Gravel bikes

The Felt gravel bike I bought is costing more to build than anticipated. The wheels were cheap enough and as Jay said, I would have to have special spacers machined to change the front wheel over to 15 mm through axle. But I got a matching Bontrager front wheel with through axle for only $100. The problem now is that the rear wheel used a bolt on disk while the front wheel uses a splined disk. They are cheap enough but have to be bought and sent separately from different suppliers. I bought a fork crown race installation tool and they sent the wrong size. But since I will probably use it for other bikes, I'll keep it. And since I don't want to pay another $40, I will just take it up to the local shop to install the race. I guess the 10 speed cassette went off with the Redline and so I have to buy a new one.

I bought a 15 mm through axle and it turned out not to be the same as a road dork though it said specifically "road fork". It was for a hardtail with a suspension fork. So I had to order the correct size. I'll sell this one locally on craigslist. Now I have to buy a set of gravel tires and tubes. Of course when you want them the hundreds of the 32's that everyone thought were too narrow for real off-road riding are no longer on craigslist so I will either wait for a pair to show up or buy them new at $50 apiece.

I cannot find the extra hydraulic tubing for the brakes. The rear brake is all externally routed over tubing holders but the front brake is run internally. Perhaps I will be able to pull off the grommet and then reinstall a new one but it is more likely that I will have to route a new tube and then re-bleed the front brake mechanism.

The bottom bracket on the Felt is a BB386 so I had no way of mounting the XT cranks without buying the new-style press-in bottom bracket. They're cheap enough but they come from China and so it will be a while before I receive it. But maybe not. The Chinese are now giving LONG delivery times but you receive them almost as rapidly as from the East Coast which is SLOW. I think that USPS now is delivering via pony express.

What is holding up the real construction is installation of the fork crown race, the tires and the bottom bracket. The disks and the cassette can be put in any time. I have a 10 speed gold chain that only needs to be cleaned and re-lubed. That is what the ultrasonic cleaner is for.

The flat bar XT push-pull shifters are some of the nicest shifting levers I've ever used including the Di2. I have both a bottom shifting and top shifting front derailleur so I can set that up either way. The rear derailleur is XT with the "clutch". The cranks were brand new when I bought them and I only have a couple hundred miles on them. I seem to have misplaced my Spd MTB pedals so I may have to buy a set of those. The cheap one's are those that people want to use. They are harder to get into and easier to get out of. The higher level ones XT and XTR are really easy to kick into and you have to have a lot of ankle strength to get out of them. That's good for experienced riders but not so hot for newer riders.

On Saturday, February 13, 2021 at 11:44:28 AM UTC-8, Tom Kunich wrote:
The Felt gravel bike I bought is costing more to build than anticipated. The wheels were cheap enough and as Jay said, I would have to have special spacers machined to change the front wheel over to 15 mm through axle. But I got a matching Bontrager front wheel with through axle for only $100. The problem now is that the rear wheel used a bolt on disk while the front wheel uses a splined disk. They are cheap enough but have to be bought and sent separately from different suppliers. I bought a fork crown race installation tool and they sent the wrong size. But since I will probably use it for other bikes, I'll keep it. And since I don't want to pay another $40, I will just take it up to the local shop to install the race. I guess the 10 speed cassette went off with the Redline and so I have to buy a new one.

I bought a 15 mm through axle and it turned out not to be the same as a road dork though it said specifically "road fork". It was for a hardtail with a suspension fork. So I had to order the correct size. I'll sell this one locally on craigslist. Now I have to buy a set of gravel tires and tubes. Of course when you want them the hundreds of the 32's that everyone thought were too narrow for real off-road riding are no longer on craigslist so I will either wait for a pair to show up or buy them new at $50 apiece.

I cannot find the extra hydraulic tubing for the brakes. The rear brake is all externally routed over tubing holders but the front brake is run internally. Perhaps I will be able to pull off the grommet and then reinstall a new one but it is more likely that I will have to route a new tube and then re-bleed the front brake mechanism.

The bottom bracket on the Felt is a BB386 so I had no way of mounting the XT cranks without buying the new-style press-in bottom bracket. They're cheap enough but they come from China and so it will be a while before I receive it. But maybe not. The Chinese are now giving LONG delivery times but you receive them almost as rapidly as from the East Coast which is SLOW. I think that USPS now is delivering via pony express.

What is holding up the real construction is installation of the fork crown race, the tires and the bottom bracket. The disks and the cassette can be put in any time. I have a 10 speed gold chain that only needs to be cleaned and re-lubed. That is what the ultrasonic cleaner is for.

The flat bar XT push-pull shifters are some of the nicest shifting levers I've ever used including the Di2. I have both a bottom shifting and top shifting front derailleur so I can set that up either way. The rear derailleur is XT with the "clutch". The cranks were brand new when I bought them and I only have a couple hundred miles on them. I seem to have misplaced my Spd MTB pedals so I may have to buy a set of those. The cheap one's are those that people want to use. They are harder to get into and easier to get out of. The higher level ones XT and XTR are really easy to kick into and you have to have a lot of ankle strength to get out of them. That's good for experienced riders but not so hot for newer riders.
Went down and picked up a set of gravel tires near the Lab. Innertubes are on the way.

