Have you read Part 1 & Part 2 yet? Because you should to see everything that went into this project. And now it’s time to reveal the finished build. It’s been completed for a few months and I’ve ridden it on plenty of weekend group rides. It’s fast; it’s nimble; and it looks great. I even like it more than the 2016 Specialized Roubaix I bought brand new. It was a full carbon frame with mixed 105 groupset (read: Specialized bills it as a 105 build, but they cheap out on the crank and brakes). Sure, this is a 20+ year old build with an aluminum frame, but damn does it ride and look even bett ..read more

Make sure you read PART 1 HERE Where’d we leave off? Got the bike, stripped it down, cleaned everything. Put the old parts aside. Now, it’s just frame and fork. Oh, forgot to mention behind the scenes I had to take it to my local shop to get the bottom bracket out. That sucker was seized in there hardcore. I tried with 2 different specialized wrenches and a bottom bracket removal tool, but all I did was start to scratch the frame and ruin the teeth on the bracket – I couldn’t get it. It took them about 15 minutes to figure out how to get it out but eventually they were successful. I also popp ..read more

Welcome to my dream build. I’d been looking for this exact frame for over 2 years. Almost needed Dr. Jones’ Grail Diary to find it. A 20 year old bike in a smaller than average size – a definite Holy Grail. I’d been specifically looking for a turn of the century Cannondale R-Series; I love everything about these bikes. Everything about them is hot. The level top tube, the hidden welds, the groupset spec, and especially the colorways. If you’ve read any of my previous posts, you know I hate boring bikes – I love splashy flashy colors. Bikes need character. Anyway, the 2000 – 2003(ish) model yea ..read more

Randomly, an old high school friend messaged me on Facebook letting me know he was relocating to Houston for work. More importantly, though, he told me to find him a bike. After seeing several of my posts on Facebook about weekend rides and rebuilding bikes in my garage, he was determined to join. And for sure there is nothing more exciting when someone says “Find me a bike; here’s $2,000. I trust you.” So, like a kid in a candy store, off I went to the various online outlets to find my friend a bike. One that was budget friendly, and would leave enough money left over for some updates/upgrade ..read more

I was pretty happy with the way the bike came out the first time around, but after riding it for a while some things bothered me too much: the 48t chainring made the gear ratios just a little too hard on the mid-to-low end, the frame was probably a tad too big for me, and most importantly the tow-overlap was absolutely maddening – especially on my commute where I stop and make several tight turns. So I decided to sell it for someone else to enjoy. The only problem was the cost of the components I updated it with made selling it for $675 pretty much impossible – after all it’s a 21 year old fra ..read more

It didn’t take long after finishing my last project to get the itch to start another one. So far my stable consisted of a carbon fiber endurance bike, & two vintage Raleighs; one a single speed. I spend a lot of time following bike profiles on Instagram & Facebook, while also browsing many bike forums of the internet. I started to realize while I loved the look of my vintage road bikes, I also was really starting to love the look of many modern urban & track bikes: wider frame tubes, straight forks, modern stems & wide riser bars. I certainly wasn’t in the market for a brand ne ..read more

Christmas 2016: a card & a $150 check from mom & dad. The perfect gift. I can get what I want. Fast forward 2 weeks: a neighbor makes a post on Nextdoor for an old bike for $150: A Raleigh Super Tourer. It was an older couple who didn’t have a lot of details about the bike. It had been in their attic for years and they were getting ready to move. The pic I saw in the Nextdoor post I did a little online reconnaissance, and asked the “experts” on Bike Forums for some insights. I got a lot of responses pretty quick – all telling me to grab it as soon as possible. Apparently the Super Tou ..read more

Have you read Part 1 & Part 2 yet? Because you should to see everything that went into this project. And now it’s time to reveal the finished build. It’s been completed for a few months and I’ve ridden it on plenty of weekend group rides. It’s fast; it’s nimble; and it looks great. I even like it more than the 2016 Specialized Roubaix I bought brand new. It was a full carbon frame with mixed 105 groupset (read: Specialized bills it as a 105 build, but they cheap out on the crank and brakes). Sure, this is a 20+ year old build with an aluminum frame, but damn does it ride and look even bett ..read more

Make sure you read PART 1 HERE Where’d we leave off? Got the bike, stripped it down, cleaned everything. Put the old parts aside. Now, it’s just frame and fork. Oh, forgot to mention behind the scenes I had to take it to my local shop to get the bottom bracket out. That sucker was seized in there hardcore. I tried with 2 different specialized wrenches and a bottom bracket removal tool, but all I did was start to scratch the frame and ruin the teeth on the bracket – I couldn’t get it. It took them about 15 minutes to figure out how to get it out but eventually they were successful. I also popp ..read more

Welcome to my dream build. I’d been looking for this exact frame for over 2 years. Almost needed Dr. Jones’ Grail Diary to find it. A 20 year old bike in a smaller than average size – a definite Holy Grail. I’d been specifically looking for a turn of the century Cannondale R-Series; I love everything about these bikes. Everything about them is hot. The level top tube, the hidden welds, the groupset spec, and especially the colorways. If you’ve read any of my previous posts, you know I hate boring bikes – I love splashy flashy colors. Bikes need character. Anyway, the 2000 – 2003(ish) model yea ..read more