Fairlight Strael Build Log

This is a documentation of my Fairlight Strael build process. You might also be interested in my Fairlight Strael Build Notes, which are the primer of this build.

Wheels

Tools

Steps

  1. Tubes and tires: Because I do not run tubeless I have to remove the tubeless valves first. From that point on I´m following How to change an innertube. Shimano recommends not to use tire leavers with the C36s, and fortunately, the GP5000s didn´t require it. Tires are inflated to 60 PSI.
  2. Brake rotors: Once the rim is protected by the inflated tire it´s save to mount the brake rotors and torque them to 40 Nm. I do not use anti-seize nor grease for the direct mount connection and the lockring threads of the rotors. The parts are all aluminium and the given torque spec is for dry torque (without grease or anything similar). Putting anti-seize or grease on the thread would increase thread-tension when torquing it to 40 Nm. Generally I avoid using grease near the brakes.
  3. Cassette: Be careful when mounting the cassette. It will fall apart all too easily and you might have difficulties putting everything back in the right order. I put a thin film of anti-seize on the freehub body to help demounting the cassette later on. It could well be that´s not necessary because the sprockets are on an aluminium spider and the freehub body is also alumunium. Again, no anti-seize on the lockring thread which will be torqued down to 40 Nm.
The assembled Dura-Ace C36 wheels, inflated to 60 PSI.

Di2 Wiring

Tools

Steps

I use the following process for the wiring: Pushing the Di2 wire through a tube into the desired direction. When the Di2 wire plug becomes visible at the target opening I use my do-it-yourself routing tool to fish the Di2 wire out of the target opening and pull the Di2 wire by hand further. It´s not necessary to have anything more.

