Originally Posted by
Harorld
This thread rocks! I just ordered one in black from bikesdirect. This is the first bike that I've owned in a looong time and had a couple of question for you guys:
- I live in Brooklyn and work in Manhattan and plan to bring it along with me on the subway... Will this be doable with the mini Velo?
- I'm planning on taking the day off from work when this baby arrives! While I await the 5 to 6 days for delivery, I'd like to plan on some initial upgrades for day number one. I've seen some of the work that you guys have done and I'm very excited. I'd like to swap out the brakes, maybe change the seat and seat post, maybe even swap out the tires to something a little faster... Will upgrading the brakes myself be doable.. for a beginner?
- What tools should I have handy?
- I'm digging the possibility of purchasing a Soma saddle and seat post in advance so it's here by the time I get the bike. What diameter seatpost should I get?
I'm a designer so I'm also looking forward to doing some custom graphics for the bike. I'm really digging the possibilities of the black and white palette with maybe some color in the saddle and drop bars.
Thanks in advance!
Tools, At a minimum:
tire irons.
Lezyne alloy tire levers are well thought of, though you can go cheaper and still be fine. I prefer metal/alloy ones over plastic.
scissors (to cut excess rim tape, which should be your very first upgrade)
metric allen wrenches.
Bondhus style ones are the best.
grease (there is none on this bike).
I use Phil wood.
a
tire jack helps to get the tires back on
Brake upgrade is doable, but I would recommend the following tools
Some sort of "third hand" tool. A pedal strap works nicely, it allows you to hold the brake caliper shut while you adjust the cable. The best tool is the
Park "fourth" hand tool. A pedal strap can do the job, however, though not as well.
Cable cutter.
I use the Park tool here
Cable ends, the cutter should crimp them. Alternatively, if you have access to a soldering iron, a bit of solder actually keeps the cable ends from fraying.
You probably want to overhaul and adjust the headset and hubs at some point. The headset on this bike is decidedly not to a standard, a large adjustable wrench and a channel lock pliers work fine. More standard headset wrenches will not work.
A set of
cone wrenches (actually two sets) helps if overhauling the hubs. I've found cheap ones are fine.
On upgrading the bike, make sure you get the right parts. Brakes, for instance, need proper reach. This bike requires long, long reach calipers like the
Tektro r556, which have a 55-73mm reach, about as substantial as you can find. However, the stock brakes are not bad, though I would argue the Tektros are an upgrade. As a plus, they can be found in black and white, which is a style upgrade.
The post is a 29.2.
The origin 8 post here is, I will attest, a nice upgrade and, for style points, can be found in black.
Since you're new, take advantage of web resources for bike mechanics. I've been around long enough that I rarely if ever use them , but the
Park Tools website has a lot of help and is well thought of.
Please note I am not a Park tools shill; they make some nice stuff, but some of their tools are truly atrocious. I wouldn't recommend their truing stand over those by Var and Hozan, for instance; and I prefer the Var cone wrenches, but they can be hard to find nowadays. The stuff I've linked to here I've actually used (with the exception of the park how to site) and is all top notch.
I can't help you with NYC subways-- contact them and see what their bike policies are.
Replace your rim strips first. Also, order some tubes-- even in NYC, presta valved tubes in this size may be hard to find.