A Baron in Roubaix

Howdy Bike Riders...

We're down to a Gent-Wevelgem and a Ronde van Vlaanderen away from rolling the stones of Roubaix. That said, I'd like to cover some of the details of the bike that's going with me.

Now Ol' Curly would be lyin' if he said he didn't secretly want to ride his 17lb carbon steed into the Roubaix Velodrome... hands in the air... pounding his fist at the accomplishment... but it ain't gonna happen. There's just too good of a chance that said carbon bike would be shipped back to the good ol' USofA into a few more pieces than it left with. So... with a few modifications, Ol' Curly will be rollin' the Baron Outsider over the Euro-stones. Here's a rundown of the mods to the bike.

First off, the bike got a good teardown and cleaning. In replacing the cables, Ol' Curly discovered that he'd really only had a few more miles left in his rear derailleur cable anyway as he had missed the nearly broken through part that entered the rear D... The bike also got a new 44t inner chainring... since there's not much elevation change, probably more important to have a tall enough inner for keeping the tension on. In replacing this chainring, Curly's gargantuan stremph busted one of the FSA alloy bolts in 2... probabaly good that it happened now...

Tires were lovingly mounted with new Vittoria tubes to the handbuilt by Curly wheelset... and a new set of copper wires is about to be tied and soldered to the rear wheel spoke crossings. If'n Curly breaks a spoke, he'll want it staying in place until he can safely fall into the gutter. Surprisingly, with 1200 miles on them, these wheels didn't need to be touched. They still sing with the trueness that comes from a Curly wheelbuild. The cassette also received a thorough polishing.

Among other mods... Scuffing of the brake rotors, new brake pads, Simicrome hub polishing, severe chain cleaning, new BB and a giant smathering of Loctite on each and every bolt that needs to stay put.

Lastly, not pictured are the new rolls of white handlebar tape and chainkeeper to keep that Wipperman in its' place. I also added a hose clamp around the base of the seatpost to add a little insurance to the seat height.

So, there you have it... That's pretty much it... A steel rain bike should have enough strength to survive the cobbles... and beers... and frites...

~Curly