Due to a total failure of the old steel frame of my former “everyday” bicycle i bought a new frame in june 2005 – Surly Crosscheck – and built a new bicycle. It has horizontal dropouts with a hanger and a spacing of 132.5 mm – so it is possible to mount road hubs with 130 mm as well as “MTB” hubs or shifting hubs with 135 mm. Also wider tires or fenders and a rack is no problem.

Originally i tried to use as many parts from the old bicycle as possible – but in the end it became an almost completely new assembly. The new rear wheel was already planned for the old bicycle and was built by myself (see also wheelbuilding).

The first step was sealing the frame tubes to avoid excessive rust development – which is also recommended by Surly by the way. For this i used “Caramba Hohlraumspray” for cars – a medium, which is sprayed into the tubes in liquid form and becomes a waxy coating after a few hours, when the solvent volatilised.

Headset and fork were mounted by the dealer, where i bought the rest of the parts. The rest was assembled during about three weeks little by little – in a proper workshop it probably would have been faster, but i bought a cheap used bicycle for the transitional period, which was reasonably useful.

Due to the frame geometry there is only little space between the rear fender and the seatpost. First the front derailleur didn't fit at all. A “down swing” model, where i thought, that it would be less problematic, unfortunately also didn't help. It would have worked without fender – but for a “everyday” bicycle this was not the ideal solution. So the only possibility in the end was to move the fender a bit back from the lower crossbrace using a spacer. In this way, it was possible to mount the front derailleur and the rear wheel still fits – even when it's quite tight with an inflated tire.

Rear fender and front derailleur – terse as possible

The Nexave rear derailleur from the old bicycle with the reverse attachement of the spring turned out to be quite problematic – the combination of the cable routing below the bottom bracket and the tight bend of the rear cable housing caused problems when changing gears. It was not possible to adjust the cable in a way, that both directions worked properly.

After several trials a derailleur with “normal” function was mounted, which works reliable.

For the sprockets an 8-speed-cassette is used, which still works with “7-speed”-chains, which i assume to be a bit more durable as the narrower versions for 9- or 10-speed-gears. Fortunately the cassette hub gives the freedom of choice – if i once want to use smaller gear steps i can change the sprockets very easily.

The originally used Magura rim brakes sadly developed an annoying problem: The pistons tended not to retract completely. During winter the brake pads started to rub on the rims (even with the adjustment screws turned back completely). Since neither exchanging the oil nor any cleaning attempts helped permanently, i retired the Maguras and replaced them with V-brakes. The V-brakes work quite well with Kool Stop brake pads, don't squeal, are very reliable and not much worse than the Maguras.

I already admired the advantages of a hub dynamo in my old bicycle. But the Shimano HB-NX32 turned out not to be fully suitable for daily use, since the bearings sometimes “freezed” during winter due to penetrated moisture and generally seemed not to be very durable (broad abrasion on the cones despite regular maintenance). Therefore, this part went to my second bicycle. For the new bicycle i could afford a SON (Schmidt Original Nabendynamo) as well as a Schmidt E6Z as a switchable additional light besides the Lumotec Oval Senso Plus, which is mounted on the handlebar using the lamp support by Riese & Müller.

Double headlamps – Lumotec Oval Senso Plus, E6Z

Alltogether the bicycle is potpourri of parts and also not a lightweight model – but it works quite good and is still very comfortable after far more than 5000 km (as of november 2007) .

Since Busch & Müller Ende 2007 brought a new LED headlight to the market – the Lumotec IQ Fly Senso Plus, the light system was completely replaced by this model. This model provides an impressive illumination even at low speed and due to the easy adjustment possibility (three positions) it is also suitable as “long distance light”. Even the parking light with the condensator is still brighter than many halogen lamps in regular operation.

To improve the “all weather capabilities” i prolongated the front fender by a self made mud flap. The V-brakes turned out to be very reliable and don't need much maintenance. Until now the brake pads needed to be replaced only one time, which was very easy thanks to the “cartridge” type pads, where no adjustment was neccessary afterwards.

