Parlee Z5 sli, beater Z4 and an Aethos

Yeah, a guy on the trail said the tyres were ‘optimistic’, his group were all on trendy disc g-road type things, a caad, a ti Reilly etc - I said that 23s were doing well and that discs brakes were nonsense... might have been a bit rude now I think about it 😬
(I did get a pinch flat a few miles later and rushed to change the tube before they caught us - serves me right I guess)
I’d do it again on 23c’s - it felt fast...

I’ll dig it out in a bit - it was Southwark to Richmond Park, then a ‘ferry’ over the Thames at Ham, then onto something called the Saturn Trail (which got really overgrown, nettles up to the elbows and super narrow path - wish I’d taken a picture but couldn’t stop) then joined Sustrans 223 - Downs Link which is soo much fun!

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This is making me feel much better about using my old CAAD for touring with 28c's, bravo.

Last time I went touring I was on 25c Vittoria Corsa SC... 👍🏻👍🏻

I somehow got away with 500 miles around Scotland bikepacking with 23mm Veloflexes without a single puncture a few years ago. Heaven knows how.

Edit: cue someone chiming in about doing the Tour Divide on track tubs.

Doing gravel paths on 23s is fine as long as you're prepared to deal with the hassle of fixing punctures.

But kudos for taking a bike with super fancy paintwork on this ride!! I would have been terrified of getting loads of stone chips.

So hitting the pot hole that caused my pinch flat has knocked the wheel out and most of the nipples seem to be rounded off, had the wheel trued at the lbs but will likely rebuild it in a few weeks... a trued and slightly dished rear looked a lot happier within the chainstays so I tried refitting the 25c tyres and they were still close but then tried some 27c open pave and weirdly they’re perfect! 👍🏻🎉

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Dynamo Dun... got lost, found an amazing route - didn’t see anyone except the two mates I was with for 80miles... 🤷‍♂️👍🏻

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Found a new commute route that keeps me away from the nightmare junctions of Lewisham outside the train station and also means I pass Seabass Cycles - I stopped in the other week and they have my old Lo-pro! Very tempted to have it back as it was great fun... shame it got stripped down as I’d got it period and component correct for the Dutch national team rider it was built for... 🤷‍♂️

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Rear wheel needs a rebuild, slightly out again and it’s taken the paint of the inside of the chainstay 🤦‍♂️😥

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At least you caught it when you did and it didn't cause more damage. Is the carbon underneath okay?

The rear spoke of my crank bros wheelset snapped in spectacular fashion, and before I had a chance to stop properly about 1.5" of paint was taken off the chainstays/seatstays of my frame :(

Yeah I’ll keep riding it, it’s gone through the paint and I can feel an edge with my fingernail from where the casing on the Vittoria changes to rubber... ah well...

How many psi were you using? Tried this a few months back and lasted 5 miles until I flatted... then flatted again .. was on about 40 psi (twice) and had a pinch flat. Dick!

Erm, no idea to be honest - pumped them up to about 80psi a few weeks before the ride... 🤷‍♂️ Guess I could have got it back to 40ish with the pump I took with me, survived the rest of the ride 👍🏻

Don’t want to do this but potentially up for sale, child care is £££!

As built including ee brakes and CK wheels PM for details, pictures etc

Rear wheel serviced and sorted, new bar tape, choice of saddles, ti speedplay can be included with cleats as well!

Keeping the donut topcap though...

Cheers,
Matt

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dibs eebrakes if split!

Few updates for this are winging their way to me in the post - 23c gumwalls and a pair of crabon mandible cages.

Still on the lookout for a nice carbon stem and a deal on Nokon/I-link brake cables

Note to self - junction box under saddle...

Rescued this from the office yesterday - fitted new cages and tyres...
thinking about switching out the wheels for some shallow dt Swiss Oxic and changing the bars to some traditional deeper drops... also have new I-link cables to fit then this is ‘done’

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Looks lovely.
Still keen on that off-road route to brighton if you have it?

Cheers, I pieced the route together on google maps from my phone... Left London via Richmond the found the Saturn Trail to Woking I think - https://www.walkandcycle.co.uk/trail?trailcode=SURRTR0062
Then got onto Sustrans 223 all the way to Southwick (which is a bit shit, Southwick, not the trail 👌) then along the coast road into Brighton - https://osmaps.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/50.82777,-0.21421,11

Definitely doing it again, maybe on a cooler day...
I’ll share a link next time I go and post the gxp file or whatever... on that note I need something for navigation as I fucking hate my Garmin and google maps on a phone eats battery life... wahoo has been recommended... 🤷‍♂️

Thanks man.
I quite like my new garmin, but its only had a few days to piss me off yet.
Wahoo had done good service but was beginning to fail (think its 5 years old though).

Bunked off work early and rode to the pub...

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Hey Matt,

I've just had the pleasure of coming across one of these frames at a v/reasonable price and I've got a load of bits from a build that fell through...

You mentioned conversion cups for the BB as it's pressfit and you're running 24mm spindles. I'm planning to run Dura Ace 9000 chainset on it, haven't got the BB yet but was wondering whether you had any recommendations?

Cheers,
Brian

Ahoy! I’m afraid I’m not going to be much help... I’m using the BB that the frame came with, think it’s something fancy but can’t remember and can’t see it now the cranks are installed. The previous owner was running DA 9000 cranks and the frame came with the 24mm Wheels Manufacturing converters - I sold them for £10 iirc... seen another set on here for similar, they’re just bits of plastic... bb issues aside these frames are awesome, best bike I’ve ridden... let’s see some pictures! 👍🏻