Black Mountain Cycles build-up continued

Since the last work session I made another visit to the bike shop.  I picked up a new front derailleur, tires, bar tape, and some cables/housing.  My previous build had a triple front derailleur and triple STI lever.  But, I ran it as a double with my compact crankset.  It worked... sort of okay.  Shifting to the larger chain ring was slow and took some extra lever effort.  Shifting down to the small chain ring was abrupt, sometimes resulting in a dropped chain.  I decided to go with the right tool for the job and buy a double front derailleur for the Black Mountain Cycles build.  The STI lever, on the other hand... well the left hand to be exact, would remain for now.  Which is an admission of not using the right tool for the job.

Gotta love the new parts smell.

Before mounting tires I serviced both front and rear hubs on my wheels.  The unthinkable happened on the second hub when I fumbled the cup of loose bearings.  Fortunately KT is skilled and persistent in the art of finding spilled ball bearings. We found all the balls, above, below, and around the workbench.

Not a good time for buter fingers.

Speaking of tires, I had quite an exhaustive if not exhausting hunt for the right tires for this ride.  I began with the Clement X'Plor MSO tires on my wish list, moved on to consider Continental Cyclocross Speed tires, and settled on the Clement X'Plor USH tires.  But, not before studying a dozen other tires.  I'm convinced there is no right or wrong choice, only the next choice when it comes to bicycle tires.  Does that make sense?  I'm not sure.  Confusing, like reading specs and reviews while trying to chose a tire.

Ellen works the pump.

This tire choice came down to my intended usage of this bike, which is easy to predict as it will very likely be the same as my previous cross bike:  lots of winter riding on roads strewn with cinders and grime, some gravel and dirt roads (hopefully more in the future), and the occasional ride on snowy back roads.  Knowing I have the option to throw on the Ritchey Speedmax tires I previously rode, they still have some life left in them which is part of the reason to buy new tires now and still have a backup pair, I chose the Clement X'Plor USH tires.  These are a 35mm wide tire, which should fit nicely with fenders.

The "firm center ridge" was the attractive feature.

There are many positive reviews to be found for this tire.

With wheel hubs put back together and tires mounted, I could install the wheels and get to work on aligning brake pads.  I ran new cables to the brakes and setup the straddle cables for a 90 degree angle.

Plenty of clearance for bigger tires, 

or these tires with fenders as I intend to do.

The secret weapon to be deployed for the front brake is a Tektro crown mounted cable hanger I bought from Mike at Black Mountain Cycles with the frameset.  We discussed the poor braking performance of my previous cross bike, which had a upper headset mounted cable hanger, and Mike recommended trying this solution.  The other bike had horrible brake chatter when I was even semi-aggressively stopping.  It's an issue with brake cable stretch and rebound while the pads stick/slip on the rim.  Reducing the length of exposed brake cable should help minimize this effect.

Ready for better front brake performance.

Even with the high stradle cable on the Tektro CR720 brakes, there is enough space for the Tektro cable hanger up front.  This was slightly in question, but it's all good.  When I install fenders I will probably have to raise the straddle carrier for some more clearance.

A third hand.

Turning my attention to the drivetrain, I installed the 105 9 speed rear derailleur and chain from my former bike.  I also installed the new 105 double front derailleur. Then I got busy cutting the housings to just the right length, running cables, and dialing in the derailleur adjustments.  The rear derailleur setup pretty well.  The front continues to be touchy if not slightly demon possessed.

The trouble must be the triple Tiagra shift lever (ST-4400).  I've read of others setting these up to work with doubles and I was able to get it to work but it's borderline.  I have one click for the big chain ring.  I have 3 clicks for the small chain ring, one of which does nothing because the front derailleur has already hit the low limit screw, this is to be expected in this application.  It seems like I should be able to space the shift and trim points to better handle cross chain situations, but I have not figured it out yet.  The chain is not going to fly off but it's not as user friendly as I would like.  Maybe it's time to hunt eBay for a double shift lever.

Chained and derailleurs adjusted... mostly.

The saddle was installed and I was onto the task of bar tape wrapping.  I could make a project of this task alone. It's fun to get the wraps just right and there must be some merit to my technique as I've never had a wrap job separate or unravel.

Rewind to running cables... the following picture shows my choice in routing.  I tried it both ways but ended up liking the overlapping shift cables the best.  There is no rubbing of these cable housings on the head tube while riding straight ahead. I will probably still put some clear protective tape in this area as I usually do.

That's a wrap.

Fender installation will come later, looks like some custom brackets are going to be needed, so there's only one thing left to do... get out and ride it!

Ready to roll!