My big winter project was converting my '95 Riv Road from fixed gear duty back to derailleur gearing, and swapping the fixed gear kit onto a Steve Rex road frame that's been sitting around unridden since I bought the Riv.
The Riv got a SRAM Apex group, minus the cranks. That's right, 10 speed brifters on an old Riv. Kind of the opposite of what the OP did! I'm not that fond of the black components, but they tend to disappear to some extent so I can live with them. The brakes are excellent, and the shifting is also very, very good. At least as good as the Ergo on my go-fast, and I'm sure many would prefer it. The cranks are a bit unusual. I found a Campy Record Triple on a closeout table at Performance for $50 and had to bring them home. I stripped off the 42 and 52, kept the 30 t granny, and installed a Stronglight 46 tooth ring in the middle position. No outer ring, so short chainring bolts were needed. That gives me an ultra-compact 46-30 crank with beautifully finished, cold-forged arms. Q-factor fetishists will think it too wide, but that works fine with my splayed- out feet. The Campy BB was expensive, but the total investment wasn't bad. Combine the 46-30 crank with the SRAM 11-32 cassette and I've got a huge gear range (25 - 113 gear inches), and an easy shift pattern. The 46 handles everything but a significant hill, then I drop to the 30. It'll run cross-chained in pretty much every gear. I tried to avoid running too long in either extreme combination, but other than that they're all good. The wheels are the 32 spoke Velocity Aeroheads I rode on the Riv for years, with 32 mm Pasela Tour Guards that I had in the shed. The Paselas measure just over 30 mm, which is comfortable on the bike. Actual 32's might be a bit too tight. The TG's always feel a bit dead to me, so I may may swap in something sprightlier in a similar width some day if I can figure out what that might be (30 mm Marathon Racers? Grand Bois 29's?). It was designed for 28's and fenders, which is also an option. For the rest, there's B17 on a Campy post, a Nitto Technomic Deluxe and Noodle, an original Riv/Duluth Pack Banana bag, and (for now) VO touring pedals with plastic clips and leather straps. The maiden voyage in this configuration was this Saturday, an out-and- back from Ione to Volcano, CA. 21 miles and 2700 ft of gain outbound, plus some climbing on the return so something over 3000' over the 42 miles. There was snow on the ground in Volcano but the road wasn't icy and I only had one light sprinkle of rain on the way back. Too bad I was the only cyclist on the road that day, it was a really pretty ride. The bike felt good going up hill or down, as it always has. Photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/15750548@N04/5470013328/in/set-72157626114728148/ Bill On Feb 21, 12:16 pm, William <[email protected]> wrote: > A big part of my winter projects involved liquidating a bunch of my > high-value and comparatively low utility bike parts. Highlights > included selling some Ultegra Brifters and Flight deck computer form > my tandem, which allowed me to convert it to indexed barcons and > proper V-Brake levers. > > Another big conversion was converting my go-fast Davidson Signature to > more of a rando bike. I used my rebate to get a Mark's Rack, and > parted out a full Chorus 10 speed kit. Now the Davidson has friction > barcons, a compact double, and a handlebar bag with decaleur. A > failed part of this conversion was I tried to get a 46-29 compact > double on there, but couldn't manage to work around the braze on ft > derailleur tab. I tried modifying a clamp type braze on, but it > didn't work out. I might revisit that, but if I ever get a repaint > that braze on is history. As it sits, it's a 50/34 in front with a > 12-26 9 speed in back. That's good for a lot of things for a go- > fast. > > FWIW, all-metal Campy seems to be doing REALLY well on the second-hand > market. I parlayed about $1500 in ebay sales, and if anything made my > bike more functional. > > The bike also exhibits another hideous color-combination, for which I > might be developing a reputation. I have a close relative fighting > breast cancer, so I wanted to get the pink out one way or another. > > http://www.flickr.com/photos/45758191@N04/5466031572/in/set-721576259... -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
