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Marcootsee
@mf
Timing's a funny thing. Many of you will have seen my beloved Stooge MK4 spammed across the SSMTB thread, I have ridden that bike day in, day out, for 4 + years. It's damn near perfection for me, but there were two bikes that I had considered that could replace it - a Jones with a Ti truss fork, and a Starling Beady Little Eye.
I had a Starling BLE as my desktop wallpaper for years, and even rode one of the new V3's at this year's SSUK, but the cost of a UK-made frame was prohibitive. However I was recently a benefactor in a relative's will, and it coincided with the V3 ordering window being open. This was all too good to be true, but due to the suspension pivot design, the V3's can only run cranks with a 24mm spindle. That's a problem as I have a rather nice set of eeWings that are a must-have for any dream bike.
I had a chat about this with Joe at SSUK, and sent in an email expecting the worst. What I got back though, after a bit of experimenting at the Starling end, was the green light that (with a small surcharge) they could do me a custom variant that'd run a 30mm spindle. With that news, on the last day of pre-orders, my deposit went in.
If one if going to have their dream frame built, around their dream cranks, then they might as well go all in on the rest of the build. Another set of non-negotiables for any bike I'd refer to as 'the dream bike' are a set of Trickstuff Maximas. Yes, a lot of money when a set of XT brakes are probably 90% as good for about 10% of the price, but frankly I want them, so that's that. With Saddleback now as the UK importer, it's far easier to get hold of them, so a few emails and calls with the good folk over there, and a set of silver Maximas with orange caps, and a fresh set of discs and mounts are winging their way over to me. In a stroke of good fortune, Saddleback had the right Chis King headset (in a fetching 'matte slate') at half price, so one of them has been snapped up too.
Suspension-wise, the rear doesn't need to be overkill as it's only 90mm and run at zero sag to avoid pedal bob. I'm a longtime Fox fan, and Merlin had the Factory DPS in the right size at half price in their sale so that was bought in preparation for the build. Currently deciding on forks, between a Fox Factory 32 SC or 34 SC - more news to follow on that, but Kashima is a must.
The wheelset will come off my Stooge, and are a set of Enve M70 rims on Chris King ISO hubs - already peak wheelset as far as I'm concerned, so no changes required there. Finishing kit will be Enve, again mostly taken from the Stooge, with a Paul Boxcar stem (assuming the fit turns out broadly similar). Frame colour is yet to be decided, and might depend on whether the forks are factory orange, or black and gold. Starling have a few nice options for the Beady, but I suspect I'll be going dark and classy as opposed to wild and lairy, might go left field and get it raw with a clearcoat (see attached), time will tell.
While all this is going on, something pops up in the STW classifieds. The 2nd of the 2 'dream bike' options. A Jones SWB custom select, with a ti truss fork, ti H bars, and ti seatpost. I email the owner, take some time to think about it, decide to leave it, and try to move on. But it gnaws it me. Oh, what the hell, I finally think - timing's not ideal with the Starling deposit already paid and some expensive parts on order, but they come up so rarely in my size and desired spec, it's almost too good to be true. I spoke to the seller, it's still available, and so a deal is done and the bike is on the way down South...
More to follow...
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