Cavallo Scuro

[quattrings]

After an accident several months ago, my trusted CAAD1 was totalled. I came up with the idea of running discs on a steel road frame. I also wanted to try an internally geared hub, as to minimise maintenance and have some real clean lines on the bike.
I started of with a State Bicycle matte black III, which is a real budget single speed fixie. The frame was spread and disc tabs welded on.
The wheels are something I pieced together. Alfine IGH and dyno hub, DT rev in front, Sapim cx ray in back laced to some H+son formation face wheels.

It's not finished yet but I couldn't resist taking it for a spin today. Still have bunch of electronic wizardry to hook up, paint it and change the handlebars. as a pièce de resistance there will be a new headtube logo. It will then go through life as il cavallo scuro (the dark horse).

Here's some obligated hipster fixie shots


2013-3-20_18.30.33 by Quattrings, on Flickr

2013-3-20_18.30.21 by Quattrings, on Flickr

2013-3-20_18.30.17 by Quattrings, on Flickr

[Monkeyboy3333]

Loving the frame, the look, the first shot, OUT. How does it ride mate?

[Elrey]

Get some grips on that damn thing.

[quattrings]

It rides pretty well. It was built with the intention of commuting on it and taking it on slower group rides and I think it will be a great bike for that purpose. It's a very nimble and responsive frame, but the standard headset is kind of a letdown.
It's quite heavy so it won't go on hilly rides (not that we have much of that around here anyway), also the gearing probably wouldn't allow it.

As for grips, the bars are temporary, thrown on there for testing purposes.

[quattrings]

So this is how my build stands now. the welded spots are painted, put on a black chain chain and all the electronics are hooked up and funtional.

The day after tomorrow I'm doing a four day charity ride to Germany on this bike, it will be the final big test for this project.


Untitled by Quattrings, on Flickr

Untitled by Quattrings, on Flickr

Untitled by Quattrings, on Flickr
E3 triple supernova, means I don't need to turn back when daylights is fading.

Untitled by Quattrings, on Flickr
Alfine 11 drivetrain, superstealth both visually and audible. Shifting as smooth as a W123 mercedes benz 4speed automatic.

Untitled by Quattrings, on Flickr
Here you see the tail light entering the frame through the head of the Thomson elite seatpost. It runs through the BB shell and downtube and exit via a small drilled hole close to the headtube. The prologo saddle is so comfortable, I blacked out the rails, should go totally antilogo and black out the U-clip too, but I kinda like the irony.

Untitled by Quattrings, on Flickr
Here you see the cable routing, I think it looks pretty sorted. The standard BB was crap and was replaced by a Miche primato evo light.

These photos show the tabs I welded on, they are functional and minimalistic.

Untitled by Quattrings, on Flickr

Untitled by Quattrings, on Flickr

Untitled by Quattrings, on Flickr

Untitled by Quattrings, on Flickr
No I'm not riding a huge spacer stack on top of the stem, it's an usb charger for charging my smartphone/GPS.

Other things planned for the near future:


And the headtube badge, I'm almost finished with the design and typography.
Nice supple 25 mm tire without bold colours and a lot of marketing on the sidewalls, any suggestions?

[bura]

Disc brakes make sense on this one.Bike looks great.
Waiting to see the look with the carbon discs though.
Have a good trip.

[kgt]

Like it!

[DRAGON60]

My brother wants to build a bike with an internal hub---is this a 9 speed?

Without the electronic gizmos---how heavy will your bike be? Great idea and really practical. My brother and I grew up riding Sturmey Archer 3 speeds with internals and they were bombproof really.

Very nice combination.

[quattrings]

Thanks guys, only a few more hours 'till I'm off so gotta get packing. Did not have a chance to way the bike as it sits now, but I'm guessing around 11 kg. I think you could get it to around 9-9.5 kg with an IGH but without electronics and a regular front hub. I didn't realy mind the weight on this build, it only needed reliable, easy to maintain parts.
The wheels are kind of boat anchors, they weigh in close to 3.5 kg. A lower profile (carbon) rim could also be a lot lighter than what I'm running here. But they are solid, just like everything else on this bike.

[quattrings]

2014-1-11_17.8.27 by Quattrings, on Flickr

2014-1-11_17.8.35 by Quattrings, on Flickr

2014-1-11_17.6.16 by Quattrings, on Flickr

So I've been riding this contraption for almost a year now, some parts have changed, improvements made so it's about time for that update.
One of the big mods is the fork, which is now a repainted Kinesis dc37 disc. The standard fork was okay but was modified (by coldsetting a dent in the tube) to clear the disc and obviously a tab welded on to accept disc brakes. It was also a heavy beast and welding on it (not mine though) was terrible, this in contrast to the welds on the frame itself, which are good by all means. I had some problems with brake chatter, which are now resolved, partly due to the forks but also due to the Chris King headset. Overall it transformed the ride quality but surprisingly the ride charactaristics aren't that different, despite an axle to crown increase of about 17mm. The nippy and agile handling has been muted somewhat, but I experience it as a different flavour, but it's still delicious.

One of the the other changes you might notice is the Challenge Grifo's. It seemed to have clearance enough front and rear and I thought: what the hell, it will be fun during winter (that never came) to commute and have some fun in light terrain. Plus the "scrambler" look it has now is just badass, it might just stay that way

Some smaller changes include black Ti thomson bolts and front skewer. Still searching for some nice black steel track nuts as aluminium is clearly not suited.
This weekend I serviced the Alfine igh for the first time (after initial oil change after 1000km). Instead of the recommended oil change which drains the oil through the port on the hub, I took out the gear cluster entirely and flushed it. It really is a half hour job and not messy at all.
Instructions on how to do that found here: http://www.mbr.co.uk/forums/showthread. ... 1-hub-gear
Some pictures for reference: http://www.hubstripping.com/shimano-alf ... index.html
I recommend taking of the the plastic driveside lock ring (picture 7) with an oil filter wrench.

Still have to get that headtube logo printed, and I intend to do some more bold tinkering shortly.

[Valbrona]

I always wonder how useful such a bike is if it doesn't have mudguards, and you could have done with a few cable guides being brazed onto the down tube. And I bet that underpass stinks of piss. All underpasses in the UK stink of piss.

[quattrings]

I always pack full wet weather gear when commuting. In the drizzle that ass-saver is sufficient. Overall this bike has tackled anything and everything so it is more useful in that sense than all my other bikes.
Braze on eyelets wouldn't really serve a purpose with full outer cables as you'd still need to zip tie the cables to the eyelets.
Underpasses, well yeah... I'll give you that one

[Damocles69]

first of all love your bike, only thing i would change is the front light, it looks outta place

[prendrefeu]

Beautiful.

[jpac]

carbon disc brakes would be awesome! probably bring down the weight too