Steamrolling through my first build

Recently picked up this 56 steamroller frame on here.

Follow my first build progress!

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Been meaning to do this for a long time - what better excuse than being stuck in London for the rest of my gap year...

Previous owner had it re-painted and added rear canti bosses.

Initially not a fan of the green, but I think I'm falling in love.

The plan is:
●Wide-ass tyres - probably with some tread
●Easy-ish ratio for SE London's hills and a bit of off- road auction
●Flat bars
●Maximum fun
●Mainly silver components
●A splash of colour And Bold looks

Did you ever ask him why he chose to get canti posts added to the back only? Seems weird.

Nice colour anyway.

First order of business: Hubs

Initially planned on Miche Primato Hubs, used by a friend on his Vigorelli build and appealing in their classic chrome finish.
Paired with Silver H+son Archetypes and silver spokes these wheels would be sharp, sleek and sexyyyy.

That all went out of the window when i came across these Surly hubs on the forum.
No, they're not silver and not as sleek as the Primato, but ended up wayayyy cheaper and SEALED BEARINGS are a big hit. Plus they use 5mm hex bolts instead of ugly track nuts, which brings an extra bit of style.

Once fitted, the perfect flush fit between the Surly fork and Surly hub really got me.

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Liking the colour and brake mounts, subbed.
Would've gone mostly black components myself.

Next up was the cranks.

Of course I wanted the Sugino Pistas, their shimmery silver and classy graphics calling to me through the screen at 4am, but when i went to order - OUT OF STOCK. Damn.

Dejected and dispirited, I set about looking for alternatives, none quite matching in steez-cost ratio.

For a few days, the choice was between some ok Sturmey cranks, nice but expensive Genetics and some by a brand I'd never heard of - One23.

As if by a turn of fate, I came across this Stronglight set at a good price.
I don't know much about the brand, but I've always loved the simplicity of the name - 2 adjectives - and the Dura Ace-ish graphics of the chainring.
Their are a few more teeth than I'd like, and ideally the chainring would be silver too, but with few other options I was eager and impulsive.

I love them.

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I considered it, would probably match better, but I never really like the powder coating or ano on black components, plus I just love the glimmer of clean chrome.

No, I should though - i love the idea but would be great on the front too.

How would you describe it? I'm thinking somewhere between swamp and forest green...

Next step was perhaps the most important so far: Seat collar

So the frames seller couldn't find the original Surly collar - no biggie, I'm sure I'll find something.

I found a spare black one locally. Quite boring but all it does is hold the seatpost in place, right?

WRONG. It could do so much more. It can add a pop of colour, an accent at a key point of tube convergence, a spark of personality and bad taste.

So I copped this Pink ano Salsa collar, because I could.

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The collar has to hold something in place, which turned out to be this classy Deda post, the first brand new component (debatable, the hubs were unused) on the build.

Eventually, my cushy Cambium will perch atop this Italian pole, but it's hanging about on my road bike until it's needed.

A side note on the saddle, which was my first Lfgss purchase:
The saddle has a 'raw' canvas finish, which complements the gum base well. It was a demo originally and has some now unintelligible writing printed on.
Over the past few months of riding, it's picked up a nice hint of blue from my jeans. Some may hate this, but I like to leave my mark..

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Completely forgot this thread but if anyone’s wondering, this is how it looks atm - finished I guess.

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Great photo and the bike looks good