# Finally finished!! Rohloff/DeSalvo



## fit24hrs (Jul 16, 2004)

This bike is a concept I've been dreaming up for a while and I know you guys here would appreciate it. Basically, a stylish, simple, elegant, virtually maintenance free bike that functions in descending order: commuter, cargo bike, off road single track, and tourer. The frame is a single speed Ti DeSalvo with eccentric bottom bracket. Drivetrain is Rohloff (of course, it's the third bike this hub has been installed on), with LX cranks, ceramic bottom bracket, and stainless steel track train. The front rack is custom made by an artist in Madison, WI with a sea turtle theme (I'm from Hawai`i). I'm still on the fence on where I prefer to have my cargo. When I owned a Big Dummy, it was the absolute best to have the load in the back but man, that bike was a bear on the hills. The next best option for me is to have the weight in the front for easy access and a big flat platform for big grocery runs to Sam's club. This does sacrifice handling a bit but it's worth the trade off for capacity and flexibility over a rear rack. The stem, seatpost, chainring/bashgaurd, and brake levers are vestiges off my first real bike, a 2003 Kona Unit, and original origin of this concept. I could probably go with lighter/better parts but they have some sentimental value to me. Other than maybe going tubeless, there's nothing I'm really motivated to change about this bike anymore (a first!). The geometry fits me perfectly and rides like a dream.

Enjoy!


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## intheways (Apr 19, 2004)

Cool bike! The rack is gorgeous.


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## fokof (Apr 24, 2006)

Nice !!!:thumbsup:


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## vikb (Sep 7, 2008)

You can have a bike that's designed to work with a big front rack without sacrificing handling if that's important to you. There are many porteur designs online you can steal from.


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## fit24hrs (Jul 16, 2004)

vikb said:


> You can have a bike that's designed to work with a big front rack without sacrificing handling if that's important to you. There are many porteur designs online you can steal from.


I'm interested. You have these links, Vik?


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## vikb (Sep 7, 2008)

fit24hrs said:


> I'm interested. You have these links, Vik?


Bicycle Quarterly Magazine has has covered the topic in depth:

Bicycle Quarterly: Home

or you can read the various links provided by a Google Search of the topic.


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## intheways (Apr 19, 2004)

Do you happen to know the bikes geo?


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## estutjaweh (Jan 3, 2008)

Why on such a beautiful bike, have you routed the cables over the top tube resulting in those hideous (and friction causing) cable loops at the back? Its just letting the overall aesthetics down.


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## Ginz (Jan 28, 2004)

Really, really nice. what sort of tires do you have on there? I find that hardest part about a do-all bike is deciding between slicks or knobbies.


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## rifraf (Dec 22, 2012)

Hi fit24hrs
Very very nice! Could you tell me a little about your choice of bottom bracket and cranks and how you got the 54(?) mm chainline? I've been riding the same bike(I dont mean the same as yours) for about 17 years and about 12 years ago added some octolink dura ace cranks in an attempt to lose some bike weight and please my eye a bit.
I believe my chainline to be around 43ish mm and I had to add some spacers behind my single chainring (in the doubles outside position) to get close to my Dualdrives correct chainline. I've just bought a Rohloff and unsure what cranks and BB to get. Again, love your build.:thumbsup:


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## hunter006 (Jan 20, 2012)

intheways said:


> Cool bike! The rack is gorgeous.


I'll say. You did a great job, and it shows some serious thought went in to this. Two thumbs up!! :thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## mindraycollector (Sep 6, 2011)

Nice!

Hope you have a good lock though if you will be using it for city-stuff


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## bedargvid (Aug 12, 2012)

Beautiful bike. Enjoy!


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## fit24hrs (Jul 16, 2004)

rifraf said:


> Hi fit24hrs
> Very very nice! Could you tell me a little about your choice of bottom bracket and cranks and how you got the 54(?) mm chainline? I've been riding the same bike(I dont mean the same as yours) for about 17 years and about 12 years ago added some octolink dura ace cranks in an attempt to lose some bike weight and please my eye a bit.
> I believe my chainline to be around 43ish mm and I had to add some spacers behind my single chainring (in the doubles outside position) to get close to my Dualdrives correct chainline. I've just bought a Rohloff and unsure what cranks and BB to get. Again, love your build.:thumbsup:


Sorry for the late reply but I just saw this. Used a Wheels MFG ceramic bottom bracket. It's really silky smooth. So much so that the drag from the hub spins the cranks if I lift my feet while coasting. They were selling on pricepoint.com for $50 or so and were a fantastic deal. The way I got my chainline perfect was by redistributing the spacers at the level of the bb. I know, not ideal but I don't notice the few mm bias to one side at all.

Thanks for the compliments, everybody! I ride this bike most days and it still puts a smile on my face with how it functions and performs flawlessly for my needs.


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## fit24hrs (Jul 16, 2004)

Ginz said:


> Really, really nice. what sort of tires do you have on there? I find that hardest part about a do-all bike is deciding between slicks or knobbies.


They're some random set made by Geax. Sorry I don't remember the secs. They're meant for tubeless but I have a tube running in there. I was contemplating slicks but they're relatively thin (less than 2 in, I think) and roll pretty fast with high pressure. Also, I noticed that the tread pattern does not kick up very much water when riding over puddles so I'm keeping them on there in lieu of fenders.


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