Birthday build: Filament road disc, clincher, 7kg goal

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jever98
Posts: 1172
Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2009 12:02 pm
Location: Seattle

by jever98

Build getting closer to final. Currently 7005g with pedals, missing bar tape, bottle cages, and Wahoo mount, which should come to 100-150g (guessing).

Planning to save about 110g with Ashima rotors and Carbon-Ti big chain ring. Chain ring bolts will be silver Carbon Ti for vanity :-). 7000g goal still seems doable!!

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by Weenie


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jever98
Posts: 1172
Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2009 12:02 pm
Location: Seattle

by jever98

Thanks! Drop isn't actually that massive - the perspective makes it look bigger. About 13cm. Can't wait to try it out - we just got a bucket load of snow, so it'll have to wait.
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asiantrick
Posts: 255
Joined: Fri Dec 04, 2015 11:18 pm
Location: the OC, CA

by asiantrick

Sick bike, but damn looks like you took those pics with a Sanyo flip phone :)

jever98
Posts: 1172
Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2009 12:02 pm
Location: Seattle

by jever98

:lol: - yes, my phone has accumulated moisture over time from being in jersey pockets, etc. Need to change my phone soon and take proper photos.
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alexdi
Posts: 36
Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2016 5:38 pm
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by alexdi

Very pretty bike!

If you want to shave off another 70g, you might try an OMNI Racer cassette. All titanium.

https://goo.gl/U5Wk8B

To anyone else into this frame geometry, look into Diamondback's Haanjo 59 and Blue's Prosecco (L).

reedplayer
Posts: 805
Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2015 10:10 am

by reedplayer

looks good, so simple and reserved, without any embellishment. :thumbup:

jever98
Posts: 1172
Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2009 12:02 pm
Location: Seattle

by jever98

alexdi wrote:
Fri Mar 02, 2018 9:57 pm
Very pretty bike!

If you want to shave off another 70g, you might try an OMNI Racer cassette. All titanium.

https://goo.gl/U5Wk8B

To anyone else into this frame geometry, look into Diamondback's Haanjo 59 and Blue's Prosecco (L).
Thanks for the tip. What's the shift quality and durability like?

Best
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alexdi
Posts: 36
Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2016 5:38 pm
Contact:

by alexdi

jever98 wrote:
Sat Mar 03, 2018 1:08 am
alexdi wrote:
Fri Mar 02, 2018 9:57 pm
Very pretty bike!

If you want to shave off another 70g, you might try an OMNI Racer cassette. All titanium.

https://goo.gl/U5Wk8B

To anyone else into this frame geometry, look into Diamondback's Haanjo 59 and Blue's Prosecco (L).
Thanks for the tip. What's the shift quality and durability like?

Best
Already a discussion on this one: viewtopic.php?t=150284

If you're fine with the durability of Dura Ace cassettes (also mostly titanium), you'll be fine with the OR. I can't speak to shift quality, but various comments suggest it's also Shimano-caliber.

Kazyole
Posts: 236
Joined: Tue Apr 02, 2013 1:45 am
Location: NYC

by Kazyole

Nice choice on the Carbon Ti chainring IMO. Going to look crazy on there.

Killer bike btw. Nice and understated.

Also how tall are you?!

jever98
Posts: 1172
Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2009 12:02 pm
Location: Seattle

by jever98

Kazyole wrote:
Sun Mar 04, 2018 3:38 am
Nice choice on the Carbon Ti chainring IMO. Going to look crazy on there.

Killer bike btw. Nice and understated.

Also how tall are you?!
Thanks! I am 2m (6'7") tall, with 99cm inseam. Chain ring arriving this week, can't wait to get this baby final and on the road!
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jever98
Posts: 1172
Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2009 12:02 pm
Location: Seattle

by jever98

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Next update: CarbonTi big chain ring and Ashima rotors bring us into the right territory.

Missing a Wahoo out front mount and milk in the tires, so will have to scrape a few more grams.

Having big issues with the CarbonTi big chain ring in combination with a small SRAM chain ring. Shifting is lousy, was fine with SRAM chain rings. I'm wondering if the teeth "synchronisation" between the small SRAM and big CarbonTi is bad. Anybody with experience out there?

Thanks
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jever98
Posts: 1172
Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2009 12:02 pm
Location: Seattle

by jever98

Finally some better pictures. 7070g ready to roll, with Wahoo holder. Took the beast for a first spin, but still have some teething problems - Quarq doesn't work and I need to fix something with the BB installation. Only a matter of weeks now till I finally get to ride it properly.

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jever98
Posts: 1172
Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2009 12:02 pm
Location: Seattle

by jever98

Update: 2000km report (tl;dr for some, probably - see below if you're interested in details ;-))
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(photo still with my crappy camera, sorry)

This build has taken a good ol' while to come together. I hit a couple of bumps along the way to completing it, but it's now up and running and I have put more than 2000km on the bike, in all sorts of conditions and terrain - from riding a local crit to doing a 240k all day epic around Mt Rainier. I'll try to give as honest of a review as I am able to :-)

Overall
I wanted to build a disc road bike that would replace my rim brake Pasculli, with the aim of arriving at 7kg ready to ride, with clinchers. The bike should work for me - 2m tall, close to 90kg, and should not compromise too much on usability. Having had a number of bikes over the past few years, and being an opinonated afficionado, I wanted to build the bike exactly as I want it, with lots of custom parts. I really enjoyed the process of agonising over every part, finding the right compromise for me between weight, usability, looks, and price, and getting everything together.

