Haven't used one before, so I guess I will try and find out. I got a pretty good deal on it from Joe, so I decided to give it a shot.

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Good news: The frame came in today and it looks really good. Unfortunately, I am terrible photographer so I am sure these pictures won't do it justice:







Now the bad news: The frame, derailleur hanger, and the CK headset cups registered 1,660g on my scale.




This is a bit more than I expected. To the builder's credit though, I did not mention weight as one of my priorities so I won't complain too much. However, it is making me question whether I want to put any light bits on this frame. Pretty much most of the parts actually came in heavier than expected. So I am now starting to lean towards building this up with SRAM Rival, and putting the SRAM Red and other lighter parts on my Planet X to build that into a lighter bike.

Some other bits that I also got from Tsunami (he has great prices, by the way):

Ritchey WCS UD fork (uncut):



Ritchey WCS Classic stem (120mm):

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That couch looks comfy, and your grass needs some work.

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Exp001 || Other projects in the works.

Looks great!

Ignore the frame weight (yes, even though this is WW). For what you got, you'd be hard pressed to get something lighter.

Put on some nice light wheels and you'll be blown away with the ride.

What are the frame specs/dimensions (or did you post them already in the thread)?

Looking forward to seeing final build pics and a ride report.

The couch is indeed comfy. And I will pass your comments regarding the grass to our HOA

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The geometry is on the first page. I told Joe about my background and current riding, and let him choose the tubing. All I know is that it is 7005 aluminum.

I am hoping to start the build this week, and should have some pictures of the completed bike by the weekend.

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woops sorry i need glasses...

that is great--joe's gotten all fancy with design presentation!

(mine came written down in an email, i.e. "sta: 73," etc....)

looks like it'll be a nice stable machine you got there.

really diggin' that 2-tone paint with the thin line separating it. classy touch!

Started the build tonight, here is a quick progress picture:



I will stop by the LBS tomorrow to get the crown race installed, and I am hoping to be able to finish the build sometime tomorrow evening.

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Very sweet. I really like the paintjob. Great custom Alu, I hope to see some more Tsunamis up on WW.

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Custom English Cycles CX Bike
BMC SLC01

USofChay - Thanks for the compliments.

Fork is installed; here are a couple quick pictures in the sun:



The shiny crankset:



Please ignore the position of the shifters for the time being. Also, the spacers and the seatpost collar are temporary; I will switch them out for silver ones when the parts arrive. Actually, I will probably take out the spacers altogether; based on my calculations I should be fine with no spacers but I left a 10mm spacer under the stem for now just to be safe.

In the meanwhile, I plan to complete the build tonight so I can try it out on Wednesday morning's ride.

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The build is 95% complete; all left to do is fine-tune the front shifting a bit more, and put on bartape and bottle cages. I will probably fine-tune the position of the shifters as well after a few rides. Anyways, here are some initial pictures:

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I still need to order a silver seatpost collar and different bottle cages, and also need to sort out the spacer situation, but in the meanwhile here are some pictures of the (mostly) completed build with my Campy Zonda wheels:











Everything I build seems to be end up at right around 8kg Here is the full build list, with masses (most were measured, a few are estimated):

Frame: Tsunami Custom (1,620g including RD hanger and BB cable guide)
Seatpost Collar: Woodman (25g)
Fork: Ritchey WCS UD Carbon (315g)
Fork parts: Expander plug, crown race (52g)
Headset: Chris King (98g)
Headset parts: Top cap and bolt (17g)
Seatpost: PMP Titanium, 31.6x350mm (298g)
Crankset: Shimano Dura Ace (684g)
Bottom Bracket: Shimano Dura Ace (97g)
Brake Set: Planet X CNC (208g)
STI shifters: SRAM Red (289g)
Front Derailleur: SRAM Rival (88g)
FD Clamp: Campagnolo (26g)
Rear Derailleur: SRAM Red (147g)
Cassette: SRAM Rival 1070, 11|28 (249g)
Chain: KMC X10 SL (242g)
Pedals: Shimano Dura Ace 7810 (280g)
Spacers: Chris King (15g)
Stem: Ritchey Classic 4-Axis, 120mm (121g)
Handlebar: Easton EC90 SLX3 (210g)
Handlebar Tape: Fizik Microtex (70g)
Cables & Housing: Gore Ride-On (175g)
Saddle: Specialized Romin (247g)
Bottle cage: Tacx (55g w/bolts)
Tire Set: Hutchinson Fusion 2 (614g)
Wheel Set: Campy Zonda 2-Way Fit (1,650g)
Skewer Set: Campy Zonda 2-Way Fit (117g)

Next will be a ride report, if I can find time from work to ride it for an appreciable time...

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Color match the fork to the frame!

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Matching fork would look nice. The bike is a nice mixture of classic and new!

Matching the fork to the frame would be nice, but I am also happy with how it turned out as is. Maybe I will think about this if I want to change things out after I have ridden the bike for a while.

At any rate, I have the following on the way:

Titanium bottle cages (claimed to be 22g each):


Thomson seatpost collar in silver:


Chris King spacers in silver:


And I got an email from my builder saying that my wheels are ready. It looks like they will be fairly heavy (around 1,800g), but so am I and the rest of this build so it should compliment things nicely. Now I need to choose some tubular tires; I want something that is reasonably durable as I want to ride my tubular wheels as much as I can, but at the same time I don't want a harsh riding tire that takes away from the tubular experience. With that said, I have been looking at the Continental Competitions in 25mm width, as I hear the Continentals might strike a fair balance between ride and durability, but I am also tempted to try an offering from Veloflex. Decisions, decisions...

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