PhilDAS never content with the bikes I already own

Bleed and first ride should be on Wednesday, weather willing. I'll take a full pic then

I did notice the extralite stems in your classifieds have been getting shorter and shorter

Yeah mate - even considering a 90mm on the aspero as my back is completely fucked. Always slammed though.

@YaniKani take a look

with an Osmap map of the Ashdown forest, strong 40s prommuting vibes

Living #countrylife now

guise lots of fun things happen after you turn 40! and phil you're too young for this talk

You start dying at ~21.

very nice. i also struggle with (lower) back issues at 32 but actually am not convinced stack makes a huge difference unless you actually feel uncomfortable when riding. trying to combat with more core and flexibility work after visiting various physios and bike fitters since i turned 30..... answers on a postcard from other back pain sufferers please

I don't typically suffer with my back in truth, its more a lack of core strength after being off the bike/no exercise for months following injury but I do get upper back and neck pain from long periods in the drops so I am slightly concerned about slamming this bike, especially as its quite a bit (intentionally) too small for me at 54cm for my 186cm height.

Reaching the age where you think a 100m stem and 20mm of spacers actually looks better is the last stage of bike enlightenment.

Nice cockpit. Bar tape finish 👌

Bar tape finish

Ha, I got the tip from you

Indeed it's very neat. What's the tip ?

Adhesive cloth tape!

https://a.aliexpress.com/_EIeJkO1

Aero bikes weirdly look so much better with 20mm of spacers.

Super neat build, but dangerous to ride for me I would be staring at the cockpit too long.

That is a lovely amount of carbon weave on show, looking forward to the full build. are you keeping the Zipp stem?

I've used cotton bar tape before but the thinner tape you've used is neater!

Strong! Are those camera lense inspired spacers?

I am keeping it for now yeah. I trawled eBay for a couple of months to find a nice stem in this length and there wasn't many nice options affordable. It was a good price and almost perfect condition, it just has a couple of non standard bolts so I need to source a new set. The faceplate "quickview" computer mount I sourced separately.
The carbon weave matches the seatpost and wheels so I think it will be nicely balanced

Yeah, they're Mash. Hoke got me them when he went on a trip to San Francisco a few years ago

Oh no I mean versus going for a chunky one that might match the head tube profile. I really prefer the skinny stem look, I think the really chunky stems to integrate cabling are too high a cost.

I have that same stem/ GPS mount, and similarly spent ages on Ebay for stems. The gloss finish is elusive, you've done well, completely agree on the weave.

Yeah I much prefer slim stems.
I did have a BMC full integrated stem in the parts bin but I sold it a couple of months ago and it was 10mm shorter anyway but I may keep an eye out for another one as it would be super clean on this.