Quantum of Solace

I bought this Raleigh Quantum on here some months ago and lockdown has given me the kick up the arse to build it up. It has bonded titanium main tubes. steel lugs & rear triangle.

Intention is a reasonably cost-conscious parts-bin build.... until the Surly fork that I had was 1cm too short in the steerer, so I bought a brand new one for £150

Wheels were knocking around my garage - front is a budget Shimano that badly needs a hub service. Rear is a Deore hub built onto a Mavic DH rim. Kenda Small block 8 tyres

Tektro cantis bought on here. Intention is a drop-bar 3*9 build (because I have all the bits)

Need to buy: seatpost (current one is a bit short), cables, saddle

Long term ambition: bike-pack the ridgeway. Maybe even this year.

Does that rear brake touch the rim when it’s closer? Can’t tell whether it’s just the angle but it looks like it would only touch the tyre

Nice, subbed

It definitely fits! does look a bit dodge on that picture though, I agree

today's challenge: hunt through various parts boxes / drawers for more headset spacers. Maybe cut steerer tube. eeek

Steerer cut, bars (Selcof flared drops) & brifters (Sora 9 speefd) added. Pleased with the proportions so far.

Couple of nice features on this frame - canti hanger on the seat clamp

& no chainstay bridge for mud clearance

Taken far too long as usual to finish this... but gathered everything today and managed to get it done

the bottom bracket was missing a cable guide, and instead of a tapped hole had a massive unthreaded gap. Apparently for a proprietary push-fit guide which I didn't have. I tried a full-length outer cable-tied on but it was horrible, so I just epoxyed a regular guide on there instead.

Still needs a shakedown ride which hopefully I can achieve today - as I want to take it bikepacking tomorrow. Initial thoughts riding round the garden are it's quite heavy, and the indexing is crap. I think the gear hanger may be slightly bent. Also, apologies for mismatched cages

Oh and I went 1x9 in the end as none of my about a dozen front mechs would fit the very skinny tubes

A work in progress as it were... I like the proportions of the build and the frame is really cool. Normally I would hate the stem but in this context I think it might work. Irritating for you about the indexing. Worth checking hanger alignment as you say.

Isn't there some trick about using the rear wheel to check and fix hanger alignment?

Took it for a shakedown ride, indexing seemed happier under load but chain was slipping on a couple of the cogs. Perils of raiding random cassettes and chains from the parts bin I guess. But otherwise quite pleased, I like the geo and the ride felt very smooth.

Yeah. About 2 minutes in:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnwreRrorIA

Did 80 miles of the Ridgeway yesterday and today. Definitely needs a new cassette,had about 5 usable gears :( But otherwise really liked it, very stable when loaded. Will do a proper trip report when I've dried out from this morning's efforts

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Great stuff 👍 - was that the frame I sold you?
Here’s its replacement on Dartmoor last week

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Bike looks awesome, and great scenery too!

Indeed it was. Mech hanger seems fine btw 😀

Trip report

Weighed this at 12.1 kg, including the fork cages, which I was pleasantly surprised with. Could relatively easily drop a kilo of that I reckon with better wheels and cranks.

trip report

Nice!

Took this out for 25 miles round the tracks & bridleways today, about 80% off road. Love it, easily my favourite bike at the moment. Rear shifting still not great even with a new cassette - the mech looks misaligned rather than the hanger so next step is a replacement 9spd mech

Going to get a disc tab brazed on this with the intention of squeezing in 650b. And maybe back to flat bars

Stripped down ready to visit the framebuilder

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Lovely job by @Jimjam

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Nice! What are the build plans?