pastorbobnlnh 

How's the Zeus freewheel performing? Wide enough gear range?

Drillium Dude 

Bob, seems that the FW is in fine shape, but I haven't yet gotten this beast onto the road yet. I expect that it will run flawlessly after its spa treatment. Whether or not it will be enough for something like Hurricane Ridge will have to wait until spring

DD

Drillium Dude 

Thanks, Bob - I can't remember where I learned that brake lever trick, but I will say I didn't come up with it myself. Thanks for not hatin' on the cat stickers

C'mon, folks - they'll peel off! They're for fun! Look at my other bikes - almost too serious! I'm having some fun with this one

Cats r stayin'!

DD

Drillium Dude 

FIFY, Tim. Myself sends PS my regards, too

DD

Kactus

If you can do Hurricane Ridge with that gearing... much respect!

Could you show a close up of the brake lever treatment? I can't see it very well.

Drillium Dude 

HR is doubtful with this gearing, but you never know

Here's a shot showing the brake lever treatment:



And here's a pic of the just-arrived-yesterday Concor Profil:



DD

Sir_Name 

Sure thing.

mikemowbz

Pretty rad bike, Dude.

Those blue ano'd rims aren't something you see everyday, and make a great addition to the package.

The somewhat-funky Profil adds to the fun...as well, no doubt, as making a meaningful contribution to aerodynamics.

And that crank is some of the most visually-appealing panto I've seen.

The Somec in the middle of it all ain't a bad place to have started with all this ornamentation.

Me-ow!

whatwolf

I love all the blue accents. And heck, I doodled on my bike with sharpie so I can't really judge.

Drillium Dude 

I spy a zebra

DD

Drillium Dude 

Thanks, Mike. I got a little carried away, but ended up having some fun with this one. The blue ano rims really did cause me to get on with building this bike. Always wanted to get this frame built up and now I wonder why I waited so long!

Btw, the Profil is really cool and the weight penalty of the extra faired-in portion of the saddle's base isn't too bad. An attractive saddle, and I expect it will agree with my glutes as it has the same basic Concor shape

DD

Drillium Dude 

Thanks, Sofia. Doodled with a Sharpie? Which rig?

Now you've got me thinking of another weird treatment to a frame that needs refinishing...

DD

Drillium Dude 

Grady, I totally missed this one! That's pretty cool you and your parents entered into that pact together. Nothing like keeping something like that in the family - congrats to you, too. And I was 20 when I fired up my first heater; I must admit a big catalyst in quitting was the realization I'd been smoking for well over half my life.

Time for a change

DD

whatwolf

My tempo. In its various configurations it's had more or less of this. Less is better I think. Right now it's pretty minimal. You can see a little on the top tube here:

Drillium Dude 

So, I finally took this beauty for a ride yesterday

Yeah, it was pretty much all finished up last December. This summer I spent so much time on the gold Colnago and both Davidsons I just never got her out for her maiden run. Yesterday I made up for the delay by doing about 30 miles, nothing hard, just a nice day out ensuring everything was bolted up tight and nothing was falling off!

I still have to completely clean/polish my Somec-panto stem, but this is pretty much the bike as it will stand. Very positive power transfer, stiff BB and a great ride. Very comfortable position, and the bike is pretty darned light, too. Back to 19mm tires on this one, but the ride was still supple - and a very stable ride at that. Hands-free pedaling was very confidence-inspiring. I'm lovin' this rig, for sure.

Here are a few pics - enjoy!











DD

Road Fan

Great bike! I don't know how I missed this thread the first time through!

Sir_Name 

Schweet. What's the story on the wheel swap?

Drillium Dude 

Thank you

It kinda ran in fits and starts after the basic build, and of course it took forever for me to throw a leg over it so there are some contributing factors!

DD

Drillium Dude 

Thanks!

You mean from the blue-anodized Arc en Ciels? Well, as I'm still not a tubular-everyday kind of guy, I decided to go with a spare clincher set instead. The blue set is always around - and dialed in, yet not glued-up - but for now I'm going to keep the clinchers. Just required a bit of adjustment to the spacers and some tweaking to the dish.

Someday I'll glue/tape up the FMBs I got from Alex and try them out, but I have to admit: I'm not really excited about starting the process of losing the ano from the braking surfaces. I know - I'll get over it one day

DD

gomango

Again, your attention to detail blows me away Jeff.

Not a hair out of place on this one.

Good to hear you had that beauty out on the road.

Drillium Dude 

Thanks, Grady! It's just my OCD tendencies

So nice to have finally gotten her onto the road. Now I'm hoping for some more dry days with which to add a few more miles - I really need to put this to the test on a hard ride, perhaps even swapping out the freewheel for my "climbing unit" - that's the one with the 26 tooth big cog!

Oh, and I may have found a close-enough match for the color, so the cat-stickers could be coming off in the near-future...

DD

bike_forever

What a great bike... BRAVO!

toytech

nice! I used to have a red chromovelato in the same size. It was special.

velomateo

The Somec turned out sweet, even with the rough paint - it's beautiful. Great work, as always, with the detail touches too. I knew you had this frame from when you commented on mine, but I totally missed this thread some how - glad I finally found it. My Somec, which has moved on now, road really really nice. I love the Air tubing and fork crown, great stuff.
If you ever decide to refinish, I have two sets of Somec decals. Some how when I ordered mine I got three different sets.

Sir_Name 

Yup, I was wondering where the Arc en Ciels rolled off to. The response makes a lot of sense. I'm curious to hear about the FMBs if you get around to using them.

I hate have a set of fresh Arc en Ciels in black that will be built soon enough - I hear you on the first signs of brake wear. I rarely buy NOS; lightly used is usually a lot less expensive and you don't have to worry about marring those spotless surfaces...the joy of riding takes care of those worries pretty quick, though.

Enjoy!