Varonha custom frame... And other ongoing stuff

Get in! I'm excited...You know my feelings on disc vs cantis though...

Your rims will last forever

Also given your height, it doesn't look gate-like at all.

Get in! I'm excited...

Me too!

You know my feelings on disc vs cantis though...

Don't worry about it, I'm considering, for the future, to have a spare forks with disc. Either carbon, if I can find some that look OK with a steel 1-1/8 headtube, or steel ones...

I personally have no use for disc considering the usage of my bike(s). Last month I visited my cousin in the Swiss Alps. I took his Commencal hybrid-ish bike for a ride in nice forest / rocky pathes, some fairly steep downhill bits. That was the first time in my life I felt that disc were useful. His's were hydraulics in this instance.

I personally have no use for disc considering the usage of my bike(s)

In the olden days, spokes would break pretty frequently. Modern stainless steels have basically eliminated that.

In the olden days, hub bearing cups would wear out. Cartridge bearings have basically made hubs last a lifetime.

In the olden days, brake wear would destroy rims. If only somebody would come up with a solution to that, we could have wheels which would last almost forever.

Never going to happen tester, stop trolling.

Winston is one of the most prolific frame builders in the UK, he's got it on a lock. Going to be a great bike.

lolwut? Tester does have a sense of humor ; )

Discs need to go through another 2 generations to be perfected to be used on road bikes (early adopter speak) like the iPhone.

In the olden days...

I don't wear my parts so much in general. I don't do extraordinary mileage, compared to most people here, and mileage is split between my too many bikes... I love external bearing BBs and think they are great, doesn't make me renounce using old cup style ones on some bikes, without any problem. Some bikes want to use/show the most advanced available technology, current projects show real nice examples here, my bike is another story.

In the olden days, brake wear would destroy rims.

Again I don't disagree. I thought about disc. I had long conversations with MultiGrooves and Charco, advising me to opt for disc.
There's also cons for disc, which shouldn't be denied.
Most importantly, I really like cantis. And I don't remember it being such a massive pain when I was mountain biking (in my little local and amicable club in Normandy, or as a student in the volcanos of Puy De Dome) to replace a cracked rim once in a while.

Speaking of rims, I bought a wheelset for the bike, with open pros CD (on ultegra hubs)... this way when they fail it shouldn't be too hard to source a replacement one...

Never going to happen tester, stop trolling

To be fair, this is my fault... I requested advice for the drilling of my stem, and Tester provided this. Opposing that disc would have been a more efficient / rational choice is only completing his opinion on the brake subject... fine by me...

 Going to be a great bike.

Thanks, I can't wait to finish this...

Just spoke to an old 'cross mate, everyone used to drill Cinelli quill stems and none of them died, they just got fatter. Of course discs are better, for all the reasons stated, but if we all used the best designs and components every bike would look the same and we'd have nothing to argue about.

It's a custom bike, exactly as you want it to be and I think it's looking great so far.

I am a pretty big advocate for disc brakes on road bicycle, especially the full hydraulic system, however there's no reason why a well set-up canti will work well to your need.

Having said that, canti on MTB is something I'm quite happy to be rid of.

Hey... No recent update... I have not had too much time to look into this, couldn't give my final requirements in terms of cable routing / rack braze on to Winston so it has all been on hold a bit...

I've almost made a decision on color though... not final though...

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I like that, a nice mix of Ritchey and Richard Sachs.

/\ /\ /\ definitely the inspiration there...

Here's the saddle I project to use on the bike... Always wanted one since they were advertised in MTB magazines in the 90s. Saw one in the flesh for the first time on a forum ride, a few years back, also on a red CX bike... This is quite heavy but...

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And the wheels (obviously I have the matching rear one).

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I like the saddle (even though it's a Brooks), and I like the wheels. Are those the tyre's you'll be putting on it?

Yes... 35C purchased after our clearance review on sat... They look like what I want and will be good enough for now... I may invest in posher stuff after a while.
I'm after a matching skewer (like the one on the picture, although it does not need to say "Ultegra") for the rear. Wheels came with rear silver one... Arghh

The tyres will look good. If you can make do with a silver skewer until about mid-december I know what to give you for Christmas...

Frame looks great, going to be a lovely bike.

;)

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Ah! Nice edit...

Checking these tyres again, good they were cheap... they only inflate to 65psi max... Good enough to take pictures of the finished project, but I'm sure I can find, ultimately, 35C tyres I can inflate to 80psi... Why proper CX tyres with gumwall are only available from obscure US sites, for like £45 each? Any recommendations?

I wanted to go for the Paselas Panaracer, but I read somewhere their 35C look like 32C... I'm not surprised, the 28Cs I had on the Mercian looked like modest 25c... great tyres though

I'm after a matching skewer
Are they black or ice grey?
If the latter, I have one you can have too, or else some px ti/crabbon ones which are almost exactly the same colour

/\ /\ Ice grey I believe. Took a picture this morning, only the flash gives the colour like it really is (more or less) How much you want for it?

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@branwen spoiling my attempts to find good xmas presents for people. ffs :(