himespau 

A year or more ago I posted that I was building up a vintage touring bike with velo-orange Casey's crazy bars for my wife so that she could have traditional flat bar shifters in the swept back position, but still have access to brakes (via interrupter levers) in the forward aero position. Someone said that they wanted to see it. I can't remember what thread that was on or who it was, so I thought I'd make a new thread about it.

Just as a word of warning, I am well aware that the result is not what one would call a "traditionally good looking" (to be generous) bike, but I hope it will meet the uses my wife would like for it. I know the bars look odd on a vintage frame and the fact that they require a stem with a removable faceplate and needed to be as tall as the saddle required Soma's hi rise stem addapter (not the most attractive) and a threadless stem (Thomson stems are pretty but the thickness looks out of place here). There's a fairly long story leading to it and are reasons for many/most of my choices but still...

Ever since we first started dating, my wife has only had a really terrible BSO as her bike (maybe a Schwinn Ranger?). Whatever it was, it didn't fit well, had lots of shifting problems no mater how I adjusted it, and wasn't ridden much. I'm not sure if she didn't like bike riding because she didn't like bike riding or because she her bike was terrible, but we didn't ride together much.

6-7 years ago, we were living car free in a tiny apartment in Boston, and I was feeling kind of guilty for taking long mornings/afternoons on the weekend without her to go on rides after we didn't spend much time together during the week due to commutes and long work hours, so I decided I would build her a bike. I asked her what she wanted in a bike, and her only response was that she'd always wanted a "girl's bike" (I guess she meant step through or mixte), which was hard to find because she's about 6' tall.

After much searching, I found a frame on an online site that was claimed to be 56 cm, which I thought might be close enough with a long seatpost (with setback) and a tall stem, so I ordered it. It arrived considerably more beat up than the poor pictures made me believe (also the dimensions were closer to a 53 than a 56). A fair number of gouges in addition to the paint scrapes and lots of surface rust. A very kind local BF member, @eippo1, was giving some of his frames an oxalic acid bath and offered to throw mine in when he was done for a sixer of beer, so I strapped the frame to my back and rode in to work and then over to his work on my lunch break. When he was done, I decided to try to cover the scratches, dings, and light gouges. The problem was there were so many of them that the bike looked all spotty and half touch up paint (slightly different color and gloss) when I was done and there were a number of places where the scrapes were obviously deeper than the the surrounding paint - so not at all smooth.

In other words it looked like crap, so I made the fateful decision to repaint the frame. Looking around, the cheapest local place I could find to media blast and powder coat the frame/fork was looking like ~$300 all in and that was much more than I'd spent on the frame. For that price I could have gone with a Soma Buena Vista (at that time it was a mixte offered in 58 cm size), which I'd originally turned down due to the cost (and aesthetics) and that was before I'd put all the time and effort into the frame I had and lugged it all over Boston (stupid sunk cost fallacy), so I decided to just wet paint what I had. Since we lived in a tiny apartment with no free space and had a toddler, I thought I could prove conventional wisdom wrong and skip the nasty chemicals of the paint stripping step and just prime and paint over what was there. I figured 3-4 coats of primer sanded smooth plus 3-4 coats of paint would cover any height differences due to scratches/decals. I got about 2 coats of primer in on that (and on the drop bar converted mtb I'd been using a commuter at the time) before I remembered just how much I hated painting. Also it was time to move to a new apartment, so everything just got thrown in a box.

2 moves and a year or two later, I decided time had finally come to pull all my bike stuff out of boxes and start getting her bike put together. I looked at the primed frame with the decals showing through and just said, screw it, there's no way she'd fit on a 53 cm frame anyway and put it and the other frame back in the box (speaking of, anybody local to Louisville need a 53 cm mixte frame - or a 23" mongoose maneuver - that appears structurally sound but will need a complete stripping/repaint?) and try again. I got another mixte frame that claimed to be a 56 only to find it was again a 53 (and this time bent) and just sort of gave up.

