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IR
dan
Not really a current project, more just the ongoing evolution of a utility bike.
I got fed up with fighting with my Rourke and admitted it was a touch too big for me — so sold that on to Pepe (who then had a nasty accident and the frame is now in a bit of a state).
After having a heavy steel frame, I wanted something that was a bit lighter and more versatile so I wouldn't think twice about taking it to Wales/ on cycling holidays without having to pack my di2 Cervelo in a bike box and leave it at the mercy of baggage handlers.
I was watching this Canyon frame on German ebay, but it ended at 10pm on a Friday when I was out doing something so I just put in a max bid of whatever I had in my paypal account and forgot about it. Found out the next day I had won the auction for a song.
#csb right?
I moved all the 10 speed Rival stuff over from my Rourke (with the addition of some Sram Red brakes I had leftover from another build), including Stages PM and the Hope hoops I'd been using.
2 weeks ago the rear mavic open pro split along the braking surface, so Jimbilly rebuilt the hubs onto Archetypes for me in time to take it to Mallorca last week:
I find the frame pretty stiff, it handles well and descends nicely. The build overall is probably just under 8kg - which is decent for the money I've spent (probably sub £600 not including power meter). In terms of ride quality it's pretty harsh, but the new wider wheels have gone a long way to reducing road buzz and smooth things out. Does tend to beat you up a bit on really long rides, but the majority of the riding I do on this is commuting and sub 4 hour rides (Cervelo is for long stuff) so on balance i prefer having a utility bike which actually handles like a race bike. The Rourke was a bit of a tank.
I bought some PDW's to use with it, but in the end the clearances were too tight - I could have squeezed them in with a bit of fettling, but I really really hate mudguard rub, so I've just been making do with clip on raceblades (work fine for me, less so for club mates).
Tl;dr - it didn't cost much, looks nice and it does the business.