simplybao

So, my new bike is done and I've had a chance to ride it. Overall, I really like it and some are calling it a frankenstein. It's a Lynskey Viale that I've setup as a non-drop bar bike. I use the bike for fitness and riding around on paved trails. I have a mix of road and MTB components on the bike so I guess it falls under the hybrid category. I'm running Ultegra flat bar shifters with a DA front with DA 7950 compact crankset, SRAM PG1070 12-36 cassette, and XTR M972 RD.

My thoughts: With this cassette, the gear spacing is CRAZY wide. I'll go from lots of effort to spinning with one gear change. I love the low gearing of the 34 and 36 combo, but the gears in between may need some tweaking. This was a trial setup to make sure all the components worked together before I started really started changing the gearing. So for those that are curious, yes, you can run 9 speed MTB RDs with road shifters and it shifts magically.

I chose Brooks saddle and grips. I LOVE the saddle. The slim brooks grips, not so much. There is absolutely no cushion with the grips and the diameter is really small. I'm going to change these to Portland Design works speed metal grips. The other thing about this setup is that there is some creaking in the saddle. Not sure what it is, but I'll have to figure it out.

I'm running 700x28 tires. WOW, I'm not sure if it's the Ti frame or what, but this ride is actually more comfortable than my Giant Escape with the 32's on there. The bike feels compliant and it accelerates like no ones business. At least, that's what my butt dyno tells me. My bike computer tells me I'm riding the same speed as I was on my Giant, LOL. Climbing seems easier on this bike than the Giant as well. It's not the weight, I don't think. My giant weighs 23.1 lbs and my Lynskey weighs 20.3 lbs.

One more thing. Toe Overlap. I've never had this before. I'm 5'5" and the frame is a 52. It surprised me at first and I'm still getting used to it, but wow, after a quick search on the web and there are lots of discussions on it. It doesn't bother me but it's something I need to make sure I'm aware of during slow speed turns.

Anyway, I thought it was a very fun build. It took me about 8 months to assemble and research all the parts. Overall, I LOVE this new bike. After a few tweaks to the gearing, I think this will be a forever bike.

This is the bike, if you want to know more, let me know:

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Grey.

Frankenstein is right, but it's growing on me the more I look at it...

badger1

It's not a frankenbike at all; it's a flat-bar road bike, pure and simple. Falls under the 'hybrid' category simply for that reason; we flat-bar road cyclists are pariahs in the 41!

That said: gorgeous. To my mind, form should follow function (as defined by you/what you want) and that's what your build clearly does, and does so cleanly.

One question: are those FSA Metropolis bars (or very similar), and if so how do you like 'em so far?

simplybao

Yep, it's the FSA Metropolis and I love them. I tried them out on my Giant and fell in love. I was getting hand numbness and when I made the switch, it all went away. I have about 700 miles on the FSA and love it. More pictures because I love sharing it...

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badger1

Thanks re. the FSA bars; I'm tempted to try them -- I don't have hand numbness problems at all, I'm thinking more of a different overall position given very severe back issues etc.
Re. grips ... you've probably considered Ergons, but if not, I'd certainly recommend giving them a try -- been using them for years. Some people hate the 'look', though I think they look great on a flat-bar bike.

ColonelSanders

What is the engineering idea behind why your seatpost is bent? I'm not asking why you chose it, but why the manufacturer makes it that way?

Also how much did your fork cost and what is the biggest tyre it will accomodate?

Grey.

Except it dosen't have a flat-bar. Either way I like it.

simplybao

I have Ergon GP5 grips and they were great on the flat bar. I put them on this bar and it looked crazy so I didn't use them. I have the Portland Design grips on my Giant and like those so I'm going back to them with this bike.


The seatpost is a setback. Thomson puts a bend in the post and other makes just set the mount back and the post still looks straight. Thomson setbacks are a love it or hate it thing because some think the aesthetics are a little weird. I like the look. The setback seatpost is used for bike fit. I had a pro sizing done and was recommended the frame size (52) for this bike, setback (20 degree), crank arm length (165), and amount of spacers (30 mm) and stem length and rise (100m x 10 degree) I wanted an upright ride and this is more for comfort and not speed. If I were to go drop bars, the fit would change to 15mm spacers, 100mm x 0 degree stem according to the sizer.

The fork is made by Lynskey (probably taiwan built). I wanted the matching fork and this is the one that Lynskey sells with their complete bikes. I could have gone steel, but it weighed 1.5 lbs more and I like the look of this fork better. The fork was $300. It should accommodate a 38. The frame can take up to a 30, perhaps 32 with the right tire. My rims are 23mm wide rims and I haven't tried larger than 28 but was going to mount up my 32's to see if they'll fit.

badger1

Well, technically I suppose one could divvy up non-drop bars into various categories (flat; trekking; cafe racer; city; 'alt bar'; riser; dh riser; etc. etc.) but it seems to me the general category 'flat bar' (as opposed to drops) works well enough.

ColonelSanders

I like the look of your seatpost, but just wanted to check if there was anything about it I didn't understand.

As I mentioned in your thread in General Commuting, I can't help but wonder if a MTB crank would look better on your bike than such an obvious road crank.

simplybao

We don't have nice trekking cranks in the US. You can get them from Europe or Chain reaction. Those only come in triples 48/38/26 and I wanted a double. So that left me the double XTR or XT cranks to get. In 10 sp. they only come in 44 (largest) chainring and the granny gear is too small. So the choice for the road crankset was one for gearing. And I wanted to do this bike very high end so it was going to be XTR for me. XTR dynasis comes in 42 and 40. I could change the chainrings and do custom, but the cost was crazy. I got the DA crank from a new bike pull off for a little over $200, so that sealed the deal. The FD only cost $26 on sale at Chainreaction so the setup was cheap. The shifters I got from eBay Taiwan and they only cost $80 and the RD I got for $60, so the drivetrain setup was cheap for very nice parts. Since this bike is being ridden on paved trailes only, the road setup was better. And I live in a very hilly area so I chose to go MTB rear gearing.