Building work is still in progress

This is how far I’ve got with building up my cyclocross bike:

My Dolan cyclocross bike

Just need to buy some hangers for front and rear brake cables, a wrench or two for the bottom bracket and cranks and get the star nut done and it will be ready to ride. Hopefully should have all but the last of those done by tomorrow. I’ll nip down Woolsey’s of Acton to get the last of those done on Friday morning.

It’s been interesting doing the building for myself. I’ve acquired a whole bunch of tools and realised it is actually not as complicated as I feared. I won’t know how well it has gone until I come to ride it but I’m fairly confident I’ve got most things in the right place. No doubt I’ll be screaming and stamping my feet tomorrow night as I attempt to get the drivetrain to run smoothly.

In the end I have bowed to Brendan’s wisdom and gone with the SRAM Rival groupset. Unlike the Merckx there are no stray Force compenents in the mix this time. The rest of the components have come from the old Giant frame which I’m not quite ready to part with yet and purchases covered by ebaying stuff:

  • Deda Logo stem and Piega handlebar. I’m not usually a fan of anatomic bars but I’ve finally figured out how to set these ones up right for me.
  • Wheels are my old Shimano 5600s which are in surprisingly good nick. I mustn’t have ridden them as hard as I thought.
  • Continental Twister tyres. Another of my cheap buys, I just know I’ll be wanting some Michelins within weeks. Such is the way of the bike.
  • Unbranded seatpin and Specialized Avatar saddle. I like this range of saddles and they fit me well. Not keep on the stitched bits but I hardly notice them.
  • Tektro Oryx cantilever brakes, which have proved simple enough to set up so far. I did want Empella Frogglegs but couldn’t find any in time. These are a suitable alternative from what I can tell.
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