building for cross

The Empella is done yet not done.
It is built yet not complete.

I finished putting it together this weekend. After a few bumps in the road thanks to, among other issues, a pair of non-adjustable TRP cantis, the bike was complete enough to ride over to A’s on its inaugural test-ride.

On this ride I learned the following: the front brake had a slight chatter though I don’t think it’s more than a minor pad-adjustment away from serenity. Additionally, the wheels I put on (a light, custom-built pair of Sun-Ringle clinchers) were ruled insufficiently tough during the ride and will be replaced with a pair of Eurus wheels adding to the Franken-nature of an already hodge-podge mix of components (full spec details and final pictures to come… it ain’t pretty).

Finally, the saddle height in relation to the handlebars was also found out to be a problem, the latter being too low for properly getting rad. I took to some drafting paper last night with a compass and pencil knowing that I wanted to make up about 16mm of drop without the need to run a negative-rise stem upside down in the boner position. The steerer was already cut so stem change was deemed the only sufficient option. Being as I’m not made of cheddar, I didn’t want to start buying stems to and using deductive methods. I also don’t think I have the patience for such a venture. Happily, a stem of identical length but at a zero rise (vs. an 82* drop) yields within a millimeter of the desired gain in saddle-handlebar drop assuming my measurements are all correct. It will also bring the bars back about 5mm making the cockpit a wee bit more comfortable.

So, I have purchased the requisite stem and will install it tonight along with swapping the Eurus clinchers and possibly the handlebars for improved lever position and angle (but we shall see what it feels like with just the stem change first).
This all needs to happen tonight because I want to attend the Friend-of-a-Friend Cross Practice Race in Bloomington on Wednesday evening after work and before my kickball game at Ft. Snelling. Once it’s done (and it will be sooner or later) I’ll just need to work on my form and dismounts/re-mounts. For political reasons I’ve opted to ride Shimano’s new MTB clipless pedals instead of Times which seem to be the drug-of-choice for most cross racers; I hope this will not prove to be a challenge once we get into the heat of the season. Regardless, clipless pedals on anything other than a road bike are somewhat of a foreign concept to me – I’ve ride flats on all my mountain bikes for half a dozen years now. Having to jump onto the comparatively small pedal area will surely present a challenge to cross mastery. Still, here too I’m optimistic that I’ll be transitioning smoothly after a few practice sessions in the coming weeks.

Can’t wait for the fall!