On Sunday, February 14, 2021 at 3:51:28 PM UTC-8, Tom Kunich wrote:
On Saturday, February 13, 2021 at 11:44:28 AM UTC-8, Tom Kunich wrote:
The Felt gravel bike I bought is costing more to build than anticipated.. The wheels were cheap enough and as Jay said, I would have to have special spacers machined to change the front wheel over to 15 mm through axle. But I got a matching Bontrager front wheel with through axle for only $100. The problem now is that the rear wheel used a bolt on disk while the front wheel uses a splined disk. They are cheap enough but have to be bought and sent separately from different suppliers. I bought a fork crown race installation tool and they sent the wrong size. But since I will probably use it for other bikes, I'll keep it. And since I don't want to pay another $40, I will just take it up to the local shop to install the race. I guess the 10 speed cassette went off with the Redline and so I have to buy a new one.

I bought a 15 mm through axle and it turned out not to be the same as a road dork though it said specifically "road fork". It was for a hardtail with a suspension fork. So I had to order the correct size. I'll sell this one locally on craigslist. Now I have to buy a set of gravel tires and tubes.. Of course when you want them the hundreds of the 32's that everyone thought were too narrow for real off-road riding are no longer on craigslist so I will either wait for a pair to show up or buy them new at $50 apiece.

I cannot find the extra hydraulic tubing for the brakes. The rear brake is all externally routed over tubing holders but the front brake is run internally. Perhaps I will be able to pull off the grommet and then reinstall a new one but it is more likely that I will have to route a new tube and then re-bleed the front brake mechanism.

The bottom bracket on the Felt is a BB386 so I had no way of mounting the XT cranks without buying the new-style press-in bottom bracket. They're cheap enough but they come from China and so it will be a while before I receive it. But maybe not. The Chinese are now giving LONG delivery times but you receive them almost as rapidly as from the East Coast which is SLOW. I think that USPS now is delivering via pony express.

What is holding up the real construction is installation of the fork crown race, the tires and the bottom bracket. The disks and the cassette can be put in any time. I have a 10 speed gold chain that only needs to be cleaned and re-lubed. That is what the ultrasonic cleaner is for.

The flat bar XT push-pull shifters are some of the nicest shifting levers I've ever used including the Di2. I have both a bottom shifting and top shifting front derailleur so I can set that up either way. The rear derailleur is XT with the "clutch". The cranks were brand new when I bought them and I only have a couple hundred miles on them. I seem to have misplaced my Spd MTB pedals so I may have to buy a set of those. The cheap one's are those that people want to use. They are harder to get into and easier to get out of. The higher level ones XT and XTR are really easy to kick into and you have to have a lot of ankle strength to get out of them. That's good for experienced riders but not so hot for newer riders.
Went down and picked up a set of gravel tires near the Lab. Innertubes are on the way.
The tires are Clement Explorer with a good gravel tread and are 35 mm with will fit fine in the 55 mm wide front and rear wheel spaces. One of the odd things about the spline disk attachments is that they use a bolt pattern that is the same as the bolt on disks but rather than have loose bolts so that the disk can be more cheaply replaced, the disks are rivetted on. I suppose it takes a thief. I think that they will end up using this spline for everything on a bike from the disk attachments to the crank chain ring attachments and dollars to donuts they will replace the freehub with the spline attachment so that everything is then interchangeable between manufacturers.. I'm sure that the manufacturers are not going to like this but will be forced into it by the cheap Chinese junk coming on the market.

Tom Kunich wrote:
On Sunday, February 14, 2021 at 3:51:28 PM UTC-8, Tom Kunich wrote:
On Saturday, February 13, 2021 at 11:44:28 AM UTC-8, Tom Kunich wrote:
The Felt gravel bike I bought is costing more to build than
anticipated. The wheels were cheap enough and as Jay said, I would have
to have special spacers machined to change the front wheel over to 15
mm through axle. But I got a matching Bontrager front wheel with
through axle for only $100. The problem now is that the rear wheel used
a bolt on disk while the front wheel uses a splined disk. They are
cheap enough but have to be bought and sent separately from different
suppliers. I bought a fork crown race installation tool and they sent
the wrong size. But since I will probably use it for other bikes, I'll
keep it. And since I don't want to pay another $40, I will just take it
up to the local shop to install the race. I guess the 10 speed cassette
went off with the Redline and so I have to buy a new one.

I bought a 15 mm through axle and it turned out not to be the same as a
road dork though it said specifically "road fork". It was for a
hardtail with a suspension fork. So I had to order the correct size.
I'll sell this one locally on craigslist. Now I have to buy a set of
gravel tires and tubes. Of course when you want them the hundreds of
the 32's that everyone thought were too narrow for real off-road riding
are no longer on craigslist so I will either wait for a pair to show up
or buy them new at $50 apiece.

I cannot find the extra hydraulic tubing for the brakes. The rear brake
is all externally routed over tubing holders but the front brake is run
internally. Perhaps I will be able to pull off the grommet and then
reinstall a new one but it is more likely that I will have to route a
new tube and then re-bleed the front brake mechanism.

The bottom bracket on the Felt is a BB386 so I had no way of mounting
the XT cranks without buying the new-style press-in bottom bracket.
They're cheap enough but they come from China and so it will be a while
before I receive it. But maybe not. The Chinese are now giving LONG
delivery times but you receive them almost as rapidly as from the East
Coast which is SLOW. I think that USPS now is delivering via pony express.

What is holding up the real construction is installation of the fork
crown race, the tires and the bottom bracket. The disks and the
cassette can be put in any time. I have a 10 speed gold chain that only
needs to be cleaned and re-lubed. That is what the ultrasonic cleaner is for.

