I would have to say the greatest innovation in modern bicycle componentry is the oil slick finish. Nothing says classy and timeless like turning your bicycle into a gas station novelty knife.
I appreciate you support the ebay sellers of the world. Buying person to person (albeit through a mega-tech-corp) is such a positive thing we regular joes can do in this crazy bing bong world. keep it rubber side down hoss
Enjoyed watching a stranger describe his idiosyncratic bike opinions surprisingly a lot. Two things to mention though: Campagnolo did make low level components and groupsets starting with the budget valentino derailleur and culminating in the plastic xenon gruppo. Veloce also kind of sat in the budget zone. Second thing is that thanks to all the Tourney/Sora/Claris money, Shimano was able to make the mid-high tier components so good and so affordable. Campy's general refusal to go downmarket in a meaningful way has sort of hamstrung their operation. Of course sram shimano and campagnolo all make ugly finnicky plastic parts today so I guess none of that stuff matters.
Awesome! Old guy here: Love steel frames, love steel forks, love 29 wheels, love Avid BB7 brakes (by SRAM LOL), love flat pedals, love Oury grips, love bar ends, love bike bells, and love single speed drivetrains with giant 1 1/8 bmx chains.
Fantastic. This is how everyone should be able to talk about their bikes: With passion, knowledge and individual preference completely removed from market trends. Subscribed
After years of building and maintaining vintage touring bikes with respect to aesthetics especially, I'm now working on a touring ATB with modern everything. I'm making up for the sin of 1x12 by putting FULL METAL FENDERS on it. Well, and a Fab's Chest atop a rando rack. But I start from fenders and work backwards.
oh I love starting a build with a bike part and just meditating on that part until the vision comes to me --- you will be forgiven --- you willlll be forgiven
I've got 12 speed on my modern flat bar bikes, might as well run that stuff that gives you nice low end gears as well as good top end gears. but the shimano 12 speed shifters have been pretty unreliable for me. I have one more stocked up for when the pawls inevitably wear out my current shifter (#3) but after that I'm swapping to microshift thumbies.
I love campy 10 speed levers with 8 speed Shimano rear derailleur, chain and cassette. Heaps cheap, but the braking feel is exquisite and gear changes are spot on. Been using it for about 15 years and love it. The silver components look great on steel frames and it is pretty light.
@@baritone777 esatto! 10s campi and 8s shimano have the same cable pull (2.8mm). hence you can use the campi brifters with an 8s shimano cassette (or sram or sunrace etc) and whatever old school shimano rear derailler (the indicated "gears" of the derailler don't really matter).
10 speed campy is great but unfortunately if you ride a lot it requires a ton of maintenance. Requires new G springs annually and spring carriers every two years. Campy redesigned the shifter with more durable internals in 2008 using diaphragm/clutch springs and star ratchets which was a huge win for people riding enough to need the annual rebuild. More casual riders will need the rebuild eventually and the availability of small parts is diminishing. Ten years ago I could get all the parts from Branford or Q but that was already well past the time when manufacturing stopped.
@@threeinoneoil oh, I wasn't aware of that, but I also don't ride that much with the shimagnolo bike. The redesign you're speaking about, for which components did it happen? Newer 10s campy? Or directly to the 11s? Or?
@@jimmybonetti the 11 speed shifters got the update. There have been several different iterationd of lower tier ten speed. Some have the star ratchets and others have a completely different and simplified system.
I am so old, I remember when Shimano Deore was a top of the line group set. I have an older friction/SIS Deore set waiting for a build. Which is from when it was top of the line. I'm also planning on upgrading my 8 speed aluminum hybrid to an 11 speed using Deore components which are supposedly entry level stuff. But they look pretty advanced to me. And the price is right brand new right out of the box. Building bikes with all of the components available today is awesome!!!
I must say that you have been a big influence on my personal tastes in regards to how I build my bikes for a long time. I believe it was one of your first features on John Prolly's old blog that made me want to tinker with my Dad's '89 Redline I inherited. I cut up strips of some cloth napkins depicting jaguars in the jungle and wrapped the old Suntour XCD 6000 brake levers so I could have some Ronnie-esque swagger. Fast forward to now, I have built dozens of vintage resto-mod bikes and am the supervisor of the service dept. at an awesome shop. I definitely owe much of my inspiration to you, so thank you!
Nice mix of components, on these thoughtful builds, many "classic" like you say. I like the sentimental value of the XTR - good a reason as any to have a particular part on your bike.
Thank You ... I feel so much better about my "overly obsessive" bike building choices and assemblage. guess I'm gonna have to start "like'n" E-Bay more 🤷♂️
Really good info Ronnie. Great video topic. I hope you have another in the queue regarding how to cyclo tour correctly. What stuff do I bring, and how do I pack it?
Square taper is really good. Smooth turning and no maintenance. Install one in five minutes, ride for years in terrible conditions and they're fine. External T47 and BCA are both fine but you get a wider Q factor, they're less durable (although still pretty reliable) and somewhat more complex to install. Square taper can creak but you can usually silence them very quickly.
i hope my tour divide bike is up to your standards... since you're the one building it. also, thank you for being such an opiniated nerd about bike builds so i don't have to. i think you're really cute and i like all your videos. big fan here.
I recently switched the rim breaks on my used bike I bought a couple months ago to Shram Rival breaks, and they work great,... But I have noticed a lot of black helicopters following me around lately.
You are now my favorite Phred! The most nostalgic piece on my bike, a 1986 Schwinn Cimarron, would be my Dia-Compe SS-5 levers. I lusted after them in the Nashbar catalog, and now I have them!
Just stumbled across your video… so rad!! I’ve been doing similar build for a little while and it feels so good to make stuff work that everyone else (SRAM!!) says is impossible! Like MTB rear mech with road shifter on a gravel bike… 27.5 wheels on old school 26er frames… love it! Wish I could share a picture of my latest build to get your thoughts!
