I bought an S40 frame to replace my Silvio 1.0. My plan was to use all the components from the Silvio since I was very happy with its 9 speed triple drive train. Most important to me was to keep the Sugino 24, 36, 46 crank so that I could have a climbing gear below 20 gear inches. I'm a weak climber living in the big mountains of north west Montana and like my granny gear!
I ended up having to make a number of component substitutions to make this work but am very happy with the result!
I started by transferring the Shimano square taper bottom bracket: BB-UN55-68mm, 110mm width.
I then installed my 165mm Sugino crank with its 24, 36, 46 rings and the Microshift front derailleur. I was not able to lower the front derailleur enough to match the 46 tooth big ring. I decided that the only simple solution was to change to a Sugino 50 tooth big ring. 50 teeth is the smallest large ring that will work with the braze on derailleur mount - at least with my derailleur.
In order to maximize my low gear inch climbing gear and have a usable (for me) tallest gear, I changed the cassette to a Shimano CS-HG400 12-36. This gives me a gear inch range of 17.6" to 109.9". I can climb anything around here and spin out at about 30 mph.
In order to handle the 36 tooth cog, I changed my rear derailleur from a Deore to an XT that I had in my parts box.
The rim brakes from the Silvio 1.0 did not have enough reach for the S40 frame. So, I bought a set of Shimano BR-R650 long reach brakes. They work well.
My Silvio handlebar is a 44cm wide Anatomic bar with the last section cut off. This gives me a good hand position for my bar end shifters. In order to transfer the 25.4mm diameter bar to the S40, I needed a set of 25.4 to 31.8mm Problem Solver handlebar shims. I have a 31.8mm Anatomic bar on order so that I can eliminate the shims. This handlebar is very comfortable because it is quite narrow and gives me a vertical grip orientation. Other folks may find it too narrow.
What actually transferred from the Silvio 1.0 were the Tektro brake levers and the Dura Ace 9 speed bar end shifters. So - as usual, I got to spend a lot more money on this project than I had planned. All good entertainment.
The bike is very comfortable and very fast! The 40 degree seat angle is perfect for me. I've got about 300 miles on it and am looking forward to taking it out on its first 200 km brevet in two weeks.
Next winter's project is to build a set of disc brake wheels to run with TRP cable actuated brakes. For now the rim brakes are good, but I like discs for mountain descents in wet weather.
Notes:
The 110mm wide bottom bracket is the narrowest possible bottom bracket for this crank. There is about 0.3mm clearance between the back of the granny gear mounting bolt head and the frame.
I found that the water bottle cages could not be installed flush with the back of the seat and the left bottle interfered with the rear brake cable. I used 1/4" thick nylon spacers and an aluminum adapter plate to move the cages away from the seat and lower them about an inch. I also added a brake noodle to the rear brake cable to help avoid the water bottle. Lowering the bottle cages an inch also made them much easier to pull while riding.
I did not find the stock neck rest very comfortable and ordered the adjustable neck rest. It is fantastic! I would recommend it highly. I apparently can't follow directions because I kept trying to tighten the mounting screws to get the neck rest to stop twisting in its mount. Of course I ended up stripping the screws. I installed an aluminum plate tapped with M5 threads behind the plastic back cover of the neck rest to make a more permanent connection.
The front derailleur cable pulley doesn't seem in exactly the right place. The cable is pulling a little sideways as it comes out of the cable end stop next to the pulley. Perhaps other builders have suggestions for improving this. Let me know.
Great bike! Looking forward to many miles on it.
Thanks!
Crane Fly
I ended up having to make a number of component substitutions to make this work but am very happy with the result!
I started by transferring the Shimano square taper bottom bracket: BB-UN55-68mm, 110mm width.
I then installed my 165mm Sugino crank with its 24, 36, 46 rings and the Microshift front derailleur. I was not able to lower the front derailleur enough to match the 46 tooth big ring. I decided that the only simple solution was to change to a Sugino 50 tooth big ring. 50 teeth is the smallest large ring that will work with the braze on derailleur mount - at least with my derailleur.
In order to maximize my low gear inch climbing gear and have a usable (for me) tallest gear, I changed the cassette to a Shimano CS-HG400 12-36. This gives me a gear inch range of 17.6" to 109.9". I can climb anything around here and spin out at about 30 mph.
In order to handle the 36 tooth cog, I changed my rear derailleur from a Deore to an XT that I had in my parts box.
The rim brakes from the Silvio 1.0 did not have enough reach for the S40 frame. So, I bought a set of Shimano BR-R650 long reach brakes. They work well.
My Silvio handlebar is a 44cm wide Anatomic bar with the last section cut off. This gives me a good hand position for my bar end shifters. In order to transfer the 25.4mm diameter bar to the S40, I needed a set of 25.4 to 31.8mm Problem Solver handlebar shims. I have a 31.8mm Anatomic bar on order so that I can eliminate the shims. This handlebar is very comfortable because it is quite narrow and gives me a vertical grip orientation. Other folks may find it too narrow.
What actually transferred from the Silvio 1.0 were the Tektro brake levers and the Dura Ace 9 speed bar end shifters. So - as usual, I got to spend a lot more money on this project than I had planned. All good entertainment.
The bike is very comfortable and very fast! The 40 degree seat angle is perfect for me. I've got about 300 miles on it and am looking forward to taking it out on its first 200 km brevet in two weeks.
Next winter's project is to build a set of disc brake wheels to run with TRP cable actuated brakes. For now the rim brakes are good, but I like discs for mountain descents in wet weather.
Notes:
The 110mm wide bottom bracket is the narrowest possible bottom bracket for this crank. There is about 0.3mm clearance between the back of the granny gear mounting bolt head and the frame.
I found that the water bottle cages could not be installed flush with the back of the seat and the left bottle interfered with the rear brake cable. I used 1/4" thick nylon spacers and an aluminum adapter plate to move the cages away from the seat and lower them about an inch. I also added a brake noodle to the rear brake cable to help avoid the water bottle. Lowering the bottle cages an inch also made them much easier to pull while riding.
I did not find the stock neck rest very comfortable and ordered the adjustable neck rest. It is fantastic! I would recommend it highly. I apparently can't follow directions because I kept trying to tighten the mounting screws to get the neck rest to stop twisting in its mount. Of course I ended up stripping the screws. I installed an aluminum plate tapped with M5 threads behind the plastic back cover of the neck rest to make a more permanent connection.
The front derailleur cable pulley doesn't seem in exactly the right place. The cable is pulling a little sideways as it comes out of the cable end stop next to the pulley. Perhaps other builders have suggestions for improving this. Let me know.
Great bike! Looking forward to many miles on it.
Thanks!
Crane Fly
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