Ryan's Uber Geek Bike (English Stainless Custom)

[RyanH]

After probably 8 years of going "I really want an English" and then copping out because of the wait, I finally said f#+k it and put a deposit in on September 21, 2021.

The design intent with this bike was to make all my other bikes look ugly in comparison.

[RyanH]

After a year and a half, the frame arrived right before my holiday trip to Europe:



I was too lazy to disassemble it but my best guess is 1662g for the frame and seatmast:



Close up of the silver brazing:

[RyanH]

Getting back to the States, I went to assemble the bike but realized I was missing a few critical components. Competitive Cyclist sent me the wrong T47 bottom brackets and it slipped my mind that I needed to order a Parlee clamp for the front derailleur.

I was originally planning on putting a Cannondale Hollowgram SRM onto the bike but looking at it with the 3k accents, I think I should borrow the Praxis SRM from the Calfee.

Since I didn't have the parts I needed, I swapped some things around on the different bikes and finally got around to gluing tires for the WR Compositi Wheels.



The 3K Mcfk saddle got swapped to the English and the UD carbon Mcfk saddle on the T3 got moved to the Evo while the Indy Fab is getting relegated to trainer duty.

Quick mockup with Darimo IXAL stem and Bontrager XXX Bars (this should be good):

[Bondurant]

Beautiful, look forward to seeing how it progresses.

[MrCurrieinahurry]

Holy moly mate been keeping this build close to your chest

Basso Diamante eps 12

[robbosmans]

Those seatstays are gorgeous

[MichaelK]

Something about the rear brake location isn't sitting right with me. Maybe that'll change once the bike is complete.

Rob's done an amazing job with the finish on that brazing. Can't wait to see it complete.

[iamraymond]

I saw more pictures of your build on the English cycles website. I'm surprised of the 3K weave on the Enve fork. Was that a custom finish or was it hidden under the paint like the Praxis cranks?

[RyanH]

Under chainstay brakes were done for aesthetics so that the rear seatstays can maintain an uncluttered line. Rob said that he didn't find brake rub an issue with the setup so I figured it was worth the risk.

Regarding the 3K fork, it seems that some Enve forks ship as 3K. Dudemanppl mentioned that he stripped one fork and it was 3k while others are UD.

Parlee indicated that the FD clamp is backlogged a week so I won't be able to finish the build til that is done unless someone is sitting on a 28.6mm clamp?

[dudemanppl]

3K forks were done back when ENVE was EDGE, they're now all UD with no aesthetic woven layer. The 3K fork I have is an EDGE I bought specifically because it was 3K.

[Denavelo]

We now have (3) English built bikes in the circle. Congrats! My English 29er rigid is hands down one of the best bikes I've ridden. My English is a FOREVER bike.
Can't wait to see this bike fully built up.

I think I have a Parlee FD clamp. I bought (3) different clamps before I just settled on a heavy Shmano front clamp. Let me check my parts bin.

[nickf]

Oh man, that's a beauty. Looking forward to seeing it come together.

The Parlee clamp was slipping on my V3. Per Rob's recommendation use a piece of sandpaper between the clamp and the frame as a spacer, rough side facing the clamp. Worked like a charm. Mine is gloss paint, so you might not have an issue with the matte finish.

I am not a fan of that Parlee clamp, pain in the a$$ to adjust. Also, no good way to use a chain catcher with it as the front of the clamp is smooth.

[iamraymond]

I have a question about the Tune Bobo headset. Looks like you put them on a lot of your bikes. Are the bearings pressed into the headset cups? The bearings just drop into place for my Canecreek headset cups, but the Tune cups seem to be much tighter fitting to the bearing.

[RyanH]

I was hoping to ride this today but I managed to snap the bolt on the rear ee DM brake while I was adjusting the angle of the cable pinch bolt despite also holding the jam nut in place.



I've been flip flopping on which cranks I want to run but managing to procure a grail set of cranks from Gurk helped sway the decision to SiSL2 165mm. Factoring in the bottom bracket, this saves 80g over the Praxis SRM setup and is roughly a wash with my THM SRM.





Parlee is a week delayed on the front derailleur mount so the plan was to just run 1x for the weekend (don't freak out, it won't be like this permanently):



While the plan wasn't for this to be a weight weenie build and I think I was originally shooting for just sub 6.8kg, I think it should be on track for 6.4kg with the Bontrager wheels and 6.2kg with the WR Compositi.

[RyanH]

I am still conflicted about crankset choice...

Alternative Option 1: Put THM M3 on English and SiSL2 on WW Evo build

Pros: Cannondale cranks on Cannondale bike and the finish of the THM are a close match to the carbon tubes on th English. I'd also be tempted to grab the new gen THM Fibula front brake off the Evo since they match too. I have an original gen set of THM brakes I can put on the Evo.

Cons: THM are 170mm so I'd need to shave a few mm from the English ISP. All my other bikes are 165mm cranks which wasn't a big deal on the Evo cause I didn't plan on riding it a ton. Not a huge deal though since I barely notice the diff.



Alternative Option 2: Put the Praxis SRM on the English
Pros: similar finish and slightly more svelte arms.
Cons: Gain 80g and minor annoyance but I need to buy another SRM and Praxis crank for the Calfee (love that bike, btw)



Currently with SiSL2 and the wrong chainring (44T):