It took me close to 8 months to complete the build, from ordering the frame from Richard in August, to having it ready to ride in late April. Along the way, I hit a few road bumps, but overall, I must say I am pretty happy with the result.

Ride quality
I wanted the bike to be endurance oriented, with good bump absorption, and delivers fully on that. Compared to the Pasculli I retained the same stack and reach, but increased chain stay length to 420mm and BB drop to 75mm. I also increased the top tube slope to achieve a longer exposed seat post, to get some compliance out of the seat post whilst maintaining a compact frame triangle.

I would be lying if I said I can isolate the role of each component, but overall the ride quality is extremely nice: the 25mm Schwalbe Pro Ones ride super well at 4.5-5 bars, giving great grip and comfort and rolling fast. Bigger bumps are way more muted than on the Pasculli. The front end feels less stiff, which I thought I would dislike, but I never got a feeling of instability in the frame, even at high speeds.

The cornering response is more muted than on the Pasculli, making for more understeer. This took some getting used to. On a future bike I would like to try slightly shorter (415mm) chain stays, to see if that is the sweet spot.

Frame
Richard was a pleasure to work with in the process. He is still relatively new to the business and I asked some pretty special things, including an integrated seat post clamp, hidden fender mounts, a custom tool box to go at the bottom of the triangle, and a slightly complicated polka-dot fade on the inside of the fork and chain stays. He initially said he could deliver on all of them, but had to back track on the integrated seat clamp and hidden fender stays later on.

The frame came out very nicely: the paint job is superbly executed, the finish extremely clean, and I find the proportions of the frame with a bigger slope in the top tube and long exposed seat post work well for such a big bike.

In the vein of being honest about what didn't work well or what I don't like: I'm not the biggest fan of the narrow top tube combined with the chunky head tube. Personally I would prefer a top tube that flares out at the front and that makes for a more harmonious junction with the head tube. Two other points I like a little less: the insert for the rear axle is an eccentric nut that is installed as a slip fit. This means that if you rotate the nut, the rear wheel alignment changes. The nut moves too easily and Richard suggested using blu tack to secure it, which I thought wasn't appropriate for such a high end frame. In the end I used Activator + Loctite for press fits and have not seen it move.

The other thing that wasn't perfect (and I know I am being picky) was the PF30 shell: it came out over spec size. As a result, the Hambini bottom bracket I ordered moved. Hambini was super nice and made me an oversized one, but it kept me from riding for a while.

Wheels and tires
I got Venn TCD35s laced up with Sapim CX-Ray and Sprint spokes on Carbon-ti hubs. On the first set of rims I was unlucky - the front rim had a manufacturing fault and had to be changed very quickly. Since then the wheelset has been solid and I've become a big fan of the tubeless setup. The hubs are very loud - it took me a while to get used to it. Normally I prefer a quieter free hub, but it has turned out to be quite useful when coming up on people - you definitely don't need a bell.

Cockpit, seatpost, saddle
The Schmolke handlebar and seat post are superbly made and mega light. I love the finish on them and the comfort I get out of the seat post. The handlebars are definitely not super stiff, but sufficiently stiff for my needs, as I'm not a sprinter. I must say I'm not such a big fan of the Extralite stem - the T20 bolts are just annoying and I have the impression that it's hard to keep it from creaking. The Meld saddle is superb imho, works extremely well for me.

Cranks and power meter
After a short interlude with a quarq PM I went back to P2M and haven't regretted it - it works very well and harmonizes well with the debadged S-Works cranks.

Drive train
ETAP shifting has been almost as good as di2, though I sometimes get hesitation in the middle of the cassette. I may have to check hanger alignment to exclude that as a source of problems. On two occasions I had short (<30s) dropouts. Not sure why.
Personally, I prefer the ETAP shift paddles to Di2 buttons, the ergonomics work better for me, and the cable-free install is nice. Overall I'm very happy with ETAP. I experimented with Ashima rotors, but went back to SRAM Centerline, because the rotors did not play well with ETAP HRD - spongy lever feel and too much lever throw, as the rotors are extremely thin and have little contact patch.

Finally I'd like to give a shoutout to Hambini for his superb bottom bracket - it has been rock solid and is a beautiful piece of equipment.

So when it's all said and done and my new bike enthusiasm has worn off a little, I have to say I like the bike a lot and am extremely happy with the choices I made!

Thanks for reading :-D
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sib
Posts: 325
Joined: Mon Jun 15, 2015 2:03 am

by sib

Nice write up.
It was particularly interesting to read the things you didn't like about the frame as well.

Glad you're so pleased with it..!!

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kgt
Posts: 8749
Joined: Sun Jun 18, 2006 10:29 am
Location: Athens, Greece

by kgt

jever98 wrote:
Fri Jul 13, 2018 11:20 pm
The other thing that wasn't perfect (and I know I am being picky) was the PF30 shell: it came out over spec size. As a result, the Hambini bottom bracket I ordered moved. Hambini was super nice and made me an oversized one, but it kept me from riding for a while.
Is this your case?:
https://www.hambini.com/blog/post/filam ... -warranty/

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

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