New Saddle
Milage
25,500
On a whim I got a Brooks B-17 with springs and a slot. I figured this bike deserves it.
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Service log
New rims (again)
Milage
23,145
Wasn’t happy with the rims I got last summer and wanted to go tubeless. Alex rims with Rene Hers Snoqualmie Pass 700x44 tubeless.
Saga gets an Overhaul
Milage
23,000
For years I've been scheming to convert the Saga to a triple with bar end shifters. We'll it's happened.
- Velo Orange Grand Cru crankset 48-34-24
- Velo Orange square taper bottom bracket
- Dia Compe bar end friction shifters
Plus!
- Tecktro linear pull brakes
- Tecktro brake levers
- 44 mm Rene Herse Snoqualmie Pass tires
You might ask why, in the age of single chainring electronic shifting, I would want to go back to this 30 year old technology? Because for touring it the most versatile and reliable setup. With the 42/26 double I was lacking gears at both ends. Now I have a range from 19 to 122 gear inches.
Then there was the time my SRAM apex shifter broke while on a tour. That's just not going to happen with bar end shifters.
Then, after I had installed the new shifters I realized I was no longer dependent on the road style brake levers and I could upgrade to linear pull (vee) brakes and get much better stopping power.
The SOMA Saga is a classic road touring bike, and in this configuration, much truer to it's roots.
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New rims, cassette and chain.
Milage
19,729
Soma Weymouth rims. Mike laced them up for me. Tubeless ready although I set them up with tubes for now.
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Swapped tires
Milage
10,152
Put the RTPs back on. As usual I struggled until I put on new rim tape. So from now on always replace the rim tape when swapping tires with tubeless.
New wheel, cassette, chain, brake pads
Milage
22,500
Broke a spoke and was going to replace it, but the rim was worn out. Rear wheel. Need to do front soon.
Note: Had the front wheel rebuilt a week later.
