I had the frame a month prior to getting the first parts in the mail so I went about prepping it. I took it to the LBS to have the bottom braket and headtube chased and faced. To rust proof and protect the innards of the frame I treated it with Boeshield T-9. It’s advertised as a corrosion protectant as well as a waterproof lube. I had previously used Weigle Frame Saver on other steel frames but it’s hard to come by here.
The boxes of parts slowing came in and I dutifully piled all the acquired parts next to my work stand. Once I got all the parts, minus the fork and wheelset, I set about bolting all the parts together.
Started off with the seatpost and saddle in order to clamp the frame to workstand.
Next up, bottom bracket. Greased the cups and shell and hand threaded them on.
Then broke out tools to finish and torque to spec.
Next came the crankset and pedals. Story about me being stoopid. I was sipping coffee one weekend morning listening to the stereo and some Time pedals came up on Chainlove. Without discerning what level Time ATAC pedals they were I immediately scooped one up because, you know, it’s Chainlove and it’s gotta be a deal right? So I get the box in the mail, open it up and see a pair of Carbon and Titanium ATAC pedals. I thought I had ordered at most the mid tier model in carbon, not the Carbon and Titanium pedal. Oh well, consider it an “upgrade” albeit one that I didn’t expect to shell out for.
Moving towards the front, I installed the headset.
A couple years back I had made a similar tool of the above. I went to Orchard Supply and hit up the hardware section. Found long threaded rod, some large flat washers and nuts and came out with the same thing, just a hella lot cheaper. It’s a great cheap alternative to a Park headset tool, either the one I used or the more pricier pro shop model.
Still waiting for the Loop fork to come in, I used a parts bin carbon fork I had to mock up the front end. I’m diggin’ the Ritchey handlebar. It’s got a nice bend while being a flat bar.
I wanted a low bar position so this bar mated up to a negative rise stem will achieve that.
The build abruptly is delayed here til I recieved the fork and wheelset in the mail. I also tweaked the parts a bit. The ano blue (really turquoise blue) Marta brakes looked horrible with the rest of the bike. So I ordered another Marta SL brakeset in black/grey. The crankset aread seemed a bit bland and I wanted to smarten up the crankset with a replacement chainguard in white to mirror the white wheels. A pair of white Elite bottle cage finishes off the frame. I also ordered some blue ano bits from purelycustom to personalize the bike.
Once I got fork, wheels and miscellaneous parts, I continued. Wheels converted tubeless and rotors mounted. While I waited for the Stans goo to work it’s magic I proceeded to the fork. Stem and spacers figured out, cut mark etched onto the steer tube. Measured twice, cut once. I thought about using a pipe cutter but I had a fork steerer cutting guide and hacksaw on hand and did it “properly”. Then brakes installed and hoses shortened. Sorry no pics of the above, I was groovin’ to SomaFM while wrenchin’ that I forgot to snap pics.