It has remained unchanged for the last 12 years, except for a SRAM Red upgrade after a tuning mishap on my Campy Record rear derailleur that got it sucked into the wheel; a Mcfk seatpost, and occasional maintenance. I had intended the setup to be pragmatic: 45mm+ rims, 2x9 or 2x10 speed, standard replacement cycle on all parts. Hopefully this gives people some color about the reliability of some vendors in this domain (AX-lightness, Extralite, Mcfk, Schmolke, Parlee, Tune, BTP) and the longevity of typical tuning strategies.
2021
2011
2009
Build
Some wisdoms from over the years below.
DO's
- Use nylon bottle cage bolts. Never had one break or come loose, ever.
- Alternate tires/chainrings/sprocket/brake pads for uneven wear.
- I would heavily tune the drivetrain again if I had to build a bike today. I was skeptical about the longevity of the carbon plates/pulleys and all the aluminium components back then, but I've never had any issues.
- I've also never had an aluminium bolt break on me.
- The AX saddle actually aged way better over the years compared to anything I've had with upholstery. I expected the rails to break eventually, but somehow they've lasted all these years. I would get a Phoenix again.
- Anything that can be TiN-coated should be TiN-coated. My M2Racer quick releases still look amazing after 15+ years. A shame they went out of business.
SHOULD'VEs
- I would've invested in better aerodynamics and weight distribution once I got past around the 5.5kg mark (roughly before I started tuning). The heft of the ride felt essentially indistinguishable since the original build.
- I should've used clinchers. There were many times I was too lazy to take out the bike because I didn't want to pump the tubulars, which really detracted from the daily rideability.
- Electric shifters and hydraulic disk brakes for road bikes didn't exist back then, though I'd definitely use them today. I had the chance to ride a 8~ kg bike with both for a long Mallorca trip and it was (sadly) a better ride overall despite the weight differential and 1/2 the price tag.
- I lost a lot of daily rideability because of the Aerolites. The pedals themselves are great once you're clipped and are surprisingly durable, but the cleats are quite hard to walk in. Some months I even wished I had platforms but was too busy to get another pair.
MAYBE NOTs
- The shifting has always worked perfectly with Campagnolo front, SRAM rear and Shimano cog. I picked the combination at the time for the best combined weight and appearance (I preferred the aesthetics of a tuned Campy Record front than a Dura-Ace or Red) and there were other forum members who reported the combination working. But when you keep a bike around for 12 years, it becomes one of those things that's hard to upgrade or replace because you might break the fragile harmony.
However the same amount of dremeling worked well on a Campagnolo Record levers. I would recommend an incremental strategy where you measure the weight change incrementally and (if your dremeling affects aesthetics) plan in 'intermediate stages' so that you can stop early if it's not helping.
