RVL's Ugly Ducklings

Love it.

Thanks, it's looking even more practical/rando now that it has mudguards

80’s ESGE mudguards just about clear the 28mm marathon plus

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Glad to see the De Rosa is still alive and kicking and still on its red rims!

Indeed - I'm hoping there's still a millimetre or two on the sidewalls...
I really enjoyed riding it over the summer and put in about 4400 km of Chilterns, Surrey Hills etc - such a stable and comfy bike

RIH looks amazing. Great to see you’re still finding ugly ducklings and building them up!

Cheers. Even by my standards this is a bit of a belter

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Big old dent .but still goes well🤣

Lovely snaps. Do you mind me asking what you're shooting with here? Trying to get a bit more 'character' in my photos!

Thanks! It's a very ancient and battered EOS 300D - approx. 20 years old!
The lens is a 40mm Canon EF Pancake lens which opens up to f2.8 for minimum field depth. The 'character' is probably a combination of the worn-out image sensor and the short field depth

Ta. There's a nice quality to it that suits the bike.

A few updates to Duratec now that the sun’s coming out
USE carbon post
Spinergy front wheel
Disc cog rear
Possibly the most tasteful and purposeful this bike’s ever looked

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Much vintage carbon
Such Aeros

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Daylight pics

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Awesome man! Great job as always

It looks real fast!

Yes. Still love this build

What's the rear hub?

So good

Ace.

Cheers guys I'm pretty excited about getting it back on the road

Nothing special - I just swapped out the axle on a stock commuter front wheel (e.g. off an Arkose or similar)

It’s great when you’ve had a bike for years (9 yrs in this case) and you finally solve a problem - in this case aero seat tube / seatpost / Saddle

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Thought I dig out a few iterations from the archives
First build back in 2013

2014 skidder

2015 HHSB

from 2016 - 2018 various iterations of daily workhorse

Brakes fitted after Aliston case, after Covid WFH it became a weekend bike for long rides

New pedals on the Duratec. Suiting the increasingly curated look of this bike.
I've tended to scorn single-sided pedals for recessed cleats having had bad experiences with early 90's SPDs but these are amazing, perfectly weighted and very secure

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