'09 Cervelo R3 & Custom Ti Project

[fa63]

Red (preferably a dark shade of it) gets my vote.

[jghall]

Nice looking R3. Just the right amount of red accents.

Jim is a great builder, so I am sure you will enjoy your new frame.

Maybe consider laser etched KISH? Harelquin paint is also very cool.

[SQ]

They all look great, I don't think you could go wrong with any of them!

The look and feel is strangely familiar...

[nspace]

I like the lime scheme accents. Looks great. I vote lime because I think with the red there would be the tendency to start adding red ano, which I think would take away from such a beautiful paint scheme. A nice matching of polished/pewter and black parts I think would look stellar on this. But thats just my 0.02.

Can't wait to see this come together whatever you decide to do!

[billspreston]

Thanks for the input guys. I think I'm going to go with the lime accents as it will offer something different than the red theme I've got going on my R3.

nspace, as far as the build goes I'm definitely going the black route. here is what I'm leaning towards:

• Enve 2.0 Fork (Painted)
• Sram Red Shifters
• Sram Force Crankset 50/34
• Stronglight CT2 Chainrings
• Chris King GXP Bottom Bracket (Black)
• Sram Force Brakes
• Sram Force Front Derailleur
• Sram Force Rear Derailleur
• KMC X10SL Chain
• KCNC Ti Skewers (Green or Black)
• KCNC Seatpost Collar (Black)
• Tune Bobo Headset (Black)
• King Cage Ti Cages (2)
• Custom Kish Stem 105mm (Painted)
• 3T Ergonova LTD Handlebar
• 3T Doric LTD Carbon Seatpost (Painted)
• Fizik Antares 00 Saddle
• Look Keo 2 Pedals
• Reynolds DV3KT Wheels
• Veloflex Carbon Tires
• Sram Red Cassette (Black version)

[mrfish]

Looks great; I think the green and blue work well together.

Since you are painting the seat post and stem, and it's a Ti frame so not 800g I would personally not bother with the 3T ltd and instead go for something cheaper and relatively light. Team would be fine and it's only a few gs heavier but quite a lot fewer $s. I also like the new Thomson seat clamp - works well with Thomson posts and stem - that's another option for you. Also personally I wouldn't bother with the SRAM cassette. Either Dura Ace or Recon if you're not going to do many miles and keep it clean - Recons are available occasionally on ebay quite cheap - mine was $80 I think. Also maybe Far and Near brakes - nice, light and not too many $s.

There - just saved you a few hundred $s and some weight!


Also ask Mr Kish about the seat post. I'm sure he can build you one - Eriksen will sell him the Aluminium parts to build a nice head or he can use KCNC yokes very easily as it's a straight post. If he can do a stem then a seat post is quite easy I think.

[tonytourist]

I've talked to a local guy about his Kish, and he loves it. I'm sure you won't be disappointed with yours. Keep this thread updated with your progress

[billspreston]

I'll be sure to keep this thread updated. Got word from Jim that the stem is built and he is starting on the frame this week

Thanks much for all the input mrfish. I can get a good deal on the 3T LTD parts so the cost isn't really as bad as you might think. The difference between Team or Thompson for that matter is negligible. I did inquire about a custom seatpost and Jim said he doesn't do them anymore, but was considering a new design for the future. He is certainly capable, but I did not push further.

With regards to the cassette, the Sram is lightweight, but spendy as you've mentioned and noisy to boot. I've considered DA, mostly to try and tone down drivetrain noise, but at a similar price point to the Red cassette I hesitate as I've had fine experiences with that. I shall look further into the Recon cassettes, however as $80 vs $250 is substantial. Can you comment on the shifting on the Recons? I've heard aftermarket cassettes tend to sacrifice a bit in that department.

Brakes are one area where I've always wanted to try something different, but then been told to stick with the heavier standard options as they tend to provide the best stopping power. I'm still curious and I will look at the Far & Near. Are there any other models I should look at?

[billspreston]

Still trying to finalize my build list, getting much closer. I've made some changes based on a few of mrfish's suggestions and put together two different builds. The second build would cost me around $600 more and save 303 grams. I'm hoping my frame with paint will come in under 1300g, I'm not sure if that is too optimistic. It is a small frame (53cm TT, 47cm ST) using butted tubing.

Is adding 150g of paint a stupid idea for a ti frame? I do at times feel like I'm defeating the purpose. Spend $600 to save 303g on components and then pay another $600 to add 150g back with paint? They just look a bit bare without it I don't know if I would have the same feeling about the bike. I like the look of bead blasted ti and Jim's welds are beautiful, but I have a hard time leaving things be when given the opportunity to customize. I'm hoping by having some of the metal showing through the paint design that it will still feel like a ti bike.

Any thoughts on the build? The wheels & tires I already have so I'd rather not change those but in the future I'd like to get some tubulars in the 1000-1100 gram range. For now, I'm leaning towards Build B as that should put me around 14.2lbs and that sounds so much better than the 15lbs of Build B. Of course it will cost more.

I've made my first official weenie spreadsheet.

[billspreston]

Stopped by Jim's shop today to order parts and check out my frame that is almost finished. Weight for the frame is right around 1360 grams with a combination of straight gauge and butted tubes. It looks beautiful and it will be tough waiting out these last few weeks. I've decided to forego painting the frame for now and I will paint the fork to match the ti color. I'm teetering right around 14lbs per my calculations so I'm going to try and hit that goal and adding paint will probably push me over that. Hopefully the matching fork will be enough to tie the bike together cohesively. A Lebowski rug so to speak.

Here are the final list of parts that have been ordered with published weights. Ended up caving and ordering some 303s.

[billspreston]

Got a little teaser shot. Frame is done and in-hand and most of the parts are here. (2) Sram Red Black Groups, 3T LTD cockpit, Zipp 303, etc... The frame is beautiful, I'm very happy! Fork is going off to paint so it will be another 2-3 weeks until I can build it up. In the meantime I'll post actual weights of various components.



Kish Frame - 1381g (includes hanger, bottle cage bolts, barrel adjusters)


Enve 2.0 Fork - 390g uncut


Kish Stem - 171g (Gorgeous but probably overbuilt for this application, I will likely use a 3T ARX LTD that is lighter)

[andyindo]

Sorry if this has already been said but is this the SL custom frame that Kish offer or the standard custom? Those welds are awesome by the way!!!

[billspreston]

It sits in between the normal and SL model I guess. It has a butted down tube and top tube, I think the SL has more butted tubes than just those 2. The welds look awesome in person, I'll get some better photos when I build it up.

[billspreston]

Some more weights:

3T Doric LTD Seatpost: 155g (Claimed: 163g)


Zipp Ti Skewers: 54g (Claimed: 62g)


Sram Red Black Braze-On FD with KCNC 31.8mm Clamp: 84g (Claimed: 73g)


KCNC Seatpost Collar 31.8mm: 11g (Claimed: 12g)


Sram Red Black Rear Derailleur: 147g (Claimed: 153g)