Roberts frame delivered and now built up - WOW - soooo nice

Ordered my first custom frame last May and though I was told it would be 12 week build it took almost 25 to finish BUT it was well worth the wait. Currently ride a Colnago master x lite so the finished result needed to be good and Chaz (Roberts) didn't disappoint. He spent around 2 hours discussing my needs, how I would like the frame to be and what type of riding I will be doing. I am now 59 so racing days are over but still get out most days and do number of Sportives every year including on the continent so we went for steel throughout with a slightly sloping top tube (6 degrees) to keep the frame stiff.

We decided on Columbus tubing (life) with stainless lugs as I wanted some of them polished and I also specced straight and polished steel forks and as Chaz said that my weight (72kg) is around the limit for straight forks (according to tech specs from Columbus) he used Reynolds 953 for the fork design. Went for Chris King no threadset headset.

Went for a nice blue colour with white outlines under the roberts decals and bits picked out in black - loving the paint finish and the polished headtube lugs, rear dropouts, front mech hanger and front forks. Really pleased with the finish - the attention to detail on the polishing and the painting is spot on.

First job was to wax the frame - 3 coats of Meguirs carnuba wax and then 3 coats of Sonus polymer sealant finish.

Wanted to keep the weight as light as possible so went for new wheels (Campag Neutron) with a KCNC lightweight cassette. These are shod with Vittoria Open Corsa SC 700 x 23mm and latex tubes. Also, as I don't race anymore, have gone for a compact chainset with the running gear and brakes a mix of Campag centaur and chorus (black).

Chaz informed me that the life tubing is slightly oversize and he recommended the Fizik cyrano carbon seatpost which I agreed on and also fitted an Antares saddle and decided to fully match that with the cyrano stem and microlight bar tape (have used Fizik bar tape for years).

Finally decided to try Swisstop brake pads and I have say have been impressed so far - went for the green but mounted them on swisstop pad holders and they are working well with the chorus calipers.

All over soooo soooo happy with the result - anyone thinking whether to go for a bespoke frame and not sure - go for it - you won't be disappointed !!

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Very nice! What length stem have you got on there? Looks pretty short which is surprising for a custom build.
What's the built up weight? 8kg ish?

Only things I don't like: no silver headset, chain ring bolts, white handle bar. Aside from those minor gripes, LOVERRRRLY.

Need to get an accurate weight but it is lighter than my Nago - although that's not particularly light compared to carbon but steel is repairable !!! - rough measurement has shown 7.4 kg

Yep - short stem 80mm - problem I have and that probably is why the bespoke is so comfortable is that I have short legs, a long torso but short arms so always seem to be over reaching on stock frame builds

Yep - not sure on the red chainring bolts but it came with the centaur red package (rear mech has a red bolt and ergo's have red buttons as well) and thought the black headset offsets the polished lugs ??

I'd go silver CK then black fork, stem and bar = winnin the bestest

Nice looking bike.
Did you consider an inline seatpost which would allow the saddle to be fixed nearer the centre of the rails?

nope - the life tubing is slightly oversize so you need a 30.4 mm post and there aren't too many about that size and didn't want to shim it as the lug is not straight at the top it's got a point above the top tube so would look odd with the shim protruding.

Still playing with seat position and may need to take it back a bit so it will look better as well - quite like the look of a seat well forward ?

Thanks multigrooves tried the black chainring bolts today and much improved methinks - seat slightly further back as well - now sorted - staying with the white bars

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Nice build, but puzzling ... You claim to have short legs but that saddle is very high relative to the length of the headtube - so I'd say you appear to have long legs!

Also curious to have a custom build with the seat slammed forward and an 80mm stem - seems almost like the bike is too long for you from the pics.

I'm sure thomson do an inline post in 30.4, and you can find old record carbon posts in wacky sizes.

My final suggestion would be to swap out the bars and stem for something classier - like nitto ct80 / m106 - or ritchey classic combo - to keep the old-skool aesthetic. I do like the forks and the LIFE tubing - down to the MAX-style flared chain-stays

Definitely better without the red chainring bolts. I'm with everyone else on swapping out the bars for black, the paint scheme is beautiful but already busy, and the flash of white bars distract. I always think matching saddle and bars, with matching seatpost and stem looks neatest and distracts least from the frame, which surely in this case is the main event.

You're bound to get loads of fussy comment on here though, we're all just jealous :)

frame size mainly determined by leg length ? and I like to be over bike with a straight back and bent arms - almost like a TT position - suits me as I feel almost in the bike.

Thomson don't do a 30.4 - they do a 30 and a 30.6 or 30.8mm - already looked as like Thomson in line

Tried a variation after comments above - still like the white bars but swopped out my black tape off my Nago - comments welcomed good or bad as I'm still not sure

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Let's be clear: I'm jealous. And I'm not going to tell someone of your experience what to do.

So here's what I would do, if that was my frameset.

The polished lugs, ends, forks etc and the colour scheme and bands, all scream "classic".

The black group, black/big logo wheels, black finishing kit and especially the white bars all scream "modern".

Aside from the frameset (obviously), the only things I'd keep are the tyres, tape and saddle.

Silver group (Athena); silver TB14 on silver hubs & spokes ; silver post, stem & bars (compact, not ergo), King Cage Iris.

Failing that, de-sticker the wheels; plain black cage and black bars & end caps.

Been playing a bit with colour scheme amd listened to comments - finished article - this is how it will be - black Elite Ciussi cage , black tape with fizik logo (soft touch), black caps.

So pleased with the swiss stop pads as well - greens have much better modulation and stop better than Campag pads on the centaur brakes (skeletons)

Love my Nago master x lite still but this is just sooooooo good

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close up of chainset and cage - might go for a white Fizik Antares saddle

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fitted white saddle - that's it now done :)

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why is changing bits such a drug - wasn't going to upgrade to 11 but then bit the bullet as you can get away without changing the crankset - soooo - refitted Rotor 3D crankset with Q rings and upgraded to super record ergo's, record rear and front mech with record calipers and put it on Shamals with Veloflex master 23mm rubber- very pleased with result - rides even better now ::) :)

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rotor crankset with KMC 11SL gold chain and Record front mech

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