Midnight faran and purple harum

Hmmm 2/2 (@jontea) influencers prefer silver on black, food for thought. Shame they never come up second hand in 165mm, will have to be new.

And thanks - staying with my in laws so should get out for a few more rides. We are looking at moving out here next year so good to soak up a bit of the scenery

@Belagerent yep 650x47 I’m actually thinking of a set of 700s as well for pure road use, the grass is always greener

And every run I have ever been on

Middleburn cranks in 165mm are next to impossible to get hold of currently so that’s on hold for now.

Clever Mike changed over bars, headset and pedals for me and cut down the steerer, tidied up cabling etc. I changed the seat clamp which I’m not completely sure about, and cages to Sim Works John cages - they’re definitely not as functional as Arundel mandibles, not as easy to put the bottle back in on the move.

X-Track pedals are lovely, the extra float is really really nice.

So more gratuitous pictures

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This is well nice. Digging the silver parts, and massive pump envy.

I have a impero for sale for cheap. Needs some small parts replaced, but otherwise good I think.

Very nice. I do like how the 105 cranks look on this.

Looks great. Pedals look lush. And CM is the best shop

Thanks. It’s a good pump - stays in place well (this has survived a couple editions of north London dirt), pumps up these tyres well. I’ve lent it out a few times to people who have been glad of it. But the lezyne HV drive I had before was also good, if I get a frame bag I’ll go back to that

CM is the best shop

They are just so nice and so good

And thank you, and also @paradroid

Putting two and two together fellow Clever Mike fan. I remember reading this thread first time around and really enjoying it.

What a lovely bike. Love Fairlights, but also, more specifically, the all silver cockpit setup. Particularly having seen it in person.

Middleburn for the win. I would say they're the best looking cranks around.

I'm woefully unfit, but for me 46/30 isn't quite as spinny as I'd like. 42/26 would be ideal. Particularly for anything off road and/or loaded.

I’ve spent far too much time looking at Gucci bits and bobs and trinkets and tchotchkes for this. But having actually done more riding, in Ireland for a few weeks and North London Dirt on the weekend I care a lot less about the little details, or at least feel less obsessed. Which is refreshing.

I’d still like a sub-compact crankset for comfort, and maybe some 700 wheels for a different feel. And a Nitto ui-12 or sim works Rhonda stem once I settle on which bars. But i feel relieved to settle as is for a while

Heya - thank you and nice to meet you on the weekend! I was glad to see you at the end and was quite jealous to got food. The other, even spendier, option to Middleburn is Sugino ox9 which might allow that combo

Love this, great build. I managed to pick up some silver 165 RS7’s direct from BETD ~ten days ago, perhaps the last set - hopefully that will prompt them to machine some more imminently.

Any idea if the X-tracks are any more serviceable than the S-tracks? I love the float on the s-tracks I have but once the bearings die I'm fucked.

That would be an ecumenical matter

Likewise! If it makes you feel better, I missed the second batch of pizza and didn't hang around for the third lot.

I actually prefer Middleburn to those, slightly controversially. The shape of the cranks and slightly cleaner look just does it for me.

Perhaps the apensiest option is the Rene Herse crankset, which Sven Cycles might have in stock at the moment and would definitely do that setup.

All silver cockpit looks ace 🙌
Must have missed you / your bike at NLD.

Be interested to know how the WTB Horizons are... I need some slick tyres

Horizons are pretty good, sidewalls (black version) are a bit weepy (but seems to be getting less so the more I use them), they roll nicely for a big tyre.

Yeah man I saw on your stories you'd been there, I saw a couple orange secans but not yours, shame it would have been nice to say hi. You were riding with the trendy lady on some Stayer pictures? I think you went out earlier than Pete and I, we were with Ride 4 Unity and quite delayed getting out.

@Johnnyw75 - I like them, they go up easy although they needed quite a bit of sealant at first as it bled through the sidewalls, they roll well, no traction issues but i am a nervous descender so take it slow (did slip a little on some horse shit in a forest though), and they get good reviews - but I've never had really good slicks so I don't have much comparison.

Ah, you mean Christine? Yes. She is a friend but our group disbanded a bit after the Shimano/Red bull stop. We headed out at 7.30 to be back early for pizza and beer.

My 2 cents for the horizons: In my experience, all WTB tyres are weeping for a bit. The tanwall WTB tyres are some of the softest I ever rode. Really comfy. The horizons don't have a lot of grip so they are best suited for the canal path or the city when it's dry.

Yes that's the her. Yeah after the Red Bull stop I got a shimmy on and ended up catching up to a few guys I'd been with earlier.

Interesting RE horizons in the wet - what's the best 650b tyre for road do you think? I need to change my tyres back from cannonballs.

And a couple of hot green bikes

https://theradavist.com/allans-hunqapillar-dirt-tourer/#26
https://theradavist.com/beautiful-bicycle-jesses-hufnagel-fire-road-racer/#1

#NoTory

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Some minor tweaks here, and some fever dream crank consideration

Most of my riding has been the boring commute stuff, but drove to Ireland for 4 weeks with my in laws at the height of UK heat wave and brought my Faran so hopefully will get some good rides in here. Before I went I made a few small changes

Saddle
SMP drakon for a conposit (quite a change), this is really comfortable off the bat. Commuted a few times without a chamois inc. one morning with a trip out to deprford to pick up a t shirt and bibs from Albion. I just did 3 hours on crappy tarmac through forest and it was a little sore but so far really like it.

Switched cages
elite Moreo -> king Iris, as I put my Arundel cages on my wife’s bike. Didn’t like the Moreos, I wanted to try a side load and liked the idea of red bits on the bike. Didn’t like putting a bottle in, nor the look. Iris do look good, but I still prefer Arundel do bottle replacement.

Tyres - WTB horizons back on

Stem - I’d been trying 90mm, went back to 80mm - a black Ritchey 4 axis which is actually a lovely stem. I would like a silver version so will post a wanted.

Lastly a wizard works teeny Houdini as the BigXTop roll I have has come undone a few times Just Riding Along, due to the big 650b tube I carry I guess. So far (one ride) it’s great. More space, easier to get a tool out to adjust saddle height, so spills anyway. Matching black camo with my outershell bag.

Pending

• think I have some silver hub Hope 20Fives as I’d like to try 700 again
  
• Need the levers lower (and, in fact, bdhu) and thinking about going back to compact shape, tilted right down again as that was the most comfortable in the drops I’ve ever had. If I can carve out some time I’ll strip some cheap Deda RHM bars I have. They’re 38cm, which were good for me, the Ritchey I’m using are 40, I like the space for the bar bag.
  
• still thinking about a witslinger split half/ full frame bag
  
• Sub compact cranks - I look forward to the day I’m not thinking about this anymore. I’ll put my thoughts in another comment.
  
• Nice silver slim 80mm stem. May bite the billet and go for a Rhonda from fresh tripe.
  
  

I’ve been on the fence about the green seat clamp but am erring on positivity. The silver one was a bit too much like every single other fairlight, plus when I switched to king headset (no regrets, I like it aesthetically so much more) it no longer matched. Wolf tooth is an objectively better design even though I don’t need it’s benefits.

I love this seeing sound jersey, Lachlan Morton fanboy and all

Lastly - Albion cargo bibs. I like them, would like more if they were less shiny, but very comfy. The side load back pocket is genuinely good, I never use the rapha ones. Narrower pad is more comfortable, less like a book spine up my crack.

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Love this bike, I had Horizons on my MS and found them really wooden (and puncture prone). Put some Pathfinders on and they've been a game changer