ALBINI - Self-Obsessed and CX-y (The SSCX / Tracklocross bike I DON’T need)

what are you doing for grips? one black and one white?

Alright. I’m winning it. But I’m not going to bid any more…

Currently all black Oury’s.

I’m not sure what colour stem bag. I’m leaning towards white on the black side. I cleaned it up tonight and hopefully it comes up nice and bright. Otherwise I’m might do black on the white side.

I’m also a touch concerned about the rear tyre clearance. I’ll see how I go. I have a set of 38 Panaracer Gravelkings I could always put on.

(bike in background is an old track bike I’ve had for years that I tried to put 32’s on. No deal)

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I’m hoping I’ll finish it tomorrow and be able to take it for a ride. I took it for a very quick roll in my backyard and it fits okay. The brake pads are fucking TERRIBLE though. Super grippy and squeal so bad. I’ll swap them out tomorrow.

squeal so bad.

Horrible noise isnt it!

It’s so loud!

I mean I have had squealing brakes before, but I wouldn’t want to have to stop with these! I’d be too embarrassed.

Found this on ebay and immediately thought of your bike, the back and white halves are even the right side! Could either be perfect or a step too far...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165679421591

Well I won it. Hopefully it’s not too much!

Hero!

now you just need a black left-side crank arm...

Ha.

I’ve also decided to go with a slightly smaller tyre. The front fits the 29x2.0 fine, but the back, not so much. Last thing I feel like doing is dealing with tyres rubbing on the frame.

I ordered some Schwalbe Smart Sam’s in 700x42. Should have no issues with clearance and they were a decent price.

Maybe I’ll run the 29x2.0 on the front and 42 on the back.

Tyres came in yesterday. I got rid of the reflective sidewall. It didn’t suit the bike. Also customised the tyre logo. Might try and install them tonight. Have felt like I’ve stalled a bit in this build. I just can’t find the time to finish it.

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Last night I dreamed about tying my smart black shoes with a lace that was black from one end to the middle and white from there to the other end.

In the dream I obsessed about making sure that the bow knot was positioned at precisely the colour crossover point.

I blame this thread.

Ahaha.

Yes!

Well it doesn’t look as tough with the 700x42’s on there, but it’s way more practical and I’m glad I don’t have to worry about things rubbing.

I’m just really waiting on the saddle to finish it. I also need to swap the brake pads out.

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Life has been getting in the way, but found a spare hour or so this afternoon.

Swapped out the brake pads, but the real money shot was this.

Almost done. I think I need to swap the brake levers out though. They don’t play nice with v-brakes. Too much pull (not enough pull? I don’t know), which is a shame because they look good.

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Holy shit that saddle is tailor made for this bike

imagine how annoyed you'd be if the saddle was made with black and white on the wrong sides

So cool!

whip off the l/h pedal cage and paint it white - you know you want to...

@gillies I reckon I could still pull it off. The handlebar bag on the drive side is white and it looks good. But I’m glad it’s the way it is.

@bigshape I would love to get the opposite, so silver cage, black body pedal for this. Maybe one day.

Most excellent.

Am kind of tempted to swap the brake levers out for these.

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I bought a bike today that has a 2 tone paint job thanks to wicked sun fade and it reminded me of your bike. Ironically I'm going to have a go at painting it myself back to a single colour using the paints you recommended before.

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Oh wow. That’s awesome.