ahsposo 

When I became a father the pressure to have a sturdy all purpose bike reached the realm of necessity. I wanted to trailer the kid when the wife and I took weekend rides.

I also wanted a bike to ride to beer store, grocery store or lunch place. A bike to carry photo stuff on dirt trails.

This is what I ended up with:



The bike was stolen the other day so now I need to replace it.

I ride two other bikes, both road bikes - a really nice geared CF frame - and a sweet Single Speed AL frame. I also have a folder but that's a convenience bike.

So I went to all of my LBSs but nothing they had really met my criteria but I did get a sense of replacement cost.




Realizing my All Rounder was in essence a really plush commuter I posted in the Commuter forum asking for input and really got some great ideas. I think it was member megalowmatt that pointed me in my current direction. Building a new All Rounder on a Nashbar AL Touring frame.

So, I've ordered a frame and fork from Nashbar.

Everything else I think I'll need I'm buying from several different sources.


TBC...

Violet

+1 for all rounder bikes.

Road and Mountain Bikes are great, but simply don't fit my style of riding. If I am riding out on the country somewhere I like to be able to come across a gravel road or forest trail or 4wd track and go "hey, why not?". But most of my riding is on the road and I don't need 2" tires and suspension to deal with that sort of thing.

ahsposo 

Exactly.

What I didn't like about the old bike was it was heavy. This bike will be no lightweight but it will be lighter. Also when I had really loaded panniers I'd get some heel slap. Hopefully the touring geometry will fix that.

ahsposo 

I received my new frame! It's like an early Christmas or a late B'day!

It's pretty light and packed well enough. It's a dark green metallic piant. Ships with the BB cable guide and almost enough screws for the bottle cage bosses and rack and fender eyelets (it's 2 short) and the derailleur hanger.



The welds are robust and consistent.





There are 3 sets of bottle bosses, nice...



And a nifty chain hanger. Never had a frame with one of these.



The fork and seatpost should arrive later today.

The other stuff should be here late next week.

Doohickie

Nice.

ahsposo 

Got some bits and pieces today and the fork and seatpost 2 days ago.

This coming Friday almost everything except the stem will arrive.



I'd like input on having a LBS press the headset vs. using my homemade press with allthread nuts and washers.

fietsbob

you had a rack and mudguards, etc on the other one,
Realize: that is where a significant amount of the extra weight was added.


the edge of some headset cups may not like big flatwashers of an allthread press

but I suspect you are not fitting a King headset..

the cups will level out against the headtube faces to be square enough.
check that the fork spins without tight spots.

ahsposo 

OK. I decided to have my LBS install the headset bearings and crown race. They were also willing to loan me some spacers and stem to help me finish the build and begin fitting the bike.



One issue I've dealt with is the bolts for the cantilever brakes are 25mm in length. This is about 10mm too long for the sleeves supplied with the carbon fork. I used a Dremel tool with a cutting wheel to remove the excess length.



At this point I've hung all the major components. I used Loctite blue on the threads that shouldn't come loose and grease on the BB spindle.









I'm off to the LBS to get some rim tape. Tubes and tires next!

ahsposo 

Light at the End of the Tunnel!



Shifters in place, Mudguards and kickstand in place needs a chain.

The stays on the mudguards are gonna be a problem. I had to hacksaw and then polish a disc brake tab to fit the left front fender stay so I could attach the stays.


And then the SKS stay caps were a unit. I had to cut the plastic "join" unit's stay socket and let the stay move many mm's out.



All that stainless steel stay you are seeing from the edge of the fender into the black cap is excess. I've cut it off and will post pics of the result.

Here's what the Greenfield rear triangle kickstand attachment looks like fitted.

spectastic

how much did this end up costing?

ahsposo 

Complete including rack, kickstand, fenders around $1100. The only stuff that I already had that I used were pedals and bottle cages. I finished the bike today and rode it around a bit.

I'll post some pictures of the completed project tomorrow.

Dahon.Steve

You're bike came out very nice. You did spend alot by the way.

ahsposo 

No. I think I was fairly tight-fisted and penny-pinching. It may bite me in the ass before we're all said and done.

Frame, CF fork and seatpost from Nashbar delivered for $233. Total crap shoot. They are really spare on specs. Could be they change vendors all the time.

My first impression is that it's kinda weird up front.

I purchased Shimano bits mostly down-end except my shifters. Dura-Ace downtube shifters almost feel like Veloce so I really couldn't go any lower.

spectastic

I guess I don't quite understand why you invested in a carbon frame, yet still add a whole bunch of stuff on your bike. Why not just get a decent aluminum frame at 1/2 the price and <2 lbs difference? I got my ultegra bike for $800, and I could easily turn it into my all around bike with an extra wheel set ($130 on bikeisland), some thicker tires/tubes, and some fenders if I really had to. If it's a really nasty day, I'll just swap out the wheels.

I upgraded my old vintage not too long ago. Spent around $500 on it, and basically replaced everything except the frame, crank and derailleurs. I would've been better off to have just spent an extra $100 on a new bike that's probably better and faster.

Ancient Mariner

That is a very nice looking build. You certainly don't have to explain yourself to anyone regarding your choices. It meets all your requirements, and it's your money. For sure it will be your fanny on the saddle when you're pedaling the thing around, so be proud of it. You have something that's really unique and reflective of your tastes. Well done, and thanks for the pictures.

clarkbre

Read the OP's posts. Hell, you don't even have to read between the lines...it's spelled out that it's an aluminum frame.

1/2 the price of $233 for a frame, fork, and seatpost? The full price is still a great deal.

Was that bike used or new? $800 + $130 (wheels) + $70 (tires/tubes) + $40 (fenders)= $1040...for a bike similar to what the OP built for $1100. Wow, $60 savings.

So, you're knocking the OP for how much he spent on his bike yet you are stating that you dumped $$$ into one of your old bikes and are not thrilled with the results....


AHSPOSO: You've built an awesome looking bike. I hope when it's all said and done it serves you for many years to come. It looks like you've put a lot of time and thought into it. Let us know how that first ride goes!

spectastic

^what the hell is your problem? talking like a real troll behind that computer screen. stfu
-----

OP: I wasn't putting you down or anything. In my opinion, it's not really worth building a bike from scratch unless you really want to customize it to your liking, but you can really do that with any bike. All I'm saying is that if I were you, I would have bought something new, and worked from there.

clarkbre

Not a troll at all. I'm just not into someone knocking another guy's project without actually looking at the facts. Your post implied the OP was an idiot for building that bike for how much he did. And then, you said how much cheaper your all-round bike would be when it would realistically be only 5.5% less $.

So, no, I'm not a troll and I don't have any problems. I was just citing that your post needed some corrections to be taken seriously.

cale

Nice build. I like the green and black combination (frame, fork and fenders). The downtube shifters are a little too precious but if it rocks your world, go for it. Couple quick observations. 1) The rear tube stem looks crooked and if left as is may lead to premature wear. 2) There's an awful lot of excess wire coming off that front derailleur, you might want to tidy that up. :-)

ahsposo 

Yeah all fixed. Trimming the excess wire was the last step. I'll post some final pics later today.

rdtompki

Very nice looking build. I'm curious about the location of the third bottle mount. I assume this is for a bottle-shaped container for tools and such?

Flying Merkel

I built up a Nashbar mountain bike frame with one of their carbon forks & disc brake sets. It's a good frame for the price, $80 after discount. In hind sight, I'd use a regular steel or suspension fork & V-brakes. The only real complaint I have is that my size 12 feet can hit the chainstays.

Maybe your (and my) project don't make perfect economic sense. The bookkeepers aren't accounting for the fun factor. I learned a lot & ended up with a good bike.

cale

^+1

The economy of a bike isn't terribly important although in the context of this build, I admire the the OPer's restraint in component selection. I don't have much knowledge of the quality of Alivio components and that would probably make me spend more than necessary, even for an "all-arounder".

cale

A lot of touring frames include a third bottle cage position to allow touring riders to carry more fluids when they ride.

cale

I'm impressed that you documented the build. I did a similar build (didn't document) of an all-rounder and hope you don't mind my sharing my build as a comparison. I think it is important to consider that when assembling a bike from scratch, cost is an important but generally not overriding goal.