Hey mate. Turns out life got hectic last year and I completely forgot about this thread. There was a frantic rush to put the bike together before I rode Attack of the Buns with rolly last October, then got hit by a car and pretty much stopped riding for a couple of months. Bike is definitely finished. I’ll post some pics tonight.
I can’t even remember what I was talking about in that final post about brake caliper bolts, I think it was a case of me being a mechanical dunce and forgetting a spacer somewhere. I did, however, manage to not tighten the rear caliper bolts enough and they came loose after an off-road overnighter a couple of weeks ago. :eek:
Another mechanical dunce moment was threading the chain through the rear derailleur incorrectly, so it was rubbing against the retaining plate between the jockey wheels. Somehow rode it like that for 2,500km thinking the drivetrain noise must just be because of my mongrel road/MTB.
I also managed to put one of the chainrings on back-to-front. “Why is front shifting not working? Oh, it’s because the spacing between chainrings is wrong.” Oooops.
The mongrel drivetrain with Wolf Tooth Tanpan works perfectly. Not quite as smooth or fast shifting as 105/Ultegra but no missed shifts. I rarely shift under load so can’t comment there. Gearing rear adequate; never spun out 46/11 and probably never will since I’m too lazy to pedal descents. I rarely use the lowest 34/42 gear, and if that gear isn’t low enough then I’m happy to walk. I’m not a fan of Shimano’s new 11 speed front derailleur. It’s just as annoying as the previous (5800/6800) design, only in different ways. But just like the previous one, it works perfectly once it’s been setup. I rarely shift the front during the ride - big ring for normal/flat terrain unloaded, small ring for srs hills and loaded touring. After all the angst in previous threads, I reckon I’d be happy with a 1X setup.
I’ve put over 3,200km on the bike by now. Mix of commutes, road rides, gravel rides and gravel touring. Worn through my first chain (see above) and front brake pads are now wafer thin so the replacement will go on in the next couple of days. Hydro brakes are the absolute duck’s nuts.
My road bike has barely been ridden since I’ve put this bike together. Compass Barlow Pass tyres are incredible. They feel as fast as GP4000s and offer so much more comfort on coarse roads.
The Tripster geometry feels at home off road, at least more so than my road bike and Vivente tourer. I’m a total chicken, though, and it’s been a slow process developing even the slightest off-road skills. I’ve fallen over a few times. Clement XPlor tyres feel fine off road but very sluggish on-road. I’ve also got some more seriously knobby Maxxis Ravagers which I haven’t tried yet. I recently swapped the handlebars (which were Deda compact road bars) for some Salsa Cowchippers (wide flared drops). After riding Gippy Gold last weekend, I’m enjoying the extra width on dirt.
Current project is a second wheelset, because swapping tyres is a pain - the Compass tyres in particular take a huge effort to get on and off the rim - and I don’t like riding the road tyres off-road or the gravel tyres on-road. Scored some half-price WTB Frequency rims on clearance at CRC and building them up with DT Swiss hubs and spokes.