Maiden voyage with my new Homer

[Donzaemon]

Hi folks, I've spent the past few months lurking and soaking up knowledge in hopes of informing the direction of my Homer build. I sort of agonized over so many details that it was tough landing on my desired gearing, wheels, bar tape, etc. One can spend an eternity and never get anywhere so I finalized on the last few undecided items and had the fine folks at Riv HQ begin their work. This past Saturday, I finally brought it home. 

Pictured below is a stop I made on my ride on the Paradise Loop in Marin County. Beautiful views of the Bay all throughout this route. Looking forward to lots more miles in 2024!

-don

[Tim Bantham]

Congrats Don! Looks like a nice build. My new Homer frameset is hanging in my basement just waiting for me to hang some parts on it. Can't wait to get it on the road!.

[Steve]

Nice looking build Don - congrats!  I'd say your time spent sweating the details paid off. Looks like Albatross bars with Paul levers (both are favorites of mine), and are those Paul Racers?

Beware though - I've repeatedly discovered I don't fully know how I want a new bike to be finished out until I've put some miles on it - which explains my ever burgeoning collection of spare parts.

Steve in Asheville, NC

[ascpgh]

Very cool Don. Details can beget more details if you keep diving into them. Sometimes you do just have to surface, take another breath. and pick something that's available so you can go for a ride. Your options and picture reinforces that!

I won't be the first to say that there are three types of riders out there: 

A.) knows what they want, builds it and rides it (most likely to buy another bike as types of riding expand). 

B.) Sort of the same as A. but rides almost to find things that could be changed and endlessly seeks those options in their odyssey for the special sauce for that bike.  

C.) The rider who knows what they want, makes some changes that riding makes obvious, eventually settling in on the recipe that works and sticks with it until the consumables are no longer available to sustain, .  

I'm a C.) rider. Self-realization is important or you potentially become an eBay store of wrong decisions.

Andy Cheatham

Pittsburgh

On Saturday, January 6, 2024 at 2:11:54 PM UTC-5 Donzaemon wrote:

[J S]

Looks great, enjoy. 

On Saturday, January 6, 2024 at 2:52:27 PM UTC-5 Tim Bantham wrote:

[Donzaemon]

Thank! Any idea which direction you’re going to go with yours?

-Don

[Donzaemon]

Thanks, Steve. I chose Billie Bars and Racers for this build. I just realized after looking at a photo I took of the brakes when they arrived that they came with Kool Stop Salmons, but the mechanic at Riv HQ swapped them out in favor of the black e-bike compound pads. I’m going to have to ask them about that.

I’m the same way with bike builds as well. I decided I’d start with an upright bar build because I’m currently having neck issues and didn’t want my cycling aspirations to exacerbate them. I love the riding position. For me, it promotes leisurely riding, even on the climbs on the ride from the photo. However, I’m already thinking about switching the handlebars because the amount of sweep on these Billie Bars might be a little too much for me.

-Don

[Donzaemon]

Thanks, Andy. I can easily get drawn into the rabbit hole of indecision so I made a conscious effort to make choices and stick with them, at least long enough to get an initial build going. 

I would say I’m currently rider type B from your example, with aspirations to be type C. :D This reminds me, I have to list a bunch of items on Craigslist!