PatrickGSR94

hmm touch-up paint... should I just find some yellow automotive paint somewhere? Probably won't be able to match it I guess.

TomCat_Ford

That is what I would use. I doubt, like you have said, that you will find a perfect match, but you should be able to get close. It's not like the color difference will be all that noticeable under the cable housings anyway.

PatrickGSR94

Alright! So I went by LBS this morning and got a new star fangled nut from them for $3, and they charged me another $3 to pound it in. Not a bad deal at all considering the trouble it probably would have taken me without proper tools.



Also got another aluminum 5mm spacer that perfectly matches the other 3 I got from Nashbar, so I have a total of 20mm of spacers below the stem. After I got back home it all went back together very quickly.

hmmm Audi bike?



Of course the CK fork crown race piece would have been special order, so I told them I would just order one and they would install for 5 bucks. But for now I just put it back together with the old fork crown race in place. Seems to be working fine, and hopefully I can get it replaced in the next couple of weeks. I just want to be able to ride it in the meantime.





Here it is pretty much all back together. Still had not put the saddle back, bottle cage, or front light back on at this point, but they're back on now.





And compared to what it looked like 2 months ago

PatrickGSR94

Went shopping for a second bottle and cage at the LBS on Saturday to get ready for the evening group ride. I asked if they had one that looked like my blue one. They did not, so instead I picked up two black cages, which I think goes great with the new front fork, bars, seat, etc. Also got a 21 oz. Camelback insulated bottle and let me tell you, that thing works AWESOME! We were out for 3 hours and that bottle still had small pieces of ice in it when we got back. Compared to the non-insulated bottle which is all melted liquid in about 30 minutes to an hour.

Also laid my stem back down a little to let me get a bit more aero when needed. It was up at nearly 45 degrees before, but now is more like 5 or 10 degrees. Worked pretty well, I can get my head down just above the head tube, which lets me accelerate when coasting even on the slightest of downhill grades.

scooterfrog

wow patrick your thread looks a lot like mine. I love your bike.

PatrickGSR94

haha thanks, really wishing I had a road bike though, or an actual road-oriented hybrid i.e. flat bar road bike.

TomCat_Ford

Those CamelBack bottles are great,! I've been using the 25oz version this year. I just bought 2 more (for a total of 4) since I can now carry 4 bottles with me for my longer rides. I don't freeze mine, but I do appreciate how much cooler my water is vs. using standard water bottles--even after several hours.

Your bike is coming along nicely! Keep putting the miles on!

giantcfr1

Love this bike.
With your bar ends on that angle, you must be able to pull some wicked monos. (mono - Australia talk for wheelie)

PatrickGSR94

lol nah I'm not into that trick stuff

still need a bigger seat bag so I can stash that spare tube inside of it. And a frame pump.

giantcfr1

Always remember...After a few beers, we can do anything.

PatrickGSR94

Wow, sure is crazy to see how far I've come in the cycling world in less than 6 months. I'm certainly no expert, but I was pretty much a dummy on the subject back then.

Need to take pics of this bike in its current state and my new road bike together.

Future plans (probably distant future plans) for this bike include: 700c wheel conversion, with front disc brake and rear caliper brake. Would love to learn to lace my own wheels at the local bike co-op. Then if I did not do the 700c conversion, I could just re-lace my current front wheel for a disc brake hub.

bmwstbill

'99 Litespeed Ocoee tried to resist!!






Whipped into submission.





A thousand miles later it's like an old dog.

I forked it too.
That was fun.

https://salsacycles.com/components/cromoto_26
bill

Roadshadowww

Good Job Pat,

Sure you could go out an just buy a Hybrid, but taking the time to make changes to my exsisting bike has got to feel pretty good.

Most folks end up changing something, even on an off-the-rack bike...

Congrats ! and I enjoyed the tread ...