Hey ronald, even though i do love each and every one of your bikes you show on the interweb, i do think your philosophy that the more you replace/deviate from stock on a bike, the more it becomes yours, shouldnt be as prominent as it is. I agree with some parts of it, but with that ideology i do notice a horribly pretentious side of the alt cycling movement that detests a bike that isnt some legendary bridgestone with ultralight steel tubing and paul brakes or a high end rivendell or crust build. I dont really think that really fits with the name "alt cycling". Alt cycling should be more oriented towards fixing up a crusty old mountain bike you got for free just because and having fun with that, similar to the klunker movement in the 80s. Im rambling now but to summarize, alt cyclists wanted to deviate from big corporations and expensive high ticket items, but it seems like the majority of the movement is now sucking up just to smaller companies instead of the likes of specialized and trek.
good ole metal, nothing else… Japanese Tititanium. I like that idea. Went for frame shifters, shimano sante on my soma saga. Great inspiring video. Thanks a lot 🚲
The first four minutes are pure gold! The bike industry... Honestly, the whole freakin' thing is pure man. I AM Grav Dad! Your promotional video can be to Iron Man. Seriously though, I am really liking the new collab mod. The direct mount Paul center pulls would be just so good. If it happens I will be in the running.
That old timey equipment reminds me of my mtb days back in the early 80;s. Mostly great memories except for the Brooks saddles, I'm still suffering from ptsd due to those saddle shaped objects.. Thanks for your contribution in keeping old tech alive, I'll just admire from afar though and keep rolling on carbon and shifting with electrons.
A Man living with one bike. 😮More discipline than I. I tried it once, but once I had it perfect with all the parts I like and no need to acquire one more piece of bike kit what was I supposed to do? Just ride and maintain one bike with nothing to complain about? Far too satisfying. I need more turmoil. I need to believe the bike companies and all the riders are wrong. I believe the perfect bike for you is unattainable and you’ll only get close if you try them all. We’ll all die long before the secret is unlocked.
We have a lot in common. I'm 7 and 8 speed biased. Square taper is best. Microshift not bad for new builds, but better to go with these classic components when possible. You can always do either friction or indexed microshift with a 2x8 wide. Cantilevers once set up are more reliable than the Vs. Interesting that you did the pull ratio mismatch without using a ratio converter adapter. JTek makes nice ones though if you need to run mismatches, but you have to be okay with that pulley sticking out behind the derailleur. That said sometimes it lets you run right angle cable and that can be a neater look.
Visual appearance of your bike is great! I like friction shifters too. I've been using them from 1978. In the 90s I tried indexed but they were horrifying parts. Nine speed is the best... 11through46 cassette with a 32t chainring for my 29+ ATB and a 38t chainring for my 38x700c ATB. I've got my old and trusty Carradice Super C saddle bag. I like my finnish army issue 1 liter bottle. I keep it in my bag so I stop to drink and admire some scenery.
my main complaint with brooks is that the rail placement and shortness makes it so so challenging to fit them to a frame sized around a modern saddle. I love my brooks but they place me way too far forward and bother my ankles/knees on any bikes with clipless pedals. They work okay on flat pedals, but like you, I'm about 50/50 on when I prefer one or the other.
I really enjoy that you're still using the old school cantilever breaks which I tend to leave on all my old school Gary Fisher chromoly builds if those parts will still work, your bike is an all-day rider it's looks fantastic I bet it rides even better!!
my favorite modern feature might be clutches on rear derailleurs. unfortunately they are almost exlusively found on ugly and 1x-specific derailleurs (of which i own a couple) but if you could wave a magic wand to add a clutch with an on/off switch to any vintage rear derailleur, that would be quite nice...
It hit me so funny when you said you always win gold when you compete whilst pointing at your bike with a stick. I don’t know why but I’m cracking up!😂
Love the sound honestly, would rather listen to nature instead of spys zooming around though lol I am pretty short, 163cm so yeah I'm rocking 155s for crank arms and it's night and day difference for me! I have no clue why S/XS bikes come with longer cranks so I'm happy for this being en vogue just so we all have more options for more comfy rides :D
To my surprise, I agree with most of this. I love the look of old bikes and components, but modern tech is so nice to ride with. I wish there were silver dropper posts on the market. Recently I became an owner of a frankenstein: custom made Columbus Zona drop bar frame for 700c x 42mm tire (can fit max 50 mm, or 650b x 2.25), but with 67 degree head angle and 1165 mm wheelbase. Internal routing for dropper post and steel fork with lugged crown and nicely bent blades. Small diameter of frame tubing, subdued paint color and lugged fork make it look like Ye Olde Bicycle. But 150 mm dropper post, Hope four piston brakes, long, low slack geometry and, yes, Cava Race tyres make it a shredder. Also, a Nitto R14 rear rack. Drivetrain is GRX 2x11 with 44-28 chainrings (T.A.) and 11-34 casette. Bottom brackets... If they don't break for you, square taper are certainly better. Back in the day, when I was working as bike messenger, typical life span of square taper bb was 3 to 6 months, before axle broke or got bent. Surely we were not using high end stuff. Basic shimano tourney/altus class were quite ok, anything non-branded was soft as butter. Today I have one bike with square taper and two with hollowtech. All are fine, though hollowtech is more maintenance heavy.
As an Ex Messenger (Exnger) and occasional track rider, I tried going down the modern route, mostly after Messengering, but also when I was starting out in that game. Broke every Aluminium Bike I ever owned and cracked carbonee. And never even used Hollowtech as a Messenger, yet wore it out 3 times during a period when I rode less for a few years post messing. Less is more, steel can be fixed, Square taper can potentially last decades. One regret from my Messenger days is I never really rode a geared bike after the first year. Or used a rack. But then I'm old enough to have transported paper contracts and film or video reels. These days a lot more of it is heavier goods. Maybe I'm getting old all of a sudden, but like Ronnie of Ronsbikes.Ron I grew up with early 90s mountain bikes as my first love. I did try and get into suspension, but rigid is much more fun.
