Andy_K 

At first glance, it looks like a relatively ordinary bike. The white saddle and bar tape are perhaps a questionable choice, as are the clipless mountain bike pedals, but those can likely be forgiven in the name of personal tastes.



But then you look closer. Sweet baby Jesus, are those non-aero...shifters?!?



And it gets worse...a brand new Shimano MTB rear derailleur...



...with (Good lord, no!) a Campagnolo triple crankset and a SunTour front derailleur!



Holy Island of Dr. Moreau! Who would do such a thing? With any luck you've looked away before noticing the Campagnolo cable housing connecting the Gevenalle shifters to the Tektro brakes or the fact that the Campy crankset has a Shimano inner chainring.

I'm expecting Tim Neenan to file an injuction any day now forcing me to remove his name from this bike.




So the back story...I don't usually make any attempt at period correct builds, but I do generally have some kind of unified vision for each bike. In this case, I was building the bike purely to be ridden, maybe even a little sport touring.

I wanted a 3x10 drivetrain with a wide range cassette. That more or less makes the M591 Deore rear derailleur the default choice. I love the crisp shifting and reliability of the Gevenalle shifters, and for a sport tourer they seemed like a perfect fit. For the crankset I wanted something silver that wouldn't look glaringly out of place on this bike. I had tentatively decided on a new Stronglight Impact triple, but then I realized that the choice of the Gevenalle shifters meant I didn't need any silly pins or ramps on my chainrings. I had the Racing T crank sitting on the shelf and the guy I bought it from had already committed the atrocity of putting on a Shimano 30T ring, so bolting it onto a UN55 bottom bracket in a Shimano-ish build was just another step down the rabbit hole. The SunTour XC Expert front derailleur was also on the parts shelf, and again the Gevenalle shifters mean that will work (and it works really well, BTW).

In the end it all came together just as I imagined.

ollo_ollo

Love it! Don

Lascauxcaveman 

Always wanted to try those shifters; they sound pretty interesting. For a parts-bin build, it looks mostly cohesive. Didn't notice the ring thing until you pointed it out. I'm sure I'm guilty of worse atrocities.

But christ, that's one ugly RD! I'm pretty heavily biased against the overstyled appearance of all the modern Alien-vs-Predator-looking parts, though. It reminds me of around the year 2000 when the BMW car line all went from being sharp, businesslike designs to being beaten to a pulp by the ugly stick.

Andy_K 

Believe it or not, I wouldn't really consider this a parts bin build. This is version 2 and fixes everything I wasn't happy with in the parts bin build. I used the crank and front derailleur because nothing else seemed substantially better (at least not enough so to justify spending money on). I'll probably upgrade the wheels at some point. Everything else is pretty much exactly what I'd choose for this bike and most of it was purchased specifically for this build.

I do agree the RD is ugly, but its functionality is exactly what I wanted.

I love the shifters. I've had Gevenalle shifters on my CX bike for years and wouldn't even consider anything else for that purpose. I was looking at some 5703 105 levers for this build, but those wouldn't have worked quite as well with the Tektro brakes and the front shifting would have been more finicky, not to mention the disposable-by-design nature of modern Shimano shifters. By coincidence, the Gevenalle levers on my CX bike replaced the exact same 105 levers I used for the test build of this frame.

nlerner

Excellent functional build!

Andy_K 

You guys are too nice. Even mixing Shimano and Campy I get nothing worse than a qualified remark on how ugly the RD is.

I noticed this morning that the big chainring is, in fact, pinned and has shaped teeth. Attention to detail has never been my strong suit.

himespau 

Just needs some racks and it'd be perfect.

ramzilla

I like the Deore M591 RD. I've found a inexpensive source for brand new ones from Hong Kong. At about $30 a pop they're an affordable problem solver. The can handle extended range casettes up to 32 or even 34 tooth. And, they shift flawlessly. I really don't care if they look funny. It's all about function to me.

