I honestly thought I’d get Hornsby ready to ride today, and I would have if I hadn’t shot myself in the foot first thing.

Rewind

Yesterday afternoon, following a congratulatory lunch with José at our favorite sushi restaurant, I got a head start on adding the accessories, all carried over from Dionysus (with one exception).

It took a minute to locate the elastic bands to hold the Garmin mount to the stem. The headlight went on easily — I should check if it’s charged.

Next up were the bottle cages. In the process of mounting them I was glad to see the bright silvery bolts that came with Hornsby’s frame were lightly greased: it was on my checklist to make sure all the many accessory bolts had some grease to prevent them rusting to the frame over time.

I then located the hand pump and its mount (all these bits were scattered about the floor of the Workshop in the Sky), and belatedly realized I needed to attach the mount to the frame via the bottle cage bosses. OK, so take one cage off and put it back on, this time over top of the pump mount.

The final accessory was the handlebar bag. I had actually purchased this some time ago for Kuroko. It was a tight fit with all the things attached to Kuroko’s handlebar, and then I removed it when I got the fork bags. It’s a perfect fit for Hornsby (although I’m sure someone will say it should be purple).

Let’s do this

Today, after some deep breaths, I started the process of cabling the shifter and brakes. I started by making sure I had everything I needed, including the cable ties — now where are those cable ties? I’m sure I have a bunch of long black plastic cable ties — somewhere very safe.

Undeterred, I decided to move ahead with what I had and sort out the cable ties later.

I had one shorter bit of cable housing in the box, and one much longer housing. I unwound the shorter one and figured it would be about right for the front brake. After checking the routing a couple of times (a bit dicey without cable ties to secure it to the fork), I decided on the length and made the cut. I then used my Shimano cable tool to round out the cut ends.

It wasn’t until I was trying to force a brake cable through the housing and finding it a very tight fit that I realized my mistake: this is the shifter housing! Too late I remembered they’re different cable types, and different housings.

With a deep sigh, I set the cut housing aside for the moment and proceeded with the long strand of brake housing. Realizing that I’d be cutting both brake housings from this single piece, I started again with the rear brake. I fit it several times before going for the cut. This time after rounding the ends of the cut, I had no trouble guiding the brake cable through.

I haven’t worked with this type of caliper before, and I spent some time with various adjustments: cable tension, caliper position and brake pad offset. The brake pad adjusting screws are very well marked. After a few tries I got the caliper and pads in a good position and the brake is working well.

With that experience under my belt, the front brake cable and adjustment went more quickly. I had a moment’s heart attack when the cable cinch screw was missing, but I soon found it in the box the calipers had been delivered in.

We’re getting very near the end

Having done all I can before making a trip to the bike shop and hardware store, I got the bike down out of the stand and spent a few minutes adjusting the saddle, handlebar angle, and position of the shifter and brake levers. Hornsby stands a bit taller than Dionysus — some of which can be attributed to the 650B tires (vs 26-inch for Dionysus) — to the point I’m going to have to take care when dismounting. I expect to fine-tune the position further once I’ve actually ridden the bike.

With everything essentially in place on the bike, I removed the pump and the items in the bag and put it on the scale. It’s not a lightweight at 12.32kg.

	Weight (kg)
Dionysus	11.62
Hornsby	12.32

I’m mildly surprised at the result, which is 700g heavier than Dionysus. Hornsby’s frame is 100g heavier, which is offset by lighter tires (despite the larger diameter). The bag probably accounts for about 150g, and then the rest is no doubt the beautiful brake calipers and the Surly Cross handlebar.

To-do list

• Shifter housing and derailleur adjustment
• Secure the cables with ties
• Choose a rear light
• More air in the tires — they’re too soft
• Trim the ends of the cord around the chainstay
• One final surprise tchotchke
• Possibly (after riding a bit) a shorter handlebar stem, as the hand position is further forward
• The omamori!!