m_senjaya

Hi GriddleCakes, Nice bike!! Can you share your single chainring setup upfront? Do you have to use a special chainring, such as the narrow wide chainring to prevent chain drop? Or do you use any chain device? Thanks.

Squeeze

I really enjoy seeing pictures of other folks' bikes. Thanks for sharing.

Here's my '93 Raleigh MTB on the way to work this morning. Denver is in the background to the left of the power pole.

GriddleCakes

Thanks! Bike is set up with Nashbar CR2 cranks, running a Salsa Crossing Guard in place of the outer ring, and a 42 tooth Salsa chainring for the inner ring. Chainring is a regular 8/9/10 speed ring, as far as I know. Chainline is straight in 5th gear.

I had a chain catcher when I set up my Nashbar cross bike, 3rd Eye's Chain Watcher, I believe, but the chain never tried to jump as far as I could tell. I removed it to increase clearance between the fender and the tire, and still never had trouble with the chain jumping. Maybe I'm just lucky, but it worked fine from the beginning.

m_senjaya

Thank you for the prompt response GriddleCakes.
I've been planning to run 1x9 setup on my hybrid (46t x 11/28t) for simpler and cleaner setup. As I found that so far with triple chainring upfront I spend 99% of the time on the biggest chainring (48T). Yes, it's more of a road/commuting hybrid, not planning to hit the trails for as far as I can see. But when I talked to my LBS, they always warned me of the 'chain jump' issue and advised me to get a whole set of chain device (costing . I found this solution to be too 'elaborate' for a 'simple' setup. Some manufacturers (like SRAM, RaceFace, Blackspire, etc) have come out with narrow wide chainring to prevent the chain-jump, but for 104mm BCD like my Deore crank, they only have up to 38T. So from your input, along with others' from this and other forums, I think I will try out the Blackspire Epic Downhill ring (Blackspire - Downhill Chainrings | Blackspire) on the inside, and a bash ring (guard) on the outside. Will update you guys when I complete the conversion.

RubeRad

I would try first without a chain guard. What's the worst that can happen, you drop a chain a few times, put it right back on, and if it gets annoying you pay the extra $$ for a solution. If there's no problem, then you saved money and weight.

zymphad

Will add Raceblades in the winter. Worked well last winter with my previous race bike. Love commuting on these type of bikes, fast and easy.

RubeRad

Pretty. Is that frame from Nashbar, or did you manually unbrand it?

zymphad

Nashbar frame isn't very attractive to me both aesthetically and features. It's very meh to me.

Nashbar seattube is tapered in the wrong direction, bleh. It's a 1 1/8 headtube. I doubt it uses the quality T700/T800 carbon. Plus the option for a Uni-Directional finish is missing. Seatstay is too thick and big. the seattube area also too beefy for my liking, I want a more forgiving ride while having the stiffness at the BB. Nashbar frame is just plain inferior to what you can get for less from Flyxii, HongFu, DengFu, at least my opinion.

I'd buy from HongFu, DengFu or Fyxii over Nashbar easily.

From Flyxii, the FR-322 is popular for a normal race bike. Those who want aero, the FR-315 is popular.

From HongFu, FM-066 and FM-069 are popular.

From DengFu, FM028 and FM029 are popular.

Overall for what I was looking for, FR-322 had EVERYTHING I wanted. Flyxii has a straight fork. It's aero, foil shaped. It's beefy, so no worries of it breaking. The steerer tube is enormously thick. Unlike Giant/Cervelo steerer tubes, I have no worries of it cracking at all, you have to see to believe how thick it is. It's overbuilt. The downtube is ridiculous. It's as wide as the bottom bracket. The seatstay is nice and thin and the chainstay while huge has a nice curve, overall has a nice ride. The seattube is tapered, base is as wide as BB but at the top it's a 27.2 seatpost. Tapered headtube 1 1/2 to 1 1/8 and is aesthetically shaped. It has absolutely everything I was looking for in a bike frame.
- You have to see it in person to believe what I'm seeing. For example, there is no frame from Felt, Specialized, Giant that has everything that i wanted like this, or look as sexy.
- $460 shipped. Included Frame, Fork, Headset, Seattube clamp! Everything was there as said, and it all fits together perfectly.
- Processed and shipped same day and at my door in 5 days
- Purchased with Ebay / Paypal buyer protection.
- Industry standard 2 year warranty
- All communication replied same day.

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE commuting and riding it. I don't leave it anywhere that's not seccure with a security/police office nearby or oustide of line of sight though. If that was to happen, then I just wouldn't ride and walk instead. I may buy something from craigslist, cheap steel that I can be worry free with.

