Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Steel is Real

In a cycling world currently dominated by aluminum and carbon fiber, it's still hard to beat the ride of steel. The cro-mo mojo is alive and well at Table Rock Cycles. Below are three TRC steel classics.

I assembled this bike just yesterday, a Surly Pacer. Double-butted 4130 chromoly tubing with a horizontal top tube, as God intended. An all-day bike with traditional road-racing geometry. San Marco Regal saddle and Deda deep-drop non-anatomic bars.

Wheels are Mavic Open Pro 32h rims laced 3x to Shimano Ultegra hubs with double-butted DT Swiss spokes, handbuilt by Chris at TRC. Smooth and durable with a time-tested build design.

Sugino 175mm cranks, 50-36 and a 9sp 12-25 Shimano cassette. Rear derailleur is Dura-Ace, front is Shimano Tiagra.

When you ride a fixed-gear bike often, you begin to question why you need certain components. Dura-Ace downtube shifters are light, reliable, and are consistent with the vibe of the Pacer frameset. It's a strange feeling going back to downtube shifters after years of brake lever shifters, but you can go home again.

Brakes are Ultergra standard-reach dual-pivot calipers. The headset and brake levers are Cane Creek.

This is a Soma Delancey fixie built from Tange Prestige double-butted tubing. This is a road fixie with relaxed geometry, as opposed to a tight track frame. Also shod with a San Marco Regal perched on a Thomson seatpost.

The Delancey has gorgeous chromed lugs, a rarity in modern steel frames in any price range. The single front brake is a Shimano 105 with a Cane Creek lever. The headset is also Cane Creek.

The crankset is a Sugino with 165mm arms and a Surly stainless steel 42t chainring. The rear wheel is a flip-flop with 16t and 14t fixed cogs. The classic Mavic Reflex Gold 32h rims are laced to Formula cup-and-cone bearing hubs with DT Swiss straight-guage spokes, also handbuilt by Chris.

The third steel offering is a Redline Monocog Flite 29er, which has the distinction of being the first 29er purchased at TRC. The stock wheels consist of WTB rims laced to Shimano Deore LX hubs with Maxxis Ignitor tires.

SRAM/Truvativ Hussefelt 165mm crank with a Surly stainless 32t chainring. KMC Z610 chains drive both the Redline and the Soma.

The Redline has been converted to a fixed-gear with an 18t TomiCog bolted to the stock rotor hub. With the rear brake removed, an Avid BB5 front disc brake slows things down.

1 comment:

Mark said...

Love that Mono Cog, especially the off road, fixed gear capacity! How about some more pix?