Assembly Update: Gettin' Fit

An hour here, a couple hours there. I have bits of time from day to day to gradually complete the Soma Smoothie. So I'm at the point of the build where I need to adjust the fit of the bike to know how much steerer tube to chop off. This is the second road bike I've ever owned. What it has in common with the first is a stock frame size of 56cm. I am a tall 5'9" just shy of 5'10"(l77cm). When I was 17 yrs. old and bought that first bike, a Centurion LeMans RS, I was about an inch shorter and probably barely tall enough for that frame. I figured this time around 56cm would be just right but as I adjust the bike to fit I wonder if 54cm is a preferable option. Although this is a trial and error process of learning what frame size fits best. It will take quite a bit of fine tuning to get all of the adjustments just so and that will require some miles on the road. By the time I have the fit dialed in I may find the size is just fine. A lesson learned going into any bike build is knowing certain details, dimensions and measurements that I need in a frame, and subsequently parts, that suit me and my body.

Traditionally I have fit my bikes simply by how the adjustments feel. This time I am trying to take a more clinical approach using tested and tried guidelines for fitting. To get the bike to a point of basic adjustment I followed a simple, logical method by Peter White of Peter White Cycles. From here I can make the necessary finite tweaks and turns. Perhaps even a professional fitting is in my future.

Assembly Update

While I was watching stage five of this year's edition of Tirreno-Adriatico I tinkered on the bike a little. Do people still tinker these days? Or does that sound amateurish? Too buffoonish? Instead they "engineer" or "fabricate". The Soma Smoothie is coming together nicely.

Totally Not Tubular

What a dry spell since my last blog post! You really gotta be motivated with ideas and subject matter to write about in order to keep a well maintained blog. If you're not producing a couple of entries per week the search engines wont even recognize your blog. The purpose of this exercise has been to journal the process of building a new bicycle from square one, piece by piece, and record my thoughts and experiences throughout. And what could make following my chronicle of the venture interesting is the fact that I've never done this before. That is build a bicycle from the ground up...but also keep a blog as well. It's been a challenge though authoring a worthwhile read when the bicycle build is so drawn out and having not much to write about in the meantime.

Entering into the wheel phase of the Soma Smoothie build I had the opportunity to choose tubular tires over clinchers, which I've ridden on my whole life. Those who have tubulars will say there is a noticeable difference in ride quality. They will praise their superiority. Despite this there are good reasons to go with clinchers. To begin with, I am a recreational rider. I doubt the improvement in quality of ride will benefit me much. The performance level of tubulars is appropriate for professionals and avid racers, not really this "soul rider". Second, when I have a flat on the road somewhere far from home I'd much rather have the relative ease of an inner tube change than be faced with the uncertainty of whether or not a sealant will hold up in a tubular tire, or riding the rest of the way home with a replacement tire held on by what ever glue is remaining from the original. I'm sure one day I'll have a second set of wheels and learn of the joys and frustrations of tubulars, until then my primary, singular set of wheels will have clinchers.

Soma Smoothie...that's S-O-M-A Smoothie.

Out of curiosity I conducted a Google search to see where this blog came up using the keywords "Soma Smoothie". The results revealed there are a modest number of Smoothie related websites: a handful of blogs, the Soma Fabrications and SOMAfeed websites of course, a dozen or so online retailers and a few forum discussions. And there are tons of pharmaceutical sites, some legit some most likely not, advertising a Soma drug of one kind or another. Of the 43 pages Google produced for my search I found Immaculate Corpse: A Blog About A Bike deep in the pile on page 39. And that link on page 39 lead to the entry about the Silencer SL fork not the Soma Smoothie frame. I'd like for this blog to be easily found by those seeking info on the Soma Smoothie, or Profile Design Silencer SL fork for that matter. So hopefully today's entry will bump the blog far up on the Google search results. Wonder where I turn up on the Yahoo engine...

14 June, 2009 - a follow up to this post: I have since renamed the blog "Brave New Velo" in reference to the great Huxley novel in which a soma drug is dispensed to the population by the government machine in order to keep the people in a euphoric state. I was never satisfied much with the original title of the blog which I had only settled on because "Exquisite Corpse" was already taken. But then this bicycle does not meet the definition of an exquisite corpse anyway being I am the sole creator.

Smoothe Arrival: Soma Smoothie

A few days ago the Soma Smoothie frame was dropped at my doorstep via UPS. There was excitement in the air as I whisked the box inside to open it. The dog was as anxious as I to see what await inside, poking her snout at the top as if to say, "What could it be? Hurry!" The back order period was about twice as long as projected, but that's OK because I don't have all the components yet to build up the bike completely. First impressions? It's quite light, I was surprised when I picked up the box for the first time. The finish is lovely, the metal-flake pearl white shimmers beautifully in the sunlight. The joint welds are pretty good. For a $300 frame I wouldn't expect them to be much neater than they are. The frame design is practical - rear rack braze-ons allow for the option of touring, functional with its agile and somewhat aggressive geometry making for some quick riding, and aesthetically attractive. General opinion is I got myself a good quality frame most likely worth every penny of its selling price. I'm looking forward to putting this baby on the road.