Tuesday, May 29, 2012

My bike, take 2

So, somehow one would think that after 10 of these bikes, I would have figured out the whole alignment riddle.  Well, turns out, not so much.  For my updated road bike design, I wanted to make it a bit better balanced than my current road bike.  The goal was lighter, stiffer faster, more confident handling.  Not that I dislike good ol' number 4, I actually have grown really fond of it over the two years I have ridden and raced it, but I just thought I could do it one better with an ENVE tubeset and some more experience with manufacturing the joints.

I was going for a bit more traditional road geometry and, having liked my pink Cannondale a lot, decided to set up my jig to match that bike's geometry.  I'd match the angles and then tweak as needed.  With my mid-foot cleat position, I like a bit longer front end, and I also use 177.5mm cranks, so need to make sure the bottom bracket is the right height.  I also have a lower overall seat height and so can do with a shorter seat tube.  Anyway, moral of the story is, "Just because it's a factory bike from a reputable manufacturer, and just because if feels good, doesn't mean it's straight"

When I got DC 10 complete and put together, it rode pretty well.  Definitely lighter and stiffer than DC 4 and seemed to have a bit more relaxed handling.  The only problem that it seemed to relax a bit more to one side than the other.

Shit.

So after MUCH measuring, I determined that the head tube and seat tube had somehow gotten out of whack: 8-10 mm off to the right, depending on how I measured.  Well, that was annoying as hell, and, after some consternation, I decided that the best way to go would be to hack all but 1 of the joints apart and try again.  The head tube/down tube joint stayed, the rest had to go.  Hours of sanding, measuring cutting, re-gluing and more measuring later, we have the pieces back into the appropriate alignment and all is well with the world. Only another 20 hours of work or so before I can ride the bike again.  At least my knee has been screwed up this whole time (6 f'ing MONTHS unable to really ride!!) so I at least haven't been pining for my new bike quite as much.


No comments:

Post a Comment