Meet the latest edition to the Mad Dog Media bicycle collection — a custom Reynolds 853 Nobilette cyclo-cross bike.
Like pretty much everything else in the garage, it’s a blend of old and new. The wheelset, taken from my oldest Steelman Eurocross, is a well-used Cirrus pair from Excel Sports — Michelin Jets on Mavic Open Pros laced to Dura-Ace hubs with DT 14/15g and Revolution spokes. Likewise the brakes, a used (and mismatched) set from Paul Components — Neo-Retro up front and Touring in the rear, both with Kool-Stop Thinline pads. Whether that grippy Neo-Retro will overwhelm the fork’s one-inch steerer in a panic stop remains to be seen; back in the day I ran lower-profile Dia-Compe 986 cantis, which were basically speed modulators.
An old Salsa Pro Road handlebar sports new Cane Creek brake levers (the traditional non-aero’ sort plus a top-mounted set). The stem is an Origin8, an outfit I’d never heard of before.
The drivetrain is nearly all new — Race Face Cadence compact cranks (50/36), nine-speed Dura-Ace bar-cons, FSA front derailleur, Ultegra rear, 11-28 cassette. The lone exception is a thousand-year-old pair of Time ATAC pedals.
And finally, the seat post is a new Ritchey WCS, but it holds a used Selle Italia Flite saddle that I got for a six-pack of beer. Assembly by Chris and Randin at Old Town Bike Shop. Thanks, guys.
I asked Mark to add eyelets for fenders and a rear rack in case I want to do a little light touring. If this were a road bike, I’d have sprung for a pump peg, too, but ain’t no pump peg in the world gonna secure a frame pump on a ’cross bike. Not the way I ride it, anyway.
Weather permitting, the Nobilette will undergo its maiden voyage this morning. The weatherman’s calling for snow, but hey — that’s cyclo-cross weather, right?
Mad Blog Media 
Go now. Don’t dawdle. The nasty stuff hasn’t made it to Boulder yet but it’s getting closer.
Ooooh. Bike porn. Me likey.
Is this the bike that goes to Arizona for the tour next month?
Light snow started in south Boulder at 12:40 PM.
Hah. Beat the snow. I took an easy 20-mile test ride and boy, do I like this bike. Smooth like butter. Sucker flat eats up what passes for roads and bike paths in these parts, and I didn’t detect any loss of power to the pedals in return for all the comfort — something I’ve noticed in both the Soma and the Voodoo, which have main triangles of Tange Prestige and 853, respectively, but forks, seat stays and chain stays of something less sexy (maybe 4130?).
Anyway, the Nobilette just plain rolls. It might be my Arizona bike, though the old ti’ DBR is right there in the hunt too. The new fork has smoothed out its ride considerably, and the DBR also has more bottom-bracket drop, which some folks think helps with stability in descents and cornering — not that any amount of BB drop could make a confident descender out of me.
Very nice. I have so taken to the ‘cross geometry and practicality that I am thinking of getting another cross frame and keeping it pristine like your Nobilette rather than looking like a fully loaded F-4 Phantom about to take off for multiple, incompatible missions.
http://tinyurl.com/yja92mm
I tried to put my Twister Pro tires on my old Cannonball CAAD-5 frame the other day but they were rubbing in places where tires should not rub. So I’ll likely be hunting for another cross frame to build up.
Have a good ride. Its beautiful down here today, but I’m stuck in the factory for the long haul.
Boy that looks like fun. Never saw a brake hanger like that before.
Sweeeeet !
Awesome ride O’G!!
But white?!?!?!!? On a cross bike?!??!?! At least you opted for non-white bar tape!
I’ve ordered custom cross frames on a couple of occasions when Russ Denny was building frames for the team I rode for. It’s really cool to be able to spec out exactly what you want. The frames I got back weren’t what I ordered. Minor detail requests like top mount cable guide and brake cable hangers were ignored. Nice bikes any way. Oh well. For all I know they were what fell off the boat from Taiwan that day.
Nice bike Patrick. Makes me wish I’d followed my original plan and brought my LeMond Poprad over here with me. Set up for road use with fenders but the same Campagnolo drivetrain as most of my other road bikes. There’s something about taking this bike out on less-than-perfect roads or in less-than-perfect weather (both of which we have here in Viterbo)that inspires confidence. Smooth and stable ride and I don’t care a whole lot about the thing getting dirty, scratched or otherwise USED, unlike my good road bikes and of course what bike do I have over here? Probably my favorite, a 20th Anniversary Torelli with chromed headlugs and rear triangle. But IT was already over here so no airline could extort $$ from me for taking it on the plane which is the reason I’m riding it rather than the LeMond. Oh well, next time we’ll be moving here probably permanently so then it’ll be worth whatever it takes to bring the LeMond over –meanwhile I’ll just have to let my Torelli suffer the indignity of getting dirty and beat up a bit. I can hear all you folks reading this feeling sorry for me—HA!
How dare you own a bike made of METAL in this town!
Gents,
The Nobilette is indeed a very pleasant ride. I went with white because contrary to what should be common sense my white ’83 Toyota truck can go a long time between washes without looking filthy (silver is good, too).
The Nobilette also is smoother than 30-year-old single malt, and I recommend ’cross-bike geometry — whether custom or off the rack — to anyone who simply likes to ride whenever and wherever the mood dictates.
In Weirdcliffe, I used to ride a loop that included gravel county road, chip-sealed state highway, two-track, single-track and horse trail. Here in Bibleburg, dirt, concrete and asphalt are frequently on the menu. My DBR will take 700×28 Continentals, but just barely — and I’ve gotten used to riding fat rubber here in the libertarian laboratory, where the roads have more holes than the Albert Hall.
You just can’t go wrong with a little extra BB height, fat rubber and cantilever brakes.
My LeMond’s got Challenge Paris-Roubaix clinchers and they are fat, FAT! I always say “fat tires for a fat rider” and I just love how they soften up the frost-heaved asphalt and concrete slab roads back in Iowa. The Roly-Poly tires Rivendell sells are nice too, I’ve got those on my ancient Bianchi that lives out in Santa Barbara. Here in It-ly I run Vittoria CX (the old ones with the “proper” brown sidewalls or Torelli open tubulars (again with the brown, they call ’em honey, sides) I only wish Torelli would make one a bit fatter for my fat a__