Goldsprint Pursuit: a Colossi Lo Pro

Hello guys.

My name is Tijs, I’m from The Netherlands and this is my first post on this forum. I would like to share the story of my first fixed gear bicycle with you all. I want to apologize in advance for the lackluster photographs; they we’re taken with my cell phone.

But first of all my two other bikes, starting with my road bike; the Trek:

And secondly my (t)rusty grocery getter and city bike; my single speed Wheeler with coaster brake:

Now, onto the subject of this post; my fixed gear.

It all started earlier this year with a set of wheels, so first I’ll give a brief history of my bike up until its current setup.

The wheels which got this project rolling; a second hand set of Miche Pistards with nice tires and in great condition (or so I thought):

Next; the frame. Initially I ordered the Goldsprint Track Flamed Raw:

I made a quick sketch in Photoshop of some of the parts I wanted to put on it:

But unfortunately this turned out to be irrelevant, because I received an e-mail from the guys at goldsprint.de telling me there was some damage to the finish:

They said I could get a pretty decent discount or I could chose to change the order. Because I was afraid the spot would keep bothering me, I opted for a new frame; the Colossi Rambler Pursuit, colour grey:

The wheels under the frame:

The frame (58cm) turned out a little more compact than I expected, but this wouldn’t turn out to be a massive problem with some minor adjustments.

Along with a Thomson Elite seatpost, a Selle Italia seat and some BLB track drops (all second hand and in perfect condition), it started to look like somewhat of an actual bicycle.

Then (most of) the final bits; a mediocre BLB crankset (and the rest of the drivetrain), some hybrid Shimano SPD/platform pedals, too short of a BLB stem, Ultegra brake caliper and Goldfinger brake lever and the bike was done:

I then found out the back tire was slowly but steadily letting some air out. Unfortunately the Pistards were a tubular set (should’ve bought clinchers from the get-go) and since I couldn’t fix it myself, I decided to sell the pair (still available).

Put on some other Miche wheelset with Primato hubs, and the Silver Surfer (as one my buddies calls it) was ready to rock:

Maiden voyage to Amsterdam (74 miles round trip):

During this trip I learned two important bits; the drops had to go (my back was killing me) and the stem was too short. First order of business; track pursuit bars. Then came the longer (100mm) stem:

A ride with ‘the boys’ (local (fixed gear) bicycle initiative):

Up until this point, I mainly used this bike for longer trips outside the city. But I thought it could’ve been nice to maybe also use it inside the city. So I threw some risers on it and I was quite pleased:

And this is when we arrive at the present. I made some minor adjustments, like replacing the inline Thomson with a setback one and I also replaced the worn out grips for some proper tape.

For the future, at this moment I have tree things on my list; new cranks, new wheels and new tires. I’m not sure about all of these yet, so if you have any ideas let me know.

I also ordered a pair of Chrome Low Southside Pro shoes (compatible with SPD pedals), which should arrive before the end of this week:

Finally, I made a(nother) mad Photoshop which would transform the bike quite a bit:

Looks funky!

So yeah, that’s how things are at the moment. I’ll update this post as soon as I make some decisions or get new parts.

den haag reprezent.. (not me though, recognise the skyline..) all i can say is, the envisioned build pleases me most.. #blackonblackonblack

Black Sugino 75s, black low flange hubs (Phils?) black spokes and black archetypes with decals removed or tb14s... Or even 30mm ud carbon rims. Would be great.

I'm bored of deep carbon and it takes the right build to pull them off. Also I find those bulls ugly (and uncomfortable)

Scheveningen?

gesundheit

that hallway pic is gonna please the ocd porn peoples

@Rodolfo & @miyagi_san: It is indeed Den Haag! With also pictures at Scheveningen and Katwijk.

@TM: Thanks for your suggestions. I had black Suginos in mind and I do kinda like Archetypes as well. I'll probably go for silver spokes and high flange hubs though, but I haven't decided yet. About the bulls, I agree with you; they're not the best looking, but they simulate the exact same drop as I have on my road bike. So apart from anything else they do serve the purpose of making it a proper Lo-Pro I guess. Didn't you have something similar on your Orlowski? Nice bike by the way :)

@Rodolfo: I'm kind of annoyed I didn't properly aline the valves stems in that picture, so I'm not sure I didn't break any rules haha.

Just snapped a pic of its current 'state'; in desperate need of some bar ends:

I just received an e-mail stating that my shoes are sent on their way, so I should receive them in a couple of days. Read some (positive) reviews about them, do any of you have any experience with them?

Nice bike. Cheers from Amsterdam!

Shoes have arrived:

They weigh half a ton, but the sole seems stiff enough. Curious to see how they ride.

I also made yet another albeit this time more realistic Photoshop:

I kinda dig this look, so I think this will be the way to go.

Reminds me a little of my mash...

Just picked up this bad boy:

The 10 quid headset that's in there now was bound to break soon from the start.

Hopefully this will be the start of upgrading most of the crappy parts that are on the bike now. I'm also looking into some wheels and then I'll scout for a new crankset.

Now onto removing the headset cups that are currently in the frame. Should be fun.

@TM: I can see the resemblance! The jury is still out on the colour of the crankset. I like silver more, but I think black will suit the gray frame better.

Black for definite

Finally got the Chris King in:

Also, these puppies are coming my way:

Suntour Superbe Pro hubs laced to H+Son TB14s. Should arrive before the end of the next week.

Half a decent picture of current 'long distance' set up (50 miles to my parents' place):

Saddle angle seems a bit iffy in this picture, but I kept sliding forwards on my saddle so I pointed it a little more upwards. Might gone too far.

I am still on the look out for a new crankset. It seems like black 75s are not that easy to find. I might go for silver cranks if the search proves to be too hard. Also open to suggestions for perhaps other black cranks. Omniums are pretty much out of the picture, since I don't think they will suit the rest of the build. If you have any ideas, let me know!

Those new wheels, omniums and some compact drops and you're ready to go.

Wheels are in and on (sorry for the awful pictures, will get better ones soon hopefully):

At this moment the cranks are kinda bugging me, so I will get them sorted out sooner rather than later. Still haven't found black 75s...

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/255542/#comment11843945

Sweet black bargain 75s

These are coming my way:

165 mill 75s.

That final evolution is looking SWEET.

@TM: Thanks for the heads up on those cranks, I appreciate it. But I thought the ones above were a better deal. I'm curious to see how this silver crankset will look. Might still buy black ones if I don't like these and find a good/better deal. The little damage and missing chainwheel led me to decide not to buy your suggestion. But thanks again :)

@Buckaroo: Thanks :) I think I'm closing in on what this bike should look like.

Crankset fitted:

Rides very smooth :)

Flite should also be on its way from Belgium. (Mis)matching bartape/grips and the bike should be done!

Any suggestions on the latter?

PS: Is this page slow for anyone? All the pictures are full resolution, so it may slow down on some computers.

Done:

V1 Februari 26th, 2014:

V2 October 10th, 2014: