Current Project
Given that I basically maxed out my current funds getting this frame, I'll be transferring all my running gear to the new frame.
A̶l̶r̶i̶g̶h̶t̶y̶,̶ ̶l̶e̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶b̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶s̶c̶a̶l̶e̶s̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶w̶e̶i̶g̶h̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶n̶ ̶i̶t̶e̶m̶i̶s̶e̶ ̶e̶a̶c̶h̶ ̶i̶t̶e̶m̶̶̶ ̶!̶ Actually, time is of the essence for me, so I've had to forgo the complete breakdown and keep things in groups. I know that's sacrilege on this site
. To be honest, I really appreciate the time and effort others have gone to when showcasing their builds. Another time, perhaps.
Let's start with the frame. It came with a headset, seatcollar, BB30 bearings and dearilleur hanger installed. Not bad weight then!
Fork came with the compression nut. So all in, also pretty decent.
Next up, seating arrangements. Previously I bought a Ritchey Superlogic setback. Took weeks to get to me from Germany, only to have a bike-fit and the guy tell me I needed an inline! In the end I went with a Mt Zoom, which is light and sturdy enough for my 75kg, although I suspect those expensive MCFKs and the like are sturdier..
As you probably know, saddles are a personal thing
. I've gone through a few, and in a moment of frustration bought this all-carbon model off eBay. It was cutout that drew me in, and suprisingly, it's been the most comfortable so far. The search continues, but in the meantime, I'm pretty happy with this, and of course the weight is quite good.
I picked up this crankset off a 2ndhand site for a good price. It's a 130BCD with TA Specialites 50/38 rings. Funny gearing you say? Why yes, yes it is! My reasoning was to get good gearing for my legs, but keep the gearing itself as small as possible. Weight savings of course.
I gotta say, the old SRAM Red rings were heavy, but I had heard that non SRAM and Shimano rings, as light as they may be, flexed a lot and were not great at shifting. My answer then was to get a 130 BCD, wth the idea that a smaller 50T ring on a larger 130 BCD spider would flex less. It's not really clear whether it does, but it shifts pretty well, and the weight is down. I don't have access to an older photo of just the crankset, but going off the weight of R8000 pedals, it looks
like the crankset alone weighs around 570ish grams all in, which is pretty good bang for your buck. 823 grams including pedals.
Wheels, probably the next place I want to upgrade. Those Lotto Soudal guys and gals run some sweet looking Boras, but cost aside... can I bring myself to run Campy, SRAM and Shimano all on one bike? Even I have limits.
Anyway.
These wheels are Giant PSLR1s. Tubeless with Conti GP 5k 25mm tyres. The wheelset is 1500g, which is not bad really.
There's also a SRAM Red 11-26 cassette on there, which really helps to cut weight.
Also, some cheapo Novatech bolt up steel skewers. The pair weigh 59g. I spent a few late nights looking at all those eBay and Ali super light ti skewers (cheap and expensive ones), but in the end I couldn't do it. Too many bad reports for what, 30-40 grams saving at most.
These skewers still saved me 60ish grams over my old Fulcrums, and they're super-locked down and reliable. And since I run tubeless, I never have to fix a tyre, so the need for a quick release is moot.
And now for the ugliest photo. Sorry. It's functional. What can I say? Direct transplant. At least it also includes most of the housing and cables I'm likely to use, so no sneaky weight weenie surprises. Ultegra 6800 shifters, Giant Contact SL bars (42cm) with a Fairwheel bikes/Kalloy stem. Stem is pretty dialled, basically 100g with the Ti bolt upgrade.
Ultegra 6800 f and r dearilleur. Not exciting but very good bang for your buck.
11 speed shimano chain. I think it's a 105, can't remember anymore. It shifts well. No complaints.
Ultegra 6800 brakes. They work pretty well, although apparently the R8000s are even better.
Funny thing, it seems over the last 10-15 years there's been so many attempts to make high quality, powerful and LIGHT brakes, but none have really succeeded. I nearly bought a pair of those Gravity brakes, but when I saw the "paid money, did not get item) story played out on these forums over years and years (and years!) I decided to give it a miss. EEbrakes look nice, but in the meantime, 6800s will do fine.
I've spent most of the day putting it all together, but it's not yet finished. I think I'll wait for the final product rather than rushing it and posting half built. It's looking good so far, and now that I've got the hang of internal routing (I think...!), I'm appreciating the more modern look with the clean lines.
Projected weight is about 6.65kg, which is about 550g lighter than my old steed. Definitely enough to make a noticeable difference. I imagine that means with a Garmin and a bottle cage it should be right around 6.8kg. So not exactly weight weenie territory I suppose, but pretty good considering it's a real world weight.
I'll finish the build asap, but I welcome comments and suggestions for future upgrades.
Cheers all!
Backstory
. That said, trying to decide on size was difficult. Everyone says to size down, which would have been a small. But the Ridley website got me on a medium, and given my +9cm ape index and the fact that no smalls in my price range could be located, I decided to go a medium. After a bunch of searching I found a guy in Portugal selling his medium frame. The price for the frame was good, and even with shipping to Australia AND duty, it still was within my budget.
