Finally got the steerer cut after lowering it comfortably past what I would consider safe to ride long term and having more than enough rides in to know I was fine with that position or lower. If anything I heavily procrastinated on getting it cut, like usual. After the cut I moved all the bolts to Ti and then obsessively labled unusual and Ti bolts so that I know how to wrench on the bike at home and on the road without relying on manuals or memory given I have more than a few bikes that I swap between. Also got the berd wheels retensioned which you optimally should do after the first 6 months of riding to restore expected lateral stiffness after the spokes bed in their final state.
At a high level I like the bike but I wouldn't call it love. Its just works so well that it kind of doesn't stand out as having any particular vibe it imbues... very functional but kind of lacking soul or anything that particularly stands out good or bad. In a strange way I think that is a high compliment but I'm typically harsher on things than most. Its the kind of bike that allows you to just focus on the ride and not think about the bike, but as you can tell from the length of my posts I like thinking about bikes.
Braking and tire clearance is the clear limitation of this bike but for all but crazy desents on broken up roads its limitations dont stand out compared to my 180mm front rotor hydro braking 42WAM bike. Speaking of which that bike was out of commission for around 2 months during which I only used this bike. When I went back to a 360mm conventionally narrow bar from these super narrow bars that bike just felt so wide and wrong. Its crazy now comfortable and normal super narrow bars seem so quickly. At this point I'd say I prefer a super narrow flared bar for all the riding I do.
My Standard photo:
More aligned to handlebars (man these super narrow flared bars make it hard to photograph):
Labeling (plus you can see the handlebar flare in the last pic):
My main Christmas gift is a nice 3d printer that I plan to try and make a front aero fairing with. No idea how well that will work out but looking forward to more tinking. Kind of sleeping on upgrading the front wheel to something more aero without adding much more weight but plan to do so eventually. For now I plan on playing with brake shoes to see if I can squeeze in 32mm WAM and then aero optimize a rim as close to that if it works. 30mm might just be the limit of this frame & fork though which is fine with me if it happens as this is just a 2nd bike for me. Also thinking about using the hole in the frame for tool storage but would need to make something that keeps stuff held in place well so it stays there when needed and doesnt rattle. However, that project is low priority & maybe never certainly lower hanging fruit to engage with first.
edit: Also back on the viewspeed skewers. I didn't notice a difference with the much heavier rear Dura-Ace skewer. In theory the Dura-Ace can add more clamping force, which I agree with, but I just didnt see any impact on the road from this higher clamping force to justify the higher weight and aero drag the Dura-Ace brings with it. Might matter more to a heavier rider
Also have a ztto cassette on order that I'll try out and you can see my preorder thoughs & expectations
here
Maybe finally I can get around to fixing the darn chainline & migrate to the Sigeyi collecting dust too. Already this is the best shifting bike I've ever owned but I'm like 95% certain it can shift better still with chainline adjustments that would help the DFour but are required for the Sigeyi on this frame imho. Oh yeah I need to recable the bike to save a few more grams and fix the glaring safey issue on the front caliper... maybe some other day.
