• Very nice. This and your resprayed On-One - both excellent!

  • Love the bike.

    I've gone through so many handlebars over so many bikes.

    My view is the upright shorter posture is the intended characteristic of swept bars like this and attempting to bring the reach back out to what you were used to with drops/hoods is seriously uncomfortable because of the moderate amount of sweep.

    If you dislike the inefficient, slower feeling
    But also don't want drops then I'd might try mustache bars. The handle a longer reach a little better and have multiple positions to move around on - many of which are in front of the stem clamp.

    Just my opinion

  • Cheers for the kind words everyone.

    I am not a fan at all of these moustache bars (sorry @bright). The idea of non-drop bars was to get more control and confidence in handling and benefit from the better brake modulation. The current setup is definitely too short and upright. It makes handling worse and less confident.

    My view is the upright shorter posture is the intended characteristic of swept bars like this and attempting to bring the reach back out to what you were used to with drops/hoods is seriously uncomfortable because of the moderate amount of sweep.

    I believe there is a sweet spot to be found. After all, I am riding swept-back bars on my MTB and I love it. So much control and so comfortable. The bars on the MTB are much wider though.

    So I did some googling, math and photoshopping.
    On my MTB the distance from the saddle tip to the centre of the handlebars is approx 57cm.
    With 80cm wide bars that makes for a distance of 65.5cm from saddle tip to handlebar end.

    With the current setup on the Raleigh, I only have 52.5cm from the saddle tip to the centre of the handlebars and due to the generous back sweep of these bars, it's only 50cm from saddle tip to handlebar end.

    I have some older Trekking bars lying around. Ergotec Moonbars. They are a few cm wider and have a little bit less back sweep. These bars are easily available in silver 25.4mm for about £13. They would already increase the reach by a few cm. Paired with a longer stem they might do the trick. I would need a 120 or 130mm stem though and visually I think 100mm looks just right.

    Looking for alternatives I found the SimWorks get around bars. They are definitely more expensive but doing the math it seems like combined with my current 100mm stem would give me a very similar reach to the MTB. Saddle tip to centre approx 55.5cm and saddle tip to bar end 65.6cm.

    I did a quick mockup and that seems alright with me!


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  • think you're on the right track here with the simworks. can't recommend wider swept back bars enough. i have the rivendell wavie bars, which have pretty much the same shape, on my (similar) bike and they work wonders. the width really makes a difference.

    what you can also do is put a bit of newbaums or other bar tape on the curve to get another, further forward positioned grip point for climbing and accelerating.

  • I am seriously tempted to get those bars too for my genesis cdf.

    I'm currently using on one Mary's (the 25.4 version) and the reach of the bars are really killing any rack or basket game I have on the bike, so I need something with a lot less forward sweep yet I love where my hands are..

    Though when I see 450ish grams for bars I get upset....

  • What about Ritchey Kyote? You will probably find some for sale somewhere and I think they are very sensible money.

  • Looks wise, the new bars are great, hope you get the fit sorted.

    Ergotec Moonbars

    One of my all time favourite bars

  • Wow, long time no update.

    +Tom13 : The Kyote Bars are what I am running on my MTB. I love them but they aren't right for this build. I want something classy and sleek with a 25.4 clamp.
    In the meantime, I actually got myself some Sim works Getaround bars but I didn't yet manage to install them.


    There are going to be some more changes on the Raleigh and to this thread.

    I realized it is about time to make this a consolidated CP thread rather than maintaining a thread per bike.
    There are a few things in the pipeline for the next weeks and months and some things I tinkered with recently that I want to show you guys.

    In the backlog:

    1. A sick retro MTB I put together for my partner for Christmas
    2. My childhood 26" MTB setup now as SS at my parents for fun in the forest over Christmas

    Coming up:

    1. My next gravel bike
    2. Custom decals and paintjob for the Raleigh
    3. Custom head badge for the Raleigh made by my sister who is a goldsmith
    4. Cockpit and front rack for the Raleigh

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  • A sick retro MTB I put together for my partner for Christmas

    I am really excited about this one but we didn't manage to take any good pictures yet so the GF has not yet allowed the release to the public.

  • My next gravel bike

    Fairlight Secan by any chance? Will be watching this one closely!

  • That one wasn't hard to guess I think :D

    Conceptually this one has been in the pipeline for a long time. I got one of the first Secan 2.5 frames. But I didn't expect to be able to ride it due to breaking both my wrist in may so it slipped all the way to the bottom of my priority list. That gave me time to think about it and slowly gather parts. I am getting close to having all parts ready for this.

  • How are those dia-compe brake levers in use?
    Looking at getting some flat bar levers, considering those or vo, or Shimano 780.

  • They work really well for me. Smooth and good leverage.
    I managed to snatch some Paul levers though and going to replace them. Do you want them?

  • Yeah, why not, will pm you.

  • Here is a little bit of what I've been doing over Christmas when I visited my parents in the north of Germany.

    During a visit back in August, I rediscovered some really nice forest bits around the area where my parents live. I played in these woods as a kid but kind of forgot about how nice they are. When I was still living with my parents I only cycled through them as a convenient shortcut.

    When I moved to London in 2015 I left an old MTB In the corner of my dads shed. It was the first bike I ever bought new and with my own saved up money when I was 13. Looking at the specs now it wasn't amazing but back then it was pretty cool.
    It went through some iterations in its time. Once even as a drop bar semi-slick tyred gravel bike proto. The last time I changed it to what it was like when I picked it up again in December it had become a recovery commuter. Similar to my more recent Wrist recovery MTB I set it up to ride while I was recovering from shoulder surgery. Upright, easy rolling tyres, decent V brakes, front suspension.

    The dad of a friend knocked it over while backing up with his car. Put a dent in it and bend the derailleur hanger. I was a student and living in Bremen Germany which is very flat so I just fixed it by setting it up as a single speed.


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  • When I visited in August, my girlfriend used the MTB as we were riding through fields and the forest while I was riding a classic German functional bike that belonged to my mom's uncle.

    We realised the old MTB was very fun but gearing was a bit steep for proper off-road fun, the slim commuter tyres lacked grip and the cheap removable mudguards flopped all over the place.

    When I came back for Christmas I changed that. I brought a longer seat post, a smaller narrow-wide chainring from eBay and a bigger single speed sprocket. I ordered some nice 2.1" Billy Bonkers, compressionless brake housing and new brake pads.

    I switched the gear ratio from 48x15 to a more off-road reasonable 42 x 20.

    There was an interesting hurdle in the process. While my dad has two workshops, a lathe, circular saw, 200+ wood planes and more he did not have a chain whip. I tried a few tricks and hacks from the internet but I couldn't get the old sprocket off...

    Dad to the rescue! He quickly hacked a chain whip / sprocket vice together with some spare wood and getting the lock ring of was easy peasy.

    Just in time for a short spin before it was getting too dark.


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  • I managed to take out the bike for two more slightly longer rides.

    Through the forest and over to the next village there is an old US army base. It is now used as a training facility for the German military. On some weekends you can even enter the grounds and walk through fake rows of houses and a "tank cemetery". Unfortunately, it was all closed while I was there so I took the scenic route around it all. There is another interesting remainder of the US army activity in this forest and that is an Autobahn like road in the middle of the forest, closed to any real traffic. It connects the military base to an abandoned platform from where tanks could be transported with a train to the next military base miles away. Most of the rails have been removed but the trackbed is still there. And you can ride on or alongside it for about 10km through forests and fields.


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  • Looks like a cool spot to ride around. Also your Dad's workshop looks amazing

  • I am currently sitting at home in isolation so I got a minute or two to write way too much text, only half a few of you are going to read.

    For a few many weeks already now there is this Fairlight Secan 2.5 frameset sitting in my living room waiting to be built into a sick gravel bike. It wasn't a priority because of my accident in May last year which kept me off the bike for quite a while. Even now drop bar bikes aren't the most comfortable for me to ride.
    I also had to wrap my head around dismantling my trusty Tange Prestige Charge Plug 5 (a short history here). A bike I have upgraded over the years and ridden through California, New Zealand and quite a few places in the UK and Europe. It has a lot of sentimental value and is super comfortable. It just fits well and I am in tune with what it can and can't do. I also wished for some more tyre clearance, a more exciting paint job and a few more mounts ( I am actually using that third bottle cage on all my bikes a lot).
    Most probably I would have let Winston provide me with more clearance and mounts at some point and then get the frame powder coated. But I was afraid of potentially destroying this "perfect" frame.

    Luckily I got a Secan 2.5 frameset for "free". The studio I work at collaborated with Fairlight on the design of the Strael 3.0, their road bike. I wrote the software that generated the top tube pattern and a free frameset of my choice was part of the deal.
    The Secan seems to offer all that the Charge is missing and from what I hear the ride quality is amazing but I can't tell yet.

    Just like the Wanker Wrist Recovery MTB I had a lot of time figuring out what I want for this bike and sourcing some parts. I even made a moodboard and a photoshop sketch. It will be a combo of shiny new parts and shiny used parts ( I try to take got care of my stuff). I am sticking with the recipe for success that worked so well on my MTB:

    1. Bright cool frame colour
    2. Silver finishing kit
    3. Contrasting anodised details




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  • Like this?

    Great mix of components and frame.

  • Haha 😂 almost. @haveo has some sweet bikes in the stable.

  • Love the direction, exciting to see more!

  • I have most bits for this bike ready in a box. It currently sits in the living room as a rolling chassis with the hunt wheels from my charge. I do have a new set of bling 650b wheels for it, another great job by Arkane, but I am not settled on the tyres.
    As you can see in my sketch I was lusting for some Ultradynamico Mars Race 27.5 x 2.2?? Tyres but besides the fact that they are a ridiculous £90 each they are also sold out everywhere 🤷🏻‍♂️.

    If I can’t have grey I think I prefer all black over tan walls for that massive tractor wheel look.
    The Secan has clearance for up to 27.t x 2.4” but I think I’ll stay in the 2.1” - 2.3” range.
    A tyre I loved on the charge is the Schwalbe G-One Allround. The micro tread pattern is really fast rolling but also offered enough grip for everything I was riding with a gravel bike. I just discovered they exist in a 27.5 x 2.25” version. Solid candidate.
    I also can’t complain about my Teravail Cannonballs on the Raleigh so another option would be the 27.5 x 2.1” Teravail Sparwood. Last but not least I could off course get the Ultradynamico Mars JFF 27.5 x 2.2?? in all black for the street dirt road cred.


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  • Looking forward to watching this come together. I had one of those Plug 5 frames from eBay too, great bike, rode it on the Torino-Nice in 2018.

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Oddos Raleigh Ronniewagon, Brexit Crust Wanker Hybrid, Gravel Bieks and anodized aluminum

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