H.S.Clydesdale

New this year is the technomic quill stem and a front tire to match my back tire (700x38c Armadillo Nimbus). I think the bike is finally done. Looking forward to commuting to work on the first decently warm day (~40 degrees).

windhchaser

man u must be tall as i am short cool bike btw

canyoneagle

Cool! Looks like a Nexus with a J-tek bar end shifter? Very nice.
If I may be so bold as to nit pick:
-IMO those brake levers should come up about an inch or so on each side, and I'd add some rubber hoods and route the cables behind the bars (or better yet, get some cane creek aero levers an mount them level with the top section of the drops).
- unless you have disc brakes, the QR skewer should be on the non-drive side.
- Brooks saddles are actually better with the nose slightly up, not down.

All in all, very nice.

H.S.Clydesdale

yup, 6'7". It has been a nightmare trying to find a bike/bike parts that fit.

canyoneagle

Man, I can imagine.
My son is 6'5-6'6 range and he's on a 21" 29er mountain bike for the time being. I've had to do many tweaks to set it up for him.

H.S.Clydesdale

Hey thanks for the tips canyoneagle. My levers are at an odd angle. Its weird, I tried them in all sorts of positions and this was by far the most comfortable. My hands are too large to fit in the hooks, but not so large that I am able to reach the levers while in the drops. That is, unless I lower the position of the levers to where they are in the pic. As you can see, I have lost the hoods hand position, but I have never had actual rubber hoods for this bike, so it was not a big loss. I am going to look into the aero levers, maybe I can get back my hoods back. This is also probably why the brooks is leaned forward, as my current setup is geared toward being in the drops all the time, with probably too much weight on the hands.

I knew if I made a post about the bike being complete, that would immediately result in something else to work on. Its a good thing because I have a credit at the bike shop I need to spend.

Oh and yes, it is a Nexus 7 with a J-tek 7 speed shifter. Good combo. The nexus 8 would have been better, but a found a used 7 on cl for pretty cheap.

canyoneagle

hehe.
I had a set of these, and really liked them. They are best when positioned when aligned level with the forward flats of the bars. They are very comfortable, and the gum rubber hoods help preserve the classic look (you may have to special order them from your LBS).
Based on what I can see of your bars, I would try rotating them back a little (maybe 5-7 degrees) to help flatten the tops and allow a smoother transition to the hoods.

canyoneagle

Those J-Tek shifters are top notch. Truly a joy to use.

H.S.Clydesdale

ah ha, here you go.


turns out, the Cane Creek levers + gum hoods was exactly the amount I had on credit at the LBS. (okay, they still owe me 67 cents)

Well see how they do. So far, I am super impressed with the quality and increased braking power. Though, in the few short rides I have taken with them, I still prefer to keep my hands on the drops rather than the hoods. Maybe it will take me some time figure out the new setup.

Thanks for the tip canyoneagle, isn't it great how random thoughts posted on the internet get turned into action.

You were right about the angle of the bars as well. Before, when I had a shorter stem, I had too much weight on my hands, and needed the drops to be level with the ground to better take the weight. Now, with the taller stem, I think my weight is better balanced and I can sort of just rest the hands at that slight angle, it is very comfortable. And I can still easily reach the brakes with the new levers.

canyoneagle

Looks fantastic!