PatrickGSR94

Pic of both of my bikes wheel-to-wheel. You can see that the KHS saddle is lower than the Felt's even with the KHS's higher BB. The difference pedal-to-saddle is like 2 inches. I have GOT to get a longer seat post for that KHS, it's almost painful to ride now after getting used to the fit of the Felt bike.

pierce

just happened on this thread. ya know, that matte black paint on that new fork was meant to be a primer coat. idea is, you spray it whatever color you want.

did the creaking ever go away in your adjustable stem? I've found those adjustable stems need some SERIOUS torque on the angle adjustment to secure them, I had to use a 3/8" drive hex bit with a ratchet wrench, and just about twisted the bit before the last one I used was tight enough.

Sixty Fiver

Moulden XC

PatrickGSR94

Doesn't look like primer to me. It's not matte/flat black, it's actually a semi-flat finish with some sheen to it. I'm pretty sure it's a powder coated finish.

I believe the creaking to be coming from the stem/bar interface, not the adjustment joint area. Now that I've used this bike longer and also have the road bike and have a better understanding of the fit I need and like, I'm considering getting another non-adjustable stem. As you can see above I've gone back to having the stem almost flat, so I'm not using it for any rise right now. This stem is very heavy compared to the old original stem I pulled off, but the old one is a 130mm stem and is just too long for me.

I also want to switch to non-riser flat bars so I can move the grips, bar ends, and controls farther inward and get everything just a little bit narrower. I really don't like the 600+ mm width of the current bars, but since it's a riser bar I can't move the controls any farther inward.

pierce

indeed on the width, I ended up trimming the flatbar on my hybrid down to about 550mm, which happens to be just about 50mm wider than my shoulders standing at rest. when my arms are relaxed in the normal grip position, they are approximately parallel instead of spread out like they are with 650mm+ mountain bars. this made the end grips on the Ergon GP3's much more comfortable. it also makes crowded bike/hike trails easier to negotiate as well as narrow turnstiles and such.

PatrickGSR94

Finally the KHS gets some love today. I've only ridden it once in the past 6 weeks since I got the road bike. But today I took it to the LBS to get a new seat post to get the fit closer to that of the road bike. Out with the nasty greasy silver cut sub-250mm seat post, in with a nice black 400mm post. 27.2 mm just BARELY holds with the clamp, I think I may need to put a piece of aluminum Coke can around it as a shim. Also lowered the angle of the stem even more. I'll probably swap it out for a much lighter fixed 100mm -7° stem. Still need to get flat handle bars so I can move the controls closer together, because I really hate the 650mm width of the current bars.

Also got a better pic of my bar ends mounted inboard of the grips. Love this setup. They're almost the same width apart as being on the hoods of the road bike.

giantcfr1

Your bike looks incredible these days. The fixed stem will look great. Love the saddle to bar drop too.

Edit: a black Knog Skink would be a perfect compliment as a rear blinky

PatrickGSR94

Thanks bud. Yeah those lights look cool. But how bright are they compared to Planet Bike lights? I like having the light on a bracket because I can get it adjusted to point straight back toward cars despite being on the angled seat post.

LesterOfPuppets

Love that KHS. Could do with a shorter fork, I think. I have the opposite problem with my old KHS. I think it's a 390 axle-to-crown. Probably need a 410 or so. Angles are 75° head, 74° seat with this setup.


2012-08-26_19-32-18_822 by Lester.L., on Flickr

PatrickGSR94

Actually your frame geometry looks very similar to mine, i.e. if you had a longer fork, then the BB would be higher, the seat tube angle would be farther back, and the top tube would slope more, just like my frame does. I have wondered if my bike would act/look more hybrid-ish with a shorter fork, which would in turn create a lower BB and more upright seat tube.

Tonight I fashioned a shim for my new seat post out of a piece of aluminum soda can. This accounts for the old seat post being just a touch larger in diameter, less than 0.5 mm difference. Works beautifully as the clamp doesn't have to squeeze the seat tube as much to keep the post in place.

giantcfr1

To be honest I also have a similar light on the back of my get-around bike for the same reason. To be able to angle it up slightly gives a little more safety (in my mind)

PatrickGSR94

Well I think I figured out why my suspension fork was always bottoming out when I was on the bike.