Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - Building a Randonneuring Bike...

I'm putting together my first randonneuring bike. Check it out, if you wanna.

http://therandonneur.com/node/9

Comments/suggestions are always welcome....

Looks nice.

Check out the newly-minted Rando Hub (http://www.veloweb.ca/randopage.html)

Nice site, I found an error concerning the dynamo lighting though. You wrote "Leading the LED pack presently are the astoundingly bright and highly-coveted 100 lumen Schmidt Edelux and the 220 lm Supernova E3, both of German origin."
My Schmidt Edelux easily washes out my 200 lumen Dinotte light making it greater than 200 lumens.

Nice site, I found an error concerning the dynamo lighting though. You wrote "Leading the LED pack presently are the astoundingly bright and highly-coveted 100 lumen Schmidt Edelux and the 220 lm Supernova E3, both of German origin."
My Schmidt Edelux easily washes out my 200 lumen Dinotte light making it greater than 200 lumens.

http://www.nabendynamo.de/produkte/Edelux.html

The stats Schmidt provided says 100lm/watt (true to some extent), but no single die LED on the market goes over 240 lumens. IIRC, Dinotte isn't fully put out 200 lumens, depending on your model.

Nice site, I found an error concerning the dynamo lighting though. You wrote "Leading the LED pack presently are the astoundingly bright and highly-coveted 100 lumen Schmidt Edelux and the 220 lm Supernova E3, both of German origin."
My Schmidt Edelux easily washes out my 200 lumen Dinotte light making it greater than 200 lumens.

Thanks for the comparison from a user with experience using both. Mine is just w/ the Edelux, which is the most amazing dyno light I've seen.

I'll admit not having technical expertise when it comes to rating LEDs. I'm just reporting the manufacturers stats. I do understand lm/W (which is what Schmidt reports) from a laymans point, but most manufacturers just give lm alone.

Anyway I trust your first hand experience. Cheers.

That "dropout breaking through the box" pic is priceless... not what you wanna see, certainly, but still priceless.

The shop I work at started getting the new Masi stuff in late this last summer, and I think the speciale commuter'd be the one for me if I was in the market for a new bike. One thing I noticed on a quick test ride of a 58 (I'm usually between that and a 62) was that the reach with those unique drops was ridiculous. I was stretched waaaaay out when I tried to use the ol' hood position, and found the tops to be friendliest to the back. I have a short torso, but this seemed crazy. Have you noticed this? I guess I don't know if the thing's rideable yet...

Good luck on this project!

looks like a nice build!

any idea what the total weight is? (out of curiosity)

That "dropout breaking through the box" pic is priceless... not what you wanna see, certainly, but still priceless.

The shop I work at started getting the new Masi stuff in late this last summer, and I think the speciale commuter'd be the one for me if I was in the market for a new bike. One thing I noticed on a quick test ride of a 58 (I'm usually between that and a 62) was that the reach with those unique drops was ridiculous. I was stretched waaaaay out when I tried to use the ol' hood position, and found the tops to be friendliest to the back. I have a short torso, but this seemed crazy. Have you noticed this? I guess I don't know if the thing's rideable yet...

Good luck on this project!

They changed the handlebar this year. It's now a Ritchey Comp rather than the Masi Randonneur bar with the 5 foot long hooks. Ritchey stem, too.

The commuter is a better bike overall this year compared to last year's model.

looks like a nice build!

any idea what the total weight is? (out of curiosity)

I'll let you know when it's done. It won't be terribly light, as the frame isn't overly light. It met my criteria though.... inexpensive, classic-looking, steel, and lots of braze-ons/eyelets. Without racks, I'm going to guess the weight will end up being in the 23-25 pound range.

I'm curious about the i-light hub, any chance to try it out yet?

They changed the handlebar this year. It's now a Ritchey Comp rather than the Masi Randonneur bar with the 5 foot long hooks. Ritchey stem, too.

The commuter is a better bike overall this year compared to last year's model.

Good. That was one of the most awkward things ever when sending people out on test rides on this bike at the shop. Everything was great, then... the reeeeeeeeaaaach. Lookin' forward to seeing this built up.

I'm curious about the i-light hub, any chance to try it out yet?

Not yet. The bike is still in pieces and the light just arrived from England today. (Nothing special...it's the same one that Raleigh uses on one of their bikes, I think. I just couldn't find a source in the states.)

I'll have pictures of it almost completely built up in a little while. You'll have to ignore the horribly clashing bar tape.... It's the complete bar off of my Bottecchia I sold on eBay. I was supposed to go to work today, where I would have picked up some sexy bar tape. "I ain't drivin' nowheres in this crap", though.

Ok, the update on the Masi is live now.

http://therandonneur.com/node/10

looks great - any fenders going on there?

i love bikes with fender clearance, and it looks like yours has some.

looks great - any fenders going on there?

i love bikes with fender clearance, and it looks like yours has some.


Yup. I'm going to get Honjo fenders. Probably the hammered ones.

The frame and fork have clearance for at least 700x38 tires. It came with 700x32, and there was enough room to install 3 or 4 fenders on it. lol. The Panaracer T-Serv Messenger tires that are on it now are 700x25. I have all kinds of room.


looks like a nice build!

any idea what the total weight is? (out of curiosity)

I weighed the bike as it sits in the last picture. Fully assembled with gen hub, light, water bottles, and pedals was 22 pounds even. Once I get the rack(s) on it it'll go up, but it's lighter than I thought it would be.

Cooooool... Those bars definitely look a lot more sensible than the ones on last year's model.

Cooooool... Those bars definitely look a lot more sensible than the ones on last year's model.

I changed them. The ones shown on the "done" bike are Ritchey BioMax. The ones covered with bubble wrap in the earlier pictures are the Ritchey Comps that come on the bike. Both are an improvement over the Masi bars. It was a great concept that I was all excited about, but once I rode them.... ick.

I weighed the bike as it sits in the last picture. Fully assembled with gen hub, light, water bottles, and pedals was 22 pounds even. Once I get the rack(s) on it it'll go up, but it's lighter than I thought it would be.

wow, nice!

my pacer came out to about 25 lbs (with rack & everything, but no bag or water).

It looks incredibly small to these old eyes. Is that the trend these days?

Well, I only ride a 53cm frame....

No, I mean that it just seems to me like a whole lot of seatpost and a whole boatload of headset spacers. Back in the olden days folks would have told you to get a bigger frame, and I'm just kind of wondering if the way your bike is set up is the current standard. :)

No, I mean that it just seems to me like a whole lot of seatpost and a whole boatload of headset spacers. Back in the olden days folks would have told you to get a bigger frame, and I'm just kind of wondering if the way your bike is set up is the current standard. :)

Oh.... it isn't set up. Where the seatpost is, is where I stuck it when I built it. Headset spacers are the same number that came with it. I have to take the bike to work with me some day to get a fit from the fit guy.

But in general, yes, I think frames are set up much different than they used to be. The main measurement is top tube length. If I went with the next size larger (56cm), the top tube would be too long. Also, there's the fact that I wouldn't be able to stand over the TT without changing my gender.