Project three-ish - comfort revision

Hmmn, poss - mabes.

I'm actually trying to buy my old Slice premium forks back as they have more clearance than the Ultra's and are obvs lighter. I can still get a 28c GK in the Ultra's but the Premium's took a 30c G-one (or at least in this test it looked like they would, never actually rode it with a 30c in there).

Any idea on clearance? What's the steerer length?

steerer is 205mm long and the narrowest point between the blades, before they start curving in is 32.7mm

edit: i think slice premium, premium+ and si were made with the same mould, ultra forks are a bit different

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Commuter cockpit finally sorted for the Capo. 120mm X2, 700mm de-logo's Spank bars, 3mm Yoshida champ grips and a Paul lever ( cheers @littleK )

And this was a lot of fun for doing laps of Richmond park on, Definitely a better fit than the Capo for road fixed atm

Just need to refit the GP 4000's then the Capo is done for now, if Barbie road a Fixeh...

And after building up the CAAD9 with the original 9 speed Tiagra I realised I had most of an 11 speed group milling about. Selling off some old clothes paid for some shorter cranks to complete the puzzle. Irritatingly they've sent me the wrong length but I'll have it built soon enough.

So nice to see that Dart living on! And a shame we never got to take it to production. It would have been the best one we'd done under the TF brand in my opinion.

I suppose at some point I should start trying to amass a collection of the bike I've designed!

Yeah i'm really happy with it, considered selling it a few times but it ticks so many boxes. Been weighing up if i have room/need for both Capo and Dart and the Dart is currently winning. It deserves a new coat of paint but the scruffy paint is so handy for locking it up. Do you have the original files for the graphics?

How's the cafe going? I'll swing by next time i'm west.

How’s the caad going?

It's coming along nicely. Needless to say original build plans are out the window and there's very little I haven't changed. Fortunately I've been doing a lot of sales/swaps lately so it's been done on a tight budget.

Old but latest pic I have, wheels have since changed to Kinlin/Corsa's and the seat post is now a black S-works.

I'll get some pics up soon but it's actually on it's way to Cornwall with me now for some hopefully sunny coastal rides.

Looking good man. Any idea of the weight?

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...

Really love the proportions and the silver/black build on the argos

Whats the frame size? 55x55cm?

Cheers. It's a 53, slightly shorter on the top tube with a fairly tall head tube.

Sadly I'm not sure it's worth the effort to make it work for me on the track. I put some drops on the Dart this morning and it instantly felt a lot more comfortable even though it's fairly low and long.

I've been playing around with a 1" threadless fork on the Argos this morning and I can just squeeze on some 28's (back is tight!) and a front mudguard. I've stuck on some risers and will see how I get on with it for commuting before deciding what to do next.

Been trying out Riser Lyfe on the Argos, didn't have a longer quill so went for a threadless fork with a 130mm ahead stem. Not such a fan of the forks but it's nice to finally use my favourite GT steel stem. A possible new project means I'm likely gonna sell the Argos, probably as a full build but I'll consider selling the frameset only if that's easier.

Continuing shit weather means continuing dull indoor pictures...

Sad times but the Argos has been moved on, this should help ease the pain.

#jealousy

Wanted it so bad but bank account seyzno

Yes! Looking forward to this already. Plans? Any new bits?

Did a deal with the Argos so thankfully my finances have survived, just.

Not sure yet, wide risers for daily riding and drops when i have the courage/skills to take this on the track. I already tried a silver X2 and steel Campag post which looked all kind of wrong so most likely carbon post and black stem. Got some Omniums which'll do for now and will use my carbon wheelset.

Further down the line maybe some low profile box section rims, Aarn ring and a bit of anodised colour.

Oh and if anyone is after a very tidy Capo frameset (56) i'll be listing one shortly.

yes, pm ?

Pretty sick buids !!
Cannondale looks so legit

pm'd

Starting to throw some parts on the CAAD5 to figure out how I'd like to build it up. Pretty sure as per @hma 's instructions this needs an Alpina track fork but for now I'm going to use the Premium+ full carbon fork that I hadn't yet fitted to the 9. Won't close the gap but they're a nice nod to the System Six team LC bikes especially with the C-record headset

Cranks wise I picked some Omniums as part of a recent deal. Fitted a silver S75 ring but I'm thinking all black would work better with some colour ano bolts

someone sell that man an alpina fork ffs! :D