Rachel's 51cm Homer - 81cm PBH

Rachel, my partner for the past decade, has a 45cm Clem H and rides it a lot around San Francisco, but she dropped some hints about getting a more roadish bike, and, being the overly eager bike nut that I am, I ran with it and got her a Homer. The only direction she gave me was that it should have Wavie bars, a basket, and green bits here and there. I had a lot of fun figuring out how to build it (1x? 7 speed? Index? Friction? etc etc) and in the end I went with essentially the same drivetrain I have on my own Homer that I like so much.

For those of you out there trying to parse out how a Homer will fit you - the saddle height pictured here is 73cm. I'll lower it when she comes to pick up the bike.

She has Losco bars on her Clem but she always liked the Wavie. I set it up the shifters my usual way.

Rachel didn't request Paul levers, but I've been enjoying mine so much that I figured she might like them too. It's hard to go back to basic ones once you get used to having no play at all in the lever (thanks to that bushing you can see in the pivot), and I love the squared off profile. When the brakes are set up a little looser, they feel great.

The grips are Newbaums over wool felt - not up to Mark and James's standards, but maybe not wild enough for Grant.

I realized the other day that if you set the FD shifter this way, rather than coming back towards you, there's no chance it'll hit your knee while you're standing up and climbing.

I had this Spurcycle bell in my parts bin - good stuff.  I like the BringBringer the most though.

I've got a Kasai hub on my own Homer and it's been fine. The green skewers are cheapies from eBay. They don't match the other green stuff perfectly, but whatever.

This is an IQ-X I stole off my Susie; I'll probably get an Edelux for that bike. Next paycheck!

I love the GravelKings. We had green cable crimps here and Antonio gave me some green valve nuts.

Roman gave me one of the good Claris front derailers years ago. Those ano crank bolts are cheap on eBay; again, not a perfect match, but that's OK.

Riv customer and buddy-of-mine Ulysses sold me this XTR rapid riser for pennies, Zeus bless him.

I found this ano green logoless Bitex hub on eBay. It's light and sounds loud in the hand but once it's on the bike it's quiet enough. It's a Rar12 if you want to find one for your own bike. They come stock as a 130 hub, but there are endcaps you can get that spread it out to 135.

Velocity sent me a pair of 28 hole A23 rims; Less spokes than we usually recommend, but Rachel is lightweight, isn't going to carry much, and lives with a wheelbuilder, so it'll be OK.

More ebay ano stuff.

Rachel has a C67 on her Clem and likes it; This is my old B17 that is so broken in I think she might find it comfortable. If not, we'll switch to a C67.

I woodburned this cat into the saddle back in the Bike, Book, and Hatchet days. It's a fairly accurate depiction of Pierre, even though it predates him by about 9 years. If I've shipped you a bike, maybe this was on the top of the box.

Gotta give BL some love.

This is a Blue Lug Koma light. I'd set up a rear dyno, but I don't know how and I don't want to ask James to do it. This one works great anyway and no wires is nice.

I made a pump peg out of an old p-clamp, a couple of serrated washers, and a cut and filed Nitto strut.

Fingers crossed she likes it! I think she will.

-will