V20 Build - MBB newbie

[nobrakes]

Still waiting on Fedex to find the missing box. In the meantime I decided to start the basic frame. Only issue encountered so far is that I bought the wrong torque wrench - only goes to 20nm. Doh. Need to get a bigger one to get the B.B. on properly.

 

[nobrakes]

 

[dtseng]

It's a good thing to see that the chain stay is now clamped on the BB shell, not on the bearings.

 

[nobrakes]

Second box has now arrived - 2 weeks late due to Fedex losing it in the states, but otherwise unscathed. Woohoo! the CF race case is very nicely made. It's a lot more bulletproof than I expected. Wheels arriving today from Strada Wheels... I now only have to get the Perez clamps which are still stuck in customs and have been for over a week. Very annoying! I can at least get everything else sorted now, first thing to check will be the rear wheel and disc brake, see if I'm going to have any clearance issues (fingers crossed it will be OK).

 

[nobrakes]

Wheels arrived today - very nice. However my whole plan of having no brake / frame interference has been to no avail - the bolts of the rear disc catch on the weld. Its going to require some gentle filing to fit.

 

[nobrakes]

One small filing later...

Cassette, rotors and wheels on. Wanted to see if the rotors would cause any interference before I went further, and I had to file a little off the weld on the back. Maybe 0.5 mm. It's very tight clearance with what I left on, so I'll see how it fares under use, might need to take a tiny bit more off. A quick coating with a black touch up pen and you can't see the file at all.

Garage is starting to get a bit cluttered - 2 solo recumbents, a recumbent tandem, 2 mountain bikes and a hybrid.

 

[nobrakes]

With a bit more reading, I keep hearing about different size chainstays. I didn't see any option to select chainstay size on the frame ordering page - have I missed a trick here? I am XSeam 45", quite long. Wondering if there was an optimisation I have missed.

 

[ratz]

The product page use to have a footnote telling you to indicate "large chainstay" in the order notes; I don't see that there any longer.
I would email sales@cruzbike.com and ask what the status is on the optional chainstay lengths.

 

[nobrakes]

Thanks ratz, have sent an email.

 

[nobrakes]

Just put the seat on temporarily and sat on the bike to test sizing - I can see it's not going to be a problem with the existing chainstay. Felt fast just sitting in the garage with no drivetrain installed

 

[nobrakes]

Got the drivetrain and brake calipers on tonight. A nice surprise - I was expecting some kind of adapter / rotor mismatch with the positions of the mounts on the frame based on earlier discussion, but the adapters and 160mm rotors that came with the calipers went straight on without any fuss - so the frame takes 160mm rotors out of the box front and rear.

 

[nobrakes]

Have now got the brakes cabled up and working - started on the derailleurs.

Can anybody explain what the two lugs on the right hand front fork are for? They're too narrow to run gear cable through, which suggests exposing part of the cable run. Is this space for an inline adjuster or something?

 

[Jeremy S]

Can anybody explain what the two lugs on the right hand front fork are for? They're too narrow to run gear cable through, which suggests exposing part of the cable run.

Cable stops for the RD shifter cable, yes exposing part of the cable.

 

[nobrakes]

So what is the intended purpose of the exposed area? I don’t quite get it.

 

[dtseng]

With two cable stops and thus the exposed area, you would be able to make a cable loop before connecting to RD. Without the two stops, you could do it if you tie the cable some where on the fork to make a loop. You need that loop (slack) because RD should be free to rotate.

 

[nobrakes]

View attachment 5714 With two cable stops and thus the exposed area, you would be able to make a cable loop before connecting to RD. Without the two stops, you could do it if you tie the cable some where on the fork to make a loop. You need that loop because RD moves when you shift gears.

Ah, of course. Guess who hasn’t built a bike for a long time! Thanks.

 

[Jeremy S]

Actually the loop is for changing the cable pull direction without a sharp bend, which would add friction. The housing shouldn't move when you shift.

 

[dtseng]

OK. Since the cable is now coming down from the fork, not from the chain stay, you only need a small amount of slack. The two cable stops are redundant then.

 

[nobrakes]

I’ll look at the entry point on the derailleur and if it’s not too bad I’ll run the cable direct. This is how my Fuego works too.

The bike is now finished apart from gear cables. The housing I had wasn’t long enough so I’m just waiting on that and then it will be done. Spent some time fitting the bike last night, it’s more or less there and I’ll dial it in more once I start riding out on the road.

 

[nobrakes]

Got to final component install and seem to have a problem - anyone installed an Sram force 22 yaw front derailleur on a V20? The instructions state clearly the derailleur needs to be 1-2 mm outside the big chainring but I can’t get it anywhere near that close, the braze on mount positioned such that the closest I can get it is around 1cm. Something I’ve missed?