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Comment by Lanterne Rouge on March 16, 2013 at 5:12pm

James - the crank is the same biopace 'half step-granny' I had on the '86 voyageur. It's a 50/44/28. Truthfully, I've never once used the 28. I would go for some kind of compact double if I could find a 44/34 or something like that. 

Lee - My WV is a lot sportier than the '86 voyageur it replaced, which is where I'm coming from. I believe the WV has 73 degree HT/ST angles, and it has 50mm of trail, so it's a leaps and bounds more nimble than my last voyageur.

Truthfully, I think my 'perfect' size would probably be 56cm. This is a 58 cm, frame, and I had to go with a shorter stem to make it work out for me. The original stem was a 100mm Nitto, whereas this is a 60mm Nitto deluxe. 

Sadly, Schwinn only made most of their road bikes in 21/23/25" sizes. My last voyageur was a 21" and was pretty undersized. I'll throw a pic of it up at the end of this post. I was worried at first that having a shorter stem would make the steering 'squirrelly' , but I've had no negative effects. My center of gravity is slightly behind the BB, so I square up nicely over the rest of the bike. Who knows, some day I may end up buying a 56 cm frame; however, this schwinn is 40 years old and shows no signs of fatigue at all, so it may be a while.

Any how, see how small my old schwinn was:

Comment by Lee on March 16, 2013 at 4:38pm

A very nice looking bike Jim, I don't think I've ever heard anyone use the words 'sporty' and 'World Voyageur' in the same sentence. :)  Given your current saddle height, I'm hoping that the 23" frame doesn't turn out to be an inch or two too large for you.

Was that the original stem?

Comment by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on March 16, 2013 at 4:29pm

Wow, that is looking really nice!

What gearing are you running?  That granny ring looks really tiny,  is it a 24? I bet it is heaven for climbing. 

I can't wait to see this bike in person.  I've seen lots of pictures of that brake-mounted rack but never seen one up close.  The decalleur set-up looks really beautiful.  Mine is functional but not a thing of beauty like that one. 

Comment by Lanterne Rouge on March 16, 2013 at 3:27pm

Yep, I think I'm pretty dialed in.The new frame fits a lot better and the geometry is slightly 'sportier'. All of the newer parts are making for a pretty good experience, too.

According to Jan's 4 step process , I pretty much did everything, except for the lights. Unfortunately, due to the cold, I've only been able to bang out 20 mile maximum rides. I have been able to keep getting out there consistently to keep my 'riding' legs going, but I need  to start ramping up quickly in the coming weeks.  

Here's a quick, rough pic I took. Excuse the sloppy bar tape. No luggage shown, either..and I also lowered the bars by about an inch or so.

Comment by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on March 16, 2013 at 10:39am

How is your bike situation going Jim?

I see you've been buying and selling parts and whole bikes.  Did you get a nice steel-framed bike situated where you like/want it? 

Comment by Lanterne Rouge on March 16, 2013 at 7:46am

Ok - I've been getting my ducks in a row. RUSA registration is completed. I'm dropping off my GLR stuff to Mr. Kreps tonight or tomorrow. I'm also going to mail Mr. Peterson my paperwork for the FVP, as well. As I stated in the Open training thread, I'm going to schedule in Saturday, April 13th as my FVP date. If anyone wants to join me, please let me know. 

Comment by Bill W. on March 9, 2013 at 2:52pm

If anybody wants to ride the fvp or some iteration of it, I'm game. Looks like a blast.

Comment by Lee on March 9, 2013 at 9:30am

Ilter,

The bailouts you've mapped are commonly-ridden roads in good condition. The only gravel section I'm aware of is on the regular permanent route nw of Millington on N4351st between E29th and County Line.

Comment by ilter on March 9, 2013 at 8:05am

As Eric shared the cue sheet, I would like to share this map, adopted from the original, to give an idea about a few shorter (71,86,100 mile) variations. Be warned that this is an old map, it may no longer match the most recent permanent route & I did not test ride any of the bailout/connecting roads, so no promises on the general/current condition of these roads

http://goo.gl/maps/V1WUQ

Comment by Eric Peterson on March 9, 2013 at 6:49am

The FVP website has a new page with PDFs of the cue sheet and registration form: here.

Of course you can ride this anytime without registering. For example if you wanted a shorter ride you could cutover at Sheridan for ~ 90 miles. 

Like Jim said, this is also an excellent time to make sure your bike is in good shape before doing any long rides.

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