Andy_K 

I think it's kind of interesting that the RD-M591 is still so readily available. It still shows up in Shimano's specification charts, so I'm guessing that they still manufacture it. Like the 6-bolt M756 hubs it's part of a dead product line but still serves enough practical purposes to maintain user demand. The Rivendell website says it will shift a 36T cassette but that's outside of Shimano's specs.

I'm not sure Shimano has ever produced a rear derailleur that can handle a 32T indexed cassette AND looks good. But you know how people talk about paint that looks good from 10 feet? With this build I'm kind of taking a 10-foot approach with the components. I think it looks pretty good from a distance.

gugie 

I thought I recognized that background. Perfect backdrop for a perfect build.

What'd you get (at the South Store Cafe)?

Andy_K 

Nice eye for the location! I got a friendly greeting telling me they were just closing up.

gugie 

Hmmm, something tells me that a future ride, perhaps on a nice spring day should incorporate a stop there.

rhm

Aesthetically, the bike does nothing for me. By nothing, I mean, no reaction to speak of. It's not ugly. It's not ... pretty. But it looks highly functional, which is always good and you get extra points for not calling it a "frankenbike." Mongrel is a much nicer word!

icepick_trotsky 

A friend of mine has those shifters but we had a devil of a time trying to get them to shift correctly. Not sure what was going on with them.

What do you think of them?

icepick_trotsky 

And P.S., nice Sequoia

Lascauxcaveman 

Sure they have; every 105 long cage up through 1056 and every Deore up through 737 or so. The Deore 650 is my special favorite. I can't vouch for their abilities shifting across more than 9 cogs, but that doesn't mean they can't.

DIMcyclist

Lovely work. Frankenbikes really should be their own category.

I'll also toss in a vote for the 105/GS derailleurs as well & some of the early Deore models, esp. the M700, MT60, the LX/ M56X series, and the XT 737s.

Andy_K 

I like them a lot. This was my third time setting up a bike with Gevenalle shifters. One trick that isn't obvious is that you need to get the tension of the center screw on the shift lever just right. If you over-tighten it it will stick between indexed slots and if you under-tighten it the gear won't hold. I think the instructions say something about this, but the setup looks so simple that you might not think to read the instructions. I made that mistake with my first set.

I had no trouble getting them dialed in on this bike.


Yeah, lucky for me it didn't fit the previous owner.

Andy_K 

Any weekend when it isn't raining should be good for that. Spring, summer...I'm sure we'll get another nice weekend eventually.

Andy_K 

Yeah, I'm not sure there's a lot I could do with this bike to give it a "Wow!" factor. I like the white saddle and bar tape, but otherwise just avoiding the obviously ugly is enough for me. I like it a lot, not least because of how basic it is, but I don't expect it to impress anyone. I did think the component mix might offend some purists, but maybe that's a dying religion.

bwilli88 

Nice looking bike, from 10 feet, ugly closeup, glad it works for you.
My setup with Shimano 105 5703 3x10 shifts a 11-36 cassette and a 50 45 30 half step + granny using both the mid cage 5700 RD and the triple 5700 FD with no problems so you are not limited to the Deore derailleur.

Here is my 81 Centurion Pro Tour

Andy_K 

I'm a little surprised that works. The Shimano spec says 32T max for the 5701-GS RD and 40T max capacity. I wouldn't have been surprised to hear it work with 34T, but a 36T is a lot bigger than a 32T. Also, do you have chain wrap issues if you use the 11-36 combination (understanding that there is no reason to ever do that)?

jethin

Well, I for one would like to say that I'm appalled! You may think it's "no big deal," but this sort of behaviour is quite simply repulsive. What's next, rock & roll and funny cigarettes? Shame on you Mr. @Andy_K!

Paramount1973 

Kinda looks like something I would build. I have aero levers, indexed 7-speed Shimano bar end shifters, and that Deore M591 rear derailleur on my 1973 Paramount.

Andy_K 

It's a Cinderella story...a former groundskeeper about to win the Tour de France, riding an old Specialized Sequoia.