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The finishing touches are done! I attached the brake cable ferrules and taped up the handlebars.  I couldn’t wait so I took it out for a spin – what a blast!  It rides great.  I had two small issues, one which I fixed, the other I’ll have to check into.

First, I was doing some “track stand to hammer” transitions and the chain would skip.  Not cool, so I put it back onto the rack and could tell that my chain was way too loose.  I pulled the wheel all the way back into the dropouts and took away the slack. After 10 track stands or so, I can declare – Problem fixed!

Surly with Single-speed Chain

The second issue I ran into is the dreaded “Cantilever Squeal” (Is someone torturing a pig in the neighborhood??).   The front brakes are complaining when I pull ‘em tight.  Rears are nice and quiet. It’s not horrible, but I’m going to play around with them a bit more before I give up.  And it might be my imagination, but I’m pretty sure they weren’t squealing nearly as bad after 10 minutes of use.  Maybe it’ll go away on it’s own??  Fingers are crossed on that one.

A couple of other notes, mainly for myself when I end up replacing some parts down the line:

• Use the Surly rear brake cable hanger.  I bought a shorter one because of a few complaints on the Surly one, and it forced me to move the brake cable housing too high.  Not a major issue, but the goal is always perfection.
  

  Rear cable housing too high

• Use a longer cable housing on the rear brake cable on the handlebars.  I made the rookie mistake of not using enough so when the handlebars turn, the brakes engage.  I almost have to hit the top tube with the handlebars, and I couldn’t force it on the test rides, so it’s not worth tearing everything apart for.  Just have to remember to fix it next time around.
  

  Cable housing is a bit too tight

Now, all that’s left are some fenders.  I’m thinking SKS-P45s ->  . Also will need to get some front lighting, a rear rack and panniers and maybe a fixed cog for the flip-flop hub, but it’s definitely ready to go as-is!

Tags: bike geek, commute, lessons learned, surly crosscheck

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 11th, 2008 at 9:12 pm and is filed under Bicycles.