Pearson Carbon Audax Pro: A comfy, modern & fast (ish) long-distance bike

Good luck! :(

So I might still beat you onto the road?

Would like to know what happen to this, I hope the frame isn't written off due to the cups being glued to the frame?

Just collecting red and black bikes from around the forum for you :)

See, red seat post clamp, it works!

So do I Ed. I still haven't taken it to Pearson's, the weekend before last I had the lurgy, then this weekend I ran out of time on Saturday then was too hungover on Sunday. This should happen this week. I'm going to tell them to call me before doing anything, as I want to be happy with whatever solution they propose.

The spokes are officially lost and Edwardes ordered some more for me on Halloween, so their ETA is around the start of next week. I feel bad for Edwardes as this transaction has cost them, but they didn't send them recorded, so didn't really have any comeback with Royal Mail.

The delay is kind of frustrating, but I got hit by a car three weeks ago 94 miles into a 98 mile ride and haven't done a proper ride since then anyway. It would be frustrating in a way to have it built but be as unfit as I am at the moment :)

Sorry to hear about your car encounter.

In red related news, the only things on my roadbike that are not monochrome are the crankbolts, which are red.

Doing some maintenance the other day I replaced one of the red ones with a silver one from another bike and it looks 150% better.

Really, a small difference that makes a huge impact on the aesthetic.

Less is more!

See, red seat post clamp, it works!

But all the other bits make it too much and ruin it (imo)

Less is more!

Exactly.

(says while still having a bike covered in red ano bits)

^^ Thanks. Nothing that serious but landed hard on my back, resulting in much lower back pain/hobbling off the bike for a week. It's almost back to normal now, I'm obviously hoping no permanent damage done but it seems not.

I can imagine red crank bolts wouldn't look good on your bike, but then even for this I think red crank bolts might be a step too far.

hugo you haven't seen it yet, how can you know that? Give it a chance!

There is a lot more black than red.

Anyway all the bits are in my cellar awaiting sorting out the headset and getting the wheels built, so I'm not changing anything major now. I just want to get it built...

...but then even for this I think red crank bolts might be a step too far.

Lest we forget.

Still not feeling the red chain, but keen to see this built!

Chains should be gold. No exceptions.

tru

@cupcakes - me too :/

Should be able to get it to Pearson's in the next few days.

On the chain, as smallfurry said, it'll just get dirty anyway.

And gold on an all black/red bike with a few white bits would look so wrong!

And gold on an all black/red bike with a few white bits would look so wrong!
You just don't understand.

On the chain, as smallfurry said, it'll just get dirty anyway.

What Em said.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR3hUFw1Gls"]DJ
Yoda - Ugly Duckling: Eye on the Gold Chain (92 Remix) - YouTube[/ame]

Are you calling my bike an ugly duckling?

You just don't understand.

I don't think I do.

The House of Commons never sends me any crank bolts :(

Which explains why the Honourable Disreputable's work late so often - your pair fuel a nice game of hide the crank-bolts with eager constituents.

Are you calling my bike an ugly duckling?

I think you been working for National Rail for too long.

Ed, I have no idea what you're talking about, I have never worked for National Rail and I left my railway related job in 2009. But don't ever change...

Anyhoo. I took this to Pearson to get the headset seen to. Three weeks later (THREE WEEKS!) they gave it back to me having not really sorted the headset out (it's ok, I can't be bothered any more) and charged me £20 for the privilege.

At no point did they ever call me. I had to keep calling them. Even when it was ready. They were always very friendly, but aside from this it's fair to say that their customer service seems to be somewhat lacking. Never mind...

So I got all the bits to Digger and it was spotted in Bikeworks looking like this:

(Crap picture from phone camera, sorry. The red is right off, but so is the colour balance on my S2, it seems).

We then had a few problems with spokes, which were, um, my fault. I hadn't quite worked some stuff out right, and half the rear spokes were too short. Doh. Double doh, as they're CX Rays, which don't come cheap :(

So I bought another packet of CX Rays and left Digger to it. Over the weekend he had some trouble with the front wheel, it just wouldn't build up. In the end, getting fed up, he took it all apart again and realised that...

One of the spokes was 4mm shorter than the others.

They were all spokes from a single, (unopened) 20 pack of 280mm CX Rays I bought in Edwardes. But one was a 276mm.

Sapim put one incorrect length spoke in the bag.

At the factory.

FFS! How can that even happen?!

Lucky it's an 18 spoke wheel, so I'll still have one correctly sized spare...

I'm picking it up tomorrow night. Finally :)

Congratulations.

Thanks :)

The excitement of new bike is currently tinged with a feeling that can only be described as whatthefuckamIgoingtodoaboutinsuranceandsoon

Yes!