Is this xbiking or too roadie and commuter styled? It is a road bike converted to a utilitarian bike.
The main goals of this built where to get below 10kg with a full lighting and dynamo hub setup, and rack for panniers to do the groceries on the way back from work.
The bike is built on a 2003 Kinesis road bike frame with Carbon fork. Wheels are custom built Mavic CXP23 with a SV-8 hub (370g) in the front and a Sturmey Archer S2 (920g) in the back. The 2-speed kickshift hub is lighter than the RSX derailleur, RSX-Hub and shifters that i removed.
Depending on winter or summer trim and the tyres the bike is slightly lighter than 10kgs or slightly heavier. Currently it is in summer trim with a Schwalbe Pro One 28mm tire in the back and a GP4KS2 in the front.
**Why do i retire it?**
* For better comfort i wanted to get 28mm tires, but the fork does not allow for them.
* I want a slightly longer fork stem and the stems with raise that i tried were awful and heavy.
* I want to try out a steel frame again. I love my faggin vintage road bike and how smooth it rolls even though it has even skinnier 23mm tires.
**What did i like?**
* The S2 Kickback hub is a problem free piece of hardware. Having no shifting cable is very nice, although you need to practice shifting and braking (it will shift when braking hard).
* 2 Speeds is enough for the flat landscape in northern Germany. It is also really good practice for going out of the saddle which is why i have essentially 4 speeds. The lower speed is set up like a Holland bike (5,5meter per crank revolution), while the fast speed is 7,6 m per crank revolution, almost hitting road bike territory. This gear ratio is great for a flat city like Hamburg.
* I love the old 7403 brakes. had BR-6600s before which are lighter but they seized of dirt eventually. not so with the double ball bearing pivot Dura Ace brakes.
* The Mavic wheels are only OEM material but very reliable and fairly light. Gonna keep them for the successor.
* The shutter precision sv-8 hub has only 2.4watts but perfectly well supplies B+M IQ XS front light and racktime rear with enough power at even very low speeds. It handles the weather very well too when i kept the bike outside.
* A Road bike can hold a rack easily. I used just 3 points: The rear brake (6mm bolt) and 2x M4 screws for which i drilled holes into the dropout and tapped them. They hold up well with well over 25kgs load in the Panniers. So there is really no need for M5 or M6 screws usually used. I used nickel plated 8.8 steel screws and they are still as good as new. I used the small screws because i did not want to drill a bigger hole in the dropout.
* I now want a phone holder on every bike.
* The rack-integrated rear light of the racktime i-valo rack has been very nice, saves weight and complexity.
* The 15$ Aliexpress Co-Mo triple bearing pedals are great. I removed some material to make them even lighter and more symmetrich and they are now 200g for the pair.
**What i didn’t like:**
* Shimano Hollowtech cranks suck. The Alfine FC-501 is very heavy at 944g even though it has just a single chainring. And the Hollowtech Bearings failed after 6 years. Also the Q-factor is very wide which is not nice ergonomical on a city bike. I will definitely rather get a square taper crank for the next build. With the FC7410 and a Titanium BB i can save almost 400g and have a more reliable Bearing with larger balls.
* Early Aluminium Frames have very narrow forks and frames. No bigger tyres possible. 80ies road steel frames are better in that regard.
* Early Carbon forks are very stiff. I expected them to be better than Aluminium but aparrently these early were extremely overbuilt and the weight shows. At almost 700g it is similar to a good steel fork.
* The racktime Aluminium racks wear down very fast at the connection points when you connect panniers often.
holbanner on
Nice detailed post. I can get behind all your reasoning.
You’re thinking of a full build?
Because you could just keep the parts you like and get a new framset + new parts you didn’t like. For modest pricing if used
4 Comments
Jake the snake?
Is this xbiking or too roadie and commuter styled? It is a road bike converted to a utilitarian bike.
The main goals of this built where to get below 10kg with a full lighting and dynamo hub setup, and rack for panniers to do the groceries on the way back from work.
The bike is built on a 2003 Kinesis road bike frame with Carbon fork. Wheels are custom built Mavic CXP23 with a SV-8 hub (370g) in the front and a Sturmey Archer S2 (920g) in the back. The 2-speed kickshift hub is lighter than the RSX derailleur, RSX-Hub and shifters that i removed.
Depending on winter or summer trim and the tyres the bike is slightly lighter than 10kgs or slightly heavier. Currently it is in summer trim with a Schwalbe Pro One 28mm tire in the back and a GP4KS2 in the front.
**Why do i retire it?**
* For better comfort i wanted to get 28mm tires, but the fork does not allow for them.
* I want a slightly longer fork stem and the stems with raise that i tried were awful and heavy.
* I want to try out a steel frame again. I love my faggin vintage road bike and how smooth it rolls even though it has even skinnier 23mm tires.
**What did i like?**
* The S2 Kickback hub is a problem free piece of hardware. Having no shifting cable is very nice, although you need to practice shifting and braking (it will shift when braking hard).
* 2 Speeds is enough for the flat landscape in northern Germany. It is also really good practice for going out of the saddle which is why i have essentially 4 speeds. The lower speed is set up like a Holland bike (5,5meter per crank revolution), while the fast speed is 7,6 m per crank revolution, almost hitting road bike territory. This gear ratio is great for a flat city like Hamburg.
* I love the old 7403 brakes. had BR-6600s before which are lighter but they seized of dirt eventually. not so with the double ball bearing pivot Dura Ace brakes.
* The Mavic wheels are only OEM material but very reliable and fairly light. Gonna keep them for the successor.
* The shutter precision sv-8 hub has only 2.4watts but perfectly well supplies B+M IQ XS front light and racktime rear with enough power at even very low speeds. It handles the weather very well too when i kept the bike outside.
* A Road bike can hold a rack easily. I used just 3 points: The rear brake (6mm bolt) and 2x M4 screws for which i drilled holes into the dropout and tapped them. They hold up well with well over 25kgs load in the Panniers. So there is really no need for M5 or M6 screws usually used. I used nickel plated 8.8 steel screws and they are still as good as new. I used the small screws because i did not want to drill a bigger hole in the dropout.
* I now want a phone holder on every bike.
* The rack-integrated rear light of the racktime i-valo rack has been very nice, saves weight and complexity.
* The 15$ Aliexpress Co-Mo triple bearing pedals are great. I removed some material to make them even lighter and more symmetrich and they are now 200g for the pair.
**What i didn’t like:**
* Shimano Hollowtech cranks suck. The Alfine FC-501 is very heavy at 944g even though it has just a single chainring. And the Hollowtech Bearings failed after 6 years. Also the Q-factor is very wide which is not nice ergonomical on a city bike. I will definitely rather get a square taper crank for the next build. With the FC7410 and a Titanium BB i can save almost 400g and have a more reliable Bearing with larger balls.
* Early Aluminium Frames have very narrow forks and frames. No bigger tyres possible. 80ies road steel frames are better in that regard.
* Early Carbon forks are very stiff. I expected them to be better than Aluminium but aparrently these early were extremely overbuilt and the weight shows. At almost 700g it is similar to a good steel fork.
* The racktime Aluminium racks wear down very fast at the connection points when you connect panniers often.
Nice detailed post. I can get behind all your reasoning.
You’re thinking of a full build?
Because you could just keep the parts you like and get a new framset + new parts you didn’t like. For modest pricing if used
Nice bike.