# <open transmission> Notice



## innergel

Preatorian StradaOS build progressing. 

Final parts installation and fine tuning scheduled for 8-1-2009. 

Rumors of shiny Nitto bits and matching elkhide bar wrap and saddle combo = confirmed

Images forthcoming.

[transmission closed]


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## Guest

Well,

That's rather high up the teasometer scale.

Will pics be forthcoming before I leave for vacation????

BTW - I leave Sunday AM.


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## kjmunc

Sweet....does this mean you are going to be cutting loose any others from your herd? 

I love it when guys my size get new bikes


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## innergel

toomanybikes said:


> Well,
> 
> That's rather high up the teasometer scale.
> 
> Will pics be forthcoming before I leave for vacation????
> 
> BTW - I leave Sunday AM.


I'll do my best. .




kjmunc said:


> Sweet....does this mean you are going to be cutting loose any others from your herd?
> 
> I love it when guys my size get new bikes


Negative. I looked to long for the MXL to swap her out now. We're just getting past the honeymoon stage!


I do have a 63cm Trek2300 frameset if you are interested


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## zmudshark

innergel said:


> I'll do my best. .
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Negative. I looked to long for the MXL to swap her out now. We're just getting past the honeymoon stage!
> 
> 
> I do have a 63cm Trek2300 frameset if you are interested


I hear Treks are good bikes.


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## innergel

zmudshark said:


> I hear Treks are good bikes.


Obviously I've missed something in my prolonged furlough.


Is Heath Ledger still dead?


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## zmudshark

innergel said:


> Obviously I've missed something in my prolonged furlough.
> 
> 
> Is Heath Ledger still dead?


Not sure, but I hear Micheal Jackson has Lupus.


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## innergel

zmudshark said:


> Not sure, but I hear Micheal Jackson has Lupus.


Gasp! With all his money, I'm sure he can get some kickass prescription meds.


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## zmudshark

innergel said:


> Gasp! With all his money, I'm sure he can get some kickass prescription meds.


Yeah, I'm sure he'll be fine. I hear he's going on tour soon.

BTW, you are overdue on pictures.


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## innergel

zmudshark said:


> Yeah, I'm sure he'll be fine. I hear he's going on tour soon.
> 
> BTW, you are overdue on pictures.


I know. Fail. 

There were some issues with the build. The bike had to go into the shop for some professional attention. I can never get the damn shifting dialed in. So even though all the parts are installed, it's still not rideable. :cryin:


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## zmudshark

Well, the weekend is fast approaching, where is it?


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## innergel

zmudshark said:


> Well, the weekend is fast approaching, where is it?


I was trying to wait until I had the bars wrapped and had given it a shakedown ride, but here goes anyway. You'll have to imagine it with elk hide bar tape. 

Thank you for your patience.

*Bang!*









*Whammo!*









*Nitto Noodle bars, Nitto Technomic Deluxe stem*









*Flite, recovered in lovely honey leather by yours truly*









*9sp DA group*









*Front end*









*The old standby - Ultegra/Open Pro wheels*


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## JohnHenry

Your seat is too high. :arf:


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## bmxhacksaw

Are those 650c wheels?


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## GirchyGirchy

I think that would fit me. Can I have it?


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## zmudshark

Seat's not level, to continue the madness.

On a serious note, do you know what Strada OS actuallt is? Is it EL OS, or something different?

I've never been clear on that.

Apart from that, it looks very nice, awaiting ride reports!


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## minneso

Very nice! My Strada's twin brother is looking good....

Cheers Eric in AZ


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## HigherGround

zmudshark said:


> Seat's not level, to continue the madness.
> 
> On a serious note, do you know what Strada OS actuallt is? Is it EL OS, or something different?
> 
> I've never been clear on that.
> 
> Apart from that, it looks very nice, awaiting ride reports!


I've read that the tubing is Columbus "Brain" and "Brain OS". I'm not sure if people are using the two names interchangeably for the same tube set though.


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## innergel

HigherGround said:


> I've read that the tubing is Columbus "Brain" and "Brain OS". I'm not sure if people are using the two names interchangeably for the same tube set though.


The Columbus sticker just says "Brain". There is no indication of it being a Strada EL OS on the bike. It only says Strada O.S. on the top tube. I don't know if Brain and Brain OS are the same thing either. 

I STILL haven't ridden it. :cryin: I was out of town for work all last week and it just got to the shop on Sunday. They are swamped with work so I won't pick it up until tomorrow. The guys at the shop said they were keeping it a few extra days so they could just drool over it.  That made me feel nice.

I MIGHT get it a shakedown ride on it Thursday evening. If not, I've got the MXL to keep me company. I looked at that thing this morning and it's filthy, but the drive train is squeaky clean. I kept thinking since it was Belgian, it liked being caked with road grime :thumbsup:


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## innergel

minneso said:


> Very nice! My Strada's twin brother is looking good....
> 
> Cheers Eric in AZ


We need to reunite the twins some day! And all their other South African cousins. 

Your all black parts build was the inspiration for me going all silver. I figured they wanted to be slightly different from each other.

How is yours holding up? Still treating you well I'm sure. You've had it running for almost a year now, right? A long term ride report would be great.


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## Dave Hickey

that is sweet......very very nice...... 

Something you might want to try before installing the elk wrap..... I've added some electrical tape on the bars prior to sewing the wrap on...It adds a very small amount of padding...I love the look of the elk wrap but it doesn't have much padding...

