This Team Lope Bike Bio chronicles my first ever carbon fixed-gear build. And it’s a villainous ride indeed!

So, I had wanted to squeeze one more bike project in before my daughter was born, and I had a few candidates, which included a break-apart travel bike mod to Fix-e, and a p-far I’ve been chasing for the last year and a half. But then fate seems to have skewered me with a destiny arrow, and I don’t even believe in fate. But here’s how it went:

After my beloved Look 1.0 was stolen, I pined for it’s replacement. I could never find the original all black/carbon frame again, in my size, online through classifieds, ebay, craigslist and the like. I set up routine auto-searches for same in ebay and google, and proceeded with life. Ultimately, I found a sweet, sweet Look to replace my first one, this one being a KG381 Team with the commemorative colorscheme and signatures business for most-special-Look-rider Laurent Jalabert after his retirement from pro cycling. I love this road bike. Probably three times as much as the Look that preceded it. You can find more info about the Look love I’ve had up until now, here. The new Look is lighter and pretty much, in my mid, the perfect Look: still retaining the conventional geometry and classic lugging of the previous gen (like my stoleLook(tm) but slightly more fly tube sections and a top notch groupo. I’ve ridden it ever since and I love it so. But, though I had a proper Look to ride, I always had a nostalgic pining for my first all-black Look, and left those auto-searches running. And then, thanks to the general economic collapse and earth-cracking-in-half, suddenly some frames like my beloved stoleLook(tm) began to pop up, and I realized that though I could not technically AFFORD it, I had an opportunity to go after my old love, and make it new.

I flirted with a frame that was the exact match to my old one, but the seller was dodgy. I also had a lead on a KG381 Team like my new Look, but a true team bike that was a spare for a very famous TdF rider of some dubious distinction, but it was set up as a complete bike, and had a proper Dura Ace road kit on it, which would be a great deal overall, and a wonderful historical artifact, but a shame to bastardize with my new purpose. For, you see, I intended to make this beloved Look into a fixed-gear.

Carbon fixed gear bikes aren’t terribly uncommon in the world, designed as such or even as conversions, though it was certainly the first time I thought to try it. It was also pretty naughty, in a sense, to build a second Look from the ashes of the first stolen one, making a fine brand-aware three Looks having been in my hands. And the project, while challenging and entertaining, ultimately yielded a fine, fine ride. Villain is, at times, my favorite ride. It’s big gearing allows for flatland bombing, but it’s lightness and tight assembly make it possible to climb with, though it’s never easy. Commuting into Mill Valley from SF and back was always interesting, especially under wind. Anyway, a successful experiment. The gearing is: 46/15 with 165mm crank arms and gives me an 80.6 inchgear, which ain’t bad!

Read the various process logs, and other Villainy goodness, here!
And view the Photo Gallery here!

Related posts:

1. Bike Build Process Log: Villain
2. Team Lope Bike Bio: roadLook
3. Team Lope Bike Bio: Ghostal

The wrongBike extrusion…

This bike build project began as a Vista, which was originally manufactured in Columbia, I think, but eventually they started making them in Japan… one of the many initially-Schwinn-based 10-speed brands of the 70s. The concept of this build changed a few times along the way. It was almost an old timey bike with fenders and so on, but as I went along, particularly after the paint job, I decided I wanted it streamlined, and it became a simpler bike in execution. But the details remained pretty consistent: Wrongrobot-orange/yellow paint, chrome and leather. After completion, several adjustments were made, and as with any of the bikes, are ongoing. The arc bars were cut down shorter, small wrapped grips were added, and after a long climber in Calistoga, the bars were angled upwards like risers, giving it a more upright, comfortable riding position. All in all, a great conversion!

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WrongBike(tm) 1.0 - long arc bars, unwrapped, two brakes

WrongBike(tm) 2.0 – short arc bars, short-wrapped in leather tape, one brake!

The WrongBike(tm) bike build gallery can be viewed here.

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To read the bike build process logs, read on…

Related posts:

1. Bike Build Process Log: wrongBike – Bars, Cuts, Wraps!
2. Bike Build Photo Gallery: WrongBike
3. Bike Build Process Log: wrongBike – One Less Brake