My Clem Smith JR. Build revealed!

[Tim Bantham]

Hey Bunch, I am excited to share my Clem Smith build with you all. This is my third Rivendell which will complement my Sam Hillborne and a Joe Appaloosa. My Sam is my go-to for all kinds of riding where my Appaloosa serves as my traditional touring bike with racks and fenders.  The vision for the Clem was to have it serve as an analog mountain bike as well as a capable dirt tourer.

The build is modern and non-traditional in the Riv sense. This was not my original plan but it sort of morphed into that. My first purchase for the bike after the frame was a Son Widebody dynohub that I purchased here from a fellow list member. The hub was black so I decided that I would make all of the components black with a touch of gold. I had the Nitto R10 ceramic coded in matte black along with the King cages, seatpost and lamp holder. My good friends Candice and James at Analog cycles helped me with the parts. As a result, a touch of Analog’s style and influence is evident in the build. I also built the wheels myself. This was my first time building wheels from start to finish. I want to thank Bryan from Utility Bicycles in Kingston, NY for coaching me through that. I am super happy with how the bike came out and especially proud because I did all of the work myself. Not bad for a careerist with a desk job! 

Link to a shared photo album below. For the true bike nerds among us I am including the build details as well. 

·      

 

Clem Build Photos

 

 

 ·       59 Clem H Frameset

·       Velocity Cliffhangers

·       White Industries MI5 Rear Hub

·       Son Widebody Dynohub

·       White Industries ENO crankset

·       White Industries 32 Tooth Single Ring

·       Connex 11 speed chain

·       Spank Pedals

·       Sunrace 11x50 rear cassette

·       SRAM Rival 1X rear derailleur

·       Paul Motolite brakes

·       Paul Love Levers

·       Paul Thumbies with Shimano DA shifter (friction)

·       Schmidt Edulux II headlight

·       Nitto R-10 Rear Rack

·       Brooks B17 Saddle

·       Nitto R83 seatpost

·       Nitto/Crust 31.8 stem

·       Jones H Bar

·       Oury Grips

·       Tanglefoot Peruvian Tape

·       Schwalbe Rocket Rons 2.25

·       Swift Zeitgeist saddle bag

 

 

[Michael Morrissey]

That looks great! How do you like the drivetrain and shifters?

[Abcyclehank]

Tim,
A brilliantly created high end Clem. Love to see that others have no hesitation upgrading a Clem beyond a standard build which meets so many perfectly as an introduction to Rivendell. Jealous of your successful Wheelset build. Looks fabulous love the color combos and emphasis down to the smallest detail.

Happy travels; Just ride!

Ryan Hankinson
West Michigan

[Collin A]

Tim, that Clem looks too clean! But In all seriousness, that bike looks gorgeous. It also looks like the parts and build are super dialed, so hopefully you won't do what I've done and slowly replaced everything on the clem over the past 2 years :)

I hope it brings you miles of dust and mud and plenty of good stories.

Cheers,

Collin in SAC

[Curtis McKenzie]

Tim,

That is a sweet ride.  

Enjoy,

Curtis

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[Joe Bernard]

I dig the gold headlight. Bling!

[Ryan Stanis]

Tim, build came out great! Love the all-black everything on a riv, esp. the nitto r10! I need to pick one of those up in black for myself.

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[Joe S]

Not your usual Rivendell, but very nice. 

On Wed, Mar 18, 2020 at 7:46 PM Michael Morrissey <michaelg...@gmail.com> wrote:

That looks great! How do you like the drivetrain and shifters?

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[Ken Yokanovich]

Congratulations on a beautiful build. Well executed theme throughout with colors. Nice touch with the details; brass cable ferules, crimps, light, and headset spacers.

[Ash]

Congrats!

This is the most impressive build I've seen in a while.  Thanks for sharing the pictures.  

My MIT Atlantis had all-black components, but the whole package was not nearly as cool as what you have put together!   

I even changed the headset to a black one.   That OCD move cost me couple of weeks as the headset my LBS ordered wasn't compatible with Riv frames.

Enjoy! 

[Jason Fuller]

First off, beautiful build. That's a well-curated build.  Secondly, your trio is my (present day) ideal trio, and I have two of the three currently! For me it's slightly different in terms of duties, but not all that different (Clem = everyday utility bike, Hillborne = road-based adventure bike, imaginary Appaloosa build = expedition / anywhere adventure bike)

[James / Analog Cycles]

Tim it looks super good!  Nice work.  Can't wait to help ya get it muddy.  

-James / analog cycles / tanglefoot cycles / discord components / fifth season canvas

[Joe T]

I like it! Just a couple questions on your build.

How do you like the Connex chains? I have been wanting to try one for a long time but don’t see many being used.

What is the in-line pulley of the deraileur cable?

On Wednesday, March 18, 2020 at 6:25:19 PM UTC-5, Tim Bantham wrote:

[Tim Bantham]

Thanks for the compliments everyone! I've only actually ridden the bike a handful of times now. Based on my limited experience on it I can say that it rides as nice as it looks. It rides like a Rivendell!

I need to give credit where credit is due. Although, I did all the work myself, I had guidance from Analog Cycles. The vision for this bike came to life through my partnership with James and Candice.  

@Michael Morrissey. You had a question about the drivetrain. The first think I'll say is that I like the simplicity of a 1x. It's quiet and efficient. The star of the show is a good rear mech with a reliable clutch mechanism. This keeps the chain from bouncing against the chainstay or potentially resulting in a dropped chain. The Rival rear derailleur works well even with the gigantic 50 tooth cog. I have the B-screw almost all the way tight but there is still room to spare. The gearing is right for me. A 32 front chainring is on the small side but I have a lot of hills in my area. The front ring at 32 and the rear cassette at 11x50 has plenty of range for what I need. If you are a stronger rider or if you don't have as many hills maybe a larger front ring would be better. The Dura Ace barcon shifter is what I have on all of my Rivs. This to me is the best option available. I love it for it's feel and performance. 

@Joe T Question about the Connex chain. I like it just fine. Although I will admit that I didn't spend too much time thinking about one chain over another. I've been partial to KMC chains in the past but have had good luck with Shimano and SRAM chains as well. A feature of the Connex I like is they have a unique quick connect link that doesn't require a tool to remove it. That could come in handy if I am ever stuck with a chain issue. I also picked the Connex because of the way it looks. I love the black with gold pins because it worked well with the appearance of the bike that I was going for. 

Regarding the inline pulley device this is a cable pull modifier. It is made by Jtek and is required to allow the shifter I wanted to use, the DuraAce, with the rear mech I wanted (SRAM Rival). The modifier is essential to good shifting performance. It should be noted that the only option with this type of setup is friction shifting which is just fine by me.

Check in with Analog cycles if you want to talk to the real experts on this sort of build. All of my knowledge on this came from James and Candice. Give them a call! 

On Wednesday, March 18, 2020 at 7:25:19 PM UTC-4, Tim Bantham wrote: