It Keeps Going

Labor day, Monday, September 5, 2011, was when build session #4 took place. As you can see, my updates are a few days behind the actual build sessions.

When we left off last time the bike was technically rideable - I rode a lap around the parking lot - and mostly adjusted to fit me.  It had the majority of its drivetrain, but no brakes.  During this build session I added the brakes, some cabling, and all of the handelbar accouterments.

While building, I was focused on installing parts and not on taking pictures, so all of the pictures you see were taken after I was done building for the day. Because of this the photos will not necessarily show chronological progression.

On to the build.

The brakes:

The brakes are Shimano XT V-Brakes.  I would have preferred to use Avid brakes, but these are the brakes that came off of my donor bike.  They are good brakes that have never given me any problems.  If I recall correctly, I got these brakes several years ago for free from one of my brothers.

The brake levers:

The brake levers are TekTro Quartz levers.  I don't know what that means, but they, like the brakes, were given to me free of charge by one of my brothers. They're nothing special, but they do their jobs and I can upgrade them later if I'm so inclined.

The shifters:

Yes, I know this isn't a good photo.  The shifters are Grip Shift 8-speed shifters. As mentioned in my previous post, I have been a big fan of Grip Shift since its first appearance on the scene, many years ago.

The grips:

The grips are ODI Lock-On grips - 90mm length - with a Yeti grip pattern.  The shorter length works really well with my Grip Shift shifters.  These grips go on easily, lock into place (via allen screw), and are a breeze to remove.  I like the Yeti grip pattern because it has that big fat Yeti pad right where my palms rest. It also has smaller Yetis around it that are good for gripping with my fingers.   At some point I will probably replace the red color with blue - to match the other blue accents on the bike.

The bar ends:

The bar ends are old-school Onza bar ends.  I know that bar ends are less common today, and some people say that running bar ends on a riser bar is out of fashion, but I love my full-size L-bend bar ends.  They give me multiple hand positions that come in handy at times.  I also know that it's uncommon to see taped bar ends, but I like to tape mine.  I like the padding and extra grip. Yes, the tape is kind of grungy - it's been on there for a while.

 Here you see the bar with all of the aforementioned accouterments.

This is the progress thus far.

Closer and closer to the final
bIsh