ICAN X-Gravel build thread - another journey !

[MichaelB]

That sucks about the lever, apparently it is quite easy to crack DA and Ultegra levers like that. I actually order a Pedro's crowfoot flare wrench for when I rebuild my bike. which allows you to use a torque wrench when doing up the nut because I know with my luck I will crack it.



$23 shipped seems like cheap insurance.

Cheers, will look at that option, thanks

When you look at the 11sp lever bodies, I think the issue relates to the fact that the nut used to crimp the sleeves is a much larger thread diameter, therefore having less wall thickness, and there is also a very small pin/allen bolt in a crappy position which is also then a good crack source ...

Anyway, it's ordered, and just found out that it's coming by Couriers Please from Leadout Sports

Lets see if they can get it right this time .....

Ultegra R8020 Shifters also on their way.
Koolstop Bead jack also on it's way

[MichaelB]

Bit more progress. Levers here by Fri hopefully

[MichaelB]

Bloody Aust Post. x

Still waiting on the shifters !! Ordered on 27th Feb and still in Sunshine West, Victoria

Original delivery date was yesterday, but still a state away

[MichaelB]

Bloody Aust Post.

Still waiting on the shifters !! Ordered on 27th Feb and still in Sunshine West, Victoria

Original delivery date was yesterday, but still a state away

The levers are FINALLY getting (well, won’t count my blessings too early …) delivered today.

From Brisvegas to Adelaide via Melbourne (where they sat for 48 hours) ….

Depending on the weather (cold and damp this week) may either be riding tonight or bike building …..

[MichaelB]

The bad juju monkey left behind some more of his bad juju than I thought.

The replacement levers, or as it turned out, lever, arrived yesterday.

RTF ad !!!

So now on the lookout for a RH shifter ….

So I’m frustration, tried salvage something positive and fitted the crank and chain. Thankfully the existing chain length is JUST ok, so can use the chains I already have from the roadie.



Now to find that unicorn part, a RH shifter …..

[MichaelB]

Seems that I may have found a solution - a R8020 lever set (used) with the RH shifter not shifting, but found this video that shows it's pretty simple to change the shifter mechanism from one to the other (won't do the full disassembly, just swap the shifter mech, but will try and fix the other one 1st)



Fingers crossed that theory and reality align !

Have also found a new RH shift lever as well, so will probably buy that so I have a new full set of levers seeing they are so hard to get !

Was hoping to have the bike on the road last week

Good things come to those who wait .....

[MichaelB]

Quick update - snaffled a RH R8020 lever from a local source, so will use that and the new LH one I bought to get the bike going.
Have also bought a new RH lever from Amazon UK so that I have a matching new pair (yeah, I know, vain ...) that will get fitted at some stage. Another BNA member has a set of levers, so might still grab them as more spares, pending condition and cost (I'll corner the market ). I had one response to a wanted FB ad offering a pretty rashed up R7020 set for $300 ummm, nope

It's also a 'spares strategy' given their price and severe lack of availability

We've also had a sudden burst of crappy autumn weather, and now that both BB returns have been done and refund received, will look at getting the mudguard set sooner than later.

Might get some more progress tonight ...

[MichaelB]

Some good progress after a good couple of hours in the shed. Managed to get the following done;

- steerer cut to length
- replacement levers fitted & brake fitting torqued !!
- FD & RD cables re-run and terminated
- gears tuned 95%
- seat fitted
- bottle cages fitted











Last jobs are to ;
- bleed the brakes
- adjust calipers
- tape bars
- RIDE !!!

[baabaa]

It's also a 'spares strategy' given their price and severe lack of availability

George on the so called wave of surplus of bike parts..a bike shop having to wait till June for a shifter is not what I would call good news from Shimano

[MichaelB]

Yeah, parts supply is just a bit crazy, as are some of the prices that go along with it !!

[MichaelB]

Let the bar taping begin !!

[warthog1]

Looking good.

[MichaelB]

Well, after the initial shakedown ride (Friday night), realised pretty quickly that I somehow completely got the FD setup wrong, but made sure everything worked well and did about 11km before calling it quits.

Then, Sat morning, fixed the FD in between increasingly frustrated calls with Optus re a stuffup in their setup, but think I finally got that resolved . FD setup also resolved through a combo a intuition, instructions and a bit of luck. and with the left pedal/shoe creak appeared, so that was bloody annoying. Put in some lube at the relevant points to see if that would work.

Then, on Sunday, finally got some other house stuff out the way and set off at 1pm for a decent ride. Plan was to do 50-60km and give the bike a good ride down the veloway (rough coarse chip with crappy surface) to see how the 40mm tyres work.
Given that I had only ridden 130 odd km to this point this month, was going to nbe a tall order, but felt good, so extended the plan and completed the monthly century target with a 104km ride.

Finished buggered but happy, and bike was faultless, and the 40mm tyres worked really well !!








Only minor tweaks like a longer & higher angle stem to get closer to the right reach/stack fitting, but other than that, all good.

Anyone got a 10 degree stem in 120 or 130mm length laying around ?

[warthog1]

Nice work Michael.

[Retrobyte]

Looks great!

