Touring - My new touring bike!! (dubbed Steely Dan)

Hey everyone, here's the semi-retro touring bike I just finished building for a total price of about $320 including shipping the frame. Please feel free to ogle the beautiful frame which includes triple bottle brazeons, lowrider brazeons, and a special little spare-spoke holder doohickey along the chainstay :love:

57 cm Ishiwata Feather triple-butted touring frameset
Mavic MA3 rims on 32H Shimano 105 hubs
28 mm folding tires (will probably go to 32 mm soon)
Performance presta road tubes
Shimano LX front/rear derailers
Shimano 8-speed road cassette (12-25)
TruVativ Touro crankset (30-42-52) with 175 mm crankarms (got this from the Pay It Forward thread :D)
Shimano LX cantilever brakes
Gipiemme seatpost (has a skinny white top, looks trackish, but came free with the frame)
1989 Cannondale black lightning stem
44 cm Nashbar ergonomic road handlebars
1989 Campagnolo Vittoria aero levers
DiaCompe brake cables
SunTour Barcon bar-end friction shifters
KMC 8-speed chain with "quick" link
Hideous camo bar tape (it looked totally different on the Nashbar website, I SWEAR!!!)
Performance ATB comp pedals with clips and straps
Old Vetta saddle (most comfortable one I own)
Avenir rack (put on after taking the photo)

Everything is good except for the stupid LX cantilevers, maybe someone has used them and can help me out... the back cantilever is fine, just needs a bit more tweaking, but the front cantis just don't work. I press down on the brake lever, and the cantilevers move in, but they don't release afterwards. Only one side of the front pair has a tension adjuster, and I crank that up as high as it can go, but it still "sticks." I'm thinking that the very sharp bend in the cable may be the problem, but it is a brand new teflon-coated cable in brand new housing. I have never used canti brakes with a road bike, and it seems like the cantilever hanger is in a bad position because it makes the housing bend real sharply. Any advice of how to route this for less tension?

All right, thanks to all in this forum for advice with the bike. I have had fun building it, and can't wait to get out and explore on it. I've named it Steely Dan because it's steel and I'm Dan, and I expect we'll be spending lots of time together!

I bet the cable housing is causing your brake problem. I used a brake noodle from a v-brake in a similar situation, to help make the transition from the handlebar to the hanger. They come in different shapes, go to your local bike shop and ask to see their selection.

Of course you do realise how the band Steely Dan got their name.


With Fagen on keyboards and vocals and Becker on bass, they decide to sign up guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter and drummer Jim Hodder. With the core band recruited, Donald and Walter need a name for their group. Since both of them were avid readers of 1950's "Beat" literature, they decided to name the band "Steely Dan" after a ***** in William Burroughs' "Naked Lunch."

So you've just named your bike after a sex toy. Mmm ... curious. :)

Of course you do realise how the band Steely Dan got their name.



So you've just named your bike after a sex toy. Mmm ... curious. :)
Yaaaghgh! I didn't know that. Uhm..........................

Hey everyone, here's the semi-retro touring bike I just finished building for a total price of about $320 including shipping the frame. Please feel free to ogle the beautiful frame which includes triple bottle brazeons, lowrider brazeons, and a special little spare-spoke holder doohickey along the chainstay :love:

57 cm Ishiwata Feather triple-butted touring frameset
Mavic MA3 rims on 32H Shimano 105 hubs
28 mm folding tires (will probably go to 32 mm soon)
Performance presta road tubes
Shimano LX front/rear derailers
Shimano 8-speed road cassette (12-25)
TruVativ Touro crankset (30-42-52) with 175 mm crankarms (got this from the Pay It Forward thread :D)
Shimano LX cantilever brakes
Gipiemme seatpost (has a skinny white top, looks trackish, but came free with the frame)
1989 Cannondale black lightning stem
44 cm Nashbar ergonomic road handlebars
1989 Campagnolo Vittoria aero levers
DiaCompe brake cables
SunTour Barcon bar-end friction shifters
KMC 8-speed chain with "quick" link
Hideous camo bar tape (it looked totally different on the Nashbar website, I SWEAR!!!)
Performance ATB comp pedals with clips and straps
Old Vetta saddle (most comfortable one I own)
Avenir rack (put on after taking the photo)

Everything is good except for the stupid LX cantilevers, maybe someone has used them and can help me out... the back cantilever is fine, just needs a bit more tweaking, but the front cantis just don't work. I press down on the brake lever, and the cantilevers move in, but they don't release afterwards. Only one side of the front pair has a tension adjuster, and I crank that up as high as it can go, but it still "sticks." I'm thinking that the very sharp bend in the cable may be the problem, but it is a brand new teflon-coated cable in brand new housing. I have never used canti brakes with a road bike, and it seems like the cantilever hanger is in a bad position because it makes the housing bend real sharply. Any advice of how to route this for less tension?

All right, thanks to all in this forum for advice with the bike. I have had fun building it, and can't wait to get out and explore on it. I've named it Steely Dan because it's steel and I'm Dan, and I expect we'll be spending lots of time together!

Make sure the cantis move freely with the cable disconnected. If they still bind, check to make sure the braze-on studs haven't mushroomed from bolt tension. If they have, five minutes with a file should fix it.

Ah, turned out that the cable friction was actually coming from near the levers... and additionally I had the pads adjusted wrong so that the mechanical advantage was way too low. Well, now I've got those problems ironed out, and this is an awesomely smooth and fast ride!!

Looks like a nice ride. Frame looks to be in great shape. You've been working on this project for a while now. Hope you have some great tours. I like the name, I liked the band, (nothing wrong with a steel *****, better ride than an aluminum one;-)

Looks like a nice ride. Frame looks to be in great shape. You've been working on this project for a while now. Hope you have some great tours. I like the name, I liked the band, (nothing wrong with a steel *****, better ride than an aluminum one;-)
Thank you. I dragged this out for a while, accumulated parts over a couple months at swap meets and such, and then got the frame about three weeks ago. I imagine over on DildoForums.net they're having steel vs. aluminum flame wars as we speak ;-)

I'm hoping to do a weekend tour of the Eastern Shore very soon, but it's still a bit of a vague plan... I was thinking Bay Bridge to Assateauge, camp for the weekend, and back. You know anyone around here who's done anything like that?

Hi I posted something similar here:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=92948&highlight=mid-atlantic
One of the post is a bike shop owner in St. Michaels that said to give him a call/email for more precise info. Also there was one guy that has a trip around the bay mapped out. He also posted, give him a shout. I decided to (still mapping out) drive to Tuckahoe St. Pk after work one day, camp and leave vehicle there. On day 1 bike to Lewes Del. area in morning(Cape Henlopen St pk,) and camp, day 2 bike to Assat and camp, day 3 ride back to Tuck St. pk . I don't have the mileage but the days varied from 50 miles to 80 miles. I'll let you know as I gather more info.

Hi I posted something similar here:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=92948&highlight=mid-atlantic
One of the post is a bike shop owner in St. Michaels that said to give him a call/email for more precise info. Also there was one guy that has a trip around the bay mapped out. He also posted, give him a shout. I decided to (still mapping out) drive to Tuckahoe St. Pk after work one day, camp and leave vehicle there. On day 1 bike to Lewes Del. area in morning(Cape Henlopen St pk,) and camp, day 2 bike to Assat and camp, day 3 ride back to Tuck St. pk . I don't have the mileage but the days varied from 50 miles to 80 miles. I'll let you know as I gather more info.
Oh, thanks! I remember that thread but didn't look at the last few posts. I had thought about starting from the DC area, but that will probably be a less than relaxing riding experience. Please do keep me posted.