Evolution of my boring black bike, 6.6kg

[Arnomatic]

Hello, Joe here from Bristol in the UK.

I've been meaning to post an introduction to this bike for years, but was always waiting for it to be 'finished'. You'd think after reading anything on this forum I'd know that custom bikes are rarely finished, and in hindsight, starting this thread back in 2013 would have made for much more interesting reading. Here's a brief run through of the evolution of this bike, where it started and how it's currently riding.

Back in 2012 me and my dad rode Land's End to John o'Groats, on return I decided I wanted to upgrade from my alloy Islabike to something faster. I'd gotten fit (as you do at 14) and was riding with the faster groups in my local club. Someone mentioned the idea of Chinese bikes from eBay, and as an early teen armed with pocket money and enough patience to wait until my birthday AND Christmas rolled around, I started to put together a parts list.

I didn't have a big budget. I was young, and the son of a tight northener (still am). This bike has eBay in it's DNA, and throughout it's evolution I've been proud of some real bargains I've managed to piece it together out of.

Frame and wheels came first. The Carbonzone RB002 (also known as an FM028) and a set of 50mm wheels. Knowing nothing about wheels, I accidentally ordered a tubular set, but deicided I'd live with the complications as returning would have been even worse. The groupset was Sram rival and the rest of the bike was finished with whatever I could find on eBay in 3K carbon because I thought that looked the best (oh dear). The bike was built up crudely by myself without a torque wrench or tube of grease in sight. Over the next four of five years of riding, I miraculously avoided catastrophic faliure or death with only a few cracks in the stem and several unidentifiable creaks.

Total weight at this point was a respectable 7.5kg.

The next major change came about after a cycling trip to France riding single speeds. Who knew riding with less gears could be so apealing? The bike went 1x for a year or so, I loved the simplicity of it, and on the flat roads of Oxfordshire where I grew up it really handled anything I'd come accross.

Wheels borrowed from my dad's bike, probably due to some kind of tubular issue.

Things started to change pretty rapidly in 2019. I started working at a Rapha clubhouse, my first full time job while living at home. Suddenly I was surrounded by cycling chat, nice bikes and various industry discounts. Within a few months the bike had turned 1X11 Sram Red (FB marketplace special) with a set of Hunt 36 Aero wheels and a Zipp finishing kit.

I think at this point the bike hit around 6.8kg, and I began spending a bit more time on this forum.

Things ran reall smoothly in this set up for quite a while, aside from some questionable tubeless performance from those Vittorias. I ended up adding some Trek stickers to the frame so Rapha customers didn't look down on an unbranded staff bike, but decided this felt fraudulent.

Doesn't it look a bit like an Emonda?

I then moved to Bristol after a year out of the country, and suddenly my 50x11-32 and lack of fitness were no match for this new terrain. I decided to go back to a double chainring set up, and after a bit of tweaking (I'd been cabling my groupsets like s**t since the days of Rival) I had a bike that shifted amazingly. It's funny that a few cm of RD cable can make such a difference with a Red derailleur. Who knew riding with more gears could be so apealing?

Added a little weight back here, but also a lot of enjoyment. Having capable gears that shifted quickly and smoothly made this feel like a new bike. (OSPW was gifted by CeramicSpeed, I still cling to the fact that this bike has been a fairly cost effective bike for what it is).

Since going back to 2X, the build has remained the same with a few weight focussed parts swapped out here and there (when they come up for the right price). These include:

-Extralite hyperstem (FB marketplace)
-Prime Primavera X-light handlebars (eBay)
-Elita one seatpost (Ali-Express)
-Berk Lupina (Gift from Berk)
-Continental supersonic tubes
-ZTTO cassette (Ali-Express)

The current build list is below. The blue squares indicate claimed weights that I've not got around to verifying as of yet. And although sacreligious, I don't have the scales to verify the complete weight of the bike although I believe it sits in the 6.6kg region. For a frameset weight of around 1500g I think this is pretty respectable.

I'm really happy with how this bike has turned out. It rides great, even 8 years on. And I must say I think it looks great for it's age too! I sometimes wish I had started with a lighter frame, or that the Hunt wheels weren't quite as close to 1,500g as they are. But, I've ridden this bike a lot. My best rides, biggest climbs, hardest challenges at home and abroad, and I've got so many memories attatched to it. Even if the frame is the only original part.

Future plans would be to invest in some bike packing gear. I love that this bike flies up hills and can be very fast when I push it to be, but I also enjoy all day adventures, riding slowly and exploring new areas of the UK. A compact bikepacking set up would make this bike even more versatile.

Thanks for reading! More pictures hopefully coming soon, I'll take a nice camera to a local car park and get some decent shots of it.

[Arnomatic]

After thousands of miles of faultless service, and one too many skids, I've swapped my regular S-works Turbos for some Turbo Cottons. I think the yellow walls look great, although it took some getting used to after having a very black bike all these years!

[MrCurrieinahurry]

Lovely write and up and great looking bike. One of my favourite parts of a build is finding bits and selling bits etc to make something unique.

How did you get such lovely gifts?!!


Sent from my M2101K6G using Tapatalk

[Arnomatic]

One of my favourite parts of a build is finding bits and selling bits etc to make something unique.

Thanks Mr Curry! You're right, although I've swapped out loads of bits in the past, I've usually been able to sell the existing part to cover the expense. Almost like trading in ye olde days.

Gifts were in return for artwork, I'm a painter in my spare time!

[welchy]

Looks like you've gone the opposite way round to me lad, I've moved up from Bath to West Yorkshire (Holmfirth) now. Miss Bath and Bristol a lot, love the style of riding round there and miss my club mates.

Annoying I didn't know a nearby member before I left! Let me know if you need any tips on good shops etc around Bristol.

[Arnomatic]

Miss Bath and Bristol a lot, love the style of riding round there and miss my club mates.

Yes I'm loving the terrain so far! Good scene and lots of good riding around here. Appreciate it bud!

[robbosmans]

The transformation is crazy, looks very clean and dialed now! Fit looks nice as well.

[Arnomatic]

Fit looks nice as well.

Thanks mate! Yes, fit is dialled really. Still think visually it looks a little off, the 31.6 seatpost looks a big thick for it's height. Wish it was a bit skinnier and out a bit further, but that's minor!