Last night I bolted home and got some significant progress done on the final assembly points for one Crook. I was able to inflateds, now that I have these incredibly awesome valve extenders (one shall always remain in my ride kit, one as back-up), and thus was able to do fit tests. It worked out GREAT. I had been using my roadLook as a guide, being my best long-distance ride. I matched the dimensions pretty closely. Crook’s bars are a bit narrower, and I positioned the bars a little lower, though I kept some space on the steerer (for the first time) and capped the stem with another spacer before setting the top cap. Obviously, saying that, you know I committed and cut the tube down. That is always the fun (and nerve-wracking) part for me. Because, as was said in repetition in the Crow… ‘There ain’t no coming back!’
Lastly, I corrected the hood placement, applied the gel, and got one side wrapped. SOLID!

This morning, I got down there and wrapped the opposing side. THREE times. Man, I suck at bar wrap to begin with, but these jangy flat, curving, dimpled bars don’t make it any easier. The opposing side had the additional complication of internal cable routing, but for some reason THIS side kept coming up short. I always get tangled up at the hoods. Anyway, got it done, checked and rechecked. Good to GO!

So this morning, a few photos and then the inaugural ride!

Thoughts:

- bitchin

- It’s definitely aluminum! Feels a lot like my Cervelo Soloist: comfortable enough until you hit rough road, and then you get all that vibration resolving itself in your wrists.

- I used my greatest amount of gel ever. THREE LAYERS. As a result, this otherwise cool bike looks puffy and funky in the cockpit. However, I could give three shits. It’s IMPERATIVE. And it feels gooooood.

- Proper brake hood on a fixie? Just like on Villain, THAT stops the bike. That, and a ready-to-go braking surface

- The 82 inchgear feels awesome. I can’t compare side to side, as Villain in undergoing surgery, but it feels more responsive than the former bike. It could be the lack of carbon flex. Regardless, it flies.

- On seeing me out there taking photos under the blooming trees by the crik, my wifebot simply walked over and said "Oh, look: my dork husband. Being a dork."

- It’s not quite done, however: my half-link chain was a rip-off. It was a broken component of chain, or something fishy. It was short, had no connecting pin or magic link, and was way sub-par. Couldve been shenanigans at the store from which it was purchased, or a weird distributor error. Mo matter: I cannibalized Villain’s chain, cleaned the hell out of it, and mounted it. The master is a bit stiff, and clacks as it runs the tight cog in back, and there’s still enough wear in that chain (Villain also being a big gear, high torque bike) so I can hear and feel it. I’m off to get a new 1/8" chain in about 33 minutes.

- Up next, graphics.

I have to say, it was really a treat riding this in today. It felt good, despite the pursuit geometry (and my attempt to counter-act it, for science, like a dork) and I can tell it’ll be both awesome and painful over 600 miles. But I cannot wait.

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Related posts:

1. Bike Build Process Log: Crook – Prime Assembly
2. Bike Build Process Log: Crook – SRAM Action
3. Bike Build Process Log: Crook Type 3 Conversion