I sense a disturbance in the 3rd Law

[jond]

it's 1 solid part

ratz your bikes are going to be very special. check out the Edco monoblock cassette for one piece 10 and 11 speed cassettes . one huge thing going for it is that for 10 speed free hubs shimano/sram this 11 speed cassette will fit meaning all those 10 speed wheelsets are good for 11 speed builds.

 

[Rick Youngblood]

The metal flake looks very nice, I've never noticed that before. Do both bikes have the same paint scheme?

 

[ratz]

The metal flake looks very nice, I've never noticed that before. Do both bikes have the same paint scheme?

yes same scheme; and now you know why the mediums are out of stock. Opps

 

[Rick Youngblood]

mediums are out of stock. Opps

Already? And we are early in the year yet!

 

[ratz]

Edco monoblock cassette

Hmmm that's pretty slick but what in the world are they doing making that out of chromoly?? That would be a block of rust in Seattle in 2 months. You definitely can't ride that with a wax lube; that's going to be Teflon liquid or something like White-lightening wet.

Now for a record attempt like Larry's that might be a mighty fine thing to slap on the bike.

 

[ratz]

Already? And we are early in the year yet!

Yep, wait until the build diary is done.... The project is probably going to create a bunch of "blue bikes" for people that have to wait for stock.

 

[ratz]

My Last big post omitted some research. I'm admittedly a KMC chain guy but I did spend some time re-researching chains.

In the end it came down to Wippermann or KMC. I decided to stick with the proven KMC. I've used master links far more than they are every recommend to (because of waxing the chains) so that was worth staying the course.

The brought down to a decision between the X11SL TI Nitiride (da gold chain) and the X11SL DLC/Black.

So which would be better the TI or the Diamond coating. My finders where that the DLC is a lot more expensive at $100. End of the day the chains are structurally the chains are the same; the DLC has a harder finish that is in the coating and the DLC is more traditional in gathering dirt to it. Mean while the TI now are selling in the $45 US range and are renowned for not collecting oil dirt on it self or in the rest of the drive train.

So more gold chains it is.

 

[Apollo]

So which would be better the TI or the Diamond coating. My finders where that the DLC is a lot more expensive at $100. End of the day the chains are structurally the chains are the same; the DLC has a harder finish that is in the coating and the DLC is more traditional in gathering dirt to it. Mean while the TI now are selling in the $45 US range and are renowned for not collecting oil dirt on it self or in the rest of the drive train.

I have one DLC chain I've been using since last year and it is notorious for getting grimy very easily. It needs near constant cleaning. Why do you suppose that is? My other KMC chain which is a standard SL doesn't get nearly as dirty.

The DLC chains are nice looking chains when new but hard to justify the price premium over their cheaper cousins and I honestly have not noticed a more durable finish. The painted links and rollers will not stay looking the way they were shipped from the factory, so in that sense they are less aesthetically appealing. I think you made the right choice. I'll probably just use a slightly used 6800 chain I have in storage when the time comes and save on the cost of a new chain.

 

[ratz]

Why do you suppose that is?

The two things that I found were (a) all the MTB people said to run and hide from the DLC chain, (b) the Nitride chain was designed to stay clean.... 1+1 = 5
Glad someone here had real experience to add. most useful

 

[ratz]

Principle photography has begun

 

[super slim]

Principle photography has begun

View attachment 1765

Are you heat setting the paint on the handle bar????
What f stop are you using with that much light?

 

[ratz]

Are you heat setting the paint on the handle bar????

LED lights deadly cool no heat

What f stop are you using with that much light?

That's deceiving at that angle. From the tripods point of view; that all soft white light. It's take a ton of light a different angle to get things lit with little to no shadows. I can't get ride of all the shadows without about 4 more lights; but those 3 plus the built in ones; let me get a photo most times that I then don't have to Photoshop and that's a big big time saver.

These would be two good examples you can see shadows but not enough to spend time cleaning up for this type of project.

 

[jond]

exciting and fun. cant wait to see more progress ratz of the builds.

and thanks for posting your build diary here too ratz.

 

[trplay]

Well done with the build diary Ratz. My build is finally complete and VaMoose is in the wild. The last minor glitch was with the rear brake cable. My cable kit did not have enough cable housing to run from the levers to the back of the bike. So I initially set it up with two short cable housings and cable stops. The cable running inside the frame did not have housing. This didn't work. After a couple squeezes of the lever the front stop pulled through the frame posts where the stops are suppose to hold. After several failed attempts to make the system work I bought more housing and now run one length of housing from the lever through the frame to the back brake.

 

[super slim]

LED lights deadly cool no heat


That's deceiving at that angle. From the tripods point of view; that all soft white light. It's take a ton of light a different angle to get things lit with little to no shadows. I can't get ride of all the shadows without about 4 more lights; but those 3 plus the built in ones; let me get a photo most times that I then don't have to Photoshop and that's a big big time saver.

These would be two good examples you can see shadows but not enough to spend time cleaning up for this type of project.

View attachment 1766 View attachment 1767

You have gone from a PC networking guy with colour coded zone cabling, to Cruzbike frame builder, and now photographer!!!!
Do you do weddings, but without that many lights???

 

[ReklinedRider]

Well done with the build diary Ratz. My build is finally complete and VaMoose is in the wild. The last minor glitch was with the rear brake cable. My cable kit did not have enough cable housing to run from the levers to the back of the bike. So I initially set it up with two short cable housings and cable stops. The cable running inside the frame did not have housing. This didn't work. After a couple squeezes of the lever the front stop pulled through the frame posts where the stops are suppose to hold. After several failed attempts to make the system work I bought more housing and now run one length of housing from the lever through the frame to the back brake.

Hmm wonder if that's why my rear brake feels a little spongy

 

[mzweili]

I have no intention to build a V in the future. But your builds are amazing to follow. Great job.

 

[super slim]

One piece outer rear brake cable made a BIG difference to my Silvio V1.0, where there was two exposed inner cable sections!!

The biggest difference was when I went to a Bike Maintenance course, and found out that I did not need the 1.5 mm toe in + what the 1.5 mm on the end of a Shimano brake pad gave!

 

[ratz]

Hmm wonder if that's why my rear brake feels a little spongy

I never could get a bare wire to work well in the body of the bike. The other thing is it works better if you can zip strip (with a slim and small zip tie) the wire to the frame so that it does not move when you actuate it. I had that problem on the silvio "Too much wire in the frame", it moved and thus felt spongy.

 

[ratz]

I have no intention to build a V in the future. But your builds are amazing to follow. Great job.

Thanks mark, kind words appreciated.