The Two Bicycles of Varonha.

Superb! Lovely details. The guards really blend in, nicely done.

The guards weren't as much of a nightmare to fit as I had anticipated.
Very pleased with the overall outcome.
Still on the hunt for nicer stems (one silver, one black) in 10° flavour, I'm considering getting a pair of Nitto UI 25s, they're 5°, so I could probably drop a spacer and have the bars in roughly the same place, or I could just get a couple of Thomson X4s, which are a similar style to the Nittos but have the 10° I'm after.

.......or Ritchey C220s, 6°, and keeps the front end uncle Tom built.

Sounds like a lovely day out!

Re hubs, Hope are good - Mine still work perfectly and they've been used and abused over many thousands of miles, in all weathers, with absolutely no maintenance whatsoever (or even basic respect / care). They're also quite light and relatively pretty.

Hope are top of my list, silver, or maybe black.
It was a lovely morning out, going hillier next weekend.

Ah good choice!
Was gonna add that 105 are arguably even tougher... although maybe a little boring for a pride and joy bike.

Nice pics!
I quite like your set-up with black stem... It gels nicely with the whole.
If you decided to go silver it would NEED to be Varonha made!

Looks GREAT. Love the heart braze on. Super work. Anything you'd change?

I don't mind boring, this is more a functional bike than a show pony, but I've had 105 before, the rear hub is rather heavy.
@veLLo, I'm quite liking the black too, and had thought about asking Winston to conjure something up. And thanks, camera is obviously a slight improvement over tablet.
@JB, the heart was just one of a few he had knocking around, and apparently, when they're gone, they're gone. Frame and fork wise nothing springs to mind, I think it helped having it based on the All City, component wise some things will change over time, stem/cranks/pedals and wheels.

allen key in the end of the axle I think?

Tried that, not on this model, think it's just grubs out, lubrication, force, and a strong will (and possibly a whack with a rubber mallet).

Beautiful!

Ooh, ta, I tend to fall on the functional side of aesthetics, but it does seem to have come together ok.
On the hub front (for those who give a shit), grub screws out, small allen key in each hole, keep turning, and eventually the end caps just slide off. Glad to have sussed it, they were pretty shitty, bearings cleaned and regreased, all back together, running nice n smooth without the blackbird soundtrack.

I've decided not to go for new wheels (just yet), as the ones I have are running fine now I've regreased the hub bearings.
Considered some funky woven bar tape to add a hint of colour, but couldn't decide which to go for, so treated myself to some colourful water bottles instead (and a pair of Durango's finest bottle cages to put them in).

Very nice bidons. Where are they from?

Sim Works Circles on Specialized Purist bottles, I got em from Freshtripe, £15 ea.

Thanks to the lovely people at Manchester's finest bicycle shop, Keep Pedalling, a pair of stainless King Cages to hold my new bottles.

Off topic, but got given one of these today!

Posh stuff here!

I know. If only I rode track!

That didn't last long, new rims and hubs ordered.
Hope RS4, 28h, silver hubs.
Velocity Quill 28h, black rims.
Spokes to be decided upon, but probably DT Swiss comp, silver, with silver brass nipples.

You're building them?

I wish I had the skills/tools for the job, sadly I don't, so one of the fine chaps at my lbs will have the pleasure.

New wheels have been collected, now I have 2 sets of wheels and only 1 frame, so, currently I have this lot sat in my shopping basket......

robot face smileys

this is a true connoisseurs build