[familyguy]

Anyone got a 10 degree stem in 120 or 130mm length laying around ?

May have a Ritchey about that size, will have a look tonight.

[MichaelB]

Anyone got a 10 degree stem in 120 or 130mm length laying around ?

May have a Ritchey about that size, will have a look tonight.

Cheers

[MichaelB]

Well, the top tube bag, a 0.6 litre Geosmina bolt-on arrived from Acium yesterday.

Damn it's BIG ! Bigger than I thought, but there isn't much smaller, but it'll do the job. Once it's bolted on, I'll load up some pics.

Done 430km on it so far, and the only issue, apart from the gearing, is a broken spoke.

So, that's getting fixed tonight, newly waxed chain fitted and TT bag also affixed.

Also ordered the Praxis 48/32 chainrings from Pushy's, as Bike24 that had them before are now 5-6 weeks delivery, so just quickly placed the order for the last set at Pushy's. Now just gotta save for the power pedals !

[MichaelB]

So a productive night in the shed last night ;

ICAN - replaced broken DS rear spoke, re-waxed chain fitted & TT bag fitted
Discus Colossus - re-waxed chain fitted & replacement wheelset fitted (db470)

Only 0.6 litres, but seems huge. The front strap wont work due to no spacers fitted. Came with a short & a long strap.
Well made !!




Nifty little insert - can be used or not.

[MichaelB]

Had the TT bag fitted - needs a bit of getting used to and somehow sorting out the strap on the front. Bike went well, but the gravel climbs proved beyond a shadow of doubt that I need to sort the gearing.

50/34 & 11-28 just isn't cutting the mustard. The Praxis crank will go on shortly with the 48/32 rings about to arrive, and see what cassette I can get on with the existing chain length.

Anyone want a bargain FSA Powerbox crank ????

[MichaelB]

Some updates :

Fitted the Praxis Alba crank and 48/32 chainrings, and was able to sneak on an 11-30 cassette with the existing chain length. An extra couple of low end gears !! Yay !!

Mudguards also arrived as did a few other things like tyres etc.
waiting on ES600 pedals from Taiwan so that I can fit the Assioma DUO pm.
Ordered a set of DT G1800 wheels and some Conti GP Urban 35mm tyres for commuting duties

Did about 120km in Mintaro over the weekend with about 60% pure gravel and back roads and had a ball.

Upshot is glad I went this route rather than a cheapie commuter as per original plan.

[warthog1]

Some updates :

Fitted the Praxis Alba crank and 48/32 chainrings, and was able to sneak on an 11-30 cassette with the existing chain length. An extra couple of low end gears !! Yay !!




Did about 120km in Mintaro over the weekend with about 60% pure gravel and back roads and had a ball.

Not sure if your ultegra derailleur is a GS.
If so it should handle a bigger cassette.
Running a Shimano 11-34 on one set of wheels and a SRAM 11-36 on the other set.
The gaps are not a problem with the 48/32 chainrings.
Good thing is chains don't last as long on the dirt so you should be able to put a longer one on soon.

[MichaelB]

Not sure if your ultegra derailleur is a GS.
If so it should handle a bigger cassette.
Running a Shimano 11-34 on one set of wheels and a SRAM 11-36 on the other set.
The gaps are not a problem with the 48/32 chainrings.
Good thing is chains don't last as long on the dirt so you should be able to put a longer one on soon.

Yep, is Ultegra GS - current rear cassette limitation is due to chain length leftover from roadie. Have 4 chains in rotation from waxing, so have a while to go before they run out.

When the new G1800 wheels get here, can have a dedicated Gravel setup with 11-34 or 11-36 (along with GRX RD) along with a matching chain, and a commute/road set.

Other than that, it just needs a bit of FD fine tuning

[warthog1]

Yep, is Ultegra GS - current rear cassette limitation is due to chain length leftover from roadie. Have 4 chains in rotation from waxing, so have a while to go before they run out.

When the new G1800 wheels get here, can have a dedicated Gravel setup with 11-34 or 11-36 (along with GRX RD) along with a matching chain, and a commute/road set.

Other than that, it just needs a bit of FD fine tuning

Sounds good. The Ultegra GS would do the job I expect.
My Revolt has a grx 810 but have never bothered switching the clutch on. Hasn't needed it.
Have a 105 7000 GS on the roadie. Seems to shift the same but haven't used it on the dirt so don't know if it is as good at resisting chain slap.

[Duck!]

R7000/R8000 behave exactly the same as GRX with the clutch turned off.

In terms of capacity, the GS variants are capable of fitting up to a 42T rear sprocket in absolute maximum terms, as long as the chainring difference is 14T or less. With a 16T front difference the maximum sprocket cuts back to 40T.

Flexibility to enlarge cassette size with an existing chain will depend on the method used to size the chain previously; the SRAM method of sizing off big ring/big sprocket offers limited scope to change cassette as it sets the shortest necessary chain to work on that gear set. The Campag method, working off small ring/small sprocket takes out the chain slack, leaving the longest possible chain to cover the gear range options. The latter isn't totally failsafe; if changing chainring sizes the length may need to be adjusted.