2000 Marin, MGOF-inspired

In the workshop and in the wild:

Proper pictures to come once the wheels arrive.

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Lovely. I expect the new wheels will really make it pop though!

Pwoper pics at last. Unfortunately there was a delay in getting the right length spokes so I'm still rocking the borrowed alloy wheels. On the plus side, the hubs are lush and they're light too so one less excuse for my sluggishness up inclines. And it means that there will be more photo-ops down the line once this is fully dressed in carbon clacks.

A huge shout out to my mate Pierre at A1 Bike works . I've know Pierre for years (used to run together before bikes entered my life) and as an avid time trialist he is, by extension, a clued-up gear head with big knowledge and a formidable arsenal of tools to unleash a bike's full potential. We had a day building this up and thanks to him I could ride away at the end of it having overcome several obstacles that would have stumped me if I'd been doing this myself. Bearing in mind that the build was using almost exclusively second hand parts, Pierre went in on the full OCD service (clean & regrease bearings, fresh cables, re-threading BB) so that this rides beautifully as well as looking the nuts. His attention to detail can be seen in the finish - check the friggin bar tape!

Also, I rode this for a week and felt a bit precarious in the position so wanted to go longer and lower, hence the hench 140mm stem. It's a bit overkill to be frank so if anyone has a 130mm equivalent that we can swap/I buy then hmu. Otherwise I've snaffled posh finishing kit from the fixie days of yore and splashed on some King cages, pushing the boat a bit but the inner aesthete beat his practical and boring counter-ego into submission on this matter.

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#bartapewars

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I have a soft spot for Marins, so this might be the bias speaking but this is amazing already. Can't wait to see it with the other wheels.

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Massive fan of this. Excited for the finished product!

LOVEly !! So glad to see it all kitted out, also can't wait to see it with the other set of wheels. As many have mentioned , the bar tape wrap job is something else, would like to be able to replicate this.

Only a small thing, but for me, the bottle cages in black would suit better - I'd borrow some if you do not have your own just to see how they fit with the rest of goodies, I think you'd be surprised :)

All the best

How have you done the end of the bar tape. Looks amazing.

Excellent cabling and taping and a 140 stem. So good.

This is awesome.

Waaay late and proper pictures to come I promise but I've finally got the original intended hoops on this. @Foreigner65 thanks for your constant support and interest on this one. I hope you now agree that silver cages go well with the chrome spokes and hubs (which I fully intend to bring back in!).

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I read the whole thread, amazing project, beautiful bike.

Who ships the spokes so slow?

Woof! Awesome looking build, the wheels really take it to the next level!

Love the paintjob and the entire build

#wouldd

How have you done the end of the bar tape. Looks amazing.

The masses demand answers!

Absolute beast of a bike, well done!

Big thanks for the kind comments, promise to get some proper snaps this weekend. @ShutUpNoRest, it wasn't slow shipping but my living in Belgium and my mate building these in Buckingham that made it tricky to pick these up. If you're lucky enough to live in those parts, Pierre at A1 is a complete wizard. Dude studied engineering and sorts Dan Bigham out and has a load of lathes and interesting gear. "Won't work" simply isn't in his vocab and I wish I was nearer.

I took this around Regents last night and had a massive smile the whole way, London was looking glorious and it's a real treat to get out on old stomping grounds. Real kicks zooming past city boys on £10k + bikes and then tucked in behind a 5th Floor lad who smoked us all but let me pull the easy turns on the down hill bit. Honestly the position is racy AF with an (excessive) 130mm stem keeping things long and low.

Gonna keep this as my UK bike (need to start a petition to get Eurostar allowing bikes again) and it may motivate me to come over more.

Et voilà. At last with the intended wheels to complete the build. They're 45mm Lightbike rims on Bitex chrome hubs held together with Sapim Race spokes. After a couple of rides they seem really solid and hold speed very well. Pierre had lent me a really nice set of wheels before for which I had no complaints (on the rare occasions I rode it!) but these are plush. I had initially planned to fit these with Corsa Graphene tanwalls but only had one in 25mm and couldn't quite justify forking out 40 odd quid to complete the pair. As it turned out, I think the sworks turbos look mint and like the full black. They're also some of the fastest rubber you can get, cos that's obviously my priority with this build.

All the other components remain unchanged from those previously listed so I'll let the pictures do the talking. I've ridden this build twice now and that's my time in the UK done until August but this has been a brilliant thrill and has held its own with fast boys for London laps or on the country lanes. I'm lucky enough to have a Tarmac SL6 (not S-Works) which is what I do almost all my riding on in Belgium. That's a very different machine and honestly the extra comfort you get with 30mm tyres, carbon frame and longer carbon seatpost make that a fantastic ride for all situations. And it's speedy too.

But this for exploring the South Downs on my brief moments back in the UK feels a bit like taking a spin in a classic car that still has some oomf. In a <3hr ride this is a joy and turns a few heads. Mission accomplished.

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Tidy up front and behind.

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As for that bar tape, that's Pierre's secret to spill. Nice to look at if I'm bored by the road though.

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So sweet

Rare bike and lovely paintwork, must be the sweetest one in existence!! Good work 🤜🏻

That's one of the best looking bikes I've seen in a while

Chrome hubs fit the drop outs very well!

One question: I recently saw a few builds cabling the front brake to the right lever. Is this a UK/US thing (belgian?)?

In Germany you would always use left lever for front which also makes more sense when looking at the radius of the cables.

(Lastly, you should invest 8€ for the stem front plate spoon mount 👼🏻)