Black Mountain Cycles build-up

While planning this build I knew there were some components that would not swap between frames and some items I did not want to use on the new Black Mountain Cycles frame.  First up, the head set.  I figured I would leave the headset in my former cross bike frame and sell it with headset included.  Off to the shop for a new headset.

I splurged on a Chris King headset.  Roger let

me use his headset press.  (Yes, I straightened

that upper cup before pressing.)

The job of dismantling the old cross bike was something I looked forward to.  I wanted to clean and service all the parts as I swapped them over.  Daniel was on scene to help me get started.  We cranked up some tunes and got to work in the basement.

Wheels came off and rolled outside for a wash.

Ryan came over later in the day to join in the disassembly work.  We pulled parts, disassembled, and cleaned them.  All the components were functional, nothing broken, damaged or worn out, just in need of a thorough cleaning.

 Pieces and parts.

Road crud on my CR720's from mostly winter riding.

A Google search for something like "Tektro CR720 adjustment" is what led me to Black Mountain Cycles a couple years ago.  I've followed Mike's BMC blog ever since. He does a fine job combining good pictures and text to share bike building and bike riding stories.  I appreciate Mike's attention to detail.

Helper buddy cleaning brake parts.  Good day
to wear the Handy Manny t-shirt!

It was pretty obvious my brake pads were worn out.  Given my troubles in the past with these brakes I decided to upgrade to Kool Stop pads.  I've read plenty of reviews crediting these brake pads for much better brake feel and performance.  We'll see...

Thinline salmons.

The first part to be threaded onto the new frame was an Octalink bottom bracket for my Ritchey Pro compact crankset.  This crankset was a bit of a question for compatibility with the frame.  Mike happened to have the same crankset on his road bike, and he was able to take some measurements on the cranks to conclude they will work on the monster cross frameset.  The concern was chainline and chainstay clearance.  After install, I can report it is all good.

 Crank clearance is there, and so is
clearance for a wide tire.

Next step was cutting the fork steerer tube to length.  Mike had provided me a pdf CAD drawing to show how both 56 and 59cm frames could be setup to fit me.  These setups were based on measurements I took on my current cross bike and sent to Mike.  The 59cm frame was pretty clearly a better fit. I cut the fork to match the CAD drawing, figuring this would be a good place to start.

Time to hack with a saw.

Headset and fork were installed and I bolted on the handlebar, stem and levers, straight off the old bike. I intended to keep the bars wrapped, but realized a new setup for the front brake cable was going to require new housing.  Both sides were unwrapped and I tweaked the position of the levers while I had the chance.

 It's turning into a bike.

Daniel was hanging in there but needed a task.  I handed him front and rear brakes, a wrench, and a quick demonstration of how they attach.  He took it from there and installed all four brake arms.

 Brake man working on the front.

As Mike once said on his blog, orange is an interesting color to photograph.  It changes hue quite a bit depending on lighting.  For example, the above and below pictures.  More pictures to come.

Brake man working on the back.