@@tmagee27 Actually, I remember carrying video and movie reels as well. We had a contract with cinema network, so yeah. Square taper can last for years, in hollowtech you replace bearings once per two seasons. I prefer square taper for road and gravel bikes and hollowtech for trail/enduro bikes.
Same. Pinion drive, hydraulic discs, leather saddle, front rack with basket, dad bike handle bars all selected for form and function. I can’t say I will ever look fondly on rim brakes, front derailleurs, or cycling in sandals.
That's a great idea, the dummy ring because of logs! Hadn't yet considered the need for tubeless ready rims to be compatible with rim brakes. Always something good to learn!
Great video! Watch out for those SRAM 'copters. Shimano probably has drones........Campy probably has a swarthy guy on a Vespa scoping you out. He's probably got a bota bag slung over one shoulder and a Ducati sticker proudly displayed somewhere.
Can't get enough of your stuff. What is the cool looking collar clamp on the grav dad bike? Currently working on an all polished alu gary fisher cnc style project and it would go perfect with it. Will also grab some grey ultradino's I think and have no black! Thanks for the inspiration
Always love the aesthetic of the way you edit! Thank you for sharing! would you be able to exchange some of your notes with me regarding my first hopefully large tour? I am planning on touring across country, I am with the pre nervousness; with bags packed, but no real time frame, and no real plan other then to bike that way. Before I push off, and leave the comforts of comforts, I am thinking I should change things about the bike (saddle, bars, grips, all the stuff one could want to change), instead of just going with it the way it is. I have a lovely 82 Nishiki continental with drop bars on it right now, I have not ridden a different anything, so I don't know what I am missing... perhaps its just simply being too in my head, and its completely fine the way it is... ? I have some side pull 'shimano 600' breaks I am hoping to upgrade... do you have some favourites or ones you'd use if you were stuck with the search for long reach side pull? I would also like to go wider on the tires, but think i am pretty limited to max 35mm , I am at 32mm at the moment. Would making the increase to 35 be noteworthy? all you can be is where you are, if writing back happens to be that, awesome, if not, I understand also! May peace be with ya!
@@chonclark no particular issue with the XTR M900 triple FD on a double wide range setup. I keep a 38 chainring as bashguard to avoid any drop of the chain though, because the limit screw goes not far enough for me. I recently saw on the Radavist that John Watson uses a similar XTR FD on his Bruce Gordon Monster Cross, and it seems to work with a 26-46 crankset!
Ronnie--important question here. What BB spindle length are you using with those bad boys? Would love to run those cranks but am worried about guessing wrong and having a whacked out chainline. Appreciate the video as always
I scored a titanium xtr cassette at the salt lake bike collective parts bin for 6 bucks, all I had to do was buy a 8 dollar spacer. Also found a xt rapid rise 9 speed there for under 10. Have you drank the rapid rise coolaid?
I am waiting on Grant's rapid rise he is working on, really hope it happens ---- the other ones look too strange to me, but the m953 has a nice look -- just don't come across them too often. I will admit that I was full tech bro when they were current, and everyone treated them like they were Shimano's biggest mistake ever, and I believed them. that and I was into grip shift still.
Really looking forward to your video on brakes. Hoping you will spend some time on center pulls. Do they mount like road caliper brakes and also on the braze-on mounts on the fork/seat stays like cantis? If the latter, wouldn't they be flipped? I don't get it.
I never thought about the cassette tolerances being to tight and hard to clean. Reminds me of the loose tolerances of a certain Russian-made rifle and its resulting legendary reliablity.
Set up my 93’ Cannondale m2000 like this with mars 26’’ literal aluminum cruiser bars, titanium brooks and Ti seatpost, about 24 lbs and im riding in maximum dirt surfer comfort
sick! the idea of the lightweight cruiser is lost on a lot of folks --- makes a huge difference in being able to cruise beyond cruising speeds --- not to mention taking it on a bike hike
Longtime listener, long time commentor. Love your videos, especially the one with the background music😜- but(novice question coming) I have a 2007 Gary fisher, paragon platinum frame, and it has that Shimano XTR, do you just hate them for their redundancy(xtr)? Or is it just it was an inflated buck for a little bang? Just curious. Thx neighbor for the videos!
I have to admit that I didn't fully get the campy/freehub/rear derailleur bit. Do you run the shimano 8speed rear derailleur with the campy 10speed grifter and a 10 speed HG cassette?
the brain of the system is in the shifters --- so I have found that they work with any rear der within reason. I could do a separate video on the conversion. it works really nice! 8 speed cassette (can still find new ones), 8-9 speed chain, and 10 speed shifters ---- and any ol' derailleur.
I'm looking into a new build with a 2x9 similar to what you're doing, but I haven't pulled the trigger on any of the XT or XTR 9 speed stuff on eBay yet because I'm terrified that it'll be broken or won't shift right or something.... Guess I just gotta take the plunge.
New subscriber! I love your commentary. Might I suggest wearing a lavalier mic or setting up a shotgun to capture the lovely nature sounds along with your voice? Would love to hear you in more detail!
Ok - I gotta ask.... your thoughts on the XT derllrs, hubs an such? I perused the cooments but dint see anyof the ilk. I wreckon that you wreckon theyre in the second loser category?! ...🏆. I like your take on the "just-try-it" til it works ethos of kit bashing. Didn't evn think Shim+Campy could duet-harmony like that - luvit! Currently trying my Suntour/Shimano-ey mish-mash (w/Sram cassette : / ) to harmonize on my old Kuwahara (Tange tube) sleeper. Lots of Kuwies up here in Kanada. BUT thinking on the switch to XT (XTR?) upon your recommendation! Luv yur videos - very entertaining. Keep working on that sound!
Hey Ron on the Crust website the Crust Rims recommeded tire width is 42-48mm but you're running 2.2 should I worry if Im planing on doing the same? Or not sweat it.
