Singular Osprey & Genesis Equilibrium: winter road bike build

Lovely bike, happy ending?

Yeah, very happy. Relieved as much as anything, nothing moves, rubs, or rattles. The build was super smooth. I managed one of my better cabling efforts, great braking and shifting now. I was elated to be pedalling along an empty road and all I could hear was the "hairs" on the new tyres tickling the mudguard mounts.

Handling is of the new-school fast steering variety. Which I'm not totally wild about. It is very good going downhill, I'll give it that. But I tend to like a bit more balance between front and rear. On the whole though, very competent. Does exactly what I needed.

Looks exactly like what I want to build. Very nice.

Can you fit 28s in under the mudguards for wintertime?

its very pretty

Can you fit 28s in under the mudguards for wintertime?

I'm pretty sure 28s will fit on the standard width (i.e. narrow) rims under the mudguards. The only clearance issue is under the fork crown, where it's just not very wide. It squeezes the mudguard a bit and it gets very tight with tyres on wide rims.

What rims/wheels are those? I have similar set up mudguard wise and even I am wondering if 28c would fit .. I have worn my tyres out so need to buy some soon.

They're Shimano R501-A (bladed spoke version) with the main decals removed. They were £75 from Ribble. I tend to build my own wheels but I couldn't even buy the parts for a pair of road wheels anywhere near that cheap.

Enjoyed that

those r501s are bomb-proof in any case, and a decent cheap winter wheel set. look aight w/the decals removed too

I've got an equilibrium - I've got A319 rims and have managed to fit 28s with Mudguards on mine. They actually measure out at 30mm

Now that it's built and the mudguards are properly attached I am going to stick the other wheel in and see how much clearance there actually is. As I said, I think they'd be fine on the rear, it was just the fork crown area that looked like it wasn't going to have it.

Classy build - serious winterbike needs serious miles!

But I tend to like a bit more balance between front and rear.

I assume you're referring to 'nago...?
That's only right and proper, It'd be a poor show if you end up preferring this!

Yeah, the Colnago is in a different league to be honest. Hard to describe what it does but it performs a pretty freaky trick of feeling completely stable and responsive at the same time. The whole bike turns as one. (Incidentally: on the shakedown ride I passed a bloke riding a C40 in the same paint scheme as my Dream, don't see many of those.)

The Osprey had fast steering too, though not as sensitive as the Equilibrium, and it felt better balanced between front & rear than the Genesis. The Genesis is a far better descender though.

I am nit-picking, mind, it's a great bike to ride.

I gather that it handle better with bigger tyres + lower pressure with that quick handling.

it's a very popular bike in audax ride and I always see it with a small handlebar bag paired with a carradice saddlebag, which might help reduced the quick steering feel.

I expect it's a bit calmer with a 120 stem as well. I'm using a 100.

I've got an equilibrium - I've got A319 rims and have managed to fit 28s with Mudguards on mine. They actually measure out at 30mm

Now that it's built and the mudguards are properly attached I am going to stick the other wheel in and see how much clearance there actually is. As I said, I think they'd be fine on the rear, it was just the fork crown area that looked like it wasn't going to have it.

Welp, turns out they do fit - just. I'll need to swap the cassette over and adjust the mudguards slightly, and re-clamp the brake cables to open the callipers up a bit more, but it should work. Might leave it for the moment but when the weather turns I'll definitely give it a go. And I might have to break the habit of a lifetime and weigh all the wheels because I'm getting curious as to how much difference there actually is between the sets. The front A319 didn't feel 'heavy' at all when I picked it up.

If it doesn't feel 'heavy', Don't. Weight. It.

:)

I think the only bike part I've ever weighed was a Regal-e saddle, just because I wanted to see how much they were lying about the claimed weight by (about 40g IIRC).

I'm happy to ride either, I'm just curious as to how much the difference actually amounts to, given the touring rims and 36 chunky spokes of the handbuilts.