The flat bar XT push-pull shifters are some of the nicest shifting
levers I've ever used including the Di2. I have both a bottom shifting
and top shifting front derailleur so I can set that up either way. The
rear derailleur is XT with the "clutch". The cranks were brand new when
I bought them and I only have a couple hundred miles on them. I seem to
have misplaced my Spd MTB pedals so I may have to buy a set of those.
The cheap one's are those that people want to use. They are harder to
get into and easier to get out of. The higher level ones XT and XTR are
really easy to kick into and you have to have a lot of ankle strength
to get out of them. That's good for experienced riders but not so hot for newer riders.
Went down and picked up a set of gravel tires near the Lab. Innertubes are on the way.
The tires are Clement Explorer with a good gravel tread and are 35 mm
with will fit fine in the 55 mm wide front and rear wheel spaces. One of
the odd things about the spline disk attachments is that they use a bolt
pattern that is the same as the bolt on disks but rather than have loose
bolts so that the disk can be more cheaply replaced, the disks are
rivetted on. I suppose it takes a thief. I think that they will end up
using this spline for everything on a bike from the disk attachments to
the crank chain ring attachments and dollars to donuts they will replace
the freehub with the spline attachment so that everything is then
interchangeable between manufacturers. I'm sure that the manufacturers
are not going to like this but will be forced into it by the cheap
Chinese junk coming on the market.


Does seem a bit sluggish for parts, I had my Gravel bike upgraded to a new
groupset so I could get Hydraulic brakes as gave up with cable, which just
got trashed let alone the lack of braking, at least for a old MTBer such as
myself.

But most parts where easy enough, only the Derailleur took ages!

Roger Merriman

On Wednesday, February 17, 2021 at 8:14:57 AM UTC-8, Roger Merriman wrote:
Tom Kunich wrote:
On Sunday, February 14, 2021 at 3:51:28 PM UTC-8, Tom Kunich wrote:
On Saturday, February 13, 2021 at 11:44:28 AM UTC-8, Tom Kunich wrote:
The Felt gravel bike I bought is costing more to build than
anticipated. The wheels were cheap enough and as Jay said, I would have
to have special spacers machined to change the front wheel over to 15
mm through axle. But I got a matching Bontrager front wheel with
through axle for only $100. The problem now is that the rear wheel used
a bolt on disk while the front wheel uses a splined disk. They are
cheap enough but have to be bought and sent separately from different
suppliers. I bought a fork crown race installation tool and they sent
the wrong size. But since I will probably use it for other bikes, I'll
keep it. And since I don't want to pay another $40, I will just take it
up to the local shop to install the race. I guess the 10 speed cassette
went off with the Redline and so I have to buy a new one.

I bought a 15 mm through axle and it turned out not to be the same as a
road dork though it said specifically "road fork". It was for a
hardtail with a suspension fork. So I had to order the correct size.
I'll sell this one locally on craigslist. Now I have to buy a set of
gravel tires and tubes. Of course when you want them the hundreds of
the 32's that everyone thought were too narrow for real off-road riding
are no longer on craigslist so I will either wait for a pair to show up
or buy them new at $50 apiece.

I cannot find the extra hydraulic tubing for the brakes. The rear brake
is all externally routed over tubing holders but the front brake is run
internally. Perhaps I will be able to pull off the grommet and then
reinstall a new one but it is more likely that I will have to route a
new tube and then re-bleed the front brake mechanism.

The bottom bracket on the Felt is a BB386 so I had no way of mounting
the XT cranks without buying the new-style press-in bottom bracket.
They're cheap enough but they come from China and so it will be a while
before I receive it. But maybe not. The Chinese are now giving LONG
delivery times but you receive them almost as rapidly as from the East
Coast which is SLOW. I think that USPS now is delivering via pony express.

What is holding up the real construction is installation of the fork
crown race, the tires and the bottom bracket. The disks and the
cassette can be put in any time. I have a 10 speed gold chain that only
needs to be cleaned and re-lubed. That is what the ultrasonic cleaner is for.

The flat bar XT push-pull shifters are some of the nicest shifting
levers I've ever used including the Di2. I have both a bottom shifting
and top shifting front derailleur so I can set that up either way. The
rear derailleur is XT with the "clutch". The cranks were brand new when
I bought them and I only have a couple hundred miles on them. I seem to
have misplaced my Spd MTB pedals so I may have to buy a set of those.
The cheap one's are those that people want to use. They are harder to
get into and easier to get out of. The higher level ones XT and XTR are
really easy to kick into and you have to have a lot of ankle strength
to get out of them. That's good for experienced riders but not so hot for newer riders.
Went down and picked up a set of gravel tires near the Lab. Innertubes are on the way.
The tires are Clement Explorer with a good gravel tread and are 35 mm
with will fit fine in the 55 mm wide front and rear wheel spaces. One of
the odd things about the spline disk attachments is that they use a bolt
pattern that is the same as the bolt on disks but rather than have loose
bolts so that the disk can be more cheaply replaced, the disks are
rivetted on. I suppose it takes a thief. I think that they will end up
using this spline for everything on a bike from the disk attachments to
the crank chain ring attachments and dollars to donuts they will replace
the freehub with the spline attachment so that everything is then
interchangeable between manufacturers. I'm sure that the manufacturers
are not going to like this but will be forced into it by the cheap
Chinese junk coming on the market.

Does seem a bit sluggish for parts, I had my Gravel bike upgraded to a new
groupset so I could get Hydraulic brakes as gave up with cable, which just
got trashed let alone the lack of braking, at least for a old MTBer such as
myself.

