The build will have a color matched Nobilette stem and a Shimano headset that I converted from threaded to threadless in my workshop. Rene Herse cranks, brakes, fenders, front rack and pump will be present. The wheel set is a fancy high tech HED Ardennes RA Black, which is supposed to give premier rim braking. The drivetrain will be Dura Ace 7900 2x10, and I'll use an NOS Dura Ace metal seat post. Whether I run 32, 35 or 38 tires remains to be seen and depends on whether I run it with fenders to start. The handlebars will be Nitto Soba Noodles and I'll be using home-modified brakelevers. Whether I run the front rack and fenders will influence whether I run a handlebar bag, but if I do, I'll make another copy of a home made decaleur that I've been running on two other bikes.
So from 10,000 feet, I would rate the BUC index fairly low (Build Unconventionality Index). There's nothing super weird about this build. My homemade headset, decaleur and brakelevers are not off the shelf, but neither will they draw attention to themselves. The biggest area of exploration will be the brakes. Rene Herse Cantilever users claim they are the best thing out there. It's my opinion as a mechanic that when you use fairly non-adjustable brakes, your best bet is to have a frame builder execute the build with those brakes in mind, and that's what I've had Nobilette do. Finally, I notice that in the miles of discourse about braking, everybody talks about setup, mechanical advantage, and brake pad compound (with a bizarre assumption that koolstop salmon is the only choice). Nobody talks about rims. The rim surface is at least as important as the brake pads. I think people don't talk about it because they don't want to consider switching rims, because rims are too expensive to switch. Everybody either says "my braking is sub-optimal, what am I missing?" or "my braking is awesome, but I can't explain why, or how you can get what I've got". When I was a shop mechanic, I got a reputation for being a brake-guru. Some of the local racers would only let me work on their brake systems. Still, there's a ton I don't know. I ponied up for a pretty expensive wheel set to see if truly premier rim-braking is something one can buy. I genuinely don't know what the results will be, but it's one of the aspects I'm looking forward to. Bill Lindsay El Cerrito, CA On Monday, December 4, 2023 at 6:25:28 AM UTC-8 Patch T wrote: > Just tremendous. My ideal Riv road is similar to Bill's ideal Riv road. > Can't wait to see how this turns out. > > Bill, any further teasers you want to share about the build? > > Patch in NYC, but pretty soon in OAK, CA > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/76513fe1-0379-42a1-81da-e55f5a2f7028n%40googlegroups.com.
