My other new ride :)

The Planet X is finally built up and ready for some action:) And I am very proud to say that I assembled the whole bike by myself!:) Setting up the whole bike was a totally new experience for me. Though I went to BBI and learnt some bike mechanics from the experts there, knowledge is nothing without practice, and I have had zero practice since I got back. One reason is FEAR. At BBI, I was under the constant supervision of the instructors and my assigned buddy. At home, there is no one to rely on except myself. For a while, I was procrastinating this bike building project as I was afraid that I might fail, that it might be too difficult for me, that I might "malu" myself if the bike didn't work. Well, if you never try, you'll never know, right?

So I plonked some money on a Sram Rival groupset from some internet seller and bought a cheap toolkit from Pricepoint. One of the reasons I chose Sram rather than Campagnolo which I have been using the last eight years is due to cost. It is definitely cheaper to replace a Sram chain compared to a Campy chain, plus I did not have to buy a Campy chain tool that costs $200+, which might be obsolete in a couple of years. Well, whether or not this Sram Rival is going to be as dependable as my previous groupsets remains to be seen.
The first step to the bike build was getting the carbon fork cut.(sorry, no pics) I bought a hacksaw but after reading my notes, realised that I needed a saw with 32 teeth per inch. The one that I bought had only 24. After much hunting in the hardware shops in the Changi area, I finally found a shop near Race Course Rd that sells it. It was easy to saw the fork using a saw guide. It was over in less than a minute!

Installing the Sram components was "quite" easy. The Sram website gave excelent instructions. As I built my bike in the study room, I was able to access instructional videos and documents for the assembly of the various components from the internet.




Next I installed the cassette onto the wheel. The Sram groupset came with a Sram casette. But to my horror, it just did not fit into the Easton wheel! It was only then that I found out the Easton came with a 10 speed only hub that the Sram cassette cannot fit. So, no choice, got to shell out extra money to buy a Shimano cassette for my wheel :(




Once my wheels were installed, I could get on with the rest of the build. I wished I had a workstand, but that would cost more money, so I had to make do with a bike stand. It is not sturdy and I had to squat and bend, but it got the work done.
Here I am tightening the external bottom bracket cups.



The cranks went in next. Now, this one gave quite a bit of problem. The first time I tightened everything and then checked, I found that there was a bit of play (movement) in the crank. Then I took out everything and installed again....still, there was play. Man, I was trying to figure why it was so. Could it be the crank was faulty? You know, when you buy from the internet, it is difficult to get recourse. But after checking the mechanic forums, and putting lots of grease!!, I managed to tighten it properly and there was no play. I wished I had a torque wrench for this job, because I was so very worried that I might tighten too much and strip the threads!!

The brakes were the easist to install. I looked at the bikes in the house and thought that the srams lacked something, but they were alright.





The front derailleur gave me quite a bit of problem. I was supposed to align the outer plate of the derailleur cage with the chain rings, but no matter how I tried to rotate it, it was still angling inwards a bit. It was restricted by the derailleur mount on the frame. Even though I tried pulling at the cage, it would go back to its original position after a while. So in the end, I have to say that I came up with a smart idea of my own - not from the internet or any book. I took a file and filed at the derialleur mount so that my derailleur could angle out a bit more. And it worked!! I was careful not to file off too much otherwise there would be nothing to clamp on!


The shifters and cables went on nicely.

Now, I know that the thicker cables are for the brakes and the thinner ones for the derailleur.






And that the housing has to be cut before the cables are put in! :)






Measuring the housing length for the rear brake.
Yep! Lots of bending and squatting the last couple of days!






Installing the chain with the chain tool.
Did not read the instructions properly, I am one link too short!
But will just stay with it and see how it goes.
Surprisingly, the rear derailleur shifting did not require much tweaking around and has shifted nicely. I have a short ride on the park connector and other than some adjustments to the fd, everything has been great!


So here I am with my finished product.



This was taken on a whim after my trainer ride on my other bike. Seat height measured off old bike. So far, the bike seems to fit nicely. I have mounted the saddle on a middle of the rails position, so there is still plenty of room forward, if need be. This bike has a 76 degree seat angle so I am sititing more forward than I usually do, but it still feels comfortable at the moment. I am actually sitting quite forward (on the front portion of the saddle, like I do on my other bike) I am also pedalling with my head down. Well, I just got to get used to having my head arched upwards more to look at the road. Seat height might be a little high, may need to lower saddle a little.

Well, I can't wait to get my bottle cages and pump and saddlebag fixed, and get it out on the road!