But most parts where easy enough, only the Derailleur took ages!

I have everything sitting here that I removed from another bike when I changed it over to a drop bar hydraulic disk Di2 set-up. I think that flat bars are a better idea for a real gravel bike. It gives you more stability. My problem has been getting the minor bits and pieces. The INNERTUBES have been 3 days now coming from Portland. Maybe it got involved with those "mainly peaceful protests" of Jay's in Portland.

On Wednesday, February 17, 2021 at 9:50:09 AM UTC-8, wrote:
On Wednesday, February 17, 2021 at 8:14:57 AM UTC-8, Roger Merriman wrote:
Tom Kunich wrote:
On Sunday, February 14, 2021 at 3:51:28 PM UTC-8, Tom Kunich wrote:
On Saturday, February 13, 2021 at 11:44:28 AM UTC-8, Tom Kunich wrote:
The Felt gravel bike I bought is costing more to build than
anticipated. The wheels were cheap enough and as Jay said, I would have
to have special spacers machined to change the front wheel over to 15
mm through axle. But I got a matching Bontrager front wheel with
through axle for only $100. The problem now is that the rear wheel used
a bolt on disk while the front wheel uses a splined disk. They are
cheap enough but have to be bought and sent separately from different
suppliers. I bought a fork crown race installation tool and they sent
the wrong size. But since I will probably use it for other bikes, I'll
keep it. And since I don't want to pay another $40, I will just take it
up to the local shop to install the race. I guess the 10 speed cassette
went off with the Redline and so I have to buy a new one.

I bought a 15 mm through axle and it turned out not to be the same as a
road dork though it said specifically "road fork". It was for a
hardtail with a suspension fork. So I had to order the correct size..
I'll sell this one locally on craigslist. Now I have to buy a set of
gravel tires and tubes. Of course when you want them the hundreds of
the 32's that everyone thought were too narrow for real off-road riding
are no longer on craigslist so I will either wait for a pair to show up
or buy them new at $50 apiece.

I cannot find the extra hydraulic tubing for the brakes. The rear brake
is all externally routed over tubing holders but the front brake is run
internally. Perhaps I will be able to pull off the grommet and then
reinstall a new one but it is more likely that I will have to route a
new tube and then re-bleed the front brake mechanism.

The bottom bracket on the Felt is a BB386 so I had no way of mounting
the XT cranks without buying the new-style press-in bottom bracket.
They're cheap enough but they come from China and so it will be a while
before I receive it. But maybe not. The Chinese are now giving LONG
delivery times but you receive them almost as rapidly as from the East
Coast which is SLOW. I think that USPS now is delivering via pony express.

What is holding up the real construction is installation of the fork
crown race, the tires and the bottom bracket. The disks and the
cassette can be put in any time. I have a 10 speed gold chain that only
needs to be cleaned and re-lubed. That is what the ultrasonic cleaner is for.

The flat bar XT push-pull shifters are some of the nicest shifting
levers I've ever used including the Di2. I have both a bottom shifting
and top shifting front derailleur so I can set that up either way. The
rear derailleur is XT with the "clutch". The cranks were brand new when
I bought them and I only have a couple hundred miles on them. I seem to
have misplaced my Spd MTB pedals so I may have to buy a set of those.
The cheap one's are those that people want to use. They are harder to
get into and easier to get out of. The higher level ones XT and XTR are
really easy to kick into and you have to have a lot of ankle strength
to get out of them. That's good for experienced riders but not so hot for newer riders.
Went down and picked up a set of gravel tires near the Lab. Innertubes are on the way.
The tires are Clement Explorer with a good gravel tread and are 35 mm
with will fit fine in the 55 mm wide front and rear wheel spaces. One of
the odd things about the spline disk attachments is that they use a bolt
pattern that is the same as the bolt on disks but rather than have loose
bolts so that the disk can be more cheaply replaced, the disks are
rivetted on. I suppose it takes a thief. I think that they will end up
using this spline for everything on a bike from the disk attachments to
the crank chain ring attachments and dollars to donuts they will replace
the freehub with the spline attachment so that everything is then
interchangeable between manufacturers. I'm sure that the manufacturers
are not going to like this but will be forced into it by the cheap
Chinese junk coming on the market.

Does seem a bit sluggish for parts, I had my Gravel bike upgraded to a new
groupset so I could get Hydraulic brakes as gave up with cable, which just
got trashed let alone the lack of braking, at least for a old MTBer such as
myself.

But most parts where easy enough, only the Derailleur took ages!
I have everything sitting here that I removed from another bike when I changed it over to a drop bar hydraulic disk Di2 set-up. I think that flat bars are a better idea for a real gravel bike. It gives you more stability. My problem has been getting the minor bits and pieces. The INNERTUBES have been 3 days now coming from Portland. Maybe it got involved with those "mainly peaceful protests" of Jay's in Portland.

Or maybe the seller saw that the tubes were going to you. I get product from cross-town (Western Bikeworks) in a day, two days tops. Where did you order?

You could always leave the house and go buy some tubes. I'm sure they have some down there in Oakland -- plus you're retired and have nothing better to do. This place has lots of tubes. https://www.laurelcyclery.com/produc...5/?&rb_ct=1108 Go there.

-- Jay Beattie.

On Wednesday, February 17, 2021 at 12:21:59 PM UTC-8, jbeattie wrote:
On Wednesday, February 17, 2021 at 9:50:09 AM UTC-8, wrote:
On Wednesday, February 17, 2021 at 8:14:57 AM UTC-8, Roger Merriman wrote:
Tom Kunich wrote:
On Sunday, February 14, 2021 at 3:51:28 PM UTC-8, Tom Kunich wrote:
On Saturday, February 13, 2021 at 11:44:28 AM UTC-8, Tom Kunich wrote:
The Felt gravel bike I bought is costing more to build than
anticipated. The wheels were cheap enough and as Jay said, I would have
to have special spacers machined to change the front wheel over to 15
mm through axle. But I got a matching Bontrager front wheel with
through axle for only $100. The problem now is that the rear wheel used
a bolt on disk while the front wheel uses a splined disk. They are
cheap enough but have to be bought and sent separately from different
suppliers. I bought a fork crown race installation tool and they sent
the wrong size. But since I will probably use it for other bikes, I'll
keep it. And since I don't want to pay another $40, I will just take it
up to the local shop to install the race. I guess the 10 speed cassette
went off with the Redline and so I have to buy a new one.

I bought a 15 mm through axle and it turned out not to be the same as a
road dork though it said specifically "road fork". It was for a
hardtail with a suspension fork. So I had to order the correct size.
I'll sell this one locally on craigslist. Now I have to buy a set of
gravel tires and tubes. Of course when you want them the hundreds of
the 32's that everyone thought were too narrow for real off-road riding
are no longer on craigslist so I will either wait for a pair to show up
or buy them new at $50 apiece.

I cannot find the extra hydraulic tubing for the brakes. The rear brake
is all externally routed over tubing holders but the front brake is run
internally. Perhaps I will be able to pull off the grommet and then
reinstall a new one but it is more likely that I will have to route a
new tube and then re-bleed the front brake mechanism.

The bottom bracket on the Felt is a BB386 so I had no way of mounting
the XT cranks without buying the new-style press-in bottom bracket.
They're cheap enough but they come from China and so it will be a while
before I receive it. But maybe not. The Chinese are now giving LONG
delivery times but you receive them almost as rapidly as from the East
Coast which is SLOW. I think that USPS now is delivering via pony express.

What is holding up the real construction is installation of the fork
crown race, the tires and the bottom bracket. The disks and the
cassette can be put in any time. I have a 10 speed gold chain that only
needs to be cleaned and re-lubed. That is what the ultrasonic cleaner is for.

The flat bar XT push-pull shifters are some of the nicest shifting
levers I've ever used including the Di2. I have both a bottom shifting
and top shifting front derailleur so I can set that up either way.. The
rear derailleur is XT with the "clutch". The cranks were brand new when
I bought them and I only have a couple hundred miles on them. I seem to
have misplaced my Spd MTB pedals so I may have to buy a set of those.
The cheap one's are those that people want to use. They are harder to
get into and easier to get out of. The higher level ones XT and XTR are
really easy to kick into and you have to have a lot of ankle strength
to get out of them. That's good for experienced riders but not so hot for newer riders.
Went down and picked up a set of gravel tires near the Lab. Innertubes are on the way.
The tires are Clement Explorer with a good gravel tread and are 35 mm
with will fit fine in the 55 mm wide front and rear wheel spaces. One of
the odd things about the spline disk attachments is that they use a bolt
pattern that is the same as the bolt on disks but rather than have loose
bolts so that the disk can be more cheaply replaced, the disks are
rivetted on. I suppose it takes a thief. I think that they will end up
using this spline for everything on a bike from the disk attachments to
the crank chain ring attachments and dollars to donuts they will replace
the freehub with the spline attachment so that everything is then
interchangeable between manufacturers. I'm sure that the manufacturers
are not going to like this but will be forced into it by the cheap
Chinese junk coming on the market.

Does seem a bit sluggish for parts, I had my Gravel bike upgraded to a new
groupset so I could get Hydraulic brakes as gave up with cable, which just
got trashed let alone the lack of braking, at least for a old MTBer such as
myself.

But most parts where easy enough, only the Derailleur took ages!
I have everything sitting here that I removed from another bike when I changed it over to a drop bar hydraulic disk Di2 set-up. I think that flat bars are a better idea for a real gravel bike. It gives you more stability. My problem has been getting the minor bits and pieces. The INNERTUBES have been 3 days now coming from Portland. Maybe it got involved with those "mainly peaceful protests" of Jay's in Portland.
Or maybe the seller saw that the tubes were going to you. I get product from cross-town (Western Bikeworks) in a day, two days tops. Where did you order?

You could always leave the house and go buy some tubes. I'm sure they have some down there in Oakland -- plus you're retired and have nothing better to do. This place has lots of tubes. https://www.laurelcyclery.com/produc...5/?&rb_ct=1108 Go there.

I bought them from Bike Tires Direct which I thought was back east somewhere but I got an email saying that they were shipping them from Portland.

On Wednesday, February 17, 2021 at 4:40:46 PM UTC-8, wrote:
On Wednesday, February 17, 2021 at 12:21:59 PM UTC-8, jbeattie wrote:
On Wednesday, February 17, 2021 at 9:50:09 AM UTC-8, wrote:
On Wednesday, February 17, 2021 at 8:14:57 AM UTC-8, Roger Merriman wrote:
Tom Kunich wrote:
On Sunday, February 14, 2021 at 3:51:28 PM UTC-8, Tom Kunich wrote:
On Saturday, February 13, 2021 at 11:44:28 AM UTC-8, Tom Kunich wrote:
The Felt gravel bike I bought is costing more to build than
anticipated. The wheels were cheap enough and as Jay said, I would have
to have special spacers machined to change the front wheel over to 15
mm through axle. But I got a matching Bontrager front wheel with
through axle for only $100. The problem now is that the rear wheel used
a bolt on disk while the front wheel uses a splined disk. They are
cheap enough but have to be bought and sent separately from different
suppliers. I bought a fork crown race installation tool and they sent
the wrong size. But since I will probably use it for other bikes, I'll
keep it. And since I don't want to pay another $40, I will just take it
up to the local shop to install the race. I guess the 10 speed cassette
went off with the Redline and so I have to buy a new one.

I bought a 15 mm through axle and it turned out not to be the same as a
road dork though it said specifically "road fork". It was for a
hardtail with a suspension fork. So I had to order the correct size.
I'll sell this one locally on craigslist. Now I have to buy a set of
gravel tires and tubes. Of course when you want them the hundreds of
the 32's that everyone thought were too narrow for real off-road riding
are no longer on craigslist so I will either wait for a pair to show up
or buy them new at $50 apiece.

I cannot find the extra hydraulic tubing for the brakes. The rear brake
is all externally routed over tubing holders but the front brake is run
internally. Perhaps I will be able to pull off the grommet and then
reinstall a new one but it is more likely that I will have to route a
new tube and then re-bleed the front brake mechanism.

The bottom bracket on the Felt is a BB386 so I had no way of mounting
the XT cranks without buying the new-style press-in bottom bracket.
They're cheap enough but they come from China and so it will be a while
before I receive it. But maybe not. The Chinese are now giving LONG
delivery times but you receive them almost as rapidly as from the East
Coast which is SLOW. I think that USPS now is delivering via pony express.

What is holding up the real construction is installation of the fork
crown race, the tires and the bottom bracket. The disks and the
cassette can be put in any time. I have a 10 speed gold chain that only
needs to be cleaned and re-lubed. That is what the ultrasonic cleaner is for.

The flat bar XT push-pull shifters are some of the nicest shifting
levers I've ever used including the Di2. I have both a bottom shifting
and top shifting front derailleur so I can set that up either way. The
rear derailleur is XT with the "clutch". The cranks were brand new when
I bought them and I only have a couple hundred miles on them. I seem to
have misplaced my Spd MTB pedals so I may have to buy a set of those.
The cheap one's are those that people want to use. They are harder to
get into and easier to get out of. The higher level ones XT and XTR are
really easy to kick into and you have to have a lot of ankle strength
to get out of them. That's good for experienced riders but not so hot for newer riders.
Went down and picked up a set of gravel tires near the Lab. Innertubes are on the way.
The tires are Clement Explorer with a good gravel tread and are 35 mm
with will fit fine in the 55 mm wide front and rear wheel spaces. One of
the odd things about the spline disk attachments is that they use a bolt
pattern that is the same as the bolt on disks but rather than have loose
bolts so that the disk can be more cheaply replaced, the disks are
rivetted on. I suppose it takes a thief. I think that they will end up
using this spline for everything on a bike from the disk attachments to
the crank chain ring attachments and dollars to donuts they will replace
the freehub with the spline attachment so that everything is then
interchangeable between manufacturers. I'm sure that the manufacturers
are not going to like this but will be forced into it by the cheap
Chinese junk coming on the market.

Does seem a bit sluggish for parts, I had my Gravel bike upgraded to a new
groupset so I could get Hydraulic brakes as gave up with cable, which just
got trashed let alone the lack of braking, at least for a old MTBer such as
myself.

But most parts where easy enough, only the Derailleur took ages!
I have everything sitting here that I removed from another bike when I changed it over to a drop bar hydraulic disk Di2 set-up. I think that flat bars are a better idea for a real gravel bike. It gives you more stability. My problem has been getting the minor bits and pieces. The INNERTUBES have been 3 days now coming from Portland. Maybe it got involved with those "mainly peaceful protests" of Jay's in Portland.
Or maybe the seller saw that the tubes were going to you. I get product from cross-town (Western Bikeworks) in a day, two days tops. Where did you order?

You could always leave the house and go buy some tubes. I'm sure they have some down there in Oakland -- plus you're retired and have nothing better to do. This place has lots of tubes. https://www.laurelcyclery.com/produc...5/?&rb_ct=1108 Go there.
I bought them from Bike Tires Direct which I thought was back east somewhere but I got an email saying that they were shipping them from Portland.

Bike Tires Direct is the sister company of Western Bikeworks, and both are in the same building in Portland near the airport. Western Bikeworks had a great bricks and mortar shop in NW Portland, but they moved out and went mostly on line. If you click on "about us," its clear the company is in Portland. I go out there for the annual warehouse sale, along with the herds of other bargain hunters, and there are some serious bargains if you're willing to put up with the crowd.

-- Jay Beattie.

