Finally....The Steel Wool Tweed review

Hello Void....it's been a while.

Well the Daily Commuter has been busy lately preparing for this Christmas season. We (Hippy Mom and Boy) have tried our best to minimize our Chirstmas carbon foot print. We are making our gifts and not over indulging or getting caught up in commercial Christmas, and trying to pass these lessons along to Boy. For that reason, we have actually been busier than years past.

However, I did promise a detailed review of my latest project bike: The Steel Wool Tweed. I will go through the detailed parts of my build, but I'll only get into specifics about some of the cooler parts (come on...how many times can someone review Shimano Ultegra...)

Void...

Here it goes... The Steel Wool Tweed

Frame and Ride:

I have now had this bike for 4 months and have put quite a few Km's on it. I now use this bike primarily for riding around Victoria with Taxi Mum and Boy. This is the first steel road frame I have ever had. I quite enjoy the feel, and trust me, after riding Carbon and Aluminum....Steel is real! The frame does not flex (noticeably) when you put the pedals down and it is really smooth on all the roads around here.

The Geometry:

This bike is billed as the Swiss Army Knife of bikes. Like any frame billed as a one stop shop, it does everything well...but nothing great. The only major problem I have with the geometry is the hight of the headtube. This extra hight makes the bike feel really tall and compared to other bikes I have ridden, it adds a little wobbliness (that combined with the long rake on the front forks) to the bike. I have tried to rectify this by flipping my stem upside down (or to the negative angle) and it helps a bit. I think the way it is built....as a daily commuter fun bike...is probably the best use for it. Due to the hight of the head tube I don't think this would be a great cross bike and the weight obviously takes it out of the competitive race bike scene. This bike built up as a randoneur, commuter, single speed, or classic would handle, ride and look great.

Design:

The bike design is great. I like the fact that you can basically mount anything on this bike (although a rear rack requires modifications due to the disc brake mount...problem solved for the 2009 model) is great.

The eccentric BB is a good design, and I have thought many tims of building this as a Fixed Gear (or with an internal hub). I have not noticed any flex from the BB, but it did once slip on me (probably user error as it has not slipped again). A generous application of Anti-seize is recommended for the bolts on the BB as well as a bit around the outer ring (just so you don't have any problems with the Steel vs. Aluminum for your insert.

The Fun Stuff:

The build itself is not that spectacular. I will list the components here and go into detail on the parts not regularly found out in your commercial bike shop.

1. Components:

The bike is fit with full Shimano Ultegra (I know, I know...this bike calls for Campy, but I'm not that rich). I took all the components off my old Specialized Allez Comp.

2. Bar / Stem:

Again...a take off of the old Specialized. Bontrager XXX Lite carbon bars (overkill) with an Easton EC90 stem (again....overkill). The parts feel great on the steel bike, but they are kind of unnecessary as the steel takes care of most of the vibration dampening. Just for good measure though I threw in some Bontrager BUZZKILLERS.

3. Headset:

Chris King. Is there really any other choice for a bike like this?

4. Wheels:

Mavic Ksryums...just don't ask........

5. Tires

Specialized Armadillo tires (Great puncture resistance)

6. Seatpost:

Thompson Elite black post.

7. Saddle / Saddle Bag:

As I had never ridden Brooks before, I decided to give it a try on this bike with the Brooks B17 model (in Honey). I have probably spent over $1000 in the last 10 or so years trying to find a saddle that worked for me for all conditions. As I started building this bike, I started reading the Books website and talking to people

who rode these. I decided to take the plunge with the not so dramatic B17 saddle (probably their longest production saddle..and cheapest). I have no converted all my bikes to Brooks and will NEVER go back. The leather seat conforms so well for me that I don't ever have to ride with bike shorts on trips shorter than aboug 30 km. Because I decided I liked it so much I bought the saddle bag to match, and I bought Taxi Mum a great little saddle as well.

8. Brakes:

Avid Shorty 5's

9. Rack:

Axiom Disc compatable narrow rack (with some modifications).

10. Pannier Bags:

These are probably one of the items on my bike I am most pround of finding. A great guy to deal with, Jeff, makes these out of old recovered Military bags and as you can tell from his website , Jeff has a thousand uses for them. I have recieved more compliments about this $88.00 (SET!!!) of Panniers than on most of the bike, which, I guess, is Ok by me :).

11. Fenders:

Again, another great site to deal with was Woodys wood fenders. These are hand made, in house and look fantastic, not to mention there are about 100 different choices on wood colors and materials. They look great and complete the bike.

Well Void...thats about it. If you have any further questions about the good ol' Steel Wool Tweed, fire me an email.

Stay tuned to Taxi Mum's Blog for a great review of her Batavus and Boy's seat, the Bobike (with new windshield!).

Till then,

Happy Trails

D.C.