The next time I try it, I might use some old Catye cloth tape before I sew on the wrap


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## ksanbon

Beautiful! I love the tan w/ the blue - very classy.
It would be nice if the tire manufacturers would make more tan sidewalls for vintage art.


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## innergel

Dave Hickey said:


> that is sweet......very very nice......
> 
> Something you might want to try before installing the elk wrap..... I've added some electrical tape on the bars prior to sewing the wrap on...It adds a very small amount of padding...I love the look of the elk wrap but it doesn't have much padding...
> 
> The next time I try it, I might use some old Catye cloth tape before I sew on the wrap


I've been thinking about how to add some padding to the bars. The best idea I could come up with was some of that green tennis racket grip tape, but it is very thin as well. I have used it under non-gel cork before and it works OK. 

Maybe I'll try some cloth tape and see how that works out. That's a great idea. I may even have some regular thin "cork" tape I could try. If I wrapped it without any overlap, it would probably work out well and not make the leather look too lumpy.


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## JohnHenry

LOL....I just noticed you got all matchy-matchy with the pedals. good work.


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## innergel

JohnHenry said:


> LOL....I just noticed you got all matchy-matchy with the pedals. good work.


Not! 

I moved those over from my track bike that hasn't been used in a while. It is definitely not intentional. Now I'm gonna have to switch pedals around to get some grey one's on there.


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## innergel

*Arrrggg!*

The shop just called and the left shifter is trashed and none of their shops have one. My only option through them is new. I'm scouring ebay right now. 


Perchance, does anyone have a 9sp left DA shifter they want to part with?


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## tarwheel2

Hey Innergel -- How about starting another thread showing how you recovered your Flite saddle in leather? Might be better for the Classic Bikes forum.


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## innergel

tarwheel2 said:


> Hey Innergel -- How about starting another thread showing how you recovered your Flite saddle in leather? Might be better for the Classic Bikes forum.


Unfortunately I did not take pictures during the process, but it's an easy enough explanation. There were a few things I learned that I would do differently the next time. I need to find another saddle to do and take plenty of pics then do a good post. If someone has a beat up, crappy donor saddle they want to donate, I'll take it, recover it and send it back to them when it's done. 

In the meantime, here's a nice little link that got me started.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-recover-an-old-bicycle-seat/


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## stelvio1925

If you need one to practice on, PM me your mailing address & I'll send you a scuffed grey Flite saddle I have lying around.


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## innergel

stelvio1925 said:


> If you need one to practice on, PM me your mailing address & I'll send you a scuffed grey Flite saddle I have lying around.


If you'll pay for the leather and the return postage, I'll do it. Just tell me what color you want. I should be able to scrounge up a remnant big enough to do a saddle, esp. if it's black or "earth tone". 

PS - I'm not confident enough to do a saddle with a cutout just yet.


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## tarwheel2

Hmm ... I might be able to find a saddle to cover. Need to check the garage.


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## innergel

tarwheel2 said:


> Hmm ... I might be able to find a saddle to cover. Need to check the garage.


I'm going to the leather shop tomorrow to try and find something for stelvio. I can look for you if you tell me what color you want. Black and "earth tones" are easiest to find in saddle size remnants. 

I'll be happy to do a saddle for you. Same deal as stelvio. Just pay for materials and return postage. Should be fairly inexpensive, depending on how much the leather is.


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## innergel

innergel said:


> I'm going to the leather shop tomorrow to try and find something for stelvio. I can look for you if you tell me what color you want. Black and "earth tones" are easiest to find in saddle size remnants.
> 
> I'll be happy to do a saddle for you. Same deal as stelvio. Just pay for materials and return postage. Should be fairly inexpensive, depending on how much the leather is.


I've actually changed my mind. I'll pay for postage one way to get a few more saddles in to practice on. So it should be <$20 total for me to do a saddle for you and get it shipped back. 

You just gotta promise to give me a good review and tell all your friends


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## Guest

innergel said:


> I was trying to wait until I had the bars wrapped and had given it a shakedown ride, but here goes anyway. You'll have to imagine it with elk hide bar tape.
> 
> Thank you for your patience.
> 
> ]



'Gel,

Very nice indeed.

Beautiful colour, the saddle goes well with it.

Those Nitto bars are a dream, I have the same ones on my De Rosa, love them. Nice bend, just deep enough.

I hope the bar leather will be a really good match - post a pic when you get the bars done too.

Congrats - enjoy the heck out of it.


TMB


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## innergel

Thanks TMB. High praise coming from you. 

The bars are awesome. I have them on the MXL as well. I love them. Hard to picture going with anything else at this point, esp. on lugged steel. The bar leather is a very close match. No perfect but good enough for gov't work. I figure when they get worn in a bit, no one can tell.

I'll get some more pics up eventually. 



toomanybikes said:


> 'Gel,
> 
> Very nice indeed.
> 
> Beautiful colour, the saddle goes well with it.
> 
> Those Nitto bars are a dream, I have the same ones on my De Rosa, love them. Nice bend, just deep enough.
> 
> I hope the bar leather will be a really good match - post a pic when you get the bars done too.
> 
> Congrats - enjoy the heck out of it.
> 
> 
> TMB


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## stelvio1925

Argh... got side-tracked by the saddle discussion, I neglected to mention how I loved the rest of your build :thumbsup: . Congrats on an awesome ride. Wish I got on this board before all the SA Merckxs in my size disappeared..


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