On Wednesday, February 17, 2021 at 7:13:51 PM UTC-8, jbeattie wrote:
On Wednesday, February 17, 2021 at 4:40:46 PM UTC-8, wrote:
On Wednesday, February 17, 2021 at 12:21:59 PM UTC-8, jbeattie wrote:
On Wednesday, February 17, 2021 at 9:50:09 AM UTC-8, wrote:
On Wednesday, February 17, 2021 at 8:14:57 AM UTC-8, Roger Merriman wrote:
Tom Kunich wrote:
On Sunday, February 14, 2021 at 3:51:28 PM UTC-8, Tom Kunich wrote:
On Saturday, February 13, 2021 at 11:44:28 AM UTC-8, Tom Kunich wrote:
The Felt gravel bike I bought is costing more to build than
anticipated. The wheels were cheap enough and as Jay said, I would have
to have special spacers machined to change the front wheel over to 15
mm through axle. But I got a matching Bontrager front wheel with
through axle for only $100. The problem now is that the rear wheel used
a bolt on disk while the front wheel uses a splined disk. They are
cheap enough but have to be bought and sent separately from different
suppliers. I bought a fork crown race installation tool and they sent
the wrong size. But since I will probably use it for other bikes, I'll
keep it. And since I don't want to pay another $40, I will just take it
up to the local shop to install the race. I guess the 10 speed cassette
went off with the Redline and so I have to buy a new one.

I bought a 15 mm through axle and it turned out not to be the same as a
road dork though it said specifically "road fork". It was for a
hardtail with a suspension fork. So I had to order the correct size.
I'll sell this one locally on craigslist. Now I have to buy a set of
gravel tires and tubes. Of course when you want them the hundreds of
the 32's that everyone thought were too narrow for real off-road riding
are no longer on craigslist so I will either wait for a pair to show up
or buy them new at $50 apiece.

I cannot find the extra hydraulic tubing for the brakes. The rear brake
is all externally routed over tubing holders but the front brake is run
internally. Perhaps I will be able to pull off the grommet and then
reinstall a new one but it is more likely that I will have to route a
new tube and then re-bleed the front brake mechanism.

The bottom bracket on the Felt is a BB386 so I had no way of mounting
the XT cranks without buying the new-style press-in bottom bracket.
They're cheap enough but they come from China and so it will be a while
before I receive it. But maybe not. The Chinese are now giving LONG
delivery times but you receive them almost as rapidly as from the East
Coast which is SLOW. I think that USPS now is delivering via pony express.

What is holding up the real construction is installation of the fork
crown race, the tires and the bottom bracket. The disks and the
cassette can be put in any time. I have a 10 speed gold chain that only
needs to be cleaned and re-lubed. That is what the ultrasonic cleaner is for.

The flat bar XT push-pull shifters are some of the nicest shifting
levers I've ever used including the Di2. I have both a bottom shifting
and top shifting front derailleur so I can set that up either way. The
rear derailleur is XT with the "clutch". The cranks were brand new when
I bought them and I only have a couple hundred miles on them. I seem to
have misplaced my Spd MTB pedals so I may have to buy a set of those.
The cheap one's are those that people want to use. They are harder to
get into and easier to get out of. The higher level ones XT and XTR are
really easy to kick into and you have to have a lot of ankle strength
to get out of them. That's good for experienced riders but not so hot for newer riders.
Went down and picked up a set of gravel tires near the Lab. Innertubes are on the way.
The tires are Clement Explorer with a good gravel tread and are 35 mm
with will fit fine in the 55 mm wide front and rear wheel spaces. One of
the odd things about the spline disk attachments is that they use a bolt
pattern that is the same as the bolt on disks but rather than have loose
bolts so that the disk can be more cheaply replaced, the disks are
rivetted on. I suppose it takes a thief. I think that they will end up
using this spline for everything on a bike from the disk attachments to
the crank chain ring attachments and dollars to donuts they will replace
the freehub with the spline attachment so that everything is then
interchangeable between manufacturers. I'm sure that the manufacturers
are not going to like this but will be forced into it by the cheap
Chinese junk coming on the market.

Does seem a bit sluggish for parts, I had my Gravel bike upgraded to a new
groupset so I could get Hydraulic brakes as gave up with cable, which just
got trashed let alone the lack of braking, at least for a old MTBer such as
myself.

But most parts where easy enough, only the Derailleur took ages!
I have everything sitting here that I removed from another bike when I changed it over to a drop bar hydraulic disk Di2 set-up. I think that flat bars are a better idea for a real gravel bike. It gives you more stability. My problem has been getting the minor bits and pieces. The INNERTUBES have been 3 days now coming from Portland. Maybe it got involved with those "mainly peaceful protests" of Jay's in Portland.
Or maybe the seller saw that the tubes were going to you. I get product from cross-town (Western Bikeworks) in a day, two days tops. Where did you order?

You could always leave the house and go buy some tubes. I'm sure they have some down there in Oakland -- plus you're retired and have nothing better to do. This place has lots of tubes. https://www.laurelcyclery.com/produc...5/?&rb_ct=1108 Go there.
I bought them from Bike Tires Direct which I thought was back east somewhere but I got an email saying that they were shipping them from Portland.
Bike Tires Direct is the sister company of Western Bikeworks, and both are in the same building in Portland near the airport. Western Bikeworks had a great bricks and mortar shop in NW Portland, but they moved out and went mostly on line. If you click on "about us," its clear the company is in Portland. I go out there for the annual warehouse sale, along with the herds of other bargain hunters, and there are some serious bargains if you're willing to put up with the crowd.

Well, you learn something new all the time. I thought that it was a mid-western company.