About 2 years ago, I got a pair of frames. 1 was a '92 Specialized Sequoia (back when it was supposed to be an urban commuter bike - essentially a rockhopper with more braze-ons and the canti mounts moved to support 700c wheels) and the other I believe (based on a november 1984 serial number, paint color and fork description) to be a 1985 Cannondale ST400. I was going to use one of them to replace my commuter that I'd torn apart and primed at the same time I did the first mixte. Then I decided that was a stupid priority because I already had the 1989/90 Concorde Aquila that I'd built up and did all my riding on while my wife was still riding her BSO, so I decided to build up the Cannondale for her. It wasn't a "girl's frame" like she wanted (though it is fire engine red), it lacks the fancy lugs and chrome of the earlier mixtes I tried, but it's a cool frame that's the right size and has lots of mounting points.

The build process went through lots of starts and stops as I went off on stupid diversions (see the hemp twine chain stay protector that looks cool but took a week of twice daily shellacking to get to similar color to the saddle) and ran into lots of problems where parts I'd bought for other builds didn't fit this frame and I had to order something new and lost momentum. Basically, I'd start working on it shortly before an appropriate reason to give her a gift, run out of time as something came up, set it aside for the next holiday, mother's day, anniversary, birthday, whatever, and then start up again later. Finally, last summer, I had it just about finished and it came time to adjust the derailleurs and all sorts of more problems. I just couldn't get the front and rear both to be properly adjusted at the same time. I'd spend a couple of hours trying to get things to fit and then get frustrated, put my tools down and walk away for a couple weeks/months. One of the problems was that one of the ferrules was junk and stripped some of the outer coating from the housing and let the rest of the housing slide into the shifter. Another issue was that I couldn't get the chainline right. Even though I was using a 115 mm spindle as recommended for the crankset (Deore LX), I just couldn't get it right. I incrementally worked in with shorter BB spindles (didn't have on hand so stopped to order each time and took more time off) with 113, 110, before finally getting good enough with a 107 mm spindle. Also it turns out that the FD (I bought the FD, RD, crankset and shifter/brake levers used as take offs - I think all from the same bike but maybe not) was pretty abused and a new (when I'd bought it 7-8 years earlier) FD also helped fix those problems. Each of those steps took me a while to figure out and were spaced by "frustration breaks" after I'd been able to build my earlier bikes with much less trouble.

I finally got the bike functional about 2 weeks ago, wrapped the bars (that was an experience given the odd shape) first with cork, then with yellow cloth, shellacked the tape to get it close to the other browns, and called it done-ish in time to give her for Valentine's day. I still need to get it set to fit her (the seatpost and stem adapter are a bit long because I would rather the cables be too long rather than too short), but should be close base on measurements I did when this whole project started. Anyway, here are the first few pictures. Sorry about the nonmatching browns. That drives me nuts, but I need to be done.

The Golden Boy 

It looks... interesting...



You've got a lot of stuff going on there- and all of it looks super purpose driven. That's really good. That's great that you're taking what you know about bikes and trying to get that to work for her!

My wife just isn't into bicycling or bikes. I've gotten her the bike she liked, gotten parts to match it and make it fun for her- but she's just not that into it. I get it.

I think the only thing I'd try to do any differently, is cross your brake cables to sort of obscure any length differences.

Great job and congratulations! I hope she digs it.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who gets distracted while working on this stuff...

himespau 

I had originally intended to use mustache bars (and even have some with mtb bar diameter for the integrated flat bar brake/shift levers) with a nitto technomic stem, but found that there wasn't enough difference between the up and back positions to make it worthwhile of putting the interupters and the flat bar levers on there (though it would have looked a lot more traditional).

