Carbon Bike Update

I now have approximately one thousand miles on my self-built Chinese carbon bike so I thought an update was in order.

Firstly, I’ve seen some on the net refer to these bikes as a Chinarello, a play on the brand from which the design was obviously taken (Pinarello).  Worth a chuckle, at least to me. 🙂

Problems… or not problems:
– Loose spokes.  For many miles, various spokes on the rear wheel kept loosening.  I finally made a pass around the entire wheel tightening and relieving.  This seems to have stopped the issue.
– Derailleur hanger alignment.  A purchased the alignment tool from Park Tool and finally got this right.  I think the episode of breaking the hangar (here) may have bent the derailleur cage.  I did a lot of tweaking trying to get it right and never did until I purchased a new Shimano 105 rear derailleur.  With the hanger properly aligned and the new derailleur, it seems to be right and working very nicely.
– Front derailleur. Regardless of the above, I’m still not entirely happy with the front derailleur operation. Specifically, cross-chained operation is pretty noisy – lots of grinding.  I know not to ride cross-chained but it seems more adjustment is necessary.  I may let the LBS take a crack at this.
– Clicking noise.  Fighting an intermittent clicking noise.  It is only annoying to me. It seems to be two quick clicks and then a bit of silence, constantly repeating.  If I stop pedaling for a moment, it stops for several minutes.  I originally suspected the drive train but have now tightened my cleats, crank, spokes, rear quick release, and most everything I can find.  If it doesn’t stop soon, I’ll have to conclude that it is something in the cassette or free hub.
– Seat post slippage.  After several adjustments, I think it is now staying in place.  When it slips again, I’ll get and use some carbon assembly compound which appears to be the correct solution from my research.
– Headset slop. The shim solution that I implemented for the play in my headset turned out to be a bad idea.  A large amount of creaking started during my last ride (lots of climbing) and I decided to take it apart for another look.  Some water had gotten in there, caused some corrosion, and that was causing the creaking noises.  After removing the shim, I was able to tighten the headset and eliminate the slop that had previously existed.  I do not know why I was unable to do this previously but can guess that I didn’t have sufficient adjustment space with the steerer tube spacers??  I dunno…
– The 110cm stem that I ordered with the frame proved to be too long and had me stretched out.  A carbon 90cm replacement was ordered and installed.  This was a good change. In addition to a better, more comfortable fit, this seems to have livened up the steering a bit.
– Loosening fasteners.  This may simply be a fact of life with carbon, I’m not sure. I’ve had numerous fasteners loosen over time – particularly the stem.  It seems a once-per-month check is in order.
– Broken spokes.  Two separate times, I’ve felt a pop from the rear wheel and found a spoke broken at the hub end.  The first time I was able to ride home, the second time I had to get a ride. I am fairly certain this is due to damage that the spokes received when the rear derailleur got hung up in them (here).  What is somewhat interesting is that it happened some 800 miles after the initial event and both spokes broke during the same week.

I am still very impressed with the weight.  I actually got around to putting her on a quality scale.  With self-healing tubes, puncture resistant tires, bicycle computer/sensor, and LED front/rear lights; she weighs exactly 18.2 pounds.

I am also still in love with how much road buzz/shock she absorbs for me and makes the ride so much more comfortable.  I’m still a happy camper/builder/cyclist!