On 2/18/2021 4:40 PM, Tom Kunich wrote:
On Wednesday, February 17, 2021 at 7:13:51 PM UTC-8, jbeattie wrote:
On Wednesday, February 17, 2021 at 4:40:46 PM UTC-8, wrote:
On Wednesday, February 17, 2021 at 12:21:59 PM UTC-8, jbeattie wrote:
On Wednesday, February 17, 2021 at 9:50:09 AM UTC-8, wrote:
On Wednesday, February 17, 2021 at 8:14:57 AM UTC-8, Roger Merriman wrote:
Tom Kunich wrote:
On Sunday, February 14, 2021 at 3:51:28 PM UTC-8, Tom Kunich wrote:
On Saturday, February 13, 2021 at 11:44:28 AM UTC-8, Tom Kunich wrote:
The Felt gravel bike I bought is costing more to build than
anticipated. The wheels were cheap enough and as Jay said, I would have
to have special spacers machined to change the front wheel over to 15
mm through axle. But I got a matching Bontrager front wheel with
through axle for only $100. The problem now is that the rear wheel used
a bolt on disk while the front wheel uses a splined disk. They are
cheap enough but have to be bought and sent separately from different
suppliers. I bought a fork crown race installation tool and they sent
the wrong size. But since I will probably use it for other bikes, I'll
keep it. And since I don't want to pay another $40, I will just take it
up to the local shop to install the race. I guess the 10 speed cassette
went off with the Redline and so I have to buy a new one.

I bought a 15 mm through axle and it turned out not to be the same as a
road dork though it said specifically "road fork". It was for a
hardtail with a suspension fork. So I had to order the correct size.
I'll sell this one locally on craigslist. Now I have to buy a set of
gravel tires and tubes. Of course when you want them the hundreds of
the 32's that everyone thought were too narrow for real off-road riding
are no longer on craigslist so I will either wait for a pair to show up
or buy them new at $50 apiece.

I cannot find the extra hydraulic tubing for the brakes. The rear brake
is all externally routed over tubing holders but the front brake is run
internally. Perhaps I will be able to pull off the grommet and then
reinstall a new one but it is more likely that I will have to route a
new tube and then re-bleed the front brake mechanism.

The bottom bracket on the Felt is a BB386 so I had no way of mounting
the XT cranks without buying the new-style press-in bottom bracket.
They're cheap enough but they come from China and so it will be a while
before I receive it. But maybe not. The Chinese are now giving LONG
delivery times but you receive them almost as rapidly as from the East
Coast which is SLOW. I think that USPS now is delivering via pony express.

What is holding up the real construction is installation of the fork
crown race, the tires and the bottom bracket. The disks and the
cassette can be put in any time. I have a 10 speed gold chain that only
needs to be cleaned and re-lubed. That is what the ultrasonic cleaner is for.

The flat bar XT push-pull shifters are some of the nicest shifting
levers I've ever used including the Di2. I have both a bottom shifting
and top shifting front derailleur so I can set that up either way. The
rear derailleur is XT with the "clutch". The cranks were brand new when
I bought them and I only have a couple hundred miles on them. I seem to
have misplaced my Spd MTB pedals so I may have to buy a set of those.
The cheap one's are those that people want to use. They are harder to
get into and easier to get out of. The higher level ones XT and XTR are
really easy to kick into and you have to have a lot of ankle strength
to get out of them. That's good for experienced riders but not so hot for newer riders.
Went down and picked up a set of gravel tires near the Lab. Innertubes are on the way.
The tires are Clement Explorer with a good gravel tread and are 35 mm
with will fit fine in the 55 mm wide front and rear wheel spaces. One of
the odd things about the spline disk attachments is that they use a bolt
pattern that is the same as the bolt on disks but rather than have loose
bolts so that the disk can be more cheaply replaced, the disks are
rivetted on. I suppose it takes a thief. I think that they will end up
using this spline for everything on a bike from the disk attachments to
the crank chain ring attachments and dollars to donuts they will replace
the freehub with the spline attachment so that everything is then
interchangeable between manufacturers. I'm sure that the manufacturers
are not going to like this but will be forced into it by the cheap
Chinese junk coming on the market.

Does seem a bit sluggish for parts, I had my Gravel bike upgraded to a new
groupset so I could get Hydraulic brakes as gave up with cable, which just
got trashed let alone the lack of braking, at least for a old MTBer such as
myself.

But most parts where easy enough, only the Derailleur took ages!
I have everything sitting here that I removed from another bike when I changed it over to a drop bar hydraulic disk Di2 set-up. I think that flat bars are a better idea for a real gravel bike. It gives you more stability. My problem has been getting the minor bits and pieces. The INNERTUBES have been 3 days now coming from Portland. Maybe it got involved with those "mainly peaceful protests" of Jay's in Portland.
Or maybe the seller saw that the tubes were going to you. I get product from cross-town (Western Bikeworks) in a day, two days tops. Where did you order?

You could always leave the house and go buy some tubes. I'm sure they have some down there in Oakland -- plus you're retired and have nothing better to do. This place has lots of tubes. https://www.laurelcyclery.com/produc...5/?&rb_ct=1108 Go there.
I bought them from Bike Tires Direct which I thought was back east somewhere but I got an email saying that they were shipping them from Portland.
Bike Tires Direct is the sister company of Western Bikeworks, and both are in the same building in Portland near the airport. Western Bikeworks had a great bricks and mortar shop in NW Portland, but they moved out and went mostly on line. If you click on "about us," its clear the company is in Portland. I go out there for the annual warehouse sale, along with the herds of other bargain hunters, and there are some serious bargains if you're willing to put up with the crowd.

Well, you learn something new all the time. I thought that it was a mid-western company.


Maybe confused with Western Tire & Auto from MO? Famous for
Western Flyer bicycles among other things.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971