I've only ridden it on the trainer (and my wife not at all), but, to my hands, the rotated interrupter levers on the ends of the horns do a pretty good job of replicating the feel and position of riding on the hoods of a non-aero routed lever (though a bit fatter, especially with the double wrapping I did of the bars). The flat bar levers work ok for a more upright position, but that swept back bar isn't my thing in general, so I can't compare them to another size. I have fairly large hands, so I don't know how another person's hands would like using the interrupter levers the way I have them set up, but they work well for me.

himespau 

Interesting is a good description.

I have a feeling that my wife just isn't into bikes either, but I've got a FollowMe Tandem adapter that will (if I can get it set up in a timely manner) allow us to attach our 3 year old's bike to the back of one of our bikes (and my 7 year old got a 24" bike for her birthday that she is really excited about riding), so I'm hoping we can at least spend more time on bikes as a family. Her crappy Target Schwinn can't keep functional for more than a mile or 2 at a time before something goes out of adjustment, so we've been pretty limited before now.

It is good to hear that I'm not the only one who starts a project and walks away for long periods. I see all these folks on here with the cool things they've built and then look at all my partial projects and feel inadequate. Hopefully, after the kids get older and I get more practice I can be more focused and get something out in a timely manner (all the tweaks and adjustments on my daughter's bike were a 25 minute job - but it came with the cables already in place and all the parts were there, I just had to put them together and adjust them).

Wildwood

Now THAT's a frankenbuild.
But the only things that matter = Does it fit? and Will she ride it?


I give it A+, based on inventiveness and adaptation to the challenge.
2+ years in the closet means you have a patient wife (perhaps). Congrats on that.

rando_couche

"Vintage Cannondale" seems like an oxymoron, but that's just me I guess...

bikemig 

Cool build thread. I've been thinking of getting a VO crazy bar for a rebuild I need to do on my '93 Trek 930. The design of the bars seems smart with swept back for cruising, tops and horns for when you want some speed.

52telecaster

i think the bike looks awesome. plus its a fairly low standover height. funny how when you use good components you can make a great bike if everything works for the rider.

Velocivixen

@himespau - It’s fantastic! It’s functional and tastefully done. Has she seen it? What we’re in the wrapped packages on the rear rack? I really hope she gives it a chance and rides it.

I always wanted to try the Crazy Bars but have not found quite the bike to do it with.

The Golden Boy 

Yeah, like "Vintage Trek." Or "Vintage Schwinn." Or "Vintage Australopithecus Skeleton."

brianinc-ville

I've often thought about moustache bars with Dia-Compe knob grips mounted in aero position, but A) they're hard to find these days, and B) you can't mount brake levers on 'em.

Lascauxcaveman 

If she's actually riding it, then it's functionally beautiful, practical and very cleverly purpose-built. Aesthetically - and I admit, I have a very conventional sense of aesthetics when it comes to bikes - it's fug. I kinda feel the same about my Cannondale, even with the conventional drop bars on it. Maybe that's the reason I haven't done a single thing to pretty it up.

degan

I've looked at it and, through my lens, I cannot see a hand position that I personally would find comfortable for any distance. Having the hand holds out wider than my shoulders always seemed weird and something you put on a cruiser or townie or something like that. Then, the other 'aero' braking position seems so far forward, almost like a stationary bike, except that you can't let your arms dangle to the side for 2 minutes to give them a rest if they need like you can on a stationary bike. It seems like a very taxing position to be in for any distance. Is it really that bad to ride on drop bars with interrupters? I mean, you could go from the hoods to the interrupters and never even have to deal with the drops if thats the issue. I see its all shellacked and everything so obviously I wouldn't change it now, but it seems like you were hell-bent on using those bars and tried to shoe-horn it to fit your wife, instead of building a bike for your wife, attempting to shoe-horn in those bars, discovering they won't work unless you have some crazy setup, and finally finding different bars so that she is comfortable and wants to ride her bike.

Sorry if this was too mean, I've just had a weird few days and I'm in an extremely vent-y mood. If it fits it fits and I can go to hell, right?

