Ok, so I've never actually built a bike from scratch before. I've been one of those fakers that knew how to do most stuff, but never actually HAD to build from the ground up.
This past friday, I recieved two giant boxes from the good people at Fed Ex. One contained a sweet black, naked carbon frame, and the other all the components for said frame. Long story short, I had some work ahead of me.
I've started slow and have been patient with the assmbley, finding out that it's really not all that hard. It's all about not forcing things and taking your time. It's gonna be fun to actually ride something that I'm totally responsible for putting together.
The pic above shows what I've done so far. I'm done with the building part, now I just have to cut the fork, route the cables, and throw on the chain (not in that particular order).
Generally, I've chosen this little project as a de-stresser. Training realeases much of my stress, but I've haven't used my hands to build anything in a while. I think that's an important thing for a man. Call me old fashioned, but there's nothing better than getting your hands a little dirty and spending some quality time with your tools. I think it centers me in a way that not many other things can. Also, I stress a lot about my bikes. I guess it's because I couldn't, in the past, control everything about them. My hope with this bike is to learn EVERYTHING I can about bike maintenance and upkeep. A goal in the back of my mind is to never have to take my bike to the shop again to get fixed. We'll see.
I'm happy to take on this challenge and am excited to see how it turns out. Wish me luck!
Push 'till ya puke...Always!
3 comments:
Do you think you have a enough of a drop between saddle and handlebars?
Just looking at it ... I will be shaking in my boots at Timberman.
Haha, that was just an assembly pic. I just slaped the wheels, crankset, aerobars, and seat on and took a pic. I just finished the build (it actually works!) and it's all fitted and ready to go! Gonna take it out for it's first ride later today!
I don't know if it'll be my race bike, but definately a good training bike to beat up on so that my Trek is still fast a grease lightning come Timberman time! Let me know if you're up for a ride anytime this week. I know your tapering for IMLP, but if you wanna do any easy one, let me know!
Pretty much anytime after 10 works for me. I just have work early until then.
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