first look at new project - Jo Routens 650b randonneur

the new lovely

this is one of Routens' production frames

not one of his fillet brazed beauties

slowly putting it together

but it's going well so far 

n'est pas?

Urban cooolnesss

requisite alley shot with graffiti
note it almost says viscount

First ride - complete Sport

Reid - the most disappointing bike ever

this bike has shot to number one
on the list of world's most disappointing bikes.
quite an achievement when you consider how
ubiquitous the competition is
terk, ginat, sttoc, sepcialized, merdia, slury,
and other names too boring to recall
let alone spoonerise.
and yet the ried has beaten them all.
how?
is it so especially awful?
no, an S-wanks trihard bike is easily more offensive.
is it crabon?
no, it's probably made of metal.
how do they do it then?

the thing that keeps me turning my head to check them out
then turning away once I recognise them
is the cuckoo-like parody of a 1970s road bike.
it must be the silver crankset of modest proportions that does it,
they certainly don't have a completely horizontal top tube
although from some angles I've been fooled into looking twice.
it's that they promise something exciting
in ones peripheral vision
then let one down so completely with their
Chinese
utterly mass-produced
frighteningly cheap
disposability.

we're in another bike boom
and this is the Peugeot U08 of 2011.
but
will there be any nostalgia for the Redi Condor
and it's free pump (VALUE $35) and its
free water bottle (VALUE $20)
and its
all quality Shimano componants Shimano is highly regarded as the worlds best when it comes to quality bicycle gearing
when it all falls apart?
how soon will we see it on hard rubbish?

lists

just for fun
some lists

first
a list of all the parts
of the Dura Ace groupset assembled for this bike
all first generation:
cluster
hubs
derailleur front and rear
cable guides
cable clamps
down-tube shifters
gear cables
brake calipers
brake levers
brake cables
brake pads
crank-set and rings
bottom bracket set
headset
seat post
&
grease

next
all the original parts on the bike:
frame
front derailleur

next
all the non-Dura Ace parts on the bike
and these because there was no DA equivalent in 1975:
saddle (Ideale)
bars (Nitto)
stem (Viscount)
pedals (MKS and Viscount)
toe clips and straps (MKS)
forks (anon. Tange cromoly and Viscount aluminium)
rims (Sun CR18)
spokes (stainless double-butted)
tyres (Panaracer Pasela)
bell (anon. Japanese aluminium)
grips/tape (Toyo Keirin grips)

Splendour in the grass - Viscount Aerospace Sport half-built 2

red keirin track grips for now

exact brake lever position and type requires more research 

on the road

starting to get a feel of what it will look like

a mysterious discrepancy:

the seat tube spec has changed from 26.8mm to 27mm

well I can't just pull a Dyra Ace EA seat post out of my arse

so we've got some 0.06mm brass shim in there

to be trimmed when saddle height is locked off.

the original front mech

I think I was lucky that my Sport came with Dura Ace front instead of

those dirty, dull Titlist front derailleurs

first gen Dura Ace levels and hoods

first gen Dura Ace side-pull calipers

you can see how shy of the rim they are

but then I got out my aluminium forks and tested them

lo and behold

they just reach, like in this picture

notice where the pads are

at the bottom of their range

no such problem with the rear.

Aerospace Sport - half built

Sport comes home - more half-built pics

Sport comes home!

waiting for the tyres so I can build her up

chainstay bridge mudguard mount

new camera - (bike) fetish gallery

all my fetishes

single chainrings

uncoated aluminium

toestraps

seatpost-mounted warning devices

brake levers

old tech

red tyres

leather

it's all here.