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@jono84
Update.
Last summer too much dicking around with bike projects was putting me in a bad place so I made the decision to have a clear out and live with just two bikes for a while. The CAAD was already road worthy and the Dart has turned out to be my favourite bike so the Capo along with a lot of spares were sold on to free up some much needed head space. 6 months later it's been a good break for me. The CAAD hasn't had much use but it's been great to ride and the Dart has been near flawless.
So what's changed? Well, I'm hoping to do a lot more riding in 2020. That includes track (new for me), road (pretty shit at that too), general causal riding (I still have locking up anxiety) along with my usual 15-20 mile a day commute. This means potentially going back to 3 bikes to cover all bases.
First up the CAAD 9. By no means finished but I'm really pleased how this has turned out considering the budget and amount of time I've spent on it. 105/Kinlin combo although not flashy is more than good enough for me. Corsa's, acetoned Rapha test saddle, Ritchey Neo classics and Superleggera stem add a bit of quality. Finishing touch will be a Premium Slice full carbon fork.
Other than maybe a bar tape swap (Fizik not working IMO) it'll stay like this until I've put some more miles on it. Future plans might include changing the seatpost and FD clamps to something a bit less bland, black DA quick release skewers and maybe a KMC SL gold chain.
The idea for the Dart was to swap bits around pending how I planned on using it. But TBH that was really annoying and as such it's stayed like this since winter kicked in
It often wears a pair of XL race blades and does get locked up outside on occasion. Only changes have been some 4mm Champ track grips and new XT Spd's after I snapped a spindle on my last pair. I had thought I would just keep this as is and build something else up for the track/posing but plans may change (more on that further on).
So as my fancy wheelset hasn't been used all winter and the Argos has been hanging on the wall looking sad I figured I'd see if I could build something up without spending much. Fortunately I'd held back a few choice bits for a possible future Neo Retro road build including a CK headset, Nitto stem, Spotter bars and Campag steel post. Add to that Sugino 75 ring, EAI cogs and KMC SL track chain I was good to go.
Wait, no, I've sold all my nice track cranks and they now seem to cost a shit load more than I remember. After chickening out on throwing some cash at some black 75 D/D's on here I settled for some good old Andel track cranks as I thought they's suit the build. I gotta say at £49 they're not a bad quality option (especially if like me you have a 110mm UN55 sitting in the spares box) and Hubjub were a pleasure to deal with. All I need now is a SLR saddle as the base on the Fizik has cracked in half.
Hopefully this resembles a track bike (bar saddle, swapping over to a 15t and shortening the chain).
All good then? Not quite. At the moment it feels too cramped for me. My flexibility has improved and I was used to riding this frame on the hoods so sitting in drops doesn't feel right. I don't have any other quills atm but i've thrown on a 120mm ahead stem which feels better but still not quite right. If I can make it work I'll be on the hunt for 120mm Pearl but I may have to face that the Dart is the better base for me.
That'll mean the Argos may become a shit weather/lock-up bike which doesn't make a lot of sense but I do have all the right bits to build it up that way if I choose. We'll see...