Largely inspired by WD Pro's stunning build thread "Airborne 2000 Lucky Strike DB Rebuild", I thought I would document my Winter Build along with some pre-amble background waffle. Going to be based on a Parkpre Pro Elite Ti, it's going to be a personal retro modern affair. Stealth, durable and weight watcher type of thing....
Don't skimp on a winter hack bike:
For about the last three years now I've been tweaking various builds and trying out all sorts of stuff for the crudy long winters in Stockholm, Sweden. At this moment, leaves are falling fast, temperatures barely in double digits and lots of rain is on the way. It's a mud fest from now till about mid-December.
Thereafter for the next 3 or 4 so months it's the white stuff. Not cocain, but snow, and lot's of it. This is punctuated by ice, and lot's of that too. Only temperatures below minus 10C normally stop me from riding, but the whole landscape and routes change dramatically. No chances getting on forest trails. You can't even see the route, nor your hubs.
When eventually it does start to melt (that process goes on for about 6 to 8 weeks) the conditions go to ice patches between drenched snow thawing flooded wet land. Basically, that's more-or-less half a year of various levels of crud. It means (for me atleast) the "Winter Hack" needs to be a solid performer and more importantly a joy to ride to keep the motivation up.
Back to March 2011 .... fleabay moment
Bit of haze but I felt the need for some Ti to make a late spring / summer / early autumn all rounder with bits from the spare part bin. Nothing fancy, just a tootler was required and I was itching for a project.
The victim was a poor advert for a "Parkpre Titanium Frame". One bad photo, and not much in the way of a description - usual iffing and arring and drinking Pernod I contacted the seller to get some specs, and cheekly to get the reserve amount. I bid exactly on the reserve amount, and got it. It was cheap, but not a bargain. A co-ordinated delivery to a hotel in Derbyshire while on a business trip to the UK meant I could put it on the aircraft hold as checked in luggage back to Stockholm to keep the costs down.
Perfect and top bannana I thought. Unwrapping it and seeing what I got was a bit mixed though..... it had a crushed top-tube cable guide, a repair or preventive weld to the bottom bracket and a stuck in allen bolt in a revolving bottle cage rivet. Feck. Whisky time. Another look with an objective clear mind said it wasn't bad, and most could be fixed and cleaned-up. On a positive side, it had no dents, dings or deep scratches - no signs of chain rub at all. I did find about five generations of spider birth and burial grounds down the seat-tube. As the seller said "it's been at the back of the shed for over 8 years".
Don't skimp on a winter hack bike:
For about the last three years now I've been tweaking various builds and trying out all sorts of stuff for the crudy long winters in Stockholm, Sweden. At this moment, leaves are falling fast, temperatures barely in double digits and lots of rain is on the way. It's a mud fest from now till about mid-December.
Thereafter for the next 3 or 4 so months it's the white stuff. Not cocain, but snow, and lot's of it. This is punctuated by ice, and lot's of that too. Only temperatures below minus 10C normally stop me from riding, but the whole landscape and routes change dramatically. No chances getting on forest trails. You can't even see the route, nor your hubs.
When eventually it does start to melt (that process goes on for about 6 to 8 weeks) the conditions go to ice patches between drenched snow thawing flooded wet land. Basically, that's more-or-less half a year of various levels of crud. It means (for me atleast) the "Winter Hack" needs to be a solid performer and more importantly a joy to ride to keep the motivation up.
Back to March 2011 .... fleabay moment
Bit of haze but I felt the need for some Ti to make a late spring / summer / early autumn all rounder with bits from the spare part bin. Nothing fancy, just a tootler was required and I was itching for a project.
The victim was a poor advert for a "Parkpre Titanium Frame". One bad photo, and not much in the way of a description - usual iffing and arring and drinking Pernod I contacted the seller to get some specs, and cheekly to get the reserve amount. I bid exactly on the reserve amount, and got it. It was cheap, but not a bargain. A co-ordinated delivery to a hotel in Derbyshire while on a business trip to the UK meant I could put it on the aircraft hold as checked in luggage back to Stockholm to keep the costs down.
Perfect and top bannana I thought. Unwrapping it and seeing what I got was a bit mixed though..... it had a crushed top-tube cable guide, a repair or preventive weld to the bottom bracket and a stuck in allen bolt in a revolving bottle cage rivet. Feck. Whisky time. Another look with an objective clear mind said it wasn't bad, and most could be fixed and cleaned-up. On a positive side, it had no dents, dings or deep scratches - no signs of chain rub at all. I did find about five generations of spider birth and burial grounds down the seat-tube. As the seller said "it's been at the back of the shed for over 8 years".
