The brief was a compact crank and reasonably light for when the hills tip up over 10%+ - I love my BMC SLX, it's a freight train on the flat and rolling hills but it's relatively heavy and 53/39 takes the fun out of steep. But 90kg and 183cm limits how weenie is sensible, not to mention the concept of paying $1,000 for something like Ax-Lightness brakes is beyond me. Also, some things just work for me (some people break a lot of spokes, I break seats and seatposts for some reason) so cost, being a fat bastard and personal preferences have meant some compromises but I was hoping for under 7kg
Dengfu FM028 frameset (the Madone knock off version)
SRAM Red crank (50/34), shifters and RD
SRAM Force FD
Ratio FD clamp
Dura Ace 11-25 cassette
KCNC C7 brakes (still not sure about these, torquing to spec meant they moved off centre some times, a little tighter has helped but might have consequences I guess)
Kool Stop salmon pads (always use these, and the colour matches)
Thomson Elite seatpost (fat arse needs bulletproof)
KCNC post clamp
Selle Italia SLR Carbonio saddle (doesn't look all that tough but I've had one on my other bike for a while without problems and can ride all day on it)
Ritchie WCS 260 stem
FSA Compressor Pro plug
Ritchey WCS EvoCurve bar (loving this one, the slight angle on the tops is perfect)
Lizardskins DSP Race tape (first time I've used this, I ride a lot without gloves and the tacky surface is nice, interested to see how long it lasts)
Dura Ace C24 CL wheels (just love these, reasonably light but bullet proof even for a fatso like me, do they ever go out of true?)
KCNC QR front, Shimano Dura Ace QR rear (ask me why a KCNC QR on the rear isn't such a good idea when you stand up on a steep hill, even when screwed down really tight)
Continental GP4000s tires (tempted by the Michelin Pro 3 orange versions currently on end-of-model run out specials everywhere but maybe too much orange?)
Continental Race Light tubes
Cables - SRAM Red standard
Shimano Ultegra SPD-SL carbon pedals (I know there are much lighter alternatives but I like SPD-SLs and am too old to change)
Bottle cages - cheap Chinese from Dengfu, don't expect them to last long
I'm happy with the way this has turned out, it rides fine and didn't cost all that much - the SRAM Red stuff was on end-of-model and the frameset was only $570 painted and delivered (in fact, I had about $600 of reward points on the credit card so was free sort of, that's what I told my wife anyway, didn't mention all the other bits ...)
Weight is about 6.8kg - more could be saved I think by cutting the bottom off the seat post, lighter bolts etc but this will do in the mean time
It gets a lot of looks and comments, especially on the orange (orange looks good on bikes, any illustrated dictionary should have a picture of Eddy Merckx in Molteni orange next to the definition of cyclist)
And the steep hills? Still hard, just go a bit faster. Oh well...
