Janic Custom TT
Part Diary, Part Technical Manual, Part Tips & Tricks

I've always been a fan of bikes with a 650c front wheel and a 700c rear. They really don't really make that much sense, the riding position is usually less comfortable, tires and tubes in 650c are less common, and if you took a long ride, you would have to carry two different sizes of inner tubes. Nevertheless, I'm a big fan of them. So I see an ad for a custom lugged time trial frameset that appeared to be approximately my size. It also had a matching 1" threadless fork, which is great, so I can use a Cinelli Sesamo or Alter stem on it! The brand is Janic, made by Steve Dorris in Durango, CO sometime in the 90s. The geometry was unique because it didn't have the radically sloping top tube of most "funny bikes", this one had a longer head tube, which resulted in a horizontal top tube. So I ended up trading a bunch of parts and some cash for the frameset and a 650c front wheel. So on December 4, 2012, I brought back a pretty interesting frameset.

12/11/2012 - Upon further inspection, the rear dropout spacing was messed up, there was a lot of rust near the bottom bracket, causing the paint to start peeling off, and there was a hole by one of the rear dropouts. So I took the frameset to Bernie Mikkelson in Alameda, he does custom framesets and repairs. He realigned the rear triangle, the drive side was bent in by quite a bit. Bernie also checked the rear axle alignment which was straight, and aligned the derailleur hanger as well. The hole by the dropout was just bad framemaking, Bernie pulled out the torch and filled the hole with brass and then filed the area smooth. We torched the paint off the rest of the joints and found the rest of the braze work appeared to be of high quality, so its strange why such a visible location was not properly brazed in the first place. Finally with the rust and peeling paint, I decided to just get everything sand blasted and powder coated the same color as my Alpine Sport. But before that, I had Bernie drill and braze in a set of water bottle braze-ons on the seat tube. Everything should now be sorted.

1/26/2013 - After building it up with the funky bar/stem combo, I took the Janic on its maiden voyage on Canada Road. A few impressions jumped right out. First of all, the extremely short stem caused the front end to be very unstable; any small arm movement translated into a larger than expected swerve. But as easily as it swerves, it also centers itself back quickly, resulting in a strange weaving path. The second thing that I noticed is that the bike accelerates incredibly well. I'm guessing that due to its extremely short wheelbase, every stroke of the pedal felt like it went directly into the road. The vintage Profile aerobar is the main cause for the awkward geometry. When holding the top of the bars, the 40mm stem makes the reach a little cramped. But when holding the bars by the brake levers, the position is a bit too long and quite low. So with the current setup, its either Papa Bear or Mama Bear, no Baby Bear until I try a few other bar/stem combinations.

10/20/2013 - The Profile aerobars, as cool as they look, were simply too long and low for me to ride. So since I had a BMX stem for 22.2 handlebars on the bike already, I installed some riser BMX handlebars on the bike. I also found an extra pair of brake levers, so I put everything together this morning. So instead of super low and long, its now relatively short and reasonably tall. I took the bike out for a ride on Canada Road today and it went pretty well. It's fast bike and now its quite comfortable, but that 40mm stem is a little crazy, it makes the handling super fast and twitchy, which would be perfect for city riding.

10/14/2014 - I sold the bike to a person who plans on using as a commuter bike in the City.

Here are the specs:

Frame: Janic Custom, lugged with Ritchey dropouts, 128mm spacing, ISO bottom bracket. Powder coated RAL 7013 "Brown Grey".
Fork: Janic Custom, 1" threadless for 650c wheel with flat crown. Powder coated RAL 7013 "Brown Grey".
Front Rim: Mavic CXP 33, 650c, 23mm deep, black with machined sidewalls.
Front Hub: Shimano Ultegra HB-6500, 28h.
Rear Rim: Mavic CXP 22, 700c, black with machined sidewalls.
Rear Hub: Felt, 32h.
Front Tire: Michelin Axial Pro, 650c x 23c, wire bead.
Rear Tire: Forte Pro Lite, folding bead, 700c x 23c.
Cassette: Shimano CS-HG50 7sp, 13-23T.
Cranks: Shimano 600 FC-6400, 52x42, 170mm, 130 BCD.
Bottom Bracket: Shimano BB-UN52, 122mm spindle. This was a tough one, I originally put on a Shimano 110mm BB, but the chainring would hit the chainstay. Then I try a Truvativ 112mm BB, but that didn't work either because the drive side spindle came out the same distance as the 110mm! Makes no sense why they would put the extra spindle length on the non-drive side.
Front Derailer: n/a.
Rear Derailer: Shimano 600 RD-6400, 7sp.
Shifter: Shimano Sante SL-5000.
Headset: Miche Primato, 1" threadless, silver.
Chain: Shimano 600 CN-6400, narrow.
Stem: Origin8 1" threadless, 40mm, 22.2mm clamp, black.
Handlebar: GT riser bar, 22.2 mm, black.
Brakes: Shimano 105 BR-5501, dual pivot.
Brake Levers: Tektro MT 2.1 Levers, black.
Pedal: Shimano PD-M520 SPD, black.
Seatpost: Ritchey Pro, 27.2mm, black.
Saddle: Selle Italia Flite, white.

The bike currently weighs 20 lbs 7 oz as shown. The frame weighs 4 lbs 4 oz and the fork weighs 1 lb 9 oz.

Parts not used:

Handlebar: Profile aerobar, neon yellow.
Brake Levers: Shimano 600 BL-6401.