In march 2007 i finally dismissed the Ultegra rear hub. Generally it worked fine – but sometimes the freewheel body tended to produce a random cracking noise, sometimes it even slipped, when the pawls didn't engage immediately. The chain was completely ok, also the sprockets. Since a new freewheel body also didn't solve this problem i finally mounted a DT Swiss 340 road. Therefore the rear wheel only has 32 instead of 36 spokes, which might confuse the esthetic look (compared to the 36 spokes front wheel) – but one only can see this when examining at the wheel very faithful and the stability is completely sufficient.

The DT Swiss has a bearing with two sealed grooved ball bearings and two other sealed bearings in the freewheel body – alltogether a very high grade workmanship and it also feels absolutely precise. The freewheel mechanism consist of two spring-loaded tooth wheels which works very reliable and is very simple to maintain – you can pull the complete freewheel including the mounted sprockets apart from the hub without any special tool. The ideal complement to the SON in front . The random cracking noise from the rear wheel disappeared completely by all means.

Finally i found a matching seatpost clamp by chance (30 mm diameter – a rare measurement), where i could mount the hitch for the cargo trailer.

The Ergon grips where quite comfortable – but unfortunately the softer rubber parts started to dissolve. Obviously the grips are not suitable for constant use with sweaty hands during summer time. As a replacement i mounted foam grips. Due to the additional bar ends, which are meanwhile also equipped with a foam coating, this is sufficient.

The suspension seatpost was replaced by a more simple, fixed seatpost, since the suspension started to develop an excessive play after a few thousand kilometers, even with linear ball bearings. In fact, i don't miss the suspension. If neccessary, i just stand up, if the way is a bit harsh. The saddle is (again) a Brooks leather saddle, also without suspension, but with pre-treated, softer leather and lacing to keep the shape. After some sobering experiences with “Dry Seat” as a rain protection (three exemplars started to become permeable after a couple of months) i now use the Brooks saddle cover, which seems to be much more robust and can also be secured under the saddle. The trailer hitch has meanwhile moved to an adapter at the seatpost, which is also a more solid solution as the variant at the seatpost clamp, where only a quite small screw could be used.

Update, end of 2008:

With the headlight, a weakness annoyed me increasingly after a year: the light sensor in the IQ Fly is positioned on the left side to the back – this causes the light to turn off or switch to parking mode just by the light of overtaking cars. There is a switch position for continous light – but this is in the middle and not at one of the end positions. Furthermore you can not reach the switch very easy above the front wheel.

So i finally decided to get a new headlight at the end of 2008 – the successor of the IQ Fly – “Cyo”, which came into market in october 2008. Compared to the Fly, the Cyo is again a bit brighter and illuminates a larger area in front of the bicycle. Due to its compact shape it can be fitted well at the handle bar – and the light sensor does not react immediatly, but after a few seconds of continously illumination. Finally the parking light can be turned of completely, so thieves will not be attracted needlessly. The former used taillight has moved to the Peugeot and was replaced by a “Toplight Flat Plus”, which is also brighter and provides a visibility from a larger angle, due to the special shape of the cover.

The following pictures are also available at a larger size – just click them:

Update, beginnng of 2009:

During winter 2008/2009 i used spike tires for a while (Continental Nordic Spike). I found, that the fenders with 42 mm where quite tight. Therefore i mounted wider finders with 53 mm and also choose wider tires for summer (42-522). The extension for the front fender is missing yet, but i i think, it will be mounted soon. A new chain was also neccessary, where i found, that the middle chainring was worn out heavily and had to be replaced as well.

The following picture is from beginning of april – here you can also see the hanger in action:

Update, march 2010:

Unfortunately, the pedals became strongly rusty during the last winter and where replaced by PD-A530. The tail light is now a “Toplight Line Plus” with an disengable sidelight.

Update, january 2011:

In the course of the yearly change of the spike tires back to regular street tires, i also decided to replace the front fender stays by the originally provided and more secure “ASR” (automatic stay release) variant by SKS, which avoids that the front fender can “wrap up”, if objects get caught between the fender and the tire. The stays had to be shortened a fair amount, since they where much too long. The end caps where also replaced by the newer system, where the caps are not just placed onto the stay end, but are part of a more complex construction, which is mounted stationary to the fender bridge.

A mud flap is also mounted again – but this time a quite sturdy model made of rubber (with some modifications, since it had to be mounted with cable ties) and no self-made one.

Current configuration: