Thanks. I think the look will change quite significantly with carbon wheels - still can't make up my mind what to use though...

Re the spacers - it's not the final position. I'd never had a decent bike fit until recently, and my position was really pretty crazy. The back of the bike is set now and I'm delighted with the change. The front of the bike is something I'm still fine tuning.

I'll almost certainly drop the stem 10mm, but I'm happy to have the option. I might even drop it further - I haven't ridden for long enough in either position to make my mind up yet...

Everyone picks up on headtube length on these custom builds (like on Rich's Baum too) - as far as the custom process goes (and I am a rank amateur when it comes to this sort of stuff) I was more interested in the other aspects of the geometry. We kept the BB height low, and Rob used a longer chainstay length as my weight is fairly far back. The headtube thing I consider more of an issue of aesthetics...

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Project: English

I agree, that even at 2cm of spacers it is still about aesthetics as opposed to performance. I'm just curious when I see custom builds with spacers, but in your case it is simply a matter of giving you more fit options since you are not yet 'dialed in'.


As for the wheels, keep them relatively shallow IMO. I think round tubed or shallow tubed bikes get overwhelmed by deep wheels. I think a nice 303 or ENVE 45 would do the best.
Cheers

I agree. One of my ideas had been to use a 50ish front and a deep back, but I mocked it up earlier and it looked way too heavy against the tubing.

I did think of using something nearer 25mm (maybe the Enve tubular rims) but that's not quite the direction that I wanted to bike to take.

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Project: English

Some more pics...

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Project: English

That looks really nice!!!

and some more...

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Project: English

What about kcnc gold bottle cage bolts?

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Wilier Cento Uno
Colnago Master X-light
Wilier 18carati

Very nice to see a project evolving. I like the use of gold headset cables and chain, makes the bike stand out from all the black on black. Impressive looking bike
Now for a ride review.
Amazing to see how nicely the colur of headset, Nokons and KCNC skewers matches up.

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Ozrider - Western Australia
Parlee Z5 XL 2011 (6055g/13.32lbs) Raleigh RC Ltd 2008 (7.6kg) Reynolds 653 Custom 1990 (9.8kg, now 8.8kg)
The accumulation of marginal gains is what makes the difference between winning and losing

Another sweet English

the THIN seat stays look anorexic, in relation to the rest of the tubes.

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diversity.....

""the sheeps get loud... when the wolf is gone....."" Juan Marquez

Cheers guys - can't wait to try it out.

I originally wanted to go with the gold paint that Rob had used before, but that was apparently really hard to get a satisfactory finish to work properly. I had also entertained the idea of a metallic candy apple red too, but in the end I reckon matt black with a bit of colour is hard to beat. I've got a black Cove Stiffee that I built with gold hubs, headset, etc and I think that looks pretty good so was quite happy to try it again.

When the Ciamillo brakes turn up Rob will be able to ship it and I can point it up some hills!

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Project: English

The bike should be on its way shortly, and Rob put together a component list with weights...

Frame: English custom steel ISP 1626
Seatmast cap: English cusom steel, ENVE hardware 108
Fork: ENVE Road 2.0 250
Headset: Chris King 1-1/8" Nothreadset 144 with wedge/topcap
Headset spacers Parts of Passion 8
Stem: ENVE 124
Bar: ENVE 212
Saddle: Customer supplied 150 est
Crank/BB: Lightning carbon, 110mm spider 464
Chainrings: TA 34/50 122
Chainring bolts: KCNC 12
Rear wheel: Alchemy/cx-ray/Kinlin XR-300 24h 840
Front wheel: Alchemy/cx-ray/Kinlin XR-300 28h 658
Tyres: Schwalbe Ultremo 362
Tubes: Schwable 224
Skewers: KCNC Titanium 44
Cassette: SRAM Red 11-25 162
Chain: KMC X-10SL 246
Rear derailleur: SRAM Red 146
Front derailleur: SRAM Red 70
Brakes: Ciamilo GSL 196
Cables: Nokon 196
Shifters: SRAM Red 292
Bar Tape: Origin 8 66

6722 g 14.79lb

That's excluding pedals and saddle...

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Project: English

When it was 1160g I almost had to track you down and steal this thing, 1626 seems more rational for steel.


SUCH an awesome build. The gold bits are pimp. I think the only thing I would do is black out those ENVE logos

Curious to know more about the brake cable routing...

Yep, I'm not sure about the Enve logos either. If the English ones had been white then they would've been fine.

I'll make my mind up when it arrives...

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Project: English