hma's road bike(s)

Hello everyone

After a few changes to the stable, projects and parts collection another winter comes and my only bike is a track bike which is going to be restored due to some recently acquired information. I need a ride and I need it fast - a friend tells me he wants to buy a bike for the groupset.

The frame is a MALI branded (hungarian) taiwanese alu frame. I had one before - it was too big, but I loved it. Sold it because of the size problems but always regretted despite the knee pain I had with it, as the frame was always kind of a dream. (Here in Hungary, when the bike boom hit, it was an affordable frame and 'all' the messengers had one at the time. We were 13 back then with my best mate and always looked at it as the ultimate road frame because of its looks. We said that if we were ever going to have a road bike, it would be an Ironman)

As the current frame is exactly my size, I bought it immediately. Had a Kinesis alu/carbon fork lying around from my TT project which is now a thing of the past (although I plan to change the bars every now and then) - with a Cane Creek C1 and a Cinelli Alter stem in the perfect color scheme the steerer length came out just fine.

I have an Easton EC70 seatpost on the way from harv4130 with some Shimano 105 5500 derailleurs from ebay and a pair of Ultegra 6500 shifters from a local site.

Wheels are the Campagnolo Protons I had up for sale here. I still have to change the bearings to sealed ones.

Now the cranks.. I have a pair of Dura Ace 7700s (Octalink) and another one of Truvativ Rouleur (alu, GXP) ones. My question is: does anyone have any experience with GXP Truvativs? I heard they tend to collect a lot of dirt which is not a good thing for a winter bike.. Is the stiffness of the integrated system worth the extra care? Which pair should I use?

There's only a few parts left to get - brakes, cables, casette and an Alter stem cap - if anyone has any of these, please let me know!

The pics:

Regards,
Hunor

Lots of grime to be cleaned. Fortunately I love to mess around with things like these - gonna give the whole thing a good clean tonight.

http://s22.postimg.org/w6d5aezup/DSCN1601.jpg

http://s22.postimg.org/5nui1p14x/DSCN1602.jpg

http://s22.postimg.org/8tf3rwjr5/DSCN1603.jpg

Every bit of the puzzle nice and clean - now I need two bearings, some grease, and rear wheel is ready. Tomorrow is the front wheel's turn..

http://s10.postimg.org/u4qy8iwux/DSCN1605.jpg

http://s10.postimg.org/47s7ysmvt/DSCN1606.jpg

Did a mini-buid-up just for the pic :)

http://s10.postimg.org/i2qih9hax/DSCN1607.jpg

Best 15 quid ever.

http://s17.postimg.org/slqbqgv0v/DSCN1610.jpg

Ha nice project! Love the combination of the stem and frame. Please keep the rest black

Thanks! When I bought the alter I already sold my first Ironman and always thought they would have been the perfect combination.. Well, it is happening now! Will try to build it with black parts but for the winter (and with the pre-winter budget) the first build is going to be partly silver (mechs and brakes, if noone has a pair of black 105s they want to sell). Although some parts are going to get special treatment as you will see ;)

There's a lot of cleaning to do while I wait for the rest of the parts to arrive - left STI has a clogged something (actually it is the bit that pulls the shifting cable). You can see it sticking out of the plastic in the last photo, but I do not know what happened in there as it prevents me from disassembling.. So, preparing for incision..

An hour of cleaning, swearing, fingercutting and assembling later.. it works. Fucker.

