Talbot Frameworks custom road frame

Looking great

Looks awesome, dat wishbone is insane.
Would I be too nerged to say that I think all black would look rad? Box sections (tb14s?) and SRAM.
All personal preference though and Athena would look lovely.

out of curiosity does matt offer JUST painting?

wow great effort

out of curiosity does matt offer JUST painