2017 TIME SCYLON AKTIV (Edition Francais) CAMPY SR EPS BUILD

[dgasmd]

Changed to a pair of Vittoria Corsa G+ tubs and have to agree that Tan walls really make the bike more interesting. Only downside is that the Vittorias developed some kind of leak (not loose valve extender) and the 3rd one puncture (all in the span of less than 6 weeks) so I'm back on Continental Comps again.

I ride tubulars exclusively and have been doing so for many years. No question Veloflex are my favorite for day to day riding, but their cost, low mileage, and mid level puncture resistance made me be a loyal Vittoria fan. That is, until I went through4x as many as I normally would all of the sudden. Punctures after tears after punctures. Had to be a some sort of switch at their manufacturing process end, but it made me switch to Continental Competitions. They are much harder to mount, cheaper, last far longer than the other 2, have superior puncture resistance, is very grip, but does not have the plush comfort of the other 2. Compromises for sure......

[deano87]

oh my.
Amazing

[Seedster]

Cant stop looking at this bike. Extremely well appointed

[leej88]

Made some changes to the bike over the span of a year. Bike is much heavier but rides WAY better now. Truth be told, a lot of the "weightweenie" components just didn't cut it. They were expensive, did not perform up to task and failed under normal usage. Well, to be fair, I'm on the heavier side, 184cm 85 kilos so WW was never a good idea to begin with.

Lowered the stem (0.5cm spacer left) and will be cutting the excess steerer tube when I have the time.
Stem:
100mm -> 110mm
Improved handling and felt more comfortable on the drops.

Saddle:
Berk Lupina -> Selle Italia C59 -> Selle Italia Tekno Superflow SP-01 -> PRO Stealth Saddle (Carbon Rail)
The Berk Lupina was comfortable but caused numbness during hard efforts. No amount of fore/aft and tilt adjustment could alleviate that.
The C59 was unbearable for me. Cracked on my 3rd ride despite being under the 90kg weight limit.
The SP-01 had great support and the wider profile suited me but like the C59, was awfully fragile and eventually failed at the rails.
The PRO Stealth was an absolute godsend. Shape was perfect and the wider + shorter front with the center cut out meant that I could get into a more forward position without suffering any numbness.
However, what blew me away the most was how stable and rock solid it felt. The Scylon is a decently stiff frame and with the PRO stealth saddle mounted, felt even stiffer. The lack of saddle flex made for a much more stable on bike feel which was something I really enjoyed.

Brakes:
THM Fibula 2018 -> EE Cycleworks
The latest generation of Fibula brakes were absolutely RUBBISH! Can't stay centered no matter what, fragile carbon return spring. EE's performed well though not as good as the Shimano Ultegra 6800 brakes I had on the bike while I was waiting for the EE's to ship after returning the Fibulas.


Pedals:
TIME Xpresso 15 -> TIME Xpresso 10 -> Garmin Vector 3
Xpresso15's were crap. ceramicspeed bearings failed after approximately 2000kms. The Xpresso 10's were much better. They stayed on my bike for about 7 months before I made the jump to the Garmin Vector 3's.

Power reading and accuracy aside, the Vector 3's feel robust and well built. They are reassuringly rock solid compared to TIME pedals with better bearings.

Wheels:
Lightweight Meilenstein Schwarz 20/20 Tubulars -> ENVE 4.5 SES Clincher (Chris King R45C Campy S.Steel Freehub 2x lacing rear, radial front)

I had the chance to ride a pair of ENVEs for 2 months courtesy of a friend of mine and was absolutely blown away by their ride quality.

Compared to the LWs, they felt:
1. Much more planted
2. Better crosswind handling
3. Stable and rolls over uneven road surfaces way better than the LWs largely due to the wider rim profile and 25mm tyres
4. R45c CK hubs had surprisingly low freewheel drag compared to my LWs (serviced every 1000km with proper tools and grease)
5. Were a tad easier to maintain a certain speed
6. Great for sprinting because of how stable they felt for a bigger guy like me

I've always been a bit of a LW fanboy but I have to say that the ENVEs have them beat in terms of performance, ride quality and handling. Then again, this should not come as a surprise since LWs have an archaic rim profile that's proven to be crap in anything but 0 degree wind conditions. The Narrower rim profile also meant that running wider 25mm made front handling a little squeamish.

[rexyi1990]

This is A bike combine romantic with mysterious！

[themidge]

Looks great! I love all that gloss carbon weave .

R45c CK hubs had surprisingly low freewheel drag compared to my LWs (serviced every 1000km with proper tools and grease)

Why did you feel the need to service your freehub every 1000km? That could be as little as 2 weeks riding for some people, and I can't imagine this bike get ridden in any extremely wet and/or dirty conditions.

[Kayrehn]

Don't worry, your bike might be heavier but it still looks fantastic! The recent trend of shorter/wider saddles does seem to fit most butts well.

Great short reviews of the different components you went through too. I just went for Xpresso 15 for weight savings and hope they last long, fingers crossed.

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[RyanH]

The Narrower rim profile also meant that running wider 25mm made front handling a little squeamish.

So it's not just me that has had issues with narrow rims and 25mm tubs? I found that unless perfectly mounted (by that I mean through luck) the bike would become "darty" on descents. Is that what you mean by squeamish?

[Calnago]

No it’s not just you. And especially on Lightweights. Lightweight will say that 25mm are just fine, but what else are they gonna say if they want to sell any rims these days. I experimented a lot with everything from 22mm Veloflex Carbons, 23mm Carbons, 24mm Roubaixs and 25mm Arrennberg Roubaixs. Take Boras for example, the narrow older Boras I could run 25mm Arrenbergs, and did, but the rim bed radius was not ideal. So I experimented with the new slightly wider Boras as soon as they were in the country (one of the first sets). The 25’s, which the new rims are designed around, fit perfectly and I never looked back. Both the tire and the extra rim width contributes to better stability. My preferred tire on the older Boras is the 24mm Roubaix which they don’t make anymore. So the next go round I think I will try the Specialized Turbo Cotton 24mm (on the older Boras). The 24mm tubular is a nice fit on the Lightweights as well. All tubulars by the way in my examples above. The 25’s aren’t necessarily bad on the narrow rims, but they are much better in the newer Boras. For the older ones, stick with 23’s and 24’s if you can find them.

[Calnago]

@leej88: very nice, and I’ll have a few questions for you as well soon. In the meantime, I see your grommet for the EPS rear derailleur cable exiting from the chainstay is in backwards. Did you do the build? That grommet is next to impossible to insert the “correct” way, so I understand why it’s inserted backwards. But backwards like that it is just barely held in by the pressure from the cable, correct? Unless you’ve glued it on. The long side of the grommet should be the one that inserts into the chainstay. Or, maybe it’s in correctly, and I’m just not seeing it up close?

[KCookie]

You bike Still looks awesome what ever changes you have made. What is the weight now then. ? !!
I bet your glad you got rid of those auful Fibulars. I can fully understand about changing certain WW parts for heavier practical parts, sometimes they just don't work well. I'm contemplating changing my Extralite rings back to the Praxis, shifting just isn't the same, I'm just trying to get my head around the extra weight.
My 15s have managed to get a hairline crack in them underneath, pointed out but my LBS the other day. I'm assuming by my cleat hitting them when they are upside down trying to engage. Some items just don't last long.
The only problem I had with 25mm tyres on my Lightweights was not the handling but tyre clearance with the Fibulars. If I had EEs I would definitely use 25s.

[Calnago]

@KCookie: funny you mention the tire clearance issue. That was what got me experimenting with the tires in the first place. The 25mm Arrenbergs on the older narrower Boras (a smidge wider than Lightweights) would just graze the underside of my fork. But with the newer 24.2mm wide Boras, and the more relaxed radius rim bed, the exact same tires sit better all round in the rim bed as opposed to being squeezed up a bit by the sides. All I needed was a couple mm more clearance and that did it. The other thing I didn’t like about the 25’s on the narrow rims was that the difference in width of the tire compared to the rim width was enough that when I would flip the wheel release, it wasn’t quite enough to allow the wheel to just “drop out” easily. You had to kind of squeeze it past the brake blocks. Now, with the 25’s mounted on the newer Boras, I don’t even have to touch the caliper release. Just flip the QR skewer and wheel pops right out.

[KCookie]

Yes I had to release the caliper to remove the wheel too, didnt like doing that with the Fibulars. Sometime just wouldn't aline properly again.
When riding with 25mm tyres I could always hear the debris getting caught, used to drive me mad. No problem with 23s but would prefer the ride quality of 25s.

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[leej88]

@leej88: very nice, and I’ll have a few questions for you as well soon. In the meantime, I see your grommet for the EPS rear derailleur cable exiting from the chainstay is in backwards. Did you do the build? That grommet is next to impossible to insert the “correct” way, so I understand why it’s inserted backwards. But backwards like that it is just barely held in by the pressure from the cable, correct? Unless you’ve glued it on. The long side of the grommet should be the one that inserts into the chainstay. Or, maybe it’s in correctly, and I’m just not seeing it up close?

Yes I did the build myself. The grommet doesn't fit. Confirmed that with the local TIME agent and all of their bikes with electronic drivetrain had the same issue.

[leej88]

You bike Still looks awesome what ever changes you have made. What is the weight now then. ? !!
I bet your glad you got rid of those auful Fibulars. I can fully understand about changing certain WW parts for heavier practical parts, sometimes they just don't work well. I'm contemplating changing my Extralite rings back to the Praxis, shifting just isn't the same, I'm just trying to get my head around the extra weight.
My 15s have managed to get a hairline crack in them underneath, pointed out but my LBS the other day. I'm assuming by my cleat hitting them when they are upside down trying to engage. Some items just don't last long.
The only problem I had with 25mm tyres on my Lightweights was not the handling but tyre clearance with the Fibulars. If I had EEs I would definitely use 25s.

Thank You! Weight now is a smidge under 7.2 kilos.

The Fibulas were absolutely terrible. Truth be told, the move towards less boutique components was a revelation. I'm able to ride harder and faster as the bike feels much more composed and stable in varying road and weather conditions.

As much as I hate to say it, the whole boutique thing about bikes has been a huge disappointment. Asides from THM's Clavicula and Lightweight's Meilenstein, pretty much everything else (e.g. lightweight chainrings, jockey wheels, saddles, bottle cage, etc...) performed poorly or ended up cracking from repeated use despite me being under the maximum stated weight limit.

Meilensteins were stiff and responsive but caught a lot of wind and could not take anything more than 22mm without feeling sloppy up front. Another point to note was that they did not manage to stay particularly true throughout their life span and I've seen cases where lateral run out could be as high as 2mm.

I guess after 10 years of using them, I sort of got over the bling factor and moved on to the ENVEs which were in every way superior to them.