Hi all, After spending all weekend in the delicious task of rebuilding my newly painted Hunqapillar with its low trail fork, I'm happy to report that I'm mostly done and share the photos that proved I worked hard and loved every minute of it.
Pictures to prove it: http://www.flickr.com/photos/orthie251/ Afterwards, I took the bike on its maiden ride to test everything around the paths in Stanford University and stopped for a beautiful sunset moment in the garden outside the Rodin museum. I did several updates to this build: - Went with a 175mm 26/40 Sugino crankset, but will likely replace with a 172.5mm 24/38 I just converted. I've had some hip issues and seem to handle the 172.5mm better, although the Betty has the 175 and I've been doing fine with it. Go figure. Maybe the repeated attempts to stay on the Low Carb/High Fat diet with progressively shorter relapse intervals is working... The 24 will definitely help me in the climbs, at least until I lose significant weight, and for the same reason, the 38 may be a bit more "friendly" on the flats, especially when riding loaded or on a headwind. - Went with the 55cm steel Bosco handlebar instead of the previous 58cm Bullmoose Bosco. While the Bullmoose is awesome and very stiff, after riding it for a while before the repaint, it seemed a bit too wide. Riding the much narrower GB Promenade handlebar on the Betty has made me realize I prefer narrower handlebars than what I used to ride. While the Promenade may be too narrow for the Hunqapillar, especially off-road, the 55cm Bosco seems like a perfect middle ground. I've also noticed than as I've started riding narrower handlebars, my shoulder and neck pain have also significantly improved. Even when riding the GB Randonneur bars on the Atlantis with their more forward position. Another improvement I chose is to use reverse brake levers in order to get the full smooth sections of the Bosco bar while improving the hand positions that still allow me access to the brakes. I currently have a set of Tektro 4.1 reverse levers, but will try a set of Paul's reverse brake levers as they provide more versatility. The Tektro reverse brake levers also seem to provide a very "flexy" braking experience, so I want to see if the Pauls work better. - After much thought, I decided to not mount the Pass & Stow rack that I had before and instead, mount the Nitto Mini + Tubus Nova that I first used on my Bombadil. I'm still keeping the Pass & Stow rack and may install it again, but I didn't like the Porteur bags so much and will try using front panniers instead. - Decided to try a pair of 50mm Schwalbe Big Ben tires, and I have to say I'm quite impressed. They roll very nicely, and on the dirt and rough pavement provide a definite cushy ride. Did I say I'm quite impressed? - Still pending is the taping of the handlebars. I'd like to experiment with the full leather sewn-on bar cover that Velo Orange sells, but may also end up using Brooks leather tape or the super cushy Cinnelli gel-cork tape I'm using on the Atlantis. I really like it. I'll probably end up taping the handle bars next weekend, once I'm sure everything on the cockpit is the way I want it. Happy riding and planning an S240 soon, since I couldn't make it the last one organized through this list. René -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en-US. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
