Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Fork bling (aka Steamroller progress)

Well, I finally got my fork cut and headset installed, and now I'm just waiting for two more parts (stem and seatpost) before I can take the newest member of the family out for its first spin with its new parts. I thought it might be fun (for me, at least) to document the progress of my Steamroller as it started to come together, instead of just putting up the complete picture(s) on FGG or the forum. Although I should warn you, progress will probably only be shown in two steps, or maybe three, if you wait long enough. This bike might even impress the roadies. (http://web.mit.edu/psn/www/step1)

very cool, congrats

I have a karate monkey, and I'm probably going to purchase a pacer for my brother

Yeah, I think Surly is pretty solid. I know it isn't the greatest frame in the world, but there aren't a whole lot of better options in the TIG-welded, 1 1/8" ID head tube, front *and* rear brake (that's for step 3 - freewheel) department. There's the "Nessuno", of course, but I got this thing with wheels, cranks, etc. for only $100 more (after selling its Brooks saddle) than that frame. Ah well, I can always build up some crazy titanium business later on if I feel the need to burn an even larger hole in my wallet. Independent Fabrication is only a couple of miles away...

Friggin' hot!!!
I own a steamroller and a pacer, and almost got a 3rd surly (LHT or cross-check) as a light tourer, but ended up deciding on a Soma just because I didn't want to be the guy with three Surlys.
They're great bikes for the price though, and built to be ridden and abused. Functional and affordable, that's what I like.

Still waiting for the stem and seatpost...the bastards. Well, I'll fill you in on what they'll be - Ritchey WCS, so they'll be light, mostly black, and should keep the "modern" look going quite nicely. For the visual "pop", the handlebars are taped white. Bliddow. Hopefully that stuff comes tomorrow before I go out for our weekly Thursday ride. Which reminds me, I should post about that.

get a plastic knife and scrape off the labels. then maybe you could be a ninja

I feel like I'd need black hubs/spokes (and maybe cranks) to pull that one off...

I'm not trying to make it into a "designer label" bike or be a show off (I ride my dirty ass Jamie Roy while rocking The Lycra...obviously I'm not too concerned with appearance), but the parts I picked are nice, light, and not insanely expensive (even got the fork off eBay for $170 - can't complain).

Here ya go folks: Step 2! (http://web.mit.edu/psn/www/step2)

I don't have a name for it yet, but this bike rides oh so sweetly. Using my ghetto bathroom scale, it comes out between 17 and 18 lbs, though looks closer to 17. And on its inaugural ride tonight, I finally got the gumption to skid, although without any brakes, it was sort of a necessity. That was one of the most awesome rides ever.

[Edit: Thanks to the third picture, maybe I should've subtitled this update "Seat Bling" or perhaps "What, No Carbon Seatpost?"]

How does the EC90 fork ride? I was thinking about picking up a EC70 but haven't heard much about Easton forks. Glad to hear the build went well.

Well, in the single time I've ridden it with the EC90, it's really damn smooth. There is a strip of the sidewalk that I have to ride over to get to my apartment's front door that is all old school brick, and it rode over that like it was nothing. I purposely targeted the torn up bits of road along my street and Mass Ave. just to see what it would feel like, and the difference between it and my Jamie Roy is easily noticeable. Just for reference, I ride my Jamie Roy with the same seat, a carbon seatpost, and similar bars/stem. I suppose the slightly cushier Continentals on the Surly help a bit, but man, you can't knock the carbon.

Also, my $0.02 on the EC70: I'd go for the EC90 if I were you - carbon steerer is a big plus. If you're going to carbon to save weight, you might as well go "all out". Of course, the EC70 is probably a good bit cheaper, especially since its been discontinued for a while now.

gonna need less spokes to impress the roadies

Yeah, haven't figured out quite how to do that one, especially with the constraint of 120 mm spacing. I guess I could respace it to 130 mm - then I could do something wacky like run Ksyrium SLs with a Fixxer on the rear hub (that'd be a sight). Wonder how much that would weigh...

Anyone tried one of those Fixxer things?

what no brake? dude your gonna kill yourself!. ... looks sweet dude ...you should have shown up to the track last night with that thing.

Yeah I know, I was just beat after my afternoon ride. I would've been lame and not wanted to race, and then I would've been heckled into racing and sucked. Not that I wouldn't suck even if I were in peak condition. I'll try to make it next week, I promise.

Nice. Is this one going to be brakeless?

-Tell me how those ultrasports work out for you when you get some miles on them.

I wanna see the new ride in person.

