Starting an Ebisu All-Purpose build

[Rod Holland]

I've come by an old Ebisu All-Purpose frame (stamped "EB050"), and am using that as the occasion for my first attempt to build up a bike from a frame, fork, and headset (rather than having my LBS mechanic do it for me). Main point of the exercise is to learn a lot, hands-on, about bike mechanics that I don't already know and wish I did, but the lure of a rideable Ebisu at the end of all the wrenching is motivating as well. I'll post my progress here at irregular intervals. Perhaps that will prime the pump for the Jitensha community to make use of this neglected forum, perhaps not. If there's too much silence here, I may do a few parallel posts on the iBOB list.

In the meantime, one question: anyone know how are the "Kimura billet reflectors" advertised on the Jitensha site are meant to be attached?

rod

[nathan]

I'm looking forward to your updates, Rod! Sorta related: I'm currently taking a bike maintenance course plan to do more involved tune ups on my two Ebisu All-Purposes.

I haven't used one of those neat looking reflectors. These photos from Velo Orange may help: https://velo-orange.blogspot.com/2013/04/shiny-bits.html

[Rod Holland]

Today, the build to a step beyond the simple piling up of parts: I laced up the front wheel (Chris King hub, Alex DM-18 rim). This was my first try at wheel building, and my LBS bike mechanic, Tyler Oulton at Paramount Bicycle Repair, Somerville MA, coached me through it; peering at the pages of Jobst Brandt's classic on the subject helped, as well. So far, so good: the build is rolling.

rod

[Rod Holland]

Built and trued the rear wheel over the weekend. If I don't succumb to the temptation to fuss a little more with it, I should be moving on to things that look more like a bicycle, shortly.

rod

[Rod Holland]

Well, turned out I was drawn back to the rear wheel by pangs of conscience. Taking another look, I found I had misapplied the spoke wrench while tightening a couple of the nipples, leaving them somewhat deformed and potentially difficult to deal with later. On the no-time-like-the-present principle, I replaced both; one was in sufficiently bad shape that I resorted to a spoke vise (Park Tool SW-10) to remove it, as suggested by Tyler Oulton at Paramount Bicycle Repair, who's hosting me in his shop to do this build under his tutelage.  

That done, I trued the wheel with a little more patience this time, and got better results.

Satisfied with that, I went ahead and applied rim tape, and mounted an old pair of 32mm Grand Bois Cypres Extra Leger tires that were sitting in the back of a closet. These are somewhat beat up, but roll nicely and should help to answer questions about tire clearance as the build progresses. 

With the wheel-building completed, I turned my attention to the frame, applying the first round of Frame Saver. I should have already done this, of course, but until the wheels were built the project seemed a little abstract. Now it feels far more concrete and practical, something that may turn into a bicycle...

rod

On Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at 5:11:28 PM UTC-5, Rod Holland wrote:

Built and trued the rear wheel over the weekend. If I don't succumb to the temptation to fuss a little with it, I should be moving on to things that look more like a bicycle, shortly.

rod

[Rod Holland]

Finished the third round of framesaver application. I reckon the frame is as saved as it will ever be...

rod

[Rod Holland]

Had a productive afternoon with the build. The frame now has a bottom bracket, Sugino XD-2 triple crank, Avid Shorty cantilever breaks, Shimano Deore XT derailleurs , and a SunRace 9-speed cassette, along with the wheelset and tires already cobbled together. The whole thing looks considerably more like a bike. 

In the course of this, I discovered some tire rub against the left chainstay that suggests either some rear triangle alignment fiddling is in order, or that I need to re-dish the rear wheel. Something to do come the weekend...

btw, anyone know what diameter seatpost the Ebisu All Purpose takes? This info doesn't seem to be on the Jitensha page. On weak evidence, I'm thinking 27.7, but haven't measured yet.

rod

[Rod Holland]

Er, 27.2....

rod

[Rod Holland]

The weather on Saturday was inhospitable, temperatures in the teens (F) with winds above 20mph; this delighted the TV weather people, but wasn't conducive to riding. I spent the afternoon troubleshooting the chainstay wheel rub, first checking the frame alignment and dropouts alignment (both spot on), and then re-dishing the rear wheel. That fixed things nicely.

rod

[Rod Holland]

Got another couple of hours in Friday afternoon on the Ebisu All-Purpose build. Added a seatpost (Nitto S65 Crystal Fellow... now, there's a name...), a seat (just for the day, not the one I'll stick with) a quill stem (Nitto Technomic DeLuxe, 253mm quill, 11cm reach, a.k.a. Tallux), handlebars (Nitto Noodles, 42cm), pedals (MKS Lambdas, a.k.a. Grip Kings), and a pair of 20mm Knee Savers pedal spaces (I have funny feet). The resemblance of this project to an actual bicycle is tending to increase. I was able to sit on the bike, and do a little preliminary adjustment of the seatpost, stem, and handlebars.

rod

[Rod Holland]

Saturday was cold and windy, so I was indoors, wrenching rather than riding. Swapped in the real saddle, and installed a pair of old Suntour bar-end shifters.

