Category: Uncategorized

While I was in Spain I got a reply from Jack at Franklin Frames to my final email asking when the frame was built:

I thanked him and asked if he knew why it had both an eccentric bottom bracket and a derailleur hanger.  He replied right away that it was probably to be able to switch between gears and single speed.  I’m not sure I buy that given the cable guide – I suspect that the original setup used a sturmey-archer hub.

I updated the as-built table.

selected images from Will’s photos (selected because I’m not in any of my own photos.)

When we got back from Tibet I emailed Jack Trumbull at Franklin to say that the trip went well and asking again about the manufacture date of the frame.  No reply.  I’ll try once more before I leave for Spain.

Meanwhile, here’s is the as-built configuration:

Touring bike built on a custom frame built in 2006 by Franklin Frames in Newark, Ohio:

Frame & Fork
Frame Construction: TIG welded
Frame Tubing Material: ChroMoly (Reynolds 853)
Frame Model: Custom Franklin with S&S couplers (55 cm)
Frame Serial Number: F042 (on BB shell)
Fork Material: ChroMoly

Components
Brakeset: Rodriguez Trillium Big Squeeze cantilever
Shift Levers: Campagnolo Chorus 11-speed (with Gebla Robox)
Crankset: Campagnolo Record Carbon 10-speed (pre-1995)
Chainring: 42-T Stronglight (135 BCD)
Bottom Bracket: Phil Wood (110.6mm square taper)
BB Shell Width: 68mm English (pinch-bolt type eccentric)
Rear Cog: 18-T (Rholoff proprietary)
Seatpost: alloy (27.2mm diameter)
Saddle: Terry Buzz-Off
Handlebar: Easton EA70 AX-16
Handlebar Stem: Origin8 Pro Fit (17 degree rise, 100mm offset)
Headset: Chris King NoThreadSet

Wheels
Rear Hub: Rholoff Speedhub 500/14 IGH
Front Hub: Schmidt SON 28 Dynamo hub
Rims: Weinmann Zac 19, 36-hole front, 32-hole rear
Tires: 700c x 28 Schwalbe Durano
Spokes: DT stainless steel – double-thickness  (rear), 2.0mm straight (front)
Spoke Nipples: Brass nipples

Accessories
Fenders: Velo Orange Hammered Aluminum
Rear Rack: Nitto Big Back Rack
Front Rack: Compass M-13 Extralight Front Rack (Nitto canti-bolt version)
Front Bag: Swift Industries Hinterland Ozette Randonneur (large)
Decaleur: Velo Orange decaleur kit (1 1/8 “)
Pump: Topeak Road Morph G
Front Light: SON Edelux II
Rear Light: Busch & Müller (small)

Sent this email today:

Mr Turnbull:

We’ll see.

Went in for a consultation before the 4th of July.  Committed to Rholoff immediately after the 4th.  Talked to Mike once or twice a week and ticked off decisions about shifters, hub specs, cogs, etc.  We clearly established August 8 as a hard deadline.  Then yesterday, the 24th, I get a call saying that their supplier can’t promise to get them a hub in time for build-up by the 8th.

I ended up agreeing to go with a 32-hole hub (instead of 36) which is probably just fine but not what I wanted.  I also agreed to stick with the 36 hole generator hub in the front since they had already gotten that in and started building the wheel.  No one will know by looking at the bike but it will bug me forever.

Otherwise things are coming along – I bought front racks in a couple of different configurations and ended up with one per bike.  The one for the Franklin came from Compass – it’s made by Nitto and has an elegant curved headlight attachment.  The one I put on my bike is from Vello Orange and has an integrated decaleur.  I got it because they were out of stock on the decaleur kits that slide over the steerer tube.  Later I was able to get a couple of those kits so we can run three randonneur bags if we want.  I mounted the Nitto low-rider ( “hub-area” according to Rivendale ) racks and the bracket for a hoop lines up with the braze-on on my rack so I just need a rack bolt and I’ll have an extra strut.  (I’m planning on traveling with two small panniers in front together with a medium-sized randonneur bag.)  Will is likely not going to want a front bag so the rack on his bike is gratuitous, but it’s also from Compass, made by Nitto, and mounts to the fork braze-ons instead of the canti pivots.

Speaking of canti pivots – the double-ended canti bolts from Vello Orange are not designed for the thickness of the Rodriguez tension adjusters.  When I replaced the stock bolts with double-ended ones to mount the rack on my bike I was barely able to get the bolt to catch – maybe two threads.  In addition, the “head” in between the two threaded ends is really skinny and you need a cone wrench to hold onto it.  (You need a 16mm wrench for the adjuster.   Pretty much the only thing I worry about needing to adjust on the road are those brakes so I’m looking at carrying a 13mm cone wrench and a crescent wrench that opens big enough to fit the adjusters – as well as the two very small allen keys that are needed to adjust the straddle cables.  Maybe the double-ended bolts from Nitto are just a little longer.  Or maybe I’ll ditch the idea of double-ended bolts and just go with a regular M6 that’s long enough to hold everything.

As we were starting up the hill on Market in Kirkland I went to shift down into granny and thought that the chain had broken.  Instead it was the crank!

On this same bike (the Ibis tandem) I had a chain ring bend a little when I wedged the chain between two rings, and on another bike (the Fuji Touring) I torqued the spider so that the rings wouldn’t lay flat.  I think that I’m done with Rene Herse cranks, at least on tandems.  I really like how they look but I’ve never had cranks that broke on me.