My first project on this forum: EXS Track

pontiac428 said:
Instead of rubbing alcohol for the grips, try hair spray. Slips on and stays.
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I used to do this, but when riding in bad weather hair spray tends to turn slippery again.

pontiac428 said:
I have a question, is EXS related to Elf (France), or is EXS another badge for Leader Bikes (Taiwan)?
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While the paint and decals have been applied in France, the frame itself has been made in Taiwan for Speed Cycles. No affiliation with Leader bikes whatsoever.

Luckily the Ellipse wheelset is not mission critical as it’s only a temporary one. I will build a way nicer wheelset around the Dura-Ace hubs mentioned in a previous post.
 
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CRC Evapo-Rust did what it was supposed to…

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…and so did Birchwood Casey Perma Blue!

Couldn’t be more satisfied with the results :geek:
 
Long time no update, I now have a rolling chassis:

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In case you’re wondering what took me so long, the answer to that question is the wheelset. Truing the rear wheel went smooth af, but the front wheel (which was supposed to be the true one according to the seller :chunky:) proved out to be an absolute pain in the ass. There was both radial and lateral wobble to the wheel and the spoke tensions were between 39 and 47kgF, while they are supposed to be between 90 and 110kgF. Some of the nipples were completely stuck and wouldn’t turn before multiple baths in WD-40. On the top of this, a couple of the bladed spokes were slightly damaged, but I didn’t bother changing them. Maybe they’ll even out with the now increased spoke tension.

I also installed the Nitto for Shred handlebar:

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It is wide, but I kind of like it that way :encourage:
 
And since today is our Independence Day, I celebrated 106-year-old Finland by adding more blue bits to the bicycle:

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The grips are Lizard Skins DSPs and the handlebar end plugs are Grip Doctors by Hope.

I’m still missing a few parts, but once they arrive I’ll be able to put the rest of the bike together. I can’t wait to give this bike a go!
 
The DA-7710 crankset is now in place! Luckily, I was able to locate my Park Tool crank bolt wrench as none of the hex key sets in my shop had a 7mm hex key in it.

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I had ordered some fancy brass dust covers from Blue Lug, but they were too thick to fit this crankset. The drive side dust cover bottomed out way sooner than I expected (multiple threads still visible outside the crank’s body) and my tool slipped knackering the dust cover quite badly :apologize: Luckily the damage is purely cosmetic, let's see if I can fix it.

The chainring’s packaging took me back to my childhood as it reminds me of the textures found in the 1999 video game “I’ve Got Some Balls” :chunky:

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There’s not much to report since the previous update.

The Mavic wheelset came without a lockring and since pretty much no one keeps those proprietary 33 x 1.0 mm lockrings in stock, I had to order one from Japan :guilty: Also the carbon Hope seatpost from SJS Cycles is still on it’s way and will hopefully arrive soon.

After a few hours of playing hide and seek in my shop, I finally managed to find the chain I had bought earlier for this bike :chunky: The hide and seek champion in question is a Wippermann Connex 1R8, that I have no previous experience with. After installing the chain, I applied a generous amount of Wolf Tooth WT-1 on it and will wipe the excess off next time I visit my shop. I hope that letting the lubricant sit for an extended period will allow it to better penetrate the factory grease. Some people like to degrease the chain completely before applying a lubricant, but I only do this when waxing the chain.
 
I think I am a Hope fanboy. Right now I have six sets of their brakes, three stems, a lighting system, and god knows how many hubs and hope hoops- at least five wheelsets. It's a full-blown fetish.
 
I ran into a slight problem.

It turns out that the Fujita saddle I had acquired for the bike is incompatible with the Hope seatpost. While the rail width on the saddle matches the one on the seatpost, the saddle is shaped in a way that it completely blocks access to the bolt that is supposed to tighten the clamping mechanism.

I have a couple of extra Fabric Scoop saddles laying around in the shop, but they don’t quite match the look I was aiming for with the Fujita saddle. Maybe I’ll try one and if I’m not happy with it, I’ll buy a Tune Speedneedle :geek:
 
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