A bike is born

Holy crap I built a bike!


Current build configuration:

IRO 56cm frame, unmarked flat black limited run of Dedacciai tubing.
Cane Creek S6 Headset
Phil wood low flange 32h track hubs laced with DT swiss spokes to Sun CR-18 rims
Vittoria Rubino Slick tires
Sugino 75BB and cranks
Sugino Mighty Compe 46t chainring
EAI 17t cog
Phil Lockring
MKS Sylvan pedals
Brooks B-17 saddle on a generic Bianchi Seatpost
Nitto CT-80 110mm stem
SOMA drop bars, 39cm


I rode it a few hours over the last two days and I'm a little surprised nothing has fallen apart yet. The brake is sort of moot, but I live on Twin Peaks, and it's a bit of a mind over matter thing. I haven't used it in a month or two and it actually doesn't work well with this fork, so i'll need a longer bolt to work properly.

After finally getting my frame on monday, I ran it down to Pacific Bikes on Tuesday at lunch to have my headtube faced and bottom bracket faced and chased. That night I ran over to Bike Kitchen and pressed in the headset and installed the bottom bracket. I was able to cut the steerer tube as well, and luckily it all fit together when I got home that night.

Almost There!

Woohoo! Progess is a wonderful thing.

-Got almost all the parts. I'm just waiting on the frame which will be hear on the 11th of July. Only a few more days! Sadly, I'll be out of town when it gets here, but after 4 or 5 months, I can wait it out.


-Picked up a Nitto CT-80 stem from Business Cycles Got an EAI 17t cog from them as well.



-Got the front wheel all done with some help. After trying to copy the Sheldon Brown wheelbuilding page, and reading the Barnett Manual, I still kept screwing up the 3x rear and making it 2x. After completely taking the rear apart and just copying by a wheel i've got and it worked! Then read the Barnett Manual about truing and dishing and it worked great.

-Wrapped the bars with some cheap-o nashbar wrap and mounted the bars on the stem, just for something to do.
-I'm pretty sure all I need now are some chainring bolts and a seatpost binder. So close!

Since the last post not a lot has changed.

-Bought almost all the remaining parts for the bike. Brooks B-17, got some simple SOMA drop bars, Phil Wood low flange black hubs and got spokes for the wheel build.
-I finally got an email from IRO and paid the remaining balance and shipping. I still don't know when my frame will be here, but I know it's on the way.
-Started (slowly) polishing the Mighty Compe. It looks better, but still needs help.
-The wheel build is in progress. I built the front, radially laced myself, which was fairly easy. I still need to figure out the appropriate spoke tension though. The rear wheel needs some love. I dunno if I'm doing it right, or if I'm close, but not close enough. I'm waiting for some forum member help eventually.

"Day 1"

I write "Day 1" like it's actually the first day I've been working on or thinking about this build. I "started" this build in February when IRO did a group-buy for a low-cost frameset. The idea was, instead of powder-coating my Bianchi Pista, I would just buy the IRO, swap all the parts, and then sell the Pista frame, essentially spending $0. But I've ridden bikes with better wheelsets and I knew how great they were. So I thought maybe I'd just upgrade the wheels... 4 months later and plans have changed drastically. I got several good deals on used parts from a forum I'm on, and at this point, my parts are worth way more than the frame is. I've also been riding my bike a lot more, and realized its flaws. At this point, by the time the IRO arrives, it will be nothing more than a placeholder for parts that will eventually go on a handbuilt frame that I'll be undertaking. But that's a whole 'nother blog entirely. Here's the rundown from February til now.

1. Frame ordered in February from IRO. Paid $50 upfront, still waiting for Tony to collect the remaining monies. Frames are currently en route from Taiwan.
2. Went through potential builds: blacked out, grocery/cargo bike, super budget.. etc Finally going "classy" as i could. Something like this:
3. Started priceshopping and figuring out what total build cost would be.
4. Ordered parts I knew I would still want even if others changed. Ordered Sun Rims, Seatpost and headset from Nashbar
5. The same week in May I picked up some used GR-9 pedals (which are now on my 10-spd) and used Sugino 75's from forum members. Thanks!
6. Traded an old mountain bike for a track chain. Believe me, I got a good deal.
7. Picked up a NIB Sugino 75 BB from a forum member in San Jose. Thanks!
8. Bought a cheap Sugino Mighty Compe 46t chainring from forum member in Santa Barbara. Just got here yesterday, June 12th. It needs some love, which hopefully some Simichrome will fix.