Hey Ron, thanks for the video. Can you tell me about your shifter handlebar mounts? I’m having trouble finding some except for at Rivbike. How do you search for them?
Ron, I live way up north where we get snow 9 months out of the year. For me, the Pinion drivetrain and belt drive has changed my riding style completely. I don’t fear salt and ice build up like I used to. What do you thinks of pinion and belt drives?
That was entertaining and inspiring at the same time. I recently bought a 90s rebellato road bike with campagnolo athena and ever since ím wondering how i can manage to turn this into my own bike without destroying its historical roots.
Enjoyed your video and really admired your custom. I have had many bikes over the years and my best one is my 1989 Giant Super Sierra MTB. It is still in its original form and dont want to butcher it. I want to build a new bike from ground up for fitness only and able to do gravel and bitumen averaging 400km per week. I prefer flat bar and CrMo frames. So, I am starting to make a list and see where it goes with $$. I am based in Australia and the frame builders are very scarce here, I may end up buying from a larger manufacturer though. Any thoughts?
i like the mashup of different branded components. also Ron! how do jorts feel on long rides? as someone sucked into the chammy lycra world, it's hard to imagine sitting on something without adequate padding.
Square taper ❤ It's either that when the tyres are below 50mm or maybe early 2000s Shimano XT cranks with the hollowtech 2 when the tyres are above 50mm. I like 1x tho cuz I live in the flat land of Belgium so a FD is just ballast. 9 speeds, maybe 10 on MTB is all I need
Proper cycling content ☺️…..Brooks are great….I’d recommend carrying a spare tension bolt….if you have the posh titanium saddle with weird bolt then just use a filed down flared nut to fit that weird hole 🤗Sheldon FTW also ☺️👊🏻
I was fiddling with the avid tri align brakes on my old kona this weekend. I do miss the trill of riding canti brakes and really having to judge your stopping distance. Modern disk u just kinda have to grab the brakes for a second to drop speed.
This bike is similar to my 1980's mountain bike. Cantis look so much nicer than V brakes. Totally agree with the shifters. Perfect. And 9 speed is fine, people need to stop treating every ride like a race. What are your thoughts on single speed?
I want to return value to these classic gems. However, as i ride modern bikes, i can see the why they are versatile. However, there is still the N+1 formula, where you are always curious on building a arsenal of bikes. When you ride soft, gravel, paved, green trails, you require less to enjoy your ride. Also, you don't want to take your long travel on the casual ride because they are just bad at pedaling. So riding is about luxury and that can be a personal trait.
Dry lube. Not a component but keeps things all shiny down below. Much less crud creeping up the spokes of the rear centrifuge and spoiling my tan walls
@ultraromance - Your bike looks a lot how my 1983 Schwinn High Sierra was setup stock. Major difference is your bars. The High Sierra was fast on the road and the trail. Jeez wish I never got rid of that.
the audio mixing on every ultraromance video is basically a disaster, and i love it.
lol, and I thought this one was maybe a little better? the sram helicopters didn't help
@@ultraromance please, wear a mic, the true must be spread correctly
its like someone talking softly behind a "RELAXING FOREST SOUNDS - birds, crickets" video
@@ultraromance no worries - it’s all part of the charm :P
@@ultraromance nice one there
I would have to say the greatest innovation in modern bicycle componentry is the oil slick finish. Nothing says classy and timeless like turning your bicycle into a gas station novelty knife.
haaaaa, thanks for that. we will definitely be looking up "oil slick finish" on eBay in 20 years and be automaticaly directed to Alibaba
I have a pair of oilslick supacaz bar end plugs and I feel personally attacked, and now I hate them :D
@@Mattebodra me too. but people are definitely over doing it now.
@@roguecode2354 with extremely pricey half anodized crankset?
@Mattebodra I wish mines just plain silver.
I appreciate you support the ebay sellers of the world. Buying person to person (albeit through a mega-tech-corp) is such a positive thing we regular joes can do in this crazy bing bong world. keep it rubber side down hoss
LED lights are the best innovation. No more squinting through the darkness and hoping the filament in the bulb doesn't go pop.
Enjoyed watching a stranger describe his idiosyncratic bike opinions surprisingly a lot. Two things to mention though: Campagnolo did make low level components and groupsets starting with the budget valentino derailleur and culminating in the plastic xenon gruppo. Veloce also kind of sat in the budget zone. Second thing is that thanks to all the Tourney/Sora/Claris money, Shimano was able to make the mid-high tier components so good and so affordable. Campy's general refusal to go downmarket in a meaningful way has sort of hamstrung their operation. Of course sram shimano and campagnolo all make ugly finnicky plastic parts today so I guess none of that stuff matters.
Awesome! Old guy here: Love steel frames, love steel forks, love 29 wheels, love Avid BB7 brakes (by SRAM LOL), love flat pedals, love Oury grips, love bar ends, love bike bells, and love single speed drivetrains with giant 1 1/8 bmx chains.
i love clipless, but i hate being seen in those shoes 😅
Fantastic. This is how everyone should be able to talk about their bikes: With passion, knowledge and individual preference completely removed from market trends. Subscribed
This video simulates when a guy on the group ride is going on about gear and you’re just listening to the birds
After years of building and maintaining vintage touring bikes with respect to aesthetics especially, I'm now working on a touring ATB with modern everything. I'm making up for the sin of 1x12 by putting FULL METAL FENDERS on it. Well, and a Fab's Chest atop a rando rack. But I start from fenders and work backwards.
oh I love starting a build with a bike part and just meditating on that part until the vision comes to me --- you will be forgiven --- you willlll be forgiven
12 speed is for sinners
@@Kyleridesbikess just wait for 13 speed 😈 🤘
I've got 12 speed on my modern flat bar bikes, might as well run that stuff that gives you nice low end gears as well as good top end gears. but the shimano 12 speed shifters have been pretty unreliable for me. I have one more stocked up for when the pawls inevitably wear out my current shifter (#3) but after that I'm swapping to microshift thumbies.
great to hear the Sheldon Brown shout out
I love campy 10 speed levers with 8 speed Shimano rear derailleur, chain and cassette. Heaps cheap, but the braking feel is exquisite and gear changes are spot on. Been using it for about 15 years and love it. The silver components look great on steel frames and it is pretty light.
