Bish Bash Bosh Part 6: Putting it all together

Now that the wheels are done, it's time to start putting it all together on the frame.  First let's run through some of the bits and pieces I have for the bike.  I mocked up the frame without the wheels to get a feel for how it would look.

Cockpit

One of the biggest changes I have made compared to my old setup is in the cockpit.  Instead of keeping my old bar and stem (a 42cm wide compact drop and 80mm stem) I'm moving to a flared extra wide handlebar and a longer stem.  When I was building the tandem I bought a 46cm wide bar for it as the size and weight of the bike demands more leverage.  I got so used to this that every time I went back to my single bike it felt... a bit too narrow.  Particularly off road I felt that the 42cm bars didn't really give me much control over bumpy terrain.  After a bit of shopping around, I ended up getting the Salsa Cowbell 3 bars, these are very much a standard road bar with a 12º flare to the drops.  They are also extra wide at 46cm measured at the hoods, so at the drops they are about 52cm which is going towards MTB width.   


I swapped for a 100mm stem as the reach of these bars is about 20mm shorter than my previous bars so overall the fit is about the same.  I chose the Fizik Cyrano C5 stem, nothing too fancy but reasonable weight and looks nice and feels stiff with a square section and Torx bolts on the faceplate.

Fizik bar tape to match the stem. The bar tape is the tacky variety so it has a synthetic rubbery feel to it with a lot more cushion.  In the past I have always preferred more thin, less cushioned tape however I'm going to give this a go as off-road a bit more cushioning would go a long way.


Lifeline 1.125 to 1.5" tapered carbon headset.  This was only £20 or so, at nearly half the price of the FSA one.  It features TH Industries bearings, and these sit directly into the frame.  I mentioned before I was a little cynical about integrated headsets, however I was willing to give them a chance, time will tell!  Lifeline is the house brand of Wiggle.co.uk, still the finish on this is quite good and features carbon top caps

Other bits

Now onto some carbon fibre goodies, from Procraft, a seatpost clamp and a front derailleur braze-on adaptor.    I was a bit wary of using a derailleur clamp on the carbon tubes, so at least this one spreads out the clamping force more than the typical aluminium ones you see. 

 I also got a pair of carbon bottle cages too, admittedly mostly for the bling factor but also for the light weight.


I replaced my ageing saddle bag with a Ynot tool roll.  This is made from Cordura and wraps around the saddle rails with a buckle.  Big enough to just fit a spare tube, tools, tyre levers and a tubeless patch kit.  Hopefully won't ever need to use the tube!

Assembly

Thankfully there wasn't really much to write about the assembly as it all went on pretty easily.  The wheels fit without any hitches and the whole drivetrain went on smoothly.  No unexpected situations popped up, the headset just dropped in and cutting the carbon fork steerer was actually quite easy, it just required a new blade and some care.

The only thing I did have to do differently from the past was to use a torque wrench, in particular any part which clamps onto carbon must not be overtightened, otherwise you can risk damaging the frame.  I used carbon paste on the seatpost before inserting, this helps create friction between it and the frame's seat tube to prevent it moving around as well as preventing corrosion.  

 The internal cable routing was actually pretty easy to deal with, you can see in the picture above that there are plastic inserts which guide the derailleur cables.  There isn't any conduit for these cables inside the downtube but removing these guides makes it much easier.



I took it for a quick spin in the park near where I live, and all I can say is that the difference is really noticeable.  The tyres feel amazingly supple and cushy, I think it isn't just the 40mm width but also the fact that they are tubeless.  Surprisingly, the steering feels significantly stiffer and more direct, this combined with the wider and flared drop bars makes it feel super confident descending on dirt.  I just point it in the direction I want it to go and it just plows right through most terrain.  I will have to write up my full impressions once I take it out for a proper ride.  Thanks for reading

2 comments:

  1. Wicked build! Ive been contemplating a BishBoshBash build for a few months now. Do you plan on doing a longer ride review down the line? Also curious how much yours is weighing in at?

    Thanks!

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    1. Hiya, mine weighs in at about 8.5kg or so with dynamo, pedals and all fluids.

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