering new handlebars.

Hmm I think I understand your dilemma but not sure. Is that the stock handlebar? It looks like rotating the bar so the grip area above your brakes is more vertical would bring the bar ends closer to you (but a bit higher). Have you already tried that? In the pic below, if I rotated my grip area so it's more vertical it would bring the shifters maybe an inch closer to me, but a little higher. Don't know if that would help in your case since you're on a Silvio.

 

[Jeremy S]

Does my boom look big in this?

I can't quite imagine gripping the bars in that position, looks like it would require a lot of bending or hunching of the shoulders, elbows, and wrists. Could you post a photo with you on the bike?

 

[bladderhead]

Stock bars. Almost comfortable. I am still working on this. I might rotate the bars and male the ends more vertical, or get ones like ReklinedRider has. I don't think the stock bars are that great.

 

[bladderhead]

A bit better. I think

New bars cost 15 British pounds. Cheap enough for experiment. I sawed the ends off. I can't stop using that hacksaw. I reversed the bars, and then the brake levers would not fit, so I had the bright idea of swapping the levers round. This meant I had to swap the hydraulic lines too. I unbolted them from the levers and bolted them on the opposite way. The back one was fine, no air introduced. For some reason, the front one lost all its fluid, and I had to buy a bleed kit and inject some more. Am I happy with this configuration? Not for long, probably, knowing me. Will the brakes fail when I am going downhill at 35mph? Probably, knowing my luck.

Anyway, I have three hand-positions now. Riding on the bar-ends is strong. I can feel the bars bending. Would more expensive bars be stiffer?

The bad news is that the mirror won't fit.

 

[bladderhead]

The front brake didn't fail until I got home. Lucky. I injected some more fluid and it all poured out all over the place. I have ordered some more fluid and I await its arrival. I think the rubber washer is disintegrating. I have another. That's it so far.

Hydraulic brakes are brilliant unless you fiddle with them.

 

[Cruzbiker]

This is why I'll never exchange my BB7 for hydraulic.

 

[trplay]

My personal experience. I have a short x seam, very short. Getting the proper handle bar / feet position has been difficult. Last year I tried the 100mm extension for aero but it was impossible because the handle bars and foot reach was incompatible. Fast forward to today. The extension is long forgotten but I have switched to 140mm cranks just because I have always wanted to try them for performance. Surprise, surprise,not only did my cadence increase but bike fit was an extra reward. Shorter cranks move the boom out. For me this gave the the desired 90 knee bend and allowed the handle bar to have a greater range of movement. The shorter stroke not only improved the knee angle it gives you more distance between the knee and handlebars. IE: allows the stock bars room to fit better. Now I realize I could use the 100mm extensions if I still had them. Switching to 140mm cranks has had biggest impact of any bike change I have ever made. YMMV.

 

[ratz]

My personal experience. I have a short x seam, very short. Getting the proper handle bar / feet position has been difficult. Last year I tried the 100mm extension for aero but it was impossible because the handle bars and foot reach was incompatible. Fast forward to today. The extension is long forgotten but I have switched to 140mm cranks just because I have always wanted to try them for performance. Surprise, surprise,not only did my cadence increase but bike fit was an extra reward. Shorter cranks move the boom out. For me this gave the the desired 90 knee bend and allowed the handle bar to have a greater range of movement. The shorter stroke not only improved the knee angle it gives you more distance between the knee and handlebars. IE: allows the stock bars room to fit better. Now I realize I could use the 100mm extensions if I still had them. Switching to 140mm cranks has had biggest impact of any bike change I have ever made. YMMV.

Dollars to donuts you'd like a 65mm extension; that seems to be the sweet spot for those of us under 5'10" we need to pray to the CB design gods that they should mass produce that size.

 

[bladderhead]

This is how it is at the moment. The brakes are working. For now.

 

[mzweili]

This is how it is at the moment

Looks weird!

 

[bladderhead]

Weird? Weirder than all the other Silvios crowding the streets?

It feels comfortable. My hands are low. The handlebar clamp is further away and I can lean forward more easily. I feel stronger when ascending the Big Hill.

I tried to get up the kerb by putting both feet down, standing up and lifting the bike by the handlebars. The back wheel lifted but the front wheel stayed on the ground. Now the front wheel lifts and I can walk up the kerb. That is an unexpected by-product. I am glad I cut the boom.

Actually, I think I might get new handlebars, but the configuration won't change much.

 

[mzweili]

''Silvios crowding the streets'' hopefully one day!
My Silvio with the 100 mm chain stay extension and Deda Chrono nero TT bars

 

[Ivan_Liew]

Weird or not, that is the most unusual brifter position I have seen - even on "weird" bikes like ours!