Up to now, the newer Shimano stuff including DuraAce, Ultegra and 105 have not been used on Bike Fridays since the internal cable routing of the shifter, the shorter cable pull have not worked well with the needed double bend down by the bottom bracket. That coupled with the long cable housing created too much friction to work well with our bikes.
Shimano has developed a new cable that is nano-coated to create much less friction and so will work not only with our bikes, but also with Tandems, some Racing Trikes and the like. Were it only a problem for Bike Friday, this problem probably would have gone without a repair and we would've kept selling Sram or Campy as a solution to the integrated shifter problem. Thankfully, some of the larger brands like Trek, Cannondale and others, have had problems with the new shifter performance on their tandems and such - and so we now have another option to give our customers. I think for the most part, we'll only offer such an option when someone is particularly set in their desire to use Shimano-eqiupped bikes and/or they want a triple crankset and 10-speed cassette.
And now to the photos!
Here's the build tag and parts bag including the built-up wheels. The rims are Alex R390, Xtralite Capreo Hub by Chosen in black, black spokes. Pretty sweet. These are the black version of my personal rims.
Here's a bike after cutting. This is not the exact bike since it was further back in the shop than I'm allowed to go... but you get the idea. We organize the bikes on this rack to be able to quickly tell if everything is there.
Here's the main body of the bicycle, painted and ready for assembly and alignment.
Here's the seat mast, fork and steering tube of the bike, ready for assembly.
The bikes wait on this rack after paint (powder coat).
Our production employees take great pride in their work and put a lot of time into each bike to ensure everything is just right. The rear end of the bike is being assembled here with the front of the bike.
Here's a photo of the complete main frame, awaiting alignment.
The seat mast and steering mast will be added next.
Here's a close-up of the parts kit showing the handlebars (these will be split for easy packing in a suitcase), crankset, seatpost, etc.
Here's the bike in our cabling station being assembled.
Our engineer, Rob (right), is assisting in the assembly of the bike to ensure correct fit and shifting performance.
Here's a very short video showing the challenges of setting up the new DuraAce shifters - the braze-on front derailleur was at a weird angle and was corrected for good shifting performance.
Here's a photo of the rear end of the bike. Beautiful!
