mc update

 So, I finally am getting my matt chester frame!  Super excited.  Here are some posts of the parts that are going on the bike:

Posts 1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9

And a little bit of backround:

pt 1   2

Pictures of the frame can be found on matt's website - his will probably be nicer than mine will be, and all artistic in black & white. 

Pics of the frame when it gets here and of the build!

more mc parts

So, the other day, I showed pictures of my new crank, and mentioned that I had gotten some other parts.  Here they are.

Really freakin' exciting, a box of  cotton bar tape. I've always liked how it felt under my hands, going to try to pad them a little more, and probably shellac them Rivendell style.  I like the way white bar tape looks next to a titanium frame, kind of like on a Moots.

 Tools got a new Burrito Wrap.  A nice minty green color.

 
An orange Salsa Lip Lock seatpost collar.  Matches the top bearing cover of my Chris King headset.  

And lastly for this post, I have finally decided on the frame pump for the bike.  As you can see from this picture

there is a pump peg on the head tube.  I decided to go with a Topeak Road Master Blaster frame pump.  Durable, good looking, and best of all, it works.

That's it for right now, next installment of this thread will put into play a second handlebar, and a pair of backup forks.  And maybe some knobbies..... 

new parts for the mc

While I've been waiting for the matt chester to come, I've re-thought a few of the parts for the frame.  Biggest being the crank.  Originally, I was going to run this crank from Bontrager (Sram/TruVativ).  But I've decided to go a little more old school -

a Sugino RD2 road crank, obviously in black, 170mm in length.  Why?  Because I constantly was re-thinking my choice in an outboard bearing bottom bracket and crank system.  Don't get me wrong, outboard bearings are nice, they are easy to install, last a decently long time, and are stiff.  But a square taper bottom bracket lasts longer, been around forever, and here is the big thing - they come in more sizes so I can fine tune the chain line.  The mc is a roadish style bike, and the companies that make the cranks only have one spindle length.  If I made a mountain bike style bike (like the FixieMonsterCross), then a Shimano style outboard bearing would have worked because you can adjust some frame spacers to get perfect chainline (I still need to replace the crank on that bike).  Once I figure out the correct bottom bracket spindle length, I can get one of these - Phil Wood Stainless Steel bottom brackets, and I can then fine tune it even more.

The BBG bashguard and Surly 39t chainring haven't changed, but I did switch to an 18 and 19 tooth Surly fixed cogs instead of the Phil's I had been planning on using.

Other new parts?  I'll have some pictures up later this week, but in case you haven't been following my twitter feed, here is a cool picture:

Yep, that's my frame, hopefully getting here in a day or two - more pictures to come....