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KarlMarx
lunar_c
Yep, I picked up the frame on eBay originally cheaply as NOS with no fork, eventually finding a NOS 3T funda pro fork from an oem focus .. so had ghetto mismatched paint for a while .. the bike has been through three different build phases so far .. firstly it was built up with FSA SL-K finishing kit and a rag tag ensemble of Ultegra 6800 bits from ebay and gumtree, a KCNC BB30 converter, and then I stuck some KCNC C1 brakes on there which were ridiculously light but so flexy.. I had Jagwire Elite Link cables on it which were pretty cool.
That was a great bike for climbing and at the time I had a Propel Advanced with 50mm carbon clinchers which was a typical aero bike .. stiff, very good handling and quick on the flats but porky, so between the two I had a good mix.
Then my friend wanted to build up his Cinelli Experience and bought a complete SRAM Red 10 speed group set with hardly any miles on it, but then got a CAAD12 frame and I convinced him he couldn’t put an older group set on it (like brown shoes with a black belt..) so I gave him my Ultegra and decided to try SRAM Red and go back to 10 speed .. it ended up being 6.85kg in this guise even with the SL-K stuff (stem and seatpost are pretty heavy..) it looked great and I like DoubleTap but could NOT get on with the hood shape, on the inside face the rubber hood is just draped over a big gap where the shifter mechanism is .. it feels like the soft spot on a babies head and I don’t like it, on a Shimano hood that’s where I hook my thumb around. Here’s a pic of it in that guise ..
After I couldn’t get on with the SRAM I thought maybe I’d break it down, sold the SRAM group set and pondered selling the frame .. sold off most of the components, and used the wheel set on my Propel when I went to the hills. But a chunky XL aero frame looks a bit funny with shallow wheel set..
My wife convinced me not to sell the CAAD, and to get it painted because I love the ride feel and a 63cm Cannondale frame fits me so well with a 130mm stem. So I actually sold the Propel and decided to build up the CAAD as a keeper..
Originally I wanted a simple paint job .. red with white decals, when I went to see the painter Cameron at CycleColor he was so enthusiastic we ended up mixing up a custom colour and he was so stoked with the colour he decided to paint all the logos on and gave me a big discount on the labour .. his work is second to none if you’re in Perth..
I got him to custom paint some carbon bidon cages in the same colour as the logos as I was having trouble finding something that complemented the frame.
It was a big expense in the end but well worth it. I went with a Hylix seatpost (lighter than the FSA SL-K) and Kalloy Uno stem to save a little weight but after I got some Cannondale carbon bars for a song recently I may change all the finishing kit over to the carbon cannondale stuff, it’s really nice and can be cheap if found secondhand from someone upgrading an Evo.