fthomas

Well, it wasn't a bad day! I can't believe how much I am learning!

A lady in the 50+ range came in with a really nice Rivendell Rambouillet. What a nice bike. This one had 26" wheels. Problem - chain jumping. I had not seen any of the Rivendell bikes first hand and I have to say that I was impressed. Really nice classic styling and the lugs certainly set it apart from anything else on the shop floor - Carbon or Aluminum. It is hard to find a steel frame road bike stock anymore.

She had replaced three chains on the bike already - can you say putting the miles on. The teeth on the cassette were shot and you could tell what gear she pedaled in the most. Man were they worn. I took a small piece of chain and was able to show her the deformation in the teeth and the widening of the valley. So a new chain and new cassette were in order.

I am studying "The Bicycle Wheel" by Jobst Brandt and will be building up some Mavic A719 rims with a SRAM i-light Dynamo front hub and use the existing rear hub (I might upgrade, but doubt it). I determined that I can run a set of Cygolite Niterider dual beam lights off the hub. Way better than relying on short run times on a full charge.

Louis

I've never seen one in person either but would jump at the chance. The price for those babies is way more than I'm willing to pay, however.

Retro Grouch 

Just a suggestion but I'd get a new, or at least different, rear hub and keep your existing rear wheel as a spare. If you ever trash a wheel it's almost always the rear. It's also sometimes handy for a commuter to have a spare wheel, complete with tire mounted, to use if you have a flat or cut down a sidewall or something like that. If that happens, it'll probably be the rear too. The last set of wheels that I built I bought a brand new pair of Tiagra hubs for next to nothing. The back up wheelset for my beater is used rims on a pair of "gimmy" hubs from the LBS junk drawer.

fthomas

RG

Actually, I think you are right. I am going to build up two rears and two fronts. The existing front hub plus the dynamo hub for the front and maybe a bit nicer rear hub and A719 and a new cassette. 11-34?

FloridaBoy

I bought a Bleriot frameset and will be picking up the finished bike today at my LBS. You can find these on the net for really reasonable prices. The fit and finish is very good...I hope it will ride well too. I still like steel frames better than any other material. Like Sheldon Brown said, " have you ever seen a spring made from aluminum." I'm 56 and still love riding. I wanted an all around, comfortable bike and think this will be it.