RubeRad

thx for comprehensive info. $460 is about the same as I paid for my new CrossCheck frame/fork/seat clamp (no headset). I can't see the seattube taper (I guess it tapers in the direction not shown in that perspective), but it sounds like a nice robust carbon frame. Internal routing is slick too.

Rudz

Been thinking of getting one of those carbon frames, but I'd have to give up my trunk and panniers for a backpack again. But I would have much lighter bike.


Guess the solution is n+1

RubeRad

you can always attach a rack with clamps. But yes n+1 is more fun, if you can afford it.

Rudz

Problem is, I can't. Lol.


Here is my baby girl with new hand-built velocity deep v rims, dt swiss spokes, 105 hubs with my old gatorskins. Added Zipp handlebar gel and deda tape, Tiagra crankset, Tiagra BB, 105 derailleur front and back, new chain, double leg Swiss kickstand, and sram cassette.

Tweaked my seat, moved it back and leveled it off, no more goofy angle. Also got all new cables and housing.

Carbon forks and carbon stem is in the future for my girl. Hopefully by the end of the year, she cost me a ton already and it's only April.

BigEyeBri

I had my commuter stolen about a month ago, about the same time that my schedule changed, and I started getting bumped off of the later train that I was taking into San Francisco, due to it being full or near capacity. So I bought this 1989 Dahon V Getaway from a lady off of Craigslist for $50. Her story was that she bought it, and rode Caltrain from Mountain View to SF for a few years prior to retiring, then stored it for a decade, prior to selling it to me. I replaced the tires, tubes, brake levers, brake cables, shift cable, cable housings, and grips. I added the old Shimano rapid fire shifters from my 1990 Haro Extreme (other post) and after a bit of tuning, got it to work like a dream. Added new pedals and toe clips, a Topeak MTB rack to carry my Freecycle.org'd 1989 Cannondale Panniers and my Topeak laptop bag (not pictured). Now, how do I make it aerodynamic? It's like driving a wall when I get near AT&T park!

awfulwaffle 

0.0 looks like its doing a wheelie. Nice bike though

rbaisa

Hello everyone! My name is Rick I usually lurk in the Classic and vintage section. With this horrible winter here in the NWI area I just got my cyclocross rig converted back to a commuter. I started commuting at the beginning of this school year, but am pretty fair weathered so when it gets cold I stop. I also like to pretend to race cyclocross so my commuter spends some time as a cross bike during the fall and winter. I use it to train on the road as well in the winter, so it takes a pretty good beating. It’s a Fisher Presidio and I have had it for 4 years now? I use the Ibera quick release bags with 2 planet bike blinky lights. The bags are pretty small, but are enough to hold a change of clothes, rain gear, full lunch, coffee, shoes, tools, chromebook and whatever else I want. I have never not had enough room. The top bag is pretty versatile with lots of expansion if needed. The panniers say they are quick release, but they really are not and I never take them off. The top bag is very easy to get off if needed. It works for me. I need to get some wider tires, I have last years training tires from my other bike on there and they are may too narrow. I can really feel it on my back by the time I get to work. It’s a 30 mile commute round trip. I can't take picture to save my life!

Rudz

I love my Ibera quick release bag. Are those Evo fenders too? They look like my Evo Power Gaurd.

That saddle doesn't look very comfy for a thirty mile ride.

awfulwaffle 

nvm, just saw the fancy kickstand

Rudz

My bike floats. Lmfao

I was going to cut the kickstand lower, I already trimmed it once, but I kind of like it. Easy to change a flat tire.

I use a velcro strap to keep the front wheel from flailing around

rbaisa

The fenders are planet bike and it is a Selle Italia seat. Believe it or not this seat is bigger than the one on the bike I race with soooo. It's all about how the saddle fits your bone structure and these fit me well. I rode this seat on this bike for the 62 mile Barry Roubaix gravel road race last month and had no problems.

Sixty Fiver

Rebuilt my trusted old Peugeot this morning and took her on my evening commute... for many years she was my daily driver until an unfortunate accident destroyed her fork and I have had the replacement sitting here for too long.

It only took a few hours to strip down and swap the parts from my AO8 to my old girl and she makes for a pretty fast commuter.

gear64

Decided to snap a shot of mine returning from library.

xixiviii

I have started commuting again (as a challenge to a co-worker) and here is what I built for the task...

RubeRad

Looks like you won the challenge!

FBinNY 

Not too shabby as a very basic bike for a short commute.

puckett129

A different incarnation of this bike has been posted before, but not in this thread. It's a repainted 31 year old Trek with a modern drivetrain. The fenders are tight around these 32's. I'm probably going to go with wider ones at some point.