Custom build to do (nearly) everything...

Sad times indeed - especially the hat and feather, farmhouse & porter butt.
I lived next to the king william which enjoyed a bit of a revival during that time, but the bell was always the one.

Good data re: posh pads on posh calipers.

Those are indeed very pretty - I stand corrected!

By way of background - here's my previous winterbike (raceblades added from Nov-Feb).

I've got quite long arms so I need a decent amount of drop and reach to be happy - that's part of the reason for going custom - upright bikes irritate me.
And here's my long-distance offroad bike. It amuses me and pisses me off in equal measure but is by no means fast or modern

So I want something more practical than the winter bike and much faster than the saracen, but I wouldn't rule out some level of eccentricity

The other 2 bikes involved in the mash-up/culling are FGCX and a geared roughstuff bike

why have 4 bikes when you can have one eh. I reckon that with a bit of careful planning I can squeeze all the joy and functionality of that lot into a single steel bike.....

Bikes are like shoes, you need the right ones for the purpose. Dress shoes are terrible for wet days in mud etc etc. The one all purpose bike is like a Swiss Army knife - too many compromises vs the individual tools but can still be useful.

I built my genesis fugio 853 to be sort of what you're maybe after.
Nice steel, full mudguards over road tyres, space for fat tyres for some offroad in the summer, dynamo lights etc but it ended up seeing 99% tarmac and is heavier/not as fun as a light road bike so I only take it out when it's pouring down.
Instead I've got a gravel bike (which still doesn't work, yet) and I'm going to build a dedicated winter/wet road bike which maintains the feeling of a fast bike

If it helps with the brake choice, I just bought a set of BB7s for a non-bike project at work (which specifically uses the cables as a fail 'safe') and they couldn't be easier to set up. Both pads adjust independently on the BB7. I'm a cable disc fan too.

winter/wet road bike which maintains the feeling of a fast bike

Yes to this - losing the buzz would be sad.
I'm hopeful we can get clearance for 42mm & discs in steel without compromising too much on speed. It probably won't be much heavier than the sort of crap I was racing on in my teens

Cheers, that's good to know

just bought a set of BB7s for a non-bike project at work

F1 car brakes I assume. The unlimited power of cable disks!

That saracen is a whip.

IMO stick to drum brakes or get hydro. No half measures.

has anyone said Etap yet, because Etap.

Saracen with front drum is rough-stuffer porn IMO. Dibs if it does get replaced (and it fits me...)!

Noted. Thanks.
It'll probably get sold at some stage this year. It's not getting the level of use it deserves.
These last few years it's only been used to carry the picnic on family daytrips or for off-road tours with my dad...

Proper fun that Saracen

Cookham Reach? Didnt get to The Bounty once last summer :(

Well spotted. That’s just past the bounty. Next stop was the flower pot.
That was one of my ‘travels with my father’ last summer

I'd start exactly the opposite way. Reasonably priced OTP bike with mid range groupset and modern standards, upgrade as I need or break stuff.
But that would a terribly uninteresting thread.

Thanks everyone for your enthusiastic, sagely and amusing advice, you've really got me thinking.
To summarise where we are thus far:
Aim: get as close to a roadbike feel whilst accomodating 42mm tyres, Mudguard mounts and enough braze on's for a sunny South Downs way jaunt

Frame Spec:
Steel frame, carbon fork
Tapered headtube
Internal routing
12mm x 142mm thru & FM rear

Parts still tbc but I'm expecting 1x gearing, sensible (tubeless) wheels and cable gears/brakes.
I might go Juin R1 if I'm feeling bougie.

I'll also stick with the Genesis PM fork and mix calipers PM front, FM rear.
(Later on when I buy FM fork and go full Hyraulic you can say I told you so....)

probably more sensible, but not something I'd fancy really
Last time I bought new OTP was 1992 and the whole idea seems quite alien

Having only ever ridden OTP frames I've never bothered to worry about bike fit.....
I just get the saddle position right, slam the stem and then do a day ride with a set of hex keys aim to get home comfortable....
As long as I can ride all day on the drops I'm pretty happy and don't pay it any further thought.

These are the 2 bikes that I own that I do big milages on, they're both pretty comfy and despite significant differences in BB height, have a similar ride position. The drop on the duratec is marginally more so after about 100miles I find myself riding on the hoods to save my shoulders.
(I don't think I've ever experienced discomfort on the De Rosa)

On that basis I'll sketch up the geo of the DeRosa and have a look at how it compares to some online bike fit calculators to see if there's any correlation with my vital stats or whether over the years I've just bent my body to fit the bikes I bought

In terms of spec, as a fixed gear & vintage road bike enthusiast I'm concerned about the plethora of standards (wheel axle - BB - brake - chainring - gearing) in this space...

How do you feel now after few pages of recommendations on performance, standards that change every season, and will soon be as obsolete as a 1 inch Girvin Flexstem?
I love your collection of bikes, there's a beautiful consistency in their heterogeneity (to paraphrase an old teacher from uni), what would happen if it all become eroded by all this performance/market driven cacophony of flat mounts and hydro and whatever... Nothing wrong with it, but is it really you?

Thanks Loic, this is a good point and one that I have gone over in my mind....

Both the Duratec and De Rosa above started out as intentionally functional builds like this one, but have ended up looking individual for a range of reasons (time, irreverence, serendipity, budget etc).

I'm relaxed about obsolescence -When I built that De Rosa 18 years ago it was the classiest frame I could afford, but it came with 1" steel fork at a time when even my winterbike had 1.125" full carbon Mizuno.

18 years on I'm glad I bought a Chorus headset as it's still very smooth, but I'm also very glad I swapped the Millenium stem a for an Alter a few years later....

In all that time I've never felt the pain of not having that extra 1/8" on the steerer tube.
I didn't get Time Carbons when I built it cos I ran out of cash. Nowadays I'm pretty happy with the assurance/longevity of steel and the wait penalty I can live with.

To directly answer your question, I'm hoping that because it's me, it won't end too samey.
All my favourite bikes started out as functional and intentional builds that evolved a little over time.

I got a tape measure out for some anthropometric deets.
No wonder I'm slow, look at all that torso I'm trying to drag along, propelled by those tiny thighs...

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