  1. Battery: The wiring starts by inserting the Di2 battery into the seatpost. The Ritchey Battery Mount surrounds the battery nicely and fits well into the Ritchey seat post.
    One half of the Ritchey Battery Mount surrounding the battery
    Ritchey Battery Mount
    The battery inserted into the seat post
    The battery has to be pushed into the seat post (further than you see on this image)
  2. Seat tube wire: I push a 700 mm Di2 wire into the seat tube from the top opening towards the bottom bracket shell. The wire has three wire holders attached to prevent it from moving inside the seat tube. I use a folding ruler to push the wire towards the bottom bracket shell.
  3. Mounting the seat post: The seat post wire can now be connected to the battery by using the Shimano Plug Tool. As a next step the seat post can be mounted to the frame. Now the frame is ready to be taken into the repair stand by clamping the seat post with the 5 mm Hex Key. The Di2 wire plug has not been pulled out of the seat tube. With the frame inside the repair stand this is left to be done and I use my routing tool to fish the plug and pull it further trhough the bottom bracket shell.
    Pulling the Di2 plug out of the seat tube into the bottom bracket shell
    Pulling the Di2 plug out of the seat tube into the bottom bracket shell
  4. Rear derailleur wire: That didn´t went ideal. At first I pushed a 650 mm Di2 wire without any routing tool and with three wire holders attached from the rear lug through the chain stay towards the bottom bracket shell. At some point I couldn´t make any progress and because of the wire holders it was pretty difficult to pull the wire back out of the chain stay. I needed to apply so much force that I´m in doubt about the wire integrity. My second attempt was to remove the wire holders except of one, and push the wire, starting at the bottom bracket shell, through the chain stay to the lug at the end of the chain stay. When the wire plug became visible through the lug it was again time for my DIY routing tool to fish the Di2 wire through the lug.
    A bent steel wire catch a Di2 wire plug and pulling it out of the bicycle frame
    Fishing the Di2 wire with my routing tool
    That second attempt went smoothly. The one wire holder that was attached to the Di2 wire was near the bottom bracket shell. By pulling the Di2 wire further through the chain stay in direction of the dropous, the wire holder slipped into the chain stay. Then I added another wire holder near the dropouts and pulled the Di2 wire back a little bit into the direction of the bottom bracket shell. As a result I have two wire holders attached to the Di2 wire. Because of my concerns about the Di2 wire integrity I repeated the process with a 700 mm wire (that is a leftover wire and 700 mm seem to be the better choice anyway).
  5. Down tube wire: After removing the Fairlight cable guide from the down tube the lug appears to push the 1200 mm Di2 wire through. I remove all wire holders and route the wire through the down tube towards the bottom bracket shell. With my routing tool, again, I can fish the plug out of the tube opening inside of the bottom bracket shell and pull the wire further so that finally 60 cm of wire hang out of the bottom bracket shell. Now I can attach four wire holders and pull the wire back into the down tube. Very smooth.
  6. Handlebar wire: It´s easy to push the 700 mm Di2 wire through the handlebars and fish the wire plug with my routing tool out of the lug. I´ve 4 wire holders attached.
    A bent steel wire catching a Di2 wire plug out of the opening lug of a handlebar
    Fishing the Di2 wire plug out of the handlebar lug opening
  7. Front derailleur wire: This is a 300 mm Di2 wire. I insert it through the lug in the down tube with a single wire holder attached. Again I use my DIY routing tool to get the wire out of the down tube into the bottom bracket shell.
  8. Junction: All the wires ending in the bottom bracket shell are getting connected with the EW-JC304 junction. Then I´m wrapping the junction into left over packaging material to provide some padding and avoid rattling. The packaging material is fixated with electrical tape.
    The EW-JC304 junction with all four Di2 wires plugged in
    The EW-JC304 junction with all four wires plugged in
    A hand with a scissor cutting a piece from plastic packaging material
    Recycling of packaging material
    The beginning of wrapping the junction. The junction is still visible.
    I´m wrapping the junction into the packaging so that the plugs are also covered
    The junction fully wrapped by the packaging that is fixated with electrical tape
    Fixating the packaging with electrical tape
    The Di2 wires tucked away in the bottom bracket shell
    The Di2 wires tucked away in the bottom bracket shell. The EW-JC304 junction is wrapped with the packaging and pushed into the down tube.
  9. All dangling Di2 wires are fixated with Tesa Crepe. The wires are only plugged into the EW-JC304 junction and not into any of the Dura-Components.
    A Di2 wire fixated to the frame with Tesa Crepe
    The Di2 dangling wire fixation

Determine the desired stem height

Tools

Steps

Before cutting the steerer tube I assemble the fork into the frame and put as many spacers onto the steerer tube as I assume will be needed. I have the geometry of the new frame and can compare it to the geo of my old frame. Theoretically I can calculate the number of required spacers but cutting off something from my shiny new fork scares me in a way that I want to try things first. That in addition requires mounting the handlebars, the shifters, the wheels and the saddle.

  1. Fork: The headset top cap comes with two shims. I found to get a tight outer seal for the rubber of the headset top cap one spacer was enough in my case. The Hope headset has three convincing seals (two top, one bottom).
    The headset comes with two optional shims
    Removing one of the shims to get a tight seal
    After putting the fork into the head tube, I´m mounting the headset and putting 3 x 1 cm spacers onto the steerer to lift the stem. I do not apply any grease at this point in time because everything will be disassembled again to cut the steerer tube. The stem is not fully tightened for now.
    Lifting the stem by 3 cm
  2. Handlebars with shifters: Please refer to the Shimano Dealer Manual for Hydraulic Disc Brake R9250 to see how you can mount the shifters to the handlebars. I adjust the shifters like you see in the image. This way the brake lever has just the right distance to the drop bar hand position and the shifter hoods prolongue a straight top line for the upper handle bar.
    Finding a shifter position
    I adjust the side rotation of the shifters by aligning a water level with the side of the handlebars and making shure the shifter level touches the edge of the water level ever so slightly.
    Adjusting the side rotation of the shifers
    Once the shifters are in tune, I´m mounting the handlebars to the stem, center the handlebars, and tighten the stem to the steerer a little bit more, but not to the final torque.
  3. Wheels: The thru axles of the Strael require a 6 mm Hex key for mounting the wheels.
  4. Saddle: The saddle is mounted with a 5 mm Hex Key and put to the correct height, measuring from the center of the bottom bracket shell to the main sitting area. I´ve read that the Ritchey Link seat post makes it difficult to tune in the right saddle position but I found it quite the opposite. It´s a clear, simple, and straightforward interface and I couldn´t ask for more.
    A close image of the saddle mounted to the Ritchey Link seatpost clamp
    The Ritchey Link seatpost clamp works pretty fine

Cut the steerer tube

Tools

Steps

I´m following How To Cut A Road Bike Steerer Tube as presented by the Global Cycling Network. After trying out the desired stem height I draw a line with a pencil around the 5 mm spacer that sits on top of the stem. Then I take away the wheels and disassemble the fork from the bike frame.

  1. For the compression bung to work properly I have to cut away 3 mm in addition. Make sure it´s exactly 3 mm because cutting only additional 2 mm is too less and will lead to the compression bung not function. If you cut 2 mm initially you can imagine it´s difficult to cut another 1 mm. I know what I´m talking about because that´s exactly what happened to me.
    A steerer tube with three pencil lines to identify the final cut line
    On this image you see three lines on the steerer. From top to bottom:
    • A thin line going aroung the steerer. That was my first line before noticing that I should take away one of the headset shims for a tighter seal.
    • A thicker line going around the steerer. That is the top height of the final 5 mm spacer that sits on top of the stem.
    • A very short line. That is the cut mark that must be 3 mm below the top spacer height but was only 2 mm in my case – which was not enough.
  2. I put a very short Tesa tape to mask the cut line. Above and and overlapping the short tape comes another Tesa around the entire steerer to improve the cut.
    The two Tesa tapes on top of each other and an additional pencil line to identify the cut mark easily
  3. The saw blade guide can be attached to the steerer just so that cut will go through the identified cut line.
    The saw blade guide attached to the steerer
  4. It´s time to cut the steerer with the hacksaw. I´ve attached the Park Tool Carbon Blade to my plain old 300 mm hacksaw for the cutting. I´m wearing an FFP2 mask (easy to have one at hand during a pandemic) and I should have worn Nitril gloves (which I didn´t do). Because I do not own a vice I´m sitting down, laying the fork on my knees and do the sawing. Admittedly, it would be better to mount the sawing guide into a vice for this job. After the cut is made, I do some gentle sandpaper grinding of the cutting area. I use a sanding block and P120 sandpaper. Finally I remove the Tesa tape from the steerer.
    A sanding block with a piece of sanding paper hold in hand
    The sanding block with the P120 sanding papier
  5. The result is an even and smooth steerer cut.
    The cut and sandpaper grinded steerer
    The smoothened steerer cut

Mount the fork to the frame

Tools

Steps

  1. I´m applying a thin layer of grease to the headset top cup. The upper bearing will be placed inside the greased cup. It´s only a thin layer because too much grease would attract dirt and the Hope headset is nicely sealed with two rubbers therefore I think not much grease is required to protect the headset – I use it only as an anti corrosive and to simplify getting the bearing out of the top cup if maintenance would be required. The bearing itself is a greased cartridge bearing that doesn´t require any additional grease.
    A plastic can with Shimano quality grease
    The Shimano grease I´m using. You don´t need much of it.
    A hand applying grease to the headset top cup
    Applying grease to the tup cup
  2. Installing the bearing into the prepared top cup. Be careful to do it the inner cone pointing top and the outer cone pointing to the bottom.
    A hand inserting the bearing into the top cup
    The bearing goes into the prepared top cup with the outer cone pointing to the bottom.
    The top bearing completely inserted into the top cup
    The top bearing inserted into the top cup
  3. Wiping away excess grease from the top cup but not from the top bearing.
    A hand with a paper tower cleaning the top cup from excess grease
    I´m wiping away any excess grease carefully
  4. The headset bottom cup will also receive a thin layer of grease, similar to the top cup.
  5. With the bottom bearing onto the fork steerer tube I insert the fork into the frame and slide the coned ring, the top cup shim, and the headseat top cap over the steerer tube.
    After the fork is inserted into the head tube, the coned ring, the top cup shim, and the headset top cap go from bottom to top order onto the steerer
    The headset top cap sits so tight that the fork will stay in the frame. Finally I´m attaching the three stem spacers, followed by the stem.
    The fork with all top spacers and stem
    The fork with all top spacers and stem
  6. The compression bung receives a thin layer of carbon fitting paste and is installed into the steerer tube. I apply 6 Nm torque.
    A hand holding the compression bung which is covered with carbon fitting paste
    The compression bung with carbon fitting paste applied
    The compression bung installed in the steerer
    The installed compression bung torqued to 6 Nm
  7. Attach the top cap to the steerer with a final 5 mm spacer and torque the top cap screw hand tight to preload the headset bearings.
    The top cap attached to the steerer
    The attached top cap
  8. I attach the wheels to take the frame out of the repair stand and straighten the steering unit. Every headset screw receives 4 Nm of torque, except the steerer top cap wich remains hand tight. Ritchey allows a maximum torque of 5 Nm for their 4-bolt-stems, see Ritchey Tech Info. The result starts looking like a bike.
The Streal leaning on a wall. It is yet missing the crankset, derailleurs and brakes.
Just enough parts to recognize a bicycle

Install the calipers

The Shimano Dealer Manual for Hydraulic Disc Brake / Dual Control Lever (Di2) R9250 is an essential source for setting up the brakes. My calipers came pre-bled and with brake hoses attached. Until the hoses are cut you can do with them whatever you like without the risk of spilling hydraulic oil.

I have the wheels attached to the bike prior to installing the calipers.

Heads Up: Do not connect the brake hoses with the shifters until you verified the Di2 setup is working fine.

Tools

Install the rear caliper

The Strael dropout is prepared to take a 140 mm rotor but I will run 160 mm rotors. Therefore I have to attach an adapter. The Shimano Flat Mount Caliper Adapter 140 mm to 160 mm Disc Fitting Guide explains very well how the rear caliper will be set up for 160 mm rotors.

  1. I connect the Flat-Mount adapter (SM-MA-R160D) to the rear caliper and use the caliper fixing screws (Type B) that are supplied with the adapter. Torque is 6 Nm. Then I attach the screw fixing pin that came with the caliper by pushing it completely into the caliper until it is fully inserted.

    The Flat Mount Adapter (SM-MA-R160D) with Type B caliper fixing screws that came with the adapter
    The rear caliper with the attached Flat-Mount adapter. The screw fixing pin is not yet installed.
  2. I mount the rear caliper to the frame.

    Attaching the rear caliper to the frame
    The Strael comes with two Type A screws for a 15 mm frame that can be used but I use one Type A and another Type C. Do not forget the two distance washers that came with the adapter, otherwise you will damage the caliper. I do not tighten the bolts because later the caliper will get adjusted to the brake rotor. The retaining clip can still be attached to the Type C screw.
    The Type A and Type C screw with retaining clip and distance washers
  3. I route the brake hose along the frame and fixate it with the C-Clips.

    C-Clips
  4. From the upper end of the down tube I push the Di2 wire completely through a 50 cm long shrink tube. It´s important to begin with the Di2 wire first and not with the brake hose!

  5. Then I push the brake hose through the shrink tube. The shrink tube has a diameter of 6.4 mm → 3.2 mm. It´s not required to shrink the tube and keep the 6.4 mm in diameter. If you leave it like that it will just look fine in my view.

