Sunday, January 30, 2011

Ebisu Update Jan 2011

January 2011 Set Up
Now that I have owned and ridden the Ebisu All Purpose for a year and half on several brevets and long rides, I can really appreciate the attention to detail that went into the design of the bike. Besides the difficulty with fenders plus grand bois hetres tires (which was by design), everything else is pretty perfect. I saw recently that Rene Herse Bicycles began selling a model of Honjo fenders that are slightly shallower in profile and slightly wider at 51mm, so I decided to pick up a pair to see if I can improve the infinitesimal clearance I have on the combination of hetres and fenders on this bike.




clearance w/ old fenders
Clearance w/ new fenders
The fenders have Honjo's usual shine, and are visibly shallower. The installation wasn't so hard now that I have few times to practice. The clearance with them, still slight, is definitely an improvement over the 49mm fluted version (I passed that pair to the Kogswell, and now the Bleriot has the VO Zeplin). While I was at it, I also changed the bar tape from tan Soma tape to red Fizik perforated tape. Now it's ready again for the 2011 brevet season.