I have been riding the bike for the last 2 days. Sadly the old forged fork has a bent steerer that was too slight for me to notice. The headset kept wanting to come loose and if I torqued it down I couldn't steer. It also appears to have a slight bulge which means the stem tends to move and if I over tighten it the bulge will just worsen. While I reall liked the truss rods after day one I removed the fork and replaced it with a cruiser fork. It is not a Tange but until I can hunt one down it will suffice or I may have one made special. I missed an Ebay Tange today that an MTBR member alerted me too and I am pissed. After replacing the fork and riding today I can say I am in love.
My overall impression of the bike is this: It is absolutely the most comfortable bike I own. I can't even begin to describe how wonderfully comfortable this bike is. The riding position is perfect, not too upright to mess up the handling, not too aggressive to put pressure on my shoulders, arms and back. The Brooks saddle is vastly more comfortable than I expected. The little bit of give in the leather and the springs is like having a suspension seatpost and its wide profile is nice. It cruises up the hills with ease because I am getting great leg extension in a slightly recumbant position so I can really put the power down.
The steering is certainly not like a cross country race bike. With the wide bars and headangle it feels alot like some of the downhill bikes I have ridden. Standing with my thighs clamping the saddle coming down Lopez Canyon today it felt wonderfully stable and balanced just as I had hoped. The ride is nowhere near as harsh as my other 2 steel rigids but I think that is mainly due to the larger volume tires and the saddle. The bottom bracket is fairly low and I believe this contributes to the very stable feel and handling.
The braking is very good. I run Avid Elixers on my main rig and they are quite powerful. The Sturmey drum was super easy to setup. On my first ride I felt the braking was a little lacking but I realized the stock clamp for attaching the arm to the fork leg was not good for the fork I had. On the new fork I used a hose clamp and torqued it down tight and after some breaking in the power is really good. The best thing about it is the progression, you get a smooth progression of power through the pull of the lever. The rear roller brake is enough to lock up the rear wheel with pretty light lever pull.
The cranks and bottom bracket adaptor have worked out very well. I am glad I opted for the 170mm crank due to the lower bottom bracket. I haven't had a rock strike yet but I am sure to at some point. The Nexus hub shifts flawlessly and was suprisingly easy to setup although the instructions suck and it did not come with brackets that had the right angle for my dropouts so I had to do some creative dremel work on the ones it came with. The gearing range is pretty wide. I was able to make it up all the hills in the canyon and had plenty of top end for the downhills.
One thing I love about it is the attention it gets. Even my boss said it was the coolest looking bike he had ever seen. Tomorrow is national trails day so I am taking her out on a group ride. This 7 month project has been worth every every ounce of blood, sweat and frustration. A 74 year old bike has made me feel like a kid on christmas morning again. I love this thing, by far the most satisfying outcome to a rebuild or restoration. I hope I am still riding this thing when it turns 100.