    A sign indicating the type of shrink type A hand holding the shrink tube
    The shrink tube I´m using – I get it from the construction market
    The Di2 wire and the brake hose pushed through the shrink tube
    Routing Di2 wire and brake hose from the down tube to the handlebars
  6. I fixate the shrink tube that contains the brake hose and the Di2 wire to the handlebars with Tesa Crepe. I´m not cutting the brake hose yet and I do not connect the brake hose to the shifter because I first want a proof Di2 is working properly.

Install the front caliper

  1. It´s straightforward to attach the caliper to the fork because it comes pre-installed with an adapter for 160 mm rotors.
    The front caliper with adapter for 160 mm rotors
  2. I attach the caliper to the fork but I do not tighten the Type A screws that come with the caliper because later the caliper will get adjusted to the rotor.
    Installing the front caliper
  3. The brake hose can easily get pushed through the fork up to the handlebars.
    Pushing the brake hose through the fork
  4. I fixate the brake hose with Tesa Crepe at the handlebars in the desired position. The brake hose is not cut yet and not connected to the shifter.
    The brake hoses are put into position

Install the derailleurs and complete the wiring

Heads Up: For the Di2 wire connection of the two Dual Control Shifters it´s crucial to use the lower satellite ports of the shifters! The connection from one shifter to the junction in the down tube (in my case it´s the right shifter) must go through the upper port of the shifter. If you do not follow this wiring model your shifter firmware updates and the triggering of the derailleurs through the shifters will not function properly!

Also make sure to use blind plugs for the ports you don´t use.

Tools

Rear derailleur

Follow the Rear Derailleur (Di2) Dealer Manual R9250 step by step to install the rear derailleur (standard type) and connect the Di2 wire with the derailleur. The rubber cover and the cable guide for the wire are part of the derailleur packaging.

A hex key screwing in the attach-screw to mount the rear derailleur
Mounting the rear derailleur (standard type) with a max torque of 8 - 10 Nm
The backside of the derailleur showing the b-tension stop
The B-tension stop of the rear derailleur
The rear derailleur attached to the frame
The rear derailleur attached to the frame

Front derailleur

Follow the Front Derailleur (Di2) Dealer Manual R9250 step by step to temporarily install the front derailleur with a band adapter to the frame and connect the Di2 wire with the derailleur. The plug cover for the Di2 wire is part of the derailleur packaging.

The final position of the front derailleur cannot be set at this point because the crankset is not installed yet. Attach the band adapter somewhere in the middle of the two bottle cage screws to the seat tube. The final positioning will be done after proper operation of the electronic shifters is verified and the crankset is installed.

Dual Control Shifters

  1. Connect the two shifters with each other with the wire that´s routed through the handlebars. Use the lower satellite ports of the two shifters!
  2. Then connect the wire dangling out of the down tube with the right shifter by plugging it into the upper E-Tube port of the right shifter.
  3. Charge the battery with an USB AC charging adapter. The battery will be charged after 1.5 to 2 hours. Refer to the Rear Derailleur (Di2) / Battery Charger handbook.

Verify Di2

With all Di2 wires connected and the battery charged the Di2 system is ready to be paired. As described in Rear Derailleur (Di2) Dealer Manual R9250 under System pairing (wired) this is done by pressing and holding the function button of the rear derailleur until the LED changes from yellow to flashing blue (5 - 8 seconds). The LED flashes green if system pairing succeeds, or flashes red if pairing fails.

After pairing, signals sent from the shifters to the derailleurs should be functioning. Try the shift switches of the two shifters and verify the derailleurs are moving each in their both shifting directions.

Download and install the E-Tube Project App onto your phone. The app will be necessary later to make gear shifting adjustments and to install software updates into the gearing system.

  1. Press the function button of the rear derailleur until the LED flashes blue (0.5 - 2 seconds). The bicycle side is ready to connect. The unit name is displayed on the E-TUBE PROJECT screen.
  2. Start the E-Tube App (Bluetooth must be activated on the phone).
  3. Select the unit name displayed on screen. Follow the E-Tube Project Cyclist manual to set up the app and create an entry for the bike for the first time.

Install the bottom bracket

Tools

Steps

  1. Clean the bottom bracket shell with a paper and isopropyl alcohol.
    A hand with a paper tower cleaning the bottom bracket shell
    Preparing the bottom bracket shell with isopropyl alcohol
  2. Tuck away the Di2 wires and push the plastic cover of the Rotor BB1 bottom bracket into the bottom bracket shell. Be careful with the Di2 wires. My first attempt was to install the Shimano Dura-Ace Bottom Bracket but the plastic cover that would shield the axle is a millimeter too wide in diameter which made it impossible for me to get it past the Di2 wires into its place. The Rotor BB1 plastic cover is ever so slightly smaller and therefore works just fine.
    A hand holding the Rotor BB1 plastic cover aside of the bottom bracket shell
    Insert the Rotor BB1 plastic cover
    A view into the bottom bracket shell with the BB1 plastic cover inserted
    The inserted Rotor BB1 plastic cover. The Di2 wires go around that cover.
  3. Prepare the BB1 cups with anti seize and screw them in. I tighten them to 40 Nm with the Wera Torque Wrench.
    A hand holding the BB1 Bottom Bracket Cup. The cup is prepared with anti seize
    A BB1 Cup prepared to be screwed into the bottom bracket shell
    The bottom bracket shell with the two installed bottom bracket cups
    The two cups screwed into the BB shell
    A hand holding a huge torque wrench
    The Wera X Torque is ready to tighten the bottom bracket cups to 40 Nm

Assemble and install the crankset

Tools

Steps

  1. Assemble Rotor ALDHU drive-side crankarm with the chainring and the axle. The video ALDHU crankset assembly with Q RINGS® Direct Mount Chainrings will give an impression about the assembly of the crankset. First I mount the 32-48 chainring to the axle by center-aligning the axle imprint „531“ with the tiny chainring hole (I think the tiny hole is called OCP indicator – for Optimum Chainring Position).
    A hand holding the Rotor Road Crank Axle
    The Rotor 24 mm Road Crank Axle. Mind the two O-Rings: the drive-side O-Ring is thinner than the non-drive-side O-Ring. The Rotor axle comes with additional spacers but none of them is needed for the installation to the Strael.
    The OCP indicator of the chainring aligned with the 531 mark on the axle
    The NoQ chainring centered on the axle
    The chainring is kept in place by mounting the drive-side crank arm on top of it. The crankarm must be centered above the metal pin sticking out the outer chainring and should be tightened with a 10 mm hex key to 35 - 40 Nm. In my case 35 Nm was not enough because the chainring then was sitting wobbly on the axle. Once tightened to 40 Nm the parts were without any play. I use anti-seize on the crankarm thread before screwing it into the axle.
  2. Before pushing the axle through the bottom bracket take away the non-drive-side O-Ring from the axle and push the drive-side O-Ring as far as possible on the axle into the direction of the chainrings. Then push the axle completely through the bottom bracket (you might apply gentle force) and reattach the non-drive-side O-Ring to the axle.
    The drive-side of the crankset
    The drive-side of the crankset. The front derailleur is not in its final position.
    The non-dirve-side of the crankset without the crankarm mounted
    The non-drive-side. On the picture the crank axle is not fully pushed through the bottom bracket – it can be pushed around one centimeter further but I did not recognize that when taking the picture.
    Do not forget to reattach the non-drive-side O-Ring to the axle
  3. Loosen the preload nut bolt of the non-drive-side crankarm with the 2.5 mm hex key and thread the preload nut clock-wise into the crankarm until it bottoms out.
  4. Mount the non-drive-side crankarm to the axle with a 10 mm hey key and torque it to 40 Nm. I use anti-seize before screwing the crankarm onto the axle.
  5. Screw the preload nut anti-clock-wise and hand-tighten it until there is no play in the crank/axle/bottom bracket system. Tighten the preload nut bolt to 1 Nm (not much!).

Mount the pedals

Tools

Steps

There is not much. I use anti-seize on the pedal threads and screw them into the crankarms. I´m aware the pedals should be torqued to 30 - 40 Nm generally but I torque it to 15 Nm which is already so tight that loosen it later is sometimes difficult.

A hand holding two Shimano XTR pedals
The pedals I´m using on all of my bikes

Install the chain

Tools

Steps

  1. Determine the chain length by following the Rear Derailleur (Di2) Dealer Manual. Please read the chapters Installing the chain and Checking the chain length under Adjustment. It´s basically wrapping the chain around the largest sprocket as well as the largest chainring to identify the zero point. Then adding two or three links plus the Quick-Link to the zero point.
  2. Shorten the chain with the TOPEAK Chain Tool.
  3. Position the front derailleur so that the chain can get routed without rubbing through the the derailleur cage. This is still a temporary positioning – the final position is set when the gear shifting will be adjusted.
  4. Only now route the chain through the front derailleur and through the rear derailleur, take care of the chain direction, and link it with the Quick Link chain lock. The Foldable Chain Holder as well as the Quick Link Chain Tool simplify installing the Quick Link.

Adjust gear shifting

Tools

Steps

  1. Set the final position of the front derailleur by following the chapters Installation/Removal and Securing of the Front Derailleur (Di2) Dealer Manual R9250. Torque the fixing screw to 5 Nm and screw in the support screw. Torque the clamp screw also to 5 Nm.
  2. I do the adjustment of the high limit and the low limit of the front derailleur with the E-Tube Project App on my phone in a later step. The front derailleur doesn´t have limit bolts!
  3. Adjust the the B-screw of the rear derailleur by following the chapter Adjusting the B-screw of Rear Derailleur (Di2) Dealer Manual R9250.
  4. Adjust the rear derailleur gear shifting by following the chapter Gear shifting adjustment of Rear Derailleur (Di2) Dealer Manual R9250.
  5. Set the high and low limits for the rear derailleur by following Rear Derailleur (Di2) Dealer Manual R9250.
  6. Set the high and low limits of the front derailleur with the E-Tube Project App. The bike needs to be in a repair stand so that you can rotate the cranks by hand. Connect the E-Tube Project App on your phone with the rear derailleur. Start the E-Tube App (Bluetooth must be activated on the phone). Press the function button of the rear derailleur until the LED flashes blue (0.5 - 2 seconds). The bicycle is ready to connect. Select the unit name displayed on screen.
  7. Open the Maintenance tab and under Derailleur adjustment select Front and follow the instructions of the app.

Cut the brake hoses

When cutting a brake hose it is essential to have all tools and materials available and prepared upfront. You don´t want to search for a tool while holding a cut-off brake hose filled up with mineral oil in your hand!
The Shimano Dealer Manual for Hydraulic Disc Brake R9250 explains how to cut and install the brake hoses. The Shimano Brake Hose Easy Joint system, which you will use when the calipers come pre-bled and with the hose installed, is a breeze to set up. Because of the Easy Joint system you probably do not need to bleed the brakes after your brake hoses are installed.

Tools

An alignment of the tools needed for cutting the brake hose
My prepared tools for cutting the brake hoses. See the tiny connector insert in the middle of the arrangement.

Steps

Repeat the steps for each brake hose.

  1. Measure the desired length of the brake hoses. The hose will be inserted 21 mm into the connector port of the lever - consider that and make two marks on the hose: one where to cut and another witness mark 21 mm behind the cut mark. I do it so that there is some slack around the handlebars and at the same time the hoses are not rubbing each other or a part of the bike.
    The handlebars with two loose brake hoses only fixated with Tesa Crepe
    The bike prepared for measuring
  2. Put the bike within the repair stand into a position so that the hose connectors of the the shifters (the ones with the yellow plugs inside) are pointing upwards.
    The bike in the repair stand with the front wheel pointing down and the back wheel pointing up
    The hose connectors of the shifters are pointing upwards
  3. Pull the hose seal plug out of the brake hose connector.
  4. Cut off the brake hose with the Hydraulic Barb Tool.
    A hand holding the ParkTool HBT-1 while cutting a bake hose
    The cutting of the brake hose with the ParkTool HBT-1. The witness mark is the Tesa Crepe while the cut mark is difficult to see (but still there).
  5. Use the Hydraulic Barb Tool to press the connector insert into the brake hose.
  6. The shifter comes with a pre-installed olive. Push the cut-off brake hose into the brake hose connector port of the shifter until it bottoms out (the witness mark should now be aligned with the outer casing of the hose connector). Wrap a paper towel around the connector port while doing this.
  7. Tighten the flare nut – first with the 8 mm wrench and then with the torque wrench to 5 Nm – while pushing the hose into the connector port.
    The Hazet torque wrench fixating the flare nut
    Torque the flare nut to 5 Nm
  8. Wipe away any excess oil with Isopropyl alcohol and a paper towel.
    A hand holding a paper towel wiping away oil from the brake shifter
    Wipe away excess oil
  9. Do not forget: Take away the lever stopper and align the caliper with the brake rotor by loosening the caliper fixing screws, pulling the brake lever and then torqueing the caliper fixing screws to 6 Nm. The front caliper will then get a snap ring installed while the rear calipers gets a screw fixing pin. Look that up in the Shimano Dealer Manual for Hydraulic Disc Brake R9250.

Wrap the handlebars

Tools

Steps

I´m following How to Wrap Handlebars for Road Bikes. Because I´m using Pro Race Comfort Bartape with an adhesive silicone strip rewrapping to get the perfect result is no issue. The tape could be a little bit longer. Unfortunately I cannot install the Wolf Tooth Bar End Plugs because they do not stay in place which might be because the bartape is a bit thicker. The plugs that come with the Pro Race Comfort bartape are working fine instead.

A hand holding the Wolf Tooth Bar End Plugs
Unfortunately the Wolf Tooth Bar End Plugs do not stay in place and I cannot use them

Install the bell

Tools

Steps

I´m following Spurcycle Bell Install.

Install the bottle cages

Tools

Steps

Straight forward. The Strael frame comes with suitable cage bolts which even include spacers to mount a cage on top of the front derailleur clamp.

A hand holding two King Cage titanium bottle cages
The King Cages – they are satisfyingly light

Protect the chainstay

Tools

Steps

  1. Clean the chainstay with isopropyl alcoholl
  2. Cut a piece of 3M Scotchgard Paint Protection Film to the right size and apply it to the chainstay.
A hand holding the 3M Film role
The 3M Scotchguard Film

It is done

The weight of the bike is 9.1 kg including pedals.

The completed Strael bike
It is done. Here are some images of my Strael in the wild.

Manuals in order of use

Tools in order of use

Torque table

ComponentTorque I used in Nm
Max allowed Torque in Nm
Bottom Bracket Cups40
Brake Rotor Centerlock40
Calipers to the fork or frame6
max 6 - 8
Cassette to freehub body40
Compression bung6
max 10
Dual Control Lever clamp screw5
max 6 - 8
Flare nut to fix hydraulic hose with shifter5
max 5 - 6
Front derailleur clamp screw to mount the clamp to the frame5
max 5 - 7
Front derailleur fixing screw to attach the derailleur to the clamp band5
max 5 - 7
Pedals to crankarms40
max 35 - 55
Rear Derailleur Hanger8
max 8 - 10
Ritchey stem bolts (not the top cap screw)4
max 5
Ritchey seatpost saddle clamp10
max 16
Rotor crankarms to axle40
max 35 - 40
Seatpost collar4
max 8
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