This page holds entries for bikes that I’ve built up but no longer own.
Soma Rush (2024)
This rust-colored Soma Rush frameset looks really slick. I’m super happy I was able to order one in my size before this year’s model sold out. I built this up into a signle-speed using the parts from the purple Raleigh (see below). At the time of writing this is set up with a 36T chainring and a 20T freewheel. This ratio makes the hills in my neighborhood bearable without requiring me to spin too-too hard to avoid angering motorists when I’m sharing the road.
Montagna Six (~1990)
This is the first bike I ever owned. I bought it from the Missing Link Bike Coop in Berkeley, CA, which has since, sadly, closed for business. I haven’t been able to find much information about this bike other than it is an Italian-made 1990s mountain bike. It has cantilever rim brakes, 26” wheels with 1.75” tires, and a 3x5-speed drivetrain. I haven’t done much to this bike except for replacing the brake pads, installing a rear rack, and adding a hitch for a small trailer.
I rode this bike for several years while I lived in Berkeley and it made me realize that I don’t really need a car to do most of the things I care about doing. Breaking this bike down for shipping and reassembling it when I moved to Pittsburgh, PA demystified bicycle maintaince for me and can likely be blamed for the existence of this page. Lately this bike is only used when I have guests in town, but I think I will hang onto it for a while yet.
Raleigh USA R500 (~2000)
The Miyata Sport 10 sizing snafu left my drop bar road bike itch largely unscratched, since it wasn’t very comfortable to ride. It was fun enough to ride, though! So, I decided it was worth it to try one more time. This early 2000s Raleigh R500 frameset also came from ebay, but it was posted with very convincing evidence about its size (shout out to Shop Dog). Unlike my other bikes, this frame is made of alluminum. This makes it a bit lighter, but it has a somewhat chunky downtube. Overall, I really like the look of this bike, though.
It has the same 16-speed drive train from the Miyata build, using the Rivendell Clipper Cranks. It has a Shimano Altus derailleur in the rear and a Sensah Empire in the front. It also has 700c wheels with 25mm tires. I wanted to use 28mm tires, but they were a smidge too wide for the chainstays. I think the purple frame looks really sharp with all the silver components. I was originally bummed that the Velo Orange Grand Cru Brakes weren’t available in silver when I was building this up, but the black ones ended up looking really slick.
This bike is super fun to ride, and is so much more comfortable than the tiny Miyata was. I usually grab this bike if I’m going out and know I won’t need anything by my phone, keys, wallet, and maybe a book.
Update September 2024: This bike has been retired and many of its parts have been transplanted to the Soma Rush.
Miyata Sport 10 (1984)
This is the first bike I assembled from scratch. I built it because I always wanted to feel what it was like to ride a bike with drop bars, which I think look really cool. I was unemployed for a few months after I moved to Pittsburgh, so I had plenty of time to get the details right.
I found the cool vintage blue frameset and (luckily!) the original stem, shifters, handle bars, and derailleurs on ebay. I wanted to build a bike with more than 5 speeds in the rear, so I bought an 8-speed 11-32T casette for this build. Older frames like this one are usually too narrow to accommodate such a wide stack of cogs, though. Luckily the frame is made of steel and I was able to widen the the spacing between the rear dropouts using a technique called cold setting. It had 42/26T chain rings on Rivendell Clipper Cranks. It had cheap 27” wheels with 1.25” tires.
The ebay seller labeled the frame as having a 57cm tall seat post, but it was actually much smaller– around 49cmm, so, I replaced the original stem with an extra tall one and ordered a tall seat post (hence the awkward-looking proportions in the photo). The bike was mostly rideable, but I felt and looked a little too goofy while riding it and my knees would occasionally hit the shifters while pedalling. I eventually raided this bike for the parts and the frame is just collecting dust in the basement.