Retro-modern fusion gravel build madness. The new Superb!

Still alive, still kicking.
Haven't been cycling for fun at all, given the weather - just the commute to work in the cold & the dark. Hope everyone is well.

As tomorrow's forecast is looking good I decided to try and get Frannie on the road and, time & weather permitting, take her on her maiden voyage on a relaxed Sunday ride with the kids - see if anything falls off (at least they can call the ambulance for me, right?).

Installed the brakes & wrapped the bar tape for a couple quick rides 'round the block.

"Smooth" is Frannie's middle name. The frame is very flexible (more flex than my 531db Bojack, and probably even more than my ti Spitfire) and the Horizons are very soft, even when pumped to their recommended max. Riding the bike feels like gliding through butter. To my surprise, the final build came in only at 11.5kg with guards, and the bike is much faster rolling than I expected (lightweight wheels and light WTB tyres must be doing their magic).

Brakes will need some setting-up - right after the installation they are roughly as bad as my disks were, so barely acceptable to go on the road. The problem is that even with my best set-up I did not manage to get the pads parallel with the rims - only the bottom of the pads comes in contact. Looks like I'll need to file a new angle on the pad faces - any suggestions on how to make it easier are welcome. I don't think I'll get perfect performance out of them, given the awkward studs positions, but the stopping force will improve when more pad starts touching the rim.

View attachment 724591
View attachment 724592
I like how the old girl looks. But the cantis, they are not actually functional from the looks of it. If it were me, I would try another pair. I suspect because these are cyclocross specific brakes, there is a large area between the wheel and the brakes for mud buildup. It is the only thing I can think of, looking at that. Something like the Dia compe dc980 may do a better job, perhaps. @Woz may know a solution.
 
they are not actually functional from the looks of it
I've posted some links to calculating the cantis a few pages ago - they work a bit better than they look (essentially, in such upside-down mode they work as if they had shorter lever arms...therefore reducing mechanical advantage and making the brakes a bit spongy.
Pad alignment is the biggest issue here I think.

If I install used pads into them, that will make things better, and the arms will assume a more natural position - my problem is that with my current rim there's just no space for pads.

Definitely something to fanny with in the coming months, but for now I just want to finally put a few miles on the bike.
 
Last edited:
I've posted some links to calculating the cantis a few pages ago - they work a bit better than they look (essentially, in such upside-down mode they work as if they had shorter lever arms...therefore increasing mechanical advantage and making the brakes a bit spongy.
Pad alignment is the biggest issue here I think.

If I install used pads into them, that will make things better, and the arms will assume a more natural position - my problem is that with my current rim there's just no space for pads.

Definitely something to fanny with in the coming months, but for now I just want to finally put a few miles on the bike.
I didn't read the whole thread admittedly, dropped out for a while there. Enjoy the ride, hope you will be able to ride it more and the weather improves.
 
@grantoury

Here's the links. The first one is great, but it only worked in Internet Explorer last time I checked, and right now it's not even working in my IE.

http://www.circleacycles.com/cantilevers/https://bicycles.stackexchange.com/...s a forced,to the forced centering mechanism.
Btw here's a picture of the original Mafacs - you can see that they were installed with the arm at > 90 degrees angle. Fair enough, mine is a bit more extreme at the moment :rolleyes: (the froggo's geometry is not quite the same), but I'm sure I can dial in the correct mechanical advantage after a while.
canti_on_55mm_boss_width_e586eb15794284292f011bb9f0152f2ce41cd808.jpg
 
Ah nice to see you again @M_Chavez - "zat craszzzeeey Englishman wizz zat crazzzeeeey French old velo projectte" :)

You are brave man diving into the maths about cantilever brakes. I'm not familiar with those froggleg brakes and I'm more in the camp of conventional wisdom. Anyhow, you won't be the first or last to mess around and swear at cantis around these parts :D

A thread opened a while ago with some great input and tips which could help and give some inspiration with your pad setting to the rim:
https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/canti-pad-set-up-what-tricks-do-you-use.461142/

My first reaction looking at your brakes is the mounting stud seems extended well out and you could get some brake chatter; moving it closer in the arms like the original Mafac I think would be beneficial.

Anyhow, good luck with your first 2023 ride on it and blowing the winter cobwebs away!
 
Last edited:
Pleased to say that Frannie had her successful maiden voyage (can I even use the word "maiden" when talking about a 70 year old French girl that's been around quite a few blocks in her lifetime?🤔).
I was surprised that no parts fell off (none of them were really meant to fit together :LOL:). The square taper cartridge did not unscrew itself, the threadless headset did not self-disintegrate, the manually filed & bolted rear hanger works well enough without any set-up at all, but I'm limited to 8 gears out of 9 at the moment (I need to work on the spacing & do the most basic set-up). The carbon fibre mech cage (again, manually filed and bolted to fit onto the old Dura-ace mech) did not snap off.
Even the brakes stopped me when I wanted to stop, albeit the froggos will be the first thing to come off the bike. I think if it started raining, my braking would have degraded to the point when I'd be chewing my saddle-tanned Lepper with my arse. I have a set of narrow, modern-style tektro jobbies that might just fit and provide the required increased mechanical advantage.
The bike does not track perfectly, which is expected, given that I had to cold set front & rear drops to fit modern hubs into them. This will need a tweak or two, but in all honesty, it is well rideable as is.

The 70 year old Acier du Fromage frame stayed in one piece, even after some [very] mild offroading. I did have to stop a few times and check that the stays did not break off, as the amount of flex in this frame is astonishing. Nope, all still brazed on. Riding on gravel is smooth as butter and effortless, so I am very pleased with that.

The seating position is that of an audax bike (just as I wanted) and will need some minor tweaking. I only had a spare 44cm bar, and I use a 40 on my road bike and 38 on my commuter, so prefer them quite narrow.

Well worth the time & effort it took to put this bike together.
 
Back
Top