Master of none - Kinesis 4S disc

Race bike needs replacing with something with more stack that's more versatile.

The rules, it must be;

• mediocre at everything,
  
• take mudguards,
  
• disc brakes, because modulation and
  
• 1x is the new fixed.
  Optionally it could run tubeless tyres to be fully on-trend compliant.
  
  

Thanks to some decent sale shopping, we have so far;

1. Kinesis 4S frameset
   
2. SRAM Rival 1 flatmount hydraulic levers/brakes
   
3. Hunt 4 Season disc wheel set
   
   

Current gearing plan is 1x with a 48t and 11-32 cassette for racing, 11-36 for more lethargic riding.
Photos and build to follow.

Subbed. I like the 4S It's the Ribble Audax of the 2000's.

Also subbed! "Mediocre at everything" is the dream bike

Good idea to have rim or disc brakes, but only 30mm tyres??

Great plan..i had similar requirements for my new bike. Have you sourced a chainset yet? I was thinking about the same gear ratio, but was unable to find any sram 1x chainset with 48t. Went with 50t instead. Looking forward to see your build..

kinesis frames way better than ribble audax -

you can build up their winter frames to be lovely all weather rides - perfect for fast audax for example

Not yet, but digging around and there are a few options (based on already owning a 11-32 cassette);

Rival 1 crank + 48t ring is about £165. 42t ring goes into the CX spares box.
Force 1 50t chainset + 11-36 = £220
Rival 1 50t chainset + 11-36 = £150

What did you go for?

50t with 11-36 looks good for flat fast riding in 15,17,19 with a fairly good bail out, a shade lower than 36x25.

Website says 30mm with mudguards, not sure what the actual max is.

Any owners know? At the weekend I'll stick on a CX wheelset with 32c.

I went with a Force 50t and a 11-32 cassette. Will see how this goes and probably downgrade to a 48 or 46 chainring.

Vastly better. Same concept but refined and improved. It warms my cockles when I see a Ribble Audax on a cold rainy winter's morning. And I'm sure I'll have the same nostalgia when I see Kinesis 4S, 3T or TK3 on the roads in 10 years time.

Also the full expression is:

"Jack of all trades master of none, more often than not better than the master of one".

hmm will splash out on Force too, might slow the build but need to compensate for the not heavy but not light frameset.

Excellent and also very true for this build.

The aim is to be actually useful for 95% of my riding which is commuting and training in any weather but still capable of the odd road race, audax or bikepack where mediocre is suitable.

Were the hunt 4 season disc wheels purchased at a sale price? You happy with them?

Actually, you’ve probably not ridden them so ignore second part of question...

Purchased on sale as lightly used but were as good as new.

Have done one CX race on them as they were not originally for this. So far, happy for the price paid.

They are £299 at the moment which is a decent price. I do however also own Hope 20FIVE S-Pulls which I prefer and would pay the extra, despite Hope providing no frills, not even skewers.

Thanks for that, been drawn to the hunts by the good reviews and relatively lightweight for price aero light disc/mason x hunt wheel sets. Had various hope wheels over the years on various mtb’s and never been let down so need to look at 20fives too. Are the hunts as vocal as the hope hubs?

Hope use their new RS4 hub on these which are really quiet - which I personally found disappointing but does help be a bit stealthier when racing. The Hunts are actually a shade noisier.

Of course, if you want bling colours, it's an easy choice!

I have Hunt x Mason 4 seasons with XD driver for X1 and they are fairly vocal, but not too loud. I really like them actually. They are cheap, light and i converted mine to TA and X1 with no problems at all.

Finally got the the frame out to weigh, add Helicopter tape and get some pictures.

Racing the existing road bike on Saturday for it's final outing before stripping down which will speed this up. Also coming in the post are a Rival 1 medium cage RD and a Force 1 50t crankset.

Being mediocre, this is no weight weenie project but will use the existing race bike as the benchmark for better than mediocre and see how close I can get.

New frameset is roughly 280g heavier. However the crabon cranks will claw back 180g.

Frame: 1,626g
Fork: 455g
Headset: 69g
Bag of bits: 43g
Total: 2,193g

Slow progress but it's now a rolling chassis.

Stripped down the current race bike and have moved over the bars/stem/seatpost/saddle/BB, fitted the new Force 1 crank and stuck the bike on its wheels.

First snag, there is not enough clearance to use the CL>6 Bolt adapter which touches the frame. No biggie, can swap discs between wheelsets and use CLs.

Next up, clearance.
Tried on the Hunt 4 Season wheels that currently have 33c Maxxis Raze fitted. It'll roll but not sure you'd want to ride with 2-3mm clearance. Will try out some 32c Gravel King SKs soon.

Here is where we got to.

Next up, need to switch the hoses on the Brake levers as they arrived in Euro setup.

After that I'll need to workout what the Kinesis bags of bits is and how to do the internal cable routing.

Looks like it'll end up as a nice bike!

It's growing on me. Will be my only roadie so going a bit tarty. Watching Strade Bianche is giving me ideas to ride a classic event next year, would be the perfect machine.

Liking where this is going.

I can recommend the 4S disc. Went from ribble audax to this, also with the idea of building a do-it-all kind of bike and it basically does.

I've since built a fancy Bob Jackson for riding on nice days, but the Kinesis gets way more miles - commuting, weekend rides etc. Here it is in summer commuting guise:

While I have some Michelin Endurance 28c lined up, must admit I've been looking at gum walls because of your build. Looks great in its current form.

Are those AliExpress bottle cages or originals?