Stormsedge

I like it. I have Crazy Bars on my Crosscut Frankenbike.

himespau 

Yeah, that was my challenge. I would have preferred to do something like that because it would have allowed a traditional quill stem, played around with knobs, but I really wanted more sweep back and brake levers in 2 positions, so this is what I ended up with.

himespau 

She's recently taken up drinking coffee, so it's a fancy coffee mill and a picture for her work.

himespau 

More like 2 years on my park tool stand in the corner of the basement after many years in the closet, but yeah, you're right. For her birthday last novermber and Christmas, she got our 3 year old son to tell me what she really wanted was a new bike. Fortunately, there hasn't been much rideable weather between then and now, so I didn't do too badly, but it's long since overdue.

himespau 

I sort of get that if your definition only includes steel and lugs, but this frame was built 34 years ago in the pre-STI era, so it fits my definition. I wouldn't call it a classic, but vintage sure. Hard to call things younger than I am vintage, but songs that I grew up with have been on the oldies channel long enough now that it's probably time.

himespau 

I will admit that oversized tubing really doesn't do much for me. Especially coupled with the traditional tubing for the fork. IT is what it is though. It was the right size and had lots of braze ons and is probably half the weight of her current BSO. I've never been a fan of the stamped looking dropouts Cannondale used, but at least it doesn't have the cantilevered dropouts in the rear triangle that came out a few years later.

himespau 

I get that. To be honest, she mainly cruises around on short little jaunts when she does ride and has always kind of had a think for cruiser type bikes. I was trying to make something that would allow her to do that, but also maybe go a bit longer or use the aero position for some of the big hills that we have in and around our subdivision. I doubt she'd really go on a 30+ mile ride with me no matter what bike I built for her. She had a drop bar bike a long time ago (high school/college) and didn't like it. I'm not a fan of the swept back position myself, but she seems to like it on cruiser bikes. The "areo" position isn't too far forward for me (but then I like a 130 mm stem and have long monkey arms) when I put it on the trainer to make sure it shifted under load. It's definitely not for everyone, but she likes swept back bars and I wanted to give her more hand positions. I'd thought about doing something like a treking bar until that swept back preference became so clear.

bikemig 

The '85 ST 400 is a pretty nice bike. I think that 'dales first came out with bikes in the early 80s (maybe '83 but I could be wrong). I'm curious, how fat are the tires you are using? Are those panaracers?

eeuuugh

This is my kind of bike... an extremely well-thought-out and practical build that spits in the eye of conventional aesthetics I have a set of crazy bars and was considering a similar interrupter lever set-up, but honestly wasn't sure that a standard brake cable would be long enough with all that housing. Right now they're on an early 90s Trek 6000 with a 1 1/8" quill stem, which seem to more commonly have removable faceplates. The bike will end up being sold though, and the crazy bars aren't doing much on it.

SHBR

That bike looks complicated, from a build and rider perspective.

I've found upright riser bars seem to be a good starting point.

mountaindave 

This is an awesome thread - it has a bit of everything:
1) Crazy build story (probably par for the course for most of us)
2) Unusual build aesthetic (“Hi, I’m Bob and I’m a Fred... it’s been three weeks since I put upright bars and an orange flag on my road bike.”)
3) Spouse drama (“But honey, I bought this pile of used parts and questionable frame so I could spend all of my free time building it for YOU!...Then we can be together... right after I finish building this other bike up for our neighbor down the road who we only talk to on Thanksgiving.”)

All we need now is a ride report from your better half!

himespau 

32 mm panaracer paselas. Not really enough room for them and the fenders (less than half a cm gap between the tires and the fenders at the top) but I already had the 32 mm tires (and some 35s which would have probably worked without fenders) and I didn't want to drop down to 28's because that would have meant buying new and because she's used to riding a (terrible) BSO mtb with 2" tires and (not all that functional) suspension. Since she's not likely to take it on gravel or dirt, I don't think the tight clearance will be too much of a problem - but knowing what I do now, I probably would have started with a smaller tire and might when these need replacing or if there's a problem.