Monday, November 23, 2009

The Advice of Experts

On the quest to build a bike, I have decided to engade experts. The alternative was to spend some time reading the internet to understand what the tradeoffs are in picking parts, and then eventually just buying whatever was close to my budget. It works, but it could be better. I think that I am looking for a bike that is better than the sum of its parts. Hopefully the experts can guide me to pieces that are best for me.

I contacted a bike fitter, and started discussing what my options are as far as fitting the bike. This gives me a better idea what to look for as far as getting bars, cranks, gearing, seat. This should make the fitting easier to do.

Now, I really should have talked to a bike fitter first. But at least I found out that I am not so far off on frame size, which is good.

I also contacted a friend/aqauintance/FOAF/second cousin-in-law/smart guy who is into building bikes, and he is willing to answer any techy bike building questions.

Between the two, I should be able to find the parts that have the best fit to me, and still within my budget. As you well know, you can put a stupid amount of money into parts. This project is to get as much good ride out of what I have for budget, and find the best trade-offs. Treat it like engineering, where you are solving the problem at the lowest cost. No shimano DI2, that costs much more than remaining budget.

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