help me build a townie!

[yeehawfactor]

i traded handlebars for a falcon built molteni merckx frameset. pretty snazzy. anyhow, i'm looking to turn it into a sweet townie commuter bike. as a poor college student i can't trick it out as i'd like with paul brakes and sweet wooden fenders and the like, but i still want to commute with class on a bike that will win the hearts of ladies everywhere. i need gears, as i'm in the high mountains of boone and campus is fairly hilly. i've been commuting on a surly 1x1, which has yielded good times. inspite of my love of the surly, i am now a man, and one of refined tastes, dapper appearance, natty dress, and exquisite choice in cycling equipment at that. the merckx will be the commuter. the frame has no shifter bosses, so would classy be stem mounted friction shifters or some form of bar mounted friction? how about fenders? i like the planet bike fenders ok, but i understand that they may not be long enough up front. surely there is a more elegant option out there. also, am i bound by the lore of cycling to run moustache bars?

[Ray]

i traded handlebars for a falcon built molteni merckx frameset. pretty snazzy. anyhow, i'm looking to turn it into a sweet townie commuter bike. as a poor college student i can't trick it out as i'd like with paul brakes and sweet wooden fenders and the like, but i still want to commute with class on a bike that will win the hearts of ladies everywhere. i need gears, as i'm in the high mountains of boone and campus is fairly hilly. i've been commuting on a surly 1x1, which has yielded good times. inspite of my love of the surly, i am now a man, and one of refined tastes, dapper appearance, natty dress, and exquisite choice in cycling equipment at that. the merckx will be the commuter. the frame has no shifter bosses, so would classy be stem mounted friction shifters or some form of bar mounted friction? how about fenders? i like the planet bike fenders ok, but i understand that they may not be long enough up front. surely there is a more elegant option out there. also, am i bound by the lore of cycling to run moustache bars?
If it doesn't have shifter bosses, does it have cable stops? If so, you could run barcons. Planet bike fenders are good - so are SKS and those may be a bit longer. Not sure how all of this works with the natty dress ;)

-Ray

[Steve Hampsten]

Hmmm...a stem-mounted lever is lacking a certain je ne sais quoi - better to use a single barcon or a Paul thumbie.

Jitensha for aluminum Honjo fenders - and check out their flat bars - and Wallingford for Berthoud stainless fenders (get the leather mudflap) and more nice bars (and maybe a nice Sogreni chainguard!). And Rivendell for more bars and shifter choices.

A Brooks saddle with springs would put this bike over the top.

[yeehawfactor]

thanks guys!
steve, is the stuff you're talking about super expensive?

[Steve Hampsten]

Nope.

[Dr. Doofus]

i am now a man, and one of refined tastes, dapper appearance, natty dress, and exquisite choice in cycling equipment at that.


bullcrap

to the doof, you'll always be the pimply kid from the smoothie shop

anyway

nice frame

[yeehawfactor]

#1
http://www.rivendellbicycles.com/webalog/handlebars_stems_tape/16123.html

or

#2
http://www.rivendellbicycles.com/webalog/handlebars_stems_tape/16027.html

[Fixed]

bro they are both cool i.m.h.o. I think I would pick no.2.. cos i have seen it on bikes before and those h. bars are cool cheers :beer:

[jerk]

the jerk's last "townie" bike was this busted bsa girls three speed which had two non functioning brakes but enough drag in the shot to hell hub that it'd slow down if you coasted. the bike was way to heavy to carry up to the apartment (not that mrs. jerk would probably have ever let it in the house anyway,) at the time so the jerk would just throw it in the bushes in front of his building....hoping everyday that it wouldn't be there in the morning.

it was less than a half mile "commute" to work; and it required slightly less effort than walking which was why the jerk continued to use it....but riding it really hungover on saturday mornings to go pick up the real bike and go for a real ride, did make the jerk realize that people who ride bikes because the state has taken away their license to operate a motorvehicle don't have it all that bad; at least in the summer time in allston, ma where the "scenery" is quite good.

nonetheless, the jerk likes his car as a mode of transportation and his bike as a sporting good.

jerk

[Steve Hampsten]

How about:

http://www.jitensha.com/eng/images/nittofltbr.jpg

[Ray]

bro they are both cool i.m.h.o. I think I would pick no.2.. cos i have seen it on bikes before and those h. bars are cool cheers :beer:
I've spent a good bit of time with both. #2 looks pretty cool on a townie, but I've NEVER been able to get comfortable with it. I still have one floating around my basement and I've had it on a town bike, fixed gear, cross bike, mountain bike, touring bike. I keep thinking I'm gonna like it but I've finally given up on it. There are a couple of good hand positions and the position up on the hoods is kind of like aero bars (without forearm pads), but there's nothing that even comes close to having a "tops" position and you'd be amazed how often you wish there was. Unless you move the bars waaaay back toward you, at which point the other positions are fer****. The verdict - MP.

Go with #1.

-Ray