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@giloscope
Having been thrashing around a (broadly) OTP Fuji Track Classic for the last two years or so, I'm about to embark on my first from-scratch build.
Having seen a bunch of 14Rs from 14 Bike Co in the flesh over the last few years, and having fallen in love with them, I settled on building up a frame which I can look after properly (read: fair weather rides, not locking it to some ghetto railings on a quick shop run, etc), and which will hopefully last me a good long time. I want to keep the Fuji for day-to-day beatings, and this new fella for longer rides and more "intentional" riding.
As far as I understand, the 14 guys haven't made a 14R in my size (~65cm c-t) before, so there's certainly an element of the unexpected in having ordered a frame from them, but I'm excited to see what it becomes. Speaking with John at 14, Andy Ellis, and after a fair amount of helpful advice from fellow giant Jammy at TFG, I think we're pretty well sorted for making it right for me.
In terms of the build, there's some components already sorted and bought, and a few bits still to be worked out. I've intentionally been putting aside some money for the last six months or so to make this a reality, but even so, this thing ain't coming cheap. That said, I want to make this as complete a build as possible from the outset - I'd rather wait and buy good components straight away rather than buy twice just for the sake of initial build speed.
So the current plan:
14 Bike Co 14R Track frame
Alpina fork (drilled, for maximum anti-HHSB cred)
170mm Sugino 75 Cranks
49T chainring (either a 75 or a Zen, depending on how this group buy goes: http://www.lfgss.com/thread101701.html)
110mm Thomson Elite stem
Cinelli Mash Bullhorns
Thomson Layback seatpost
Fizik Arione Vs saddle
Dia Compe brake setup
Restrap'd pedals of some sort
All that remains (as far as I can tell) is to sort a BB and some wheels. Initially I'm going to pop my current Halo Aerorage/Aerotrack wheelset from the Fuji onto the new build. Ultimately I'd like to switch up to something a bit nicer, maybe a pair of Archetypes or SL42s laced to whatever hubs I can afford by then (on which note, anyone have any love/hate/experience with Victoire splined hubs?).
And as far as possible, I want this to be totally blacked-out. Basically a sort of freakish giant cousin of Ty's build. (Here: http://www.thefootdown.co.uk/2013/01/28/riding-skating-adventuring-stretching/)
The frame was ordered in mid-Jan, so will hopefully be ready to go in a few weeks. From then, I want to build it up as soon as possible to make the most of whatever good weather we get to enjoy this year. Having it ready for Bespoked Bristol would be ace, but who knows.