Ok, so am I to understand that a Campy 10s brifter actually *indexes* with a Shimano 8s cassette?
@@baritone777 esatto! 10s campi and 8s shimano have the same cable pull (2.8mm). hence you can use the campi brifters with an 8s shimano cassette (or sram or sunrace etc) and whatever old school shimano rear derailler (the indicated "gears" of the derailler don't really matter).
10 speed campy is great but unfortunately if you ride a lot it requires a ton of maintenance. Requires new G springs annually and spring carriers every two years. Campy redesigned the shifter with more durable internals in 2008 using diaphragm/clutch springs and star ratchets which was a huge win for people riding enough to need the annual rebuild. More casual riders will need the rebuild eventually and the availability of small parts is diminishing. Ten years ago I could get all the parts from Branford or Q but that was already well past the time when manufacturing stopped.
@@threeinoneoil oh, I wasn't aware of that, but I also don't ride that much with the shimagnolo bike. The redesign you're speaking about, for which components did it happen? Newer 10s campy? Or directly to the 11s? Or?
@@jimmybonetti the 11 speed shifters got the update. There have been several different iterationd of lower tier ten speed. Some have the star ratchets and others have a completely different and simplified system.
I love how unique and just YOU you are dude, keep it wild and wonderful
I am so old, I remember when Shimano Deore was a top of the line group set. I have an older friction/SIS Deore set waiting for a build. Which is from when it was top of the line. I'm also planning on upgrading my 8 speed aluminum hybrid to an 11 speed using Deore components which are supposedly entry level stuff. But they look pretty advanced to me. And the price is right brand new right out of the box. Building bikes with all of the components available today is awesome!!!
I must say that you have been a big influence on my personal tastes in regards to how I build my bikes for a long time. I believe it was one of your first features on John Prolly's old blog that made me want to tinker with my Dad's '89 Redline I inherited. I cut up strips of some cloth napkins depicting jaguars in the jungle and wrapped the old Suntour XCD 6000 brake levers so I could have some Ronnie-esque swagger. Fast forward to now, I have built dozens of vintage resto-mod bikes and am the supervisor of the service dept. at an awesome shop. I definitely owe much of my inspiration to you, so thank you!
Very nice rides Ron.
“New bandana who dis?”
My favorite modern day components are the dynamic bandana saddle bag and the dropper post.
choice choices!
Nice mix of components, on these thoughtful builds, many "classic" like you say. I like the sentimental value of the XTR - good a reason as any to have a particular part on your bike.
the sram-copter was perfection. really no other way to have ended this masterpiece.
Someone should made a sram copter sticker
The sram eagles are hunting for him.
Thank You ... I feel so much better about my "overly obsessive" bike building choices and assemblage.
guess I'm gonna have to start "like'n" E-Bay more 🤷♂️
Really good info Ronnie. Great video topic. I hope you have another in the queue regarding how to cyclo tour correctly. What stuff do I bring, and how do I pack it?
This was a fun one, Ron. Gotta love those XTR cassettes with two recycled Snow Peak plates for the big rings.
Square taper is really good. Smooth turning and no maintenance. Install one in five minutes, ride for years in terrible conditions and they're fine. External T47 and BCA are both fine but you get a wider Q factor, they're less durable (although still pretty reliable) and somewhat more complex to install. Square taper can creak but you can usually silence them very quickly.
Bikes what bike? My wife said this video is about shorts!
@ultraromance are the swrve duck canvas still your short of choice?
That XTR M95x surely shifts like butter.
i hope my tour divide bike is up to your standards... since you're the one building it. also, thank you for being such an opiniated nerd about bike builds so i don't have to. i think you're really cute and i like all your videos. big fan here.
I recently switched the rim breaks on my used bike I bought a couple months ago to Shram Rival breaks, and they work great,... But I have noticed a lot of black helicopters following me around lately.
Keep preaching the gospel, mr jeseus lookalike bike dude!
You are now my favorite Phred!
The most nostalgic piece on my bike, a 1986 Schwinn Cimarron, would be my Dia-Compe SS-5 levers. I lusted after them in the Nashbar catalog, and now I have them!
Just stumbled across your video… so rad!! I’ve been doing similar build for a little while and it feels so good to make stuff work that everyone else (SRAM!!) says is impossible! Like MTB rear mech with road shifter on a gravel bike… 27.5 wheels on old school 26er frames… love it!
Wish I could share a picture of my latest build to get your thoughts!
Hey ronald, even though i do love each and every one of your bikes you show on the interweb, i do think your philosophy that the more you replace/deviate from stock on a bike, the more it becomes yours, shouldnt be as prominent as it is. I agree with some parts of it, but with that ideology i do notice a horribly pretentious side of the alt cycling movement that detests a bike that isnt some legendary bridgestone with ultralight steel tubing and paul brakes or a high end rivendell or crust build. I dont really think that really fits with the name "alt cycling". Alt cycling should be more oriented towards fixing up a crusty old mountain bike you got for free just because and having fun with that, similar to the klunker movement in the 80s. Im rambling now but to summarize, alt cyclists wanted to deviate from big corporations and expensive high ticket items, but it seems like the majority of the movement is now sucking up just to smaller companies instead of the likes of specialized and trek.
Good points. Just change klunker movement to the 70s🏁
good ole metal, nothing else… Japanese Tititanium. I like that idea.
Went for frame shifters, shimano sante on my soma saga.
Great inspiring video. Thanks a lot 🚲
The first four minutes are pure gold! The bike industry... Honestly, the whole freakin' thing is pure man. I AM Grav Dad! Your promotional video can be to Iron Man. Seriously though, I am really liking the new collab mod. The direct mount Paul center pulls would be just so good. If it happens I will be in the running.