Yeah, I think I'll keep it brakeless as long as I'm not running a freewheel. Once that thing goes on though, it'd be hard to ever run brakeless again. It's much easier to flop a wheel around than it is to take off aero levers and brake calipers. I already bought the brakes (black, of course, Shimano 105s), which are short-reach and not much use on my Jamie Roy. [Edit: Oh wait, I guess I could make my Jamie Roy be the brakeless one then if I'm desperate.]

First impressions of the Ultrasports are good. Smooth ride, no doubt aided by the fact that they're 700x28 fatties (and of course the carbon fork). That's actually the biggest problem. There is essentially no clearance between the front tire and the fork...if the tire ever gets any fatter, I'll be screwed. Planning on getting Michelin Carbon 700x23s after I wear these guys out.

Man thats a sweet rig ya built up! Im debating on building like you did, or buy something already built (langster). Looking at what you built motovates me to do the same!

You know, the Surly fork has tons of clearance and the fat tires will probably do just as good a job of soaking up road buzz as the CF.

Just sayin.

Yeah, but it's a full pound heavier. And it doesn't go "bling bling" as I ride it down the street. Of all people, I thought you'd understand (not for any particular reason though). Besides, in my weight weenie-ism, think about the weight I'll save by going to the smaller tubes and tires (~280 g)!

I learned yesterday (much to my dismay) that the UN52 bb my Steamroller has is a little fatty, even heavier than I thought at 300 g. Anyone want to buy me a Phil titanium? Apparently even the UN72 would shave off 50 g straight away. ****, being a w.w. really is annoying. It's like an expensive case of OCD.

Me... of all people, me? You've seen the garbage I ride, right? :)

And who's watching their weight with a Steamroller frame?

Until I can afford that carbon Giant...

Actually, I did a fairly accurate calculation based on my bike before it had all of its schlock on it, and using the right (read: even better) components, you could easily whittle a (56 cm) Steamroller down to under 16 lbs (*with* pedals). That's not too shabby for your everyday steel frame.

That's pretty impressive actually, approaching UCI's limit. Although I guess I'm not surprised. The frame is a small part of the entire bike's weight and there are lots of super lightweight components out there.

I always point people at Rivendell's custom CX racer that comes in at like 18 pounds.

Yeah, even Airborne's titanium track frame is only about 1 lb lighter than the Steamroller's. I suppose that's also because track frames are designed to be a bit beefier for maximum stiffness, as I know many carbon (and titanium) road frames are nearing (or are below) the 2 lb area.

In any event, the components needed to get a Steamroller down to under 16 lbs aren't even all that insane (or that different) compared to mine (and just imagine what they could do in a light frame). Carbon bars, stem, and seatpost shave off maybe 100 g, Phil titanium bb takes out another 160 g, EC90 SLX fork 50 g, Pro Race2 tires (and light tubes) 320 g, and by running Dura-Ace Track cranks and hubs, I could probably even scrounge out another 100 g or so. All of that stuff is totally off the shelf and readily available, but just a wee bit pricey. I think it's funny how much weight I could take out just by switching to different tires and tubes; then again, maybe the Ultrasports (which came with the bike, btw) are a bit porkier than most.

M2 Racer pedals, seat, seatpost, clamp, and headset. Carbon fiber tubular wheels. Doesn't get much lighter.

.........and put helium in the tires! :D

M2Racer's stuff is certainly impressive; I'd like to hear/see some real world durability reviews of it all though. Things like their 170 lb weight limit on a seatpost seem iffy, even though I'm a nice 155. I feel like if I landed on the seat too hard, it'd be *kaboom*. Oh, and it's priceeeeeey.

Before I come off as overly obsessed (or is it too late?), I really do like the component mix on my Steamroller (and I *really* like riding it). Almost everything is light, but nothing is so insanely light that I need to worry about durability or stuff starting to flex ridiculously. Nor did any of it cost a huge amount; I purchased as much off eBay as was possible/economically beneficial, and as far as I can recall, the fork was the only (non-major, e.g. not frame, cranks, or wheels) bit over $100.

As for future steps, step 3 (1-2 months) will be the installation of an AC Racing freewheel on the other side of the hub, the black Shimano 105 brakes I got, and Shimano aero brake levers. Step 4 (4-5 months) will be a swap to Speedplay Zero pedals (if our sponsorship pricing is good, the Ti spindle ones), the tire change (to 23s), and maybe a bb swap to a UN72. Final weight with all that crap hanging on it would be a bit less than 18.5 lbs. If I were to run brakeless and take off the freewheel in step 4 config, the weight would be slightly more than 16.5 lbs, which in my mind is not too shabby.

Maybe I can get Surly to sponsor me to build up a Steamroller with more "bleeding edge" stuff in the future. That'd be awesome.