Hello all. I'm an American naval officer serving in Japan. I'm also a certified bike addict and weight weenie. Fortunately I am married to a wonderful woman who totally supports me in both of my afflictions.

I'm nearly finished with my dream build. It's a weight weenie special. Here is the build...

Litespeed Ghisallo M/L Frame with Jagwire Rocket Carbon cable adjusters
THM Scapula SP Tuned fork
THM Carbones 172.5 crankset
THM Bottom bracket upgraded with ceramic bearings
Chris King Ti Headset
Fibrelyte 52/38 Carbon Chainrings
Token alloy chainring bolts
KMC X10SL Chain
KCNC Seatpost
Selle Italia SLK saddle
Easton EC90 Carbon Stem
Easton EC90SL Equipe Por Bend Bars
M5 Ligfietsen Brakes
Dura Ace STI Shifters (Tuned with BTP clamps and ti hardware)
Dura Ace Front Derailleur (Tuned with Ti pins and adjusting screws)
Dura Ace Short Cage Rear derailleur (Tuned with ti adjusting screws and b-tension screw, carbon cages, KCNC ceramic jockey wheels, Jagwire rocket carbon cable adjuster)
M2 Seatpost clamp
King Titanium Bottle cages with ti bolts
Easton Tempest II 50mm Carbon wheelset with ceramic bearings
Tufo S3 Lite Tubular Tires
KCNC 12-25 cassette
Nokon Carbon Carbon Brake & Derailleur Cable housing IO Dupont liners and Power Cordz Cables
Speedplay X1 Ti pedals
Specialized S-works BG shoes (US 9.5)
Giro Atmos Helmet

Believe it or not, I was able to purchase EVERYTHING listed in my build for under $6000.00 on eBay. It took a few months to get it all together, but it has been worth the wait. I haven't weighed the bike yet as I am waiting for an Apline scale to arrive. But I'm pretty sure it's under 12 pounds.

This is my almost-daily rider. I have a full stable of 14 bikes here with me. I live in a very mountainous area and do a lot of climbing. Compared to most people I'm very thin for my 5'10" frame, but at 160 pounds I am not as light as the climbers we all see in the pro peleton. I built my bike light, but it is fully functional. Hence the comfy seat and durable water bottle cages.

I'm planning an upgrade to Schmolke TLO handlebars with an Extralite or Syntace Stem. I'd also like to build up a sub-1000g wheelset. I'm thinking Reynolds KOM carbon rims with Tune hubs and Sapim spokes. But that will have to wait until next year.

My attempts to upload a picture have been unsuccessful. maybe my photos are too big. I'll downsize and post one as soon as possible.

This is the greatest bike I've ever owned. It is my dream machine. I highly recommend the Ghisallo to anyone wanting to build a functional lightweight bike. I can't speak for guys bigger than me, but I haven't noticed any adverse flex or vibration whether climbing, sprinting, descending, or just motoring along with a group ride.

By the way, if you want to use Power Cordz with M5 brakes they won't work with the stock pinch bolts. I found a "fix" for that problem that I sent to the guys at IO Dupont. It was also featured on the Velo News website under Lennard Zinn's tech tips. Let me know if you want the instructions to use these components together.

Ted

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TED ESSENFELD
Schoorl, Noord-Holland, Nederland
Bike Pics
English Custom Steel Internal di2
Litespeed Ghisallo

you can host your pictures here

http://imageshack.us/

Super nice build!

Super steal for under $6K, well done!

Now show us pics!

Have fun with it!

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ride it fast

Welcome Ted. Come on now we want to see! I love the look of gray metal.

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-For my next trick I will set myself on fire!
-This board and the world in general would be a much nicer place if everyone could just take themselves a little less seriously.
-Sticky Fingers John Rockefeller
-First one over the cliff wins!

I would also consider the Reynolds Black Ops wheel for your sub 1000 gm wheelset as it will be more aero than your KOM/tune build.

Sounds like an awesome build - although personally I'm not a big fan of the Shimano ergonomics, but to each his own. I had the opportunity to test ride a Ghisallo a while back at a Litespeed demo day, alongside an Archon and Icon, and I was surprised at the great feel of the frame - after all I'd heard about it being flimsy and flexy. Of course, I'm 5'10" and 134lbs, so I'm not exactly a powerhouse. Still, I would love to own one, and would already if they weren't so damn expensive. Still keeping my eyes out for a used Ghisallo in my size (approx. 54.5 top tube, if anyone happens across one!)...

Anyway I would really like to see some pics...

I'll post a photo of the final build in the next few days.

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TED ESSENFELD
Schoorl, Noord-Holland, Nederland
Bike Pics
English Custom Steel Internal di2
Litespeed Ghisallo

Ted, Well done. Since I would assume your KCNC post is a 31.6 X 350mm could you tell what yours weighed?

_________________
-For my next trick I will set myself on fire!
-This board and the world in general would be a much nicer place if everyone could just take themselves a little less seriously.
-Sticky Fingers John Rockefeller
-First one over the cliff wins!

Damn hot ride ...

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Pollice verso.

I still don't have a scale so I can't ay how much the seatpost weighs. I'll let you know. It's much lighter than the 27.2 Easton carbon seatpost I had in my last frame.

As for the Shimano Ergonomics... I have Shimano on all my bikes. I'm considering switching to SRAM Red for this build, but I'm reluctant to switch to a completely new style of shifters. I'm not sure how smooth the transition would be switching between bikes with different shifting. I was also able to get my Dura Ace rear derailleur down to 148 grams (weighed on a friend's kitchen scale). That's less than Red.

We'll see what happens when my wallet recovers. The wife and I are considering enlarging our family so I may not be spending too much $ on bikes this coming year.

The fact that I'm about to take command of a minesweeper was a helpful argument in building up my non-magnetic dream bike. hahaha

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TED ESSENFELD
Schoorl, Noord-Holland, Nederland
Bike Pics
English Custom Steel Internal di2
Litespeed Ghisallo

Here is how I got my 182 gram short cage Dura Ace rear derailleur down to 145 grams...

Dura-Ace Rear Derailleur New In Box RD-7800SS short Cage
* Alloy hanger bolt
* Alloy cable clamp bolt
* Alloy plate Axle bolt
* Jagwire carbon Rocket cable adjuster
* KCNC Ceramic Bearing jockey wheels
* Alloy mech jockey bolts
* RS P carbon outer plate
* RS P carbon inner plate
* Titanium Spring

Total cost for parts listed was about $100.00. Pics to follow.

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TED ESSENFELD
Schoorl, Noord-Holland, Nederland
Bike Pics
English Custom Steel Internal di2
Litespeed Ghisallo

I just returned from a month and a half at sea to find my new Alpine digital scale waiting in the mail. First thing I did was eigh my Ghisallo. I'm a bit disappointed to find it weighs 12.8 lbs or 5.7 kg. I was hoping to be under 12 lbs. I guess I'm going to have to go all out and build up a sub-1000 gram wheelset. Anyone have suggestions? I'm thinking Tune or Extralite hubs, Sapim C-Xray spokes, and a carbon tubular rim (Lew perhaps). Or am I better off buying a set of prebuilt wheels like LW?

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TED ESSENFELD
Schoorl, Noord-Holland, Nederland
Bike Pics
English Custom Steel Internal di2
Litespeed Ghisallo

12.8 lbs is super light in my book, but I suppose if you're a had core WW it's still too heavy (^_^)

Welcome back! Are you stationed at Yokosuka? If so, where do you ride around there? Is that Kendo Dojo still out the main gate?

I'm based in Sasebo... I get up to Yokosuka a few times a year, but haven't ridden much up there.

Ted

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TED ESSENFELD
Schoorl, Noord-Holland, Nederland
Bike Pics
English Custom Steel Internal di2
Litespeed Ghisallo

Pictures of the completed bike will be posted soon. M5 brakes, Nokon carbon cable housing with Power Cordz are the only additions. Still planning on a Schmolke TLO handlebar and lighter stem. Wheels are going to be an issue...

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TED ESSENFELD
Schoorl, Noord-Holland, Nederland
Bike Pics
English Custom Steel Internal di2
Litespeed Ghisallo