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@kiskubai
Alright, its official, Im finally getting a TT bike! I always liked their aggressive look, and the pure speed. Only had a chance to TT twice with a TT bar on a road bike, and I really enjoyed it. Whats great is that this awesome deal just came up when Im in my best cycling form so far, so I can kinda justify it. Just picked up the frameset from a triathlete girl, she was super nice and her dad even gave me a lift to the train station. A very pleasant encounter!
Now, the frameset was a bargain. It was advertised as "seatpost stuck" and "needs work", and I prepared myself for the hassle. As you might guess from my previous build, Im always up for some tinkering, and giving new life to grubby but otherwise functional parts.
The good>>
1, Its a complete frameset with full carbon frame, fork, seatpost, handlebar and TT extensions, with the proper TRP TT brakes as well.
2, The seatpost came out after a soapy water soak, and a gentle tap. The mechanism is completely intact, nothing wrong with it.
3, To my surprise it came with an Ultegra BB which definitely comes handy in the household.
4, I noticed at the rear derailleur that the cable guide is missing from the frame, but I have JUST the solution for that with my 3D printer. But wait...whats that in there?
Did they...did they really just rip out a di2 cable? Oooh the BB hasnt been removed, so they must have. But that means...
That means that ive got a junction box, as well as at least 1 half of a di2 cable to make into climber switches on my road bike. How did they get out the other one going to the shifters up front? And the one to the battery? We'll know once I get my hands on a BB tool.
The bad>>
I mean...imagine a bike youve been riding on your trainer all the time covering it in salt, then submerge it gatorade, and repeat this process for the better part of 2 years. Screws to be replaced, and a proper cleaning job needed. The frame has a nice UD carbon finish, I'll probably give it a quick polish to make it look nice. Surprisingly the seals on the bearings held up pretty well and they turn nicely after a good clean.
Fork is cut a liiiittle too short, but its long enough that im comfortable with it. Because of the expander cap, it could only be about 3mm longer anyway, due to the integrated design with the stem. The stem is connected to the fork on the front as well with another two bolts.
The ugly>>
Besides the overall condition of the bike...The stem has a broken bolt thats gonna be a hassle to get out, and its missing a steel insert that the bolts screw into from the top. I'll have to draw that up and get someone to turn it on a lathe for me.
Overall, Im super stoked for this project, and I think its gonna make a great looking bike with some work. Here's how it stands on some wheels and with a random saddle thrown on it:
Stay tuned for messing around with di2, filing down 3mm from the corner of a Sram Force crank to fit my powermeter that was perfectly fine on a Rival crank (no im not mad, why are you asking), and other adventures.
Ps: If youve got one of those Zipp 900 rear disc wheels that have both the 10sp cassette, and the track threads on the other side, yeah im interested.