rod

[Rod Holland]

Sized and seated the chain today. The bike can now be pedaled (in a single speed), and allowed to roll to a stop (gently or abruptly, depending on circumstances).

rod

[Rod Holland]

Connected the shifters and derailleurs, got things shifting, and... discovered that the lovely old Suntour bar-end shifters appear to be 6-speed, and won't pull enough cable to fully cover the 9-speed cassette. Educational, in any case, first time I had set up derailleur cabling. Will swap in some 9-speed Shimano shifters.

rod

[Rod Holland]

Hold on... discussion on the ibob list suggests this "6-speed" analysis may be codswallop. I'll put some more time in on it before I give up on these nice old Suntours...

rod

[Rod Holland]

Revisited the derailleur/cable/shifter set up after having done some reading on the Park Tool site, Sheldon Brown, etc., as well as some very helpful correspondence with the ibobs. Had formed a hypothesis that the cable to the rear derailleur was too tight, and that turned out to be the case. A couple of hours of fiddling with had me shifting through the full range of gear ratios in all their combinatorial glory, without undue noise. I'm a happy camper, and get to keep the nice old Suntour Power Ratchets.

Brake levers, cables, and canti adjustment next.

rod

[Rod Holland]

More wrench-worthy weather on Saturday, an April Fools Day snow/sleet/drizzle extravaganza. I spent the day installing brake levers, measuring and cutting housing, and running cables, often two or three times per step, part of the on-going program of making all possible mistakes once; this felt like useful experience, however, and by the end of the session, all the levers and about half of the cables were installed, and next steps are clear.

This Ebisu is definitely looking more bicycle-like. One of these first weeks, I anticipate getting to ride it, if only for diagnostic purposes.

rod

[Rod Holland]

Continued to futz with the brakes, aligning pads and hooking up the straddle cable on the rear brakes, and swapping in a vintage set of Dura Ace 7401 levers that fell into my hands. After I did this, I realized that this model didn't have a return spring, and have resolve what I think about the feel of that. I may put the Soras back on, even though the Dura Aces are prettier and more in keeping with the spirit of the build. But it's hard to argue with function... Meantime, I'm poking around e-bay for some 7402 levers, which do have a return spring. I'm afraid there's more poking to do with the brakes before the first shakedown ride, something I'm really looking forward to. Meanwhile, I picked up a Nitto M-12 rack that ought to be compatible.

rod

[Rod Holland]

Found a great set of Dura Ace 7402 brake levers on Ebay, and swapped them in. The brake cable and housing fell into place nicely then. By the time today's wrenching session had ended, I was fiddling with the front cantilever brakes (Avid Shorties), which I couldn't get into a sufficiently open rest position. I started rebuilding the brakes, and discovered along the way that I appear to have bent the brazed on tabs of one of the canti studs. Hmmmmmm... The brake pin was still properly positioned, but sat in a groove. Not quite sure what I'm going to do about that, but may change the front brakes over to Paul's NeoRetros, which appear not to depend on that tab. More tinkering ahead.

rod

[Rod Holland]

Removed the Avid Shorties. Here's a photo of the two canti studs on the fork. Note that the tab on the left stud (on the right side of the image, of course) is folded back. 

I replaced the Avid Shorties with Paul Touring Cantis. They don't use the notches on the canti tabs to anchor their springs, The installation was straight-forward and quick, with clear instructions.I used Paul Moon Units to carry the straddle cable; bought them on a whim (might have been the name), and was very pleased with them in practice.

The Touring Cantis paired well with the Dura Ace levers. 

After trimming and capping the cables, I declared the Ebisu to be an actual bicycle, at least provisionally, and took it for a brief test ride, a dandy milestone. This suggested the next round of tinkering, and was a lot of fun to boot. 

rod

[Rod Holland]

Spent the afternoon tweaking the Ebisu build. Got the seat to the right height, fiddled with the cabling for the front brake, adjusted the brake pads iteratively to get rid of canti squeal (using the credit card method), and got a list of things to fiddle with next. Just about everything I did required a test ride to confirm or diagnose, and I gleefully took a bunch, up from Ball Square to the Somerville Community Path, up and down that, and on the back streets in between. Somewhere along the line, I got the fit dialed in well enough that the particular fun of this bike began to become apparent to me. Here's a picture of the Ebisu installed with some public art.

rod

[Rod Holland]

Spent Saturday afternoon tinkering on the Ebisu. Aside from some time spent re-adjusting the front derailleur, I raised the stem so that the handlebars are level with the seat, and mounted a Nitto M-12 front rack. Mounting the M-12 on the studs along with the Paul Touring Cantis required using Paul Rack Adapters. Everything went together without much fuss, although it was helpful to flex the rack a little during the mounting. After the rack was squared away, attached a couple of light mounts to the braze-ons provided for that purpose on the rack.

