More on the KHS CX 100

I bought this bike during November of 2002. I was inspired to buy it after becoming interested in cyclocross racing. I had never seen an actual cyclocross race, but I had read that it was ideal winter training for cyclists in cold climates. I was living in the midwest at the time and the winters were definitely cold.
I later realized that this bicycle does not have the ideal design for cyclocross racing, but it has been a good commuter and has performed well when I've done some off road riding (for a variety of reasons, most recently location and travel time limitations, I have yet to actually compete in a cyclocross race). The sloping top tube is not the idea frame design for a bike that will be carried although I have managed to tote it (slowly) up some steep slopes. The biggest flaw is probably weight - it was about 27 lbs when purchased. The shock (behind the seat) definitely contributes to this. I'm not certain how the design of this bike came about and KHS only sold them for a short time (2-3 years?). I paid around $575 for this bike. (Colorado Cyclist also offered an upgraded version for a higher price, with full Shimano Ultegra rather than the standard Shimano Sora for about a season before selling their own Douglas cyclocross bike, also Ultegra, for a season or two.) The CX 100 always seemed a little bit to me like it wasn't so much purposefully designed to be a cyclocross bike, but rather it was the result of spare parts put together to make a cyclocross bike. The original wheels had rims that made tire changing a challenge, if not impossible. (I had to take one to a bike shop one time and it took two guys to pull the tire off.) I replaced those with cheap heavy road wheels while living in Albuquerque, NM, which may well be the flat tire capital of the US. (ABQ has not only hostile plant life - 'goat heads' - but also tons of glass and other debris.) This year, I decided it was time to be nice to this bike which has served me so well these past years and do a little upgrading. I replaced the steel fork with a Specialized carbon 'zertz' (with clear inserts that are supposed to cushion). The steerer tube is a little bit on the long side, but there was so much different in shape (the original fork had a huge amount of wheel clearance) that, based on the bike shop guy's recommendation, I erred on the side of longer rather than shorter. Rear brake is an Avid Shorty 6; front is a Bike Nashbar brand. The bike came with Tektro brakes and when I started having adjustment problems and I was living in the foothills and doing a lot of hard braking, I decided to upgrade to Avid Shorty 6s. These are nice brakes but for the squeal which led me to try out the Nashbar in the front. The Nashbar brakes seem to stop just as well, cost quite a bit less and I like the black color better. One of these days, like the next time Nashbar has a free shipping or 10% off everything sale, I'm going to replace the rear as well. On the plus side, the squeal of the Avid Shorty 6s is an effective warning if you don't have a horn or bell on your bike. The original crankset was an all black TruVativ Elita with 48 and 38 tooth rings. While I would have preferred to go to a 50 tooth big ring (I had been considering using a road compact crank), I found an excellent deal on a new black and silver TruVativ 46-38 on ebay (of course!). I got the new crank for less money than it would have cost me to replace the (very worn) chainrings. Since this bike has had basically zero maintenance other than general cleaning and brake replacement (and a headset rebuild a couple of years ago), I decided to go ahead and replace the bottom bracket with an inexpensive (Bike Nashbar brand ISIS drive) while I was replacing the crank. A new chain was a given (SRAM power link), and the cassette (8 speed) was pretty worn, too. I purchased but didn't install a replacement Shimano Sora rear derailleur as I found one for around $20. I'm concerned that 8 speed parts might become hard to find, or at the least, get pretty pricey. Obviously the decision to service/rebuild/repair parts vs. replacing them is a little different with this bike than it would be, for instance, with a bike that was all Shimano Dura Ace or Campy Record. When I originally began to bike regularly 5 years ago, I was gainfully employed and probably more likely to pay someone to do things (although I have always wanted to be able to work on my bikes) or to even upgrade to another bike rather than considering something like replacing the drive train parts. Now, however, I am a student (and a part time graduate assistant) so every expenditure is (should be, anyway) weighed carefully. But, back to the drive train - I replaced a 13-26 cassette with an 11-28. This helps make up for the fact that I went to the 46 tooth big ring (I have more gear inches with 46/11 than 48/13). Sheldon Brown, by the way, has a great gear calculator. I have actually done more off road riding with this bike this year than the previous 2 or 3, so I may well decide that this set up works better all around. (I did find a 50 tooth TruVativ ring for sale and it costs about 2/3 of what I paid for the whole crankset.)
The last thing I did on this bike was replace the heavy no name seat post with a used (ebay) aluminum Easton EA 70. I had planned to use an American Classic one bolt post from another bike, but discovered to my surprise that the CX 100 is the only bike I own that takes a 26.8 and not a 27.2 seat post. The Easton is many grams lighter than the original post and looks better, too. I haven't weighed the bike yet, but these changes, in particular the fork and seatpost, definitely lightened it up.With the Neuvation wheels (road wheels, but have so far worked fine off road; I don't have any tires larger than 700 x 30), this bike is faster and rides smoother than it ever has. It has always been, for me, a pleasure to ride - it is a size medium and seems to fit me just right. Tires are 700 x 30 Michelin Cyclocross Jet (which used to come in green and I think look sharper than black) and I have a pair of almost slicks (700 x 28) for road riding. I have to think, despite weight and shape issues, that this is a good enough ride to get me started in racing cyclocross, when opportunity presents itself. (I don't necessarily expect to remain in the same area beyond the next 1-2 years.) My present location doesn't have much real cyclocross weather (wet and mud but not much serious cold) so it instead provides at least 10 months a year, if not 11 to 12, of prime outdoor training weather for road cycling.
The bike I am about to begin building will be a time trial bike (which is why this blog is called 'Building a TT Bike') and I plan to use it in short to middle distance (hopefully a half Iron distance in late summer of 2007) triathlons.
Next post: having the Schwinn frame and fork painted; getting the parts together

The beginning

I've started this blog to record my attempt to build a bicycle. The beginning of this project is going to coincide with the beginning of the New Year (2007).
I have been cycling regularly since February of 2002 and have, from time to time, attempted maintenance and/or repair operations on various bicycles. The most involved bicycle maintenance project I completed to date was the recent replacement of a fork, headset, front brake, crankset, bottom bracket, chain and cassette on a 2003 (might be an '02) KHS CX 100 cyclocross bike. This job taught me some things including the wisdom of being certain you have all of the tools you need before you start (I had to 'pause' twice, first to order a crank puller, second to get the proper bottom bracket tool.) There are also some things I simply prefer not to do - after determining appropriate size, I had the fork steerer tube cut by the local bike ship and will likely do the same for the new bike. My decision-making process about whether to purchase tools or to pay someone else to do something is influenced by both the perceived difficulty of the job and the potential future use (and cost) of any new tools. I probably could have sawed the steered tube with a hacksaw (after buying a guide) but I was certain that it could be done more quickly, more precisely and given a smoother finish by a bike mechanic. Along with that, all I had to take to the shop was the fork (with approximate measurement marked). It turned out to be a relatively low cost job and I was very happy with the result. Pulling the crank or bottom bracket, on the other hand, are things I assume I may do again in the future (although some cranks are self-extracting); the tools were each relatively low-priced; I could get them shipped to me quickly (the bike shops in my small town don't carry a very large selection of tools); I didn't have a dire need to ride the bike I was working on (had a couple of others to use instead); the bike was in pieces on a workstand and I would have needed to do some reassembly to even take it to a shop; and I hadn't planned to finish the job all at once anyway since I was doing it during the school semester (I am working on a MS degree).
I also replaced the wheels on the CX 100 with Neuvation M28 Aero wheels which I couldn't be more pleased with.
Building an entire bicycle is a task I find somewhat intimidating. However, I decided that I wanted to acquire a bicycle that was truly unique and, given limited funds and evolving needs and priorities, building from 'scratch' seemed like the best way to proceed.
I started collecting parts about two years ago with the purchase of a used frame on ebay. The frame, a 2001 Homegrown (built in USA) aluminum Schwinn Factory frame cost me around or under $50 including shipping. I picked up a no name carbon fork (also on ebay) for about $70 and, coincidentally, the label that came on the fork indicated that it had been produced for Schwinn. Another 2001 Schwinn Factory (complete bike) resides in my household and is in the photo at the top of this post.
Next post: more about the CX 100

Happy Holidays!