Plastic parts are now taking a bath in brake fluid, becauese after some putty and sanding, they are going black. (The main lever body too)

They look a bit different, don't they? I cannot find the words to describe how bad the plastic quality is on these things..

hmm with black coat the levers will look brand out of the box. though probably'd be more stylish with yellow-red pairing. just for the frame-stem : )

http://apro.bikemag.hu/browse/orszaguti/vaz/mali-ironman-vaz-l194668.html

abandoning the project? Bad.

esp. that the most wanted parts, ie. stem-hs-fork are not for sale. :)

why!

let me guess.. planning to build on a kinesis frame set bought raw-polished? Pro'lly thefork is 1inch ahead

yup. that's the plan.. :) i'm actually sad to let the frame go as it has sentimental value but i have thrown together a test setup and the drop is inmense (same as on my lo-pro) and i really don't want that on my road bike..

turns out the ideal frame would be the ct-60 version (that has the top tube center at 58cms) but i think that one would be to long for my t-rexness.

alter and the forks remain the same, although i might consider swapping the stem for a black/silver one. will see.

update time.. things did not go as planned. after selling the mali frame, the contents of my wallet were stolen, so i could not buy the kinesis frame. after a bit of saving up, i got a caad4 'dale to ride on (threw everything together real quick, ended up being truly ugly..)

now, after some thinking i've come to the conclusion that i'd like to take one more step towards "modern" (1.1/8" forks, OS stem and bars). as the budget is not too high, i began looking for good value for money bikes and ended up liking the boardman comp.

what do you think? is that a good frame, or should i go for something better? (frame only, ebay) i'd like to sell the caad4 and the alter but i really don't know how much to ask for the frameset (frame, forks, headset). would 130 plus postage be reasonable?

http://s22.postimg.org/j9lpi9r75/1466218_485738414874273_1958109247_n.jpg

Why not just buy a chain, a front mech and some cables, tape and pedals/cages?

It looks pretty good in a mad max kinda way and I'm not sure you'll be exactly blown away with the Boardman.

Save the boardman money to get a nice steel frame and (or with) a 10 speed groupset + decent wheelset like neutrons.

Oops i didn't see "modern". Go for secondhand anyway.

Why not just buy a chain, a front mech and some cables, tape and pedals/cages?

This.

If it's for Tri would you not get more bang for your buck by getting properly fitted and buying an aero set up?

Also I always read this thread title as "MAML Ironman"... so it's never what I'm expecting.

the bike is built up and running - that's the only pic i have :)

it is not for tri - the title cannot be changed and "ironman" is only the model name of the project's original frame. what i'd like in the end is a decent road bike that can be used in the city too (i have space for 3 bikes tops and 2 places are taken).

i already have chorus ergos and chorus os hubs on ambrosio evolutions, the veloce brakes will be transfered but everything else will be changed to campag. (ut cranks and i-don't-know-yet derailleurs)

i always liked the look of integrated 1.1/8" forks so i think i'll treat myself with a frameset that accepts one.. that's the concept so far

can anyone recommend something? something like the gianni motta primo for the incredible price of 3 peanuts (approx.)?

have looked around but found nothing. secondhand market it is. too bad there is nothing i can afford/like

fell in love with this:

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=271362566566&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:de

too bad i'm an idiot and forgot about it (my phone reminded me 15min before. that's how big of an idiot i am :D )

the next step:

http://s23.postimg.org/idnh8nijv/DSCN1702.jpg

got me some nice ambrosio evolution tqb rims and alpine spokes.. let the wheelbuilding begin.

What happened to those beautiful blue anodized ambrosio balance rims? I liked their colour pretty much.

Nice Chorus ergos you got there! I just hope that the internals are also in top shape. :)

I'd suggest keeping the Cannondale, you'll struggle to beat it if your'e looking at other aluminium frames. Is the fork threaded? Could always use an ahead convertor if you want a more modern cockpit, or if it it's 1'' threadless just get a shim for the stem. Sorted.

balance rims replaced the worn rims on my 105 wheelset - sold them to akhenaten. the ergo-internals are just fiiiiine :)

if i keep the frame, i will paint it red (saeco scheme) and that means keeping the alter. there's no other way :D also, adapter on threaded forks plus os stem is one of the ugliest things ever.. (mine are 1" threadless, so shim would be an option, but would have to get a stem that does not look chunky.. and as it would be an easton (i have a bit of an ocd..) with easton compact bars there wouldn't be a wide range of choices.