The Build

I decided to take it easy this weekend since I was not feeling well. I didn't take it so easy. While I didn't do anything strenuous, we took Jubal to race his bike at the French Broad Cycling Classic. The rest of the weekend was spend building up my Siren 55 SL.


This was the first time that I have built a bike from the ground up. I have done plenty of work on my bikes but not as a whole. I was nervous about messing something up, so I took a lot of deep breaths and took it a step at a time.

The Shimano XT Externall BB went in with no problem. Next was the headset. With thought of doing it myself, I called Youngblood Bicycles to ask if they had time to do it while I waited. They did. So I drove over there, and got the headset bearing cups pressed in.

Everything went fairly smoothly. I installed the headset, the Reba, The stem, handlebars and brakes. Then I transitioned to the shifters. I was moving my XT shifters from the Trek to this one. I could use new ones as these are worn, but for the sake of our finances, I'm going to try to get these to work. I started with the rear derailleur and immediately learned something new. I learned that there are over 130 different derailleur hangers!!!

Talk about customer service. I e-mailed the builder about what I needed and he e-mailed back within ten minutes to tell me which one I needed. Sweet!!

Ski Country Sports was the shop that had the part so I took off over there. I walked in and the guys immediately started drooling. That made me feel really good!

Back home with the right part, I assembled it with no problem. Next up was the front shifter. I ended up at Liberty Bicycles this time for a clamp spacer. I got it as close as I can but I'm not sure it is exactly right. This is one area that I don't have a lot of experience with. I'll play with it for a bit and see if I can get it, but might need some additional help.

Everything else went together smoothly. I test rode it around the yard. The rear shifting worked fine without adjusting, nice. The front I had to play with a little bit and only have a little delay going from the little to the middle.

I decided to go out on the road and ride up the hill in front of our house. The ride felt great. Super comfortable, the bike worked with me. I didn't feel like I was pedaling a bike up a hill. I felt like I was pedaling and the bike was somehow working with me to get both of us up the hill.

Thanks Brendan of Siren ,Chris of WBR and everyone else who made this possible.

The most exciting thing for me about this bike is that it will enable me to get the word out about the " Power of Bicycles".

Have a great day.