That old timey equipment reminds me of my mtb days back in the early 80;s. Mostly great memories except for the Brooks saddles, I'm still suffering from ptsd due to those saddle shaped objects.. Thanks for your contribution in keeping old tech alive, I'll just admire from afar though and keep rolling on carbon and shifting with electrons.
A Man living with one bike. 😮More discipline than I.
I tried it once, but once I had it perfect with all the parts I like and no need to acquire one more piece of bike kit what was I supposed to do? Just ride and maintain one bike with nothing to complain about? Far too satisfying. I need more turmoil. I need to believe the bike companies and all the riders are wrong. I believe the perfect bike for you is unattainable and you’ll only get close if you try them all. We’ll all die long before the secret is unlocked.
We have a lot in common. I'm 7 and 8 speed biased. Square taper is best. Microshift not bad for new builds, but better to go with these classic components when possible. You can always do either friction or indexed microshift with a 2x8 wide. Cantilevers once set up are more reliable than the Vs.
Interesting that you did the pull ratio mismatch without using a ratio converter adapter. JTek makes nice ones though if you need to run mismatches, but you have to be okay with that pulley sticking out behind the derailleur. That said sometimes it lets you run right angle cable and that can be a neater look.
Favorite tech in the last 5 years - remote microphones with wind muff.
Thanks Ron! Perfectly-timed insight for a long-awaited build I’m embarking upon. 🌻🍃🍄
Visual appearance of your bike is great! I like friction shifters too. I've been using them from 1978. In the 90s I tried indexed but they were horrifying parts. Nine speed is the best... 11through46 cassette with a 32t chainring for my 29+ ATB and a 38t chainring for my 38x700c ATB. I've got my old and trusty Carradice Super C saddle bag. I like my finnish army issue 1 liter bottle. I keep it in my bag so I stop to drink and admire some scenery.
When Ron walks into the frame with the stick in his hand as his pointer is hilarious 😅
my main complaint with brooks is that the rail placement and shortness makes it so so challenging to fit them to a frame sized around a modern saddle. I love my brooks but they place me way too far forward and bother my ankles/knees on any bikes with clipless pedals. They work okay on flat pedals, but like you, I'm about 50/50 on when I prefer one or the other.
I really enjoy that you're still using the old school cantilever breaks which I tend to leave on all my old school Gary Fisher chromoly builds if those parts will still work, your bike is an all-day rider it's looks fantastic I bet it rides even better!!
my favorite modern feature might be clutches on rear derailleurs. unfortunately they are almost exlusively found on ugly and 1x-specific derailleurs (of which i own a couple) but if you could wave a magic wand to add a clutch with an on/off switch to any vintage rear derailleur, that would be quite nice...
Sound of silence or ugly..pick one.
I will never go without a Clutch again. There are Options for 2x with the Shimano grx.
great video, I hope more people get into your kind of biking
It hit me so funny when you said you always win gold when you compete whilst pointing at your bike with a stick. I don’t know why but I’m cracking up!😂
Shimano x9 was the pinnacle of MTB shifting, especially the dual-control XTR that they discontinued. Been 'downgrading' my bikes to that standard.
Love the sound honestly, would rather listen to nature instead of spys zooming around though lol
I am pretty short, 163cm so yeah I'm rocking 155s for crank arms and it's night and day difference for me! I have no clue why S/XS bikes come with longer cranks so I'm happy for this being en vogue just so we all have more options for more comfy rides :D
Which 155mm crank? I recently bought a 160mm crank (from SpaCycles in England), and that was the smallest size. I'm 165cm tall
Great video Ron I'll be waiting for the upcoming brake video!!!
To my surprise, I agree with most of this.
I love the look of old bikes and components, but modern tech is so nice to ride with. I wish there were silver dropper posts on the market.
Recently I became an owner of a frankenstein: custom made Columbus Zona drop bar frame for 700c x 42mm tire (can fit max 50 mm, or 650b x 2.25), but with 67 degree head angle and 1165 mm wheelbase. Internal routing for dropper post and steel fork with lugged crown and nicely bent blades.
Small diameter of frame tubing, subdued paint color and lugged fork make it look like Ye Olde Bicycle. But 150 mm dropper post, Hope four piston brakes, long, low slack geometry and, yes, Cava Race tyres make it a shredder. Also, a Nitto R14 rear rack. Drivetrain is GRX 2x11 with 44-28 chainrings (T.A.) and 11-34 casette.
Bottom brackets... If they don't break for you, square taper are certainly better. Back in the day, when I was working as bike messenger, typical life span of square taper bb was 3 to 6 months, before axle broke or got bent. Surely we were not using high end stuff. Basic shimano tourney/altus class were quite ok, anything non-branded was soft as butter. Today I have one bike with square taper and two with hollowtech. All are fine, though hollowtech is more maintenance heavy.
As an Ex Messenger (Exnger) and occasional track rider, I tried going down the modern route, mostly after Messengering, but also when I was starting out in that game. Broke every Aluminium Bike I ever owned and cracked carbonee. And never even used Hollowtech as a Messenger, yet wore it out 3 times during a period when I rode less for a few years post messing. Less is more, steel can be fixed, Square taper can potentially last decades. One regret from my Messenger days is I never really rode a geared bike after the first year. Or used a rack. But then I'm old enough to have transported paper contracts and film or video reels. These days a lot more of it is heavier goods.
Maybe I'm getting old all of a sudden, but like Ronnie of Ronsbikes.Ron I grew up with early 90s mountain bikes as my first love. I did try and get into suspension, but rigid is much more fun.
@@tmagee27
Actually, I remember carrying video and movie reels as well. We had a contract with cinema network, so yeah.
Square taper can last for years, in hollowtech you replace bearings once per two seasons. I prefer square taper for road and gravel bikes and hollowtech for trail/enduro bikes.
I have a pinion drive train, hydraulic brakes and a dropper post but Ronnie still has my heart
💕 and you have mine!
Same. Pinion drive, hydraulic discs, leather saddle, front rack with basket, dad bike handle bars all selected for form and function. I can’t say I will ever look fondly on rim brakes, front derailleurs, or cycling in sandals.
I like your philosophy, Ronnie. You should write a book.
That's a great idea, the dummy ring because of logs! Hadn't yet considered the need for tubeless ready rims to be compatible with rim brakes. Always something good to learn!
A longer axle would align the chainline better, I expect.
The nature sounds are such an important thematic element
Great video! Watch out for those SRAM 'copters. Shimano probably has drones........Campy probably has a swarthy guy on a Vespa scoping you out. He's probably got a bota bag slung over one shoulder and a Ducati sticker proudly displayed somewhere.
On a rainy day he'll be in a fiat with Ferrari badging...
this is helpful for me to keep and eye out for. glad we have a global support group
Can't get enough of your stuff. What is the cool looking collar clamp on the grav dad bike? Currently working on an all polished alu gary fisher cnc style project and it would go perfect with it. Will also grab some grey ultradino's I think and have no black! Thanks for the inspiration
What an incredible channel ! Thanks ! LMAO about Sram coming for you x) Cheers from France
What stem are you rocking with your ortho bars?
Always love the aesthetic of the way you edit! Thank you for sharing!
would you be able to exchange some of your notes with me regarding my first hopefully large tour?
I am planning on touring across country, I am with the pre nervousness; with bags packed, but no real time frame, and no real plan other then to bike that way. Before I push off, and leave the comforts of comforts, I am thinking I should change things about the bike (saddle, bars, grips, all the stuff one could want to change), instead of just going with it the way it is. I have a lovely 82 Nishiki continental with drop bars on it right now, I have not ridden a different anything, so I don't know what I am missing... perhaps its just simply being too in my head, and its completely fine the way it is... ?
I have some side pull 'shimano 600' breaks I am hoping to upgrade... do you have some favourites or ones you'd use if you were stuck with the search for long reach side pull? I would also like to go wider on the tires, but think i am pretty limited to max 35mm , I am at 32mm at the moment. Would making the increase to 35 be noteworthy?
all you can be is where you are, if writing back happens to be that, awesome, if not, I understand also!
May peace be with ya!
Great video. Love the editing. Love the passion in the video.
An Oval chain ring is new tech for my bicycle, very effective it is.
I have experimented and enjoyed the new oval stuff
I’ve mounted an XTR M900 triple front derailleur with a double 20-36 crank setup, and it work pretty smooth in my opinion.
did you run into any issues? looking to go 24-34-36 - trying to learn. thanks!
@@chonclark no particular issue with the XTR M900 triple FD on a double wide range setup. I keep a 38 chainring as bashguard to avoid any drop of the chain though, because the limit screw goes not far enough for me. I recently saw on the Radavist that John Watson uses a similar XTR FD on his Bruce Gordon Monster Cross, and it seems to work with a 26-46 crankset!
Ronnie--important question here. What BB spindle length are you using with those bad boys? Would love to run those cranks but am worried about guessing wrong and having a whacked out chainline. Appreciate the video as always
Please for all that is holy put some downtube shifter bosses on that proto. Too good.
King Cages are like $25. My $7 Bontrager ones have been great last 7 years. I do dig my nerdy King one, too.😊
Need to find those old Superbyke cages.
I scored a titanium xtr cassette at the salt lake bike collective parts bin for 6 bucks, all I had to do was buy a 8 dollar spacer. Also found a xt rapid rise 9 speed there for under 10. Have you drank the rapid rise coolaid?
I am waiting on Grant's rapid rise he is working on, really hope it happens ---- the other ones look too strange to me, but the m953 has a nice look -- just don't come across them too often. I will admit that I was full tech bro when they were current, and everyone treated them like they were Shimano's biggest mistake ever, and I believed them. that and I was into grip shift still.
I notice you keep your handlebar height just below saddle height. Is that by design?
Tubeless is the best new innovation! I'm always trying to convert tubers!
This^
I could be wrong but I believe Stan’s had tubeless and patents in 1999, it just became popular now.
Are snakebite flats really that common?
@@Fetherko flat protection is secondary to the ride quality a good set of tubeless tires provide. Everything from suspension to traction.
For the flavor of cyclin' I enjoy, I gotta go with the dropper post. Tubeless is a darn close second.
Great video!!! Lots of cool info. Thanks.
Really looking forward to your video on brakes. Hoping you will spend some time on center pulls. Do they mount like road caliper brakes and also on the braze-on mounts on the fork/seat stays like cantis? If the latter, wouldn't they be flipped? I don't get it.
I never thought about the cassette tolerances being to tight and hard to clean. Reminds me of the loose tolerances of a certain Russian-made rifle and its resulting legendary reliablity.
Duh! Not to mention that dropouts have to be perfectly paralele
Set up my 93’ Cannondale m2000 like this with mars 26’’ literal aluminum cruiser bars, titanium brooks and Ti seatpost, about 24 lbs and im riding in maximum dirt surfer comfort
sick! the idea of the lightweight cruiser is lost on a lot of folks --- makes a huge difference in being able to cruise beyond cruising speeds --- not to mention taking it on a bike hike
@@ultraromance you have a like to the heart brake yokes?
Longtime listener, long time commentor. Love your videos, especially the one with the background music😜- but(novice question coming) I have a 2007 Gary fisher, paragon platinum frame, and it has that Shimano XTR, do you just hate them for their redundancy(xtr)? Or is it just it was an inflated buck for a little bang?
Just curious. Thx neighbor for the videos!
I have to admit that I didn't fully get the campy/freehub/rear derailleur bit. Do you run the shimano 8speed rear derailleur with the campy 10speed grifter and a 10 speed HG cassette?
the brain of the system is in the shifters --- so I have found that they work with any rear der within reason. I could do a separate video on the conversion. it works really nice! 8 speed cassette (can still find new ones), 8-9 speed chain, and 10 speed shifters ---- and any ol' derailleur.
Ok Ron the 8 speed cassette and the two by on the front , once you shift into the 20 tooth are limited to the range on the cassette ??
I'm looking into a new build with a 2x9 similar to what you're doing, but I haven't pulled the trigger on any of the XT or XTR 9 speed stuff on eBay yet because I'm terrified that it'll be broken or won't shift right or something.... Guess I just gotta take the plunge.
Yeah. You won't learn that in Zinn's manual or the Bicycling Magazine bicycle book.
Look for sellers with 100% rating that sold a lot or bicycle recyclerly site
@@Kyleridesbikess - Great idea!
Ron what’s your take on brakes .. canti versus v-brakes? Aesthetic first but what do you think about Shimano XTRs from the early 90s ? Cheers
This is it!! I found it! Best content on RUclips..
❤
New subscriber! I love your commentary.
Might I suggest wearing a lavalier mic or setting up a shotgun to capture the lovely nature sounds along with your voice?
Would love to hear you in more detail!
if you were a bike I'd ride you.
Ok - I gotta ask.... your thoughts on the XT derllrs, hubs an such? I perused the cooments but dint see anyof the ilk. I wreckon that you wreckon theyre in the second loser category?! ...🏆. I like your take on the "just-try-it" til it works ethos of kit bashing. Didn't evn think Shim+Campy could duet-harmony like that - luvit! Currently trying my Suntour/Shimano-ey mish-mash (w/Sram cassette : / ) to harmonize on my old Kuwahara (Tange tube) sleeper. Lots of Kuwies up here in Kanada. BUT thinking on the switch to XT (XTR?) upon your recommendation! Luv yur videos - very entertaining. Keep working on that sound!
Yes Campy 10 speed! Yes Vintage XTR! , I am running both with a 10 speed cassette by using a shift mate…it works very well.
Hey Ron on the Crust website the Crust Rims recommeded tire width is 42-48mm but you're running 2.2 should I worry if Im planing on doing the same? Or not sweat it.
Hey Ron, thanks for the video. Can you tell me about your shifter handlebar mounts? I’m having trouble finding some except for at Rivbike. How do you search for them?
I am just dying to know-- what is the rear spacing on your Frank the Welder gravel bike? I'm planning to snatch one up as soon as the sale is live...
ooh I like hearing that! it has 135 rear spacing with a 68bb ::: will have my production model built up for Made at the end of the month ---
What are those flower twisty ties that you have on the front of the bike? They seem excellent to wrap around wald baskets
Ron, I live way up north where we get snow 9 months out of the year. For me, the Pinion drivetrain and belt drive has changed my riding style completely. I don’t fear salt and ice build up like I used to. What do you thinks of pinion and belt drives?
That was entertaining and inspiring at the same time. I recently bought a 90s rebellato road bike with campagnolo athena and ever since ím wondering how i can manage to turn this into my own bike without destroying its historical roots.
Tell me what I have to know about setting up a front derailleur. I have tried one swap and could not get it to work at all. *Subscribed!*
Enjoyed your video and really admired your custom.
I have had many bikes over the years and my best one is my 1989 Giant Super Sierra MTB. It is still in its original form and dont want to butcher it.
I want to build a new bike from ground up for fitness only and able to do gravel and bitumen averaging 400km per week. I prefer flat bar and CrMo frames. So, I am starting to make a list and see where it goes with $$. I am based in Australia and the frame builders are very scarce here, I may end up buying from a larger manufacturer though.
Any thoughts?
Thank you for your wisdom Le Ron ❤🌹
Thank you for this video. Great information.👍💯🙏
i like the mashup of different branded components. also Ron! how do jorts feel on long rides? as someone sucked into the chammy lycra world, it's hard to imagine sitting on something without adequate padding.
Square taper ❤
It's either that when the tyres are below 50mm or maybe early 2000s Shimano XT cranks with the hollowtech 2 when the tyres are above 50mm.
I like 1x tho cuz I live in the flat land of Belgium so a FD is just ballast. 9 speeds, maybe 10 on MTB is all I need
Hi Ron, if not tubless, would you put the same PSI into butyl or latex tubes for the Mars Race ?
depending on the terrain, I tend to run roughly 3-5 psi higher with tubes and maybe ride a little more carefully in the chunky stuff.
@@ultraromance thanks, this is what I thought.
Proper cycling content ☺️…..Brooks are great….I’d recommend carrying a spare tension bolt….if you have the posh titanium saddle with weird bolt then just use a filed down flared nut to fit that weird hole 🤗Sheldon FTW also ☺️👊🏻
I was fiddling with the avid tri align brakes on my old kona this weekend. I do miss the trill of riding canti brakes and really having to judge your stopping distance. Modern disk u just kinda have to grab the brakes for a second to drop speed.
This bike is similar to my 1980's mountain bike. Cantis look so much nicer than V brakes.
Totally agree with the shifters. Perfect. And 9 speed is fine, people need to stop treating every ride like a race.
What are your thoughts on single speed?
I want to return value to these classic gems. However, as i ride modern bikes, i can see the why they are versatile. However, there is still the N+1 formula, where you are always curious on building a arsenal of bikes. When you ride soft, gravel, paved, green trails, you require less to enjoy your ride. Also, you don't want to take your long travel on the casual ride because they are just bad at pedaling. So riding is about luxury and that can be a personal trait.
Dry lube. Not a component but keeps things all shiny down below.
Much less crud creeping up the spokes of the rear centrifuge and spoiling my tan walls
@ultraromance - Your bike looks a lot how my 1983 Schwinn High Sierra was setup stock. Major difference is your bars. The High Sierra was fast on the road and the trail. Jeez wish I never got rid of that.
Another fascinating transmission 👏 🌹
Once you get a tubeless tire right, it truly makes all the difference in the world.