Of course, I had to take the bike for a test ride, to shake down the latest changes. The raised bars felt good. Somerville Porch Fest was in progress. Fun!

rod

[Rod Holland]

After various Real Life Interrupts (including some actual riding), I returned to the Ebisu build today, re-doing the cable and housing for the front brakes and adjusting the rear brakes. Unless I get fussy (could happen) about one run of housing for the rear brakes, and after I tweak the orientation of the left bar-end shifter, I'm pretty much ready to wrap the handlebars. After that, I've got new skewers, new tires, and a bell to install, and the bike is ready to ride. It won't really be finished  until I put some fenders on, but I haven't ordered those yet, so it will see some fair-weather service without them (the other 4 bikes already have them, so this isn't a hardship).

rod

[Rod Holland]

Spent 4 hours after work tinkering with the Ebisu. Recabled the rear brakes, mostly to fix an awkward run of housing that was going to cause ugliness when the handlebars are wrapped. Replaced the much loved but much abused Grand Bois Cypres Extra Leger, really at the end of their service life, with a dandy new pair of blackwall Compass Stampede Pass Extralights, and replaced the "shop loaner" skewers with a pair of Paul skewers (there's a Paul theme in this build, for sure). After a ride to test all that, tightened up the brakes, mounted the bell, and adjusted the angle of the left Sun Tour shifter, which was a little eccentric. I think that, beyond crimping a few cable ends, it's ready to have the handlebars wrapped, and to be extensively ridden.

Fenders (Honjo) and a rear rack (Tubus Fly, probably) are coming, but the bike will be ridden for awhile without them.

rod

[Rod Holland]

Well, the bars are wrapped and it's bike. While there's further tinkering on the horizon, Honjos and perhaps a rear rack, I'm going to be riding this bike more than tinkering with it for the forseeable future.

Wrapping the handlebars was another first-time-I'd-done-that event. Taking advantage of the Park Tool tutorial on the subject on You Tube helped a lot, especially after I watched it again and took notes. The results appear to be servicable, if a little artless. Here's the state of things half-way through the job.

A pair of water bottle cages went on as well, and the bike was ready to get off the stand and on the road. I took it on a 10 mile shakedown cruise through Somerville, Cambridge, and Arlington. All the moving parts moved the way they should, and I was beguiled by the quick responsiveness of this bike. The Compass Stampede Pass Extralights gobbled up rough pavement and brick surfaces and asked for more. Quick sprints were no problem, and the bike went zipping up some climbs willingly. Different feeling from my Rawland Nordavinden, and it will take me some time to understand the nuances of that, but this is a very likable bike indeed.

rod

[Rod Holland]

After 70 miles of riding the Ebisu, I adjusted the saddle height, and a bit later discovered the saddle was sinking, slowly, as I rode it. No mystery here, the seat post binder bolt had been rounded, certainly by me, possibly with a bit of team effort from the 2+ previous owners, as well. I was able to buy a 19mm Sugino binder bolt from Ben's Cycle, with cheap 2-day delivery, for a reasonable price. It arrived this evening, I swapped in the replacement bolt, raised the seat, tightened it up, adjusted it once, and went spinning off for a 10-mile ride with no further saddle-height issues. Mounted the full complement of headlights, while I was on the subject.

rod

[Rod Holland]

 Discovered, by trail and error, that the 17mm Sugino binder bolt is what's really wanted. I believe that certain sinking feeling is now under control.

Meanwhile, I've been riding the Ebisu in a variety of conditions, and like what it's teaching me. Here are links to a couple of ride reports:

Bike to the Sea (urban pavement, gravel paths).

North Bridge loop (suburban pavement, dirt path).

I have received, from Jitensha, a set of Honjo fenders, along with (from another source) a Pletscher CS rack. I'll need to stop riding the bike for a bit, in order to install them. We're certainly getting enough rain here in Eastern Massachusetts to justify fenders, and, as usual, the rack justifies itself...

rod

 

[Rod Holland]

At this point, I've put 842 miles on my Ebisu build, and enjoying the ride. I found I was beginning to round yet another binder bolt (we all have our vices, and that does seem to be one of mine), so I decided to replace the Sugino seat pin with a Campagnolo QR binder bolt that I bought from the Boulder Bicycles site. Removing the somewhat rounded bolt was easy enough (I hadn't completely destroyed it); getting the corresponding nut out was harder: I ended up using the butt end of a largish nail as a punch, after spritzing the nut with a little penetrating oil. That worked, eventually, and the Campy QR slipped in nicely and appears to hold the seatpost securely. We had a downpour today, so the test of that on this fenderless bicycle will wait until Tuesday.

As hardware goes, it's nice looking; Mike Kone refers to it as "Campagnolo bling"... While I had the bike on the stand, I tightened up action on the rear brake (Paul Touring Canti), which didn't take more than fiddling with the rear Moon Unit (Paul again)... and lubed the derailleurs and chain, because it's a sin not to.

There's a more ambitious round of tinkering that this bike is due for: rebuild the cockpit, re-wrap the bars, and install Honjos and a rear rack. That'll have to wait, though, I want to go ride this thing...

rod

[Rod Holland]

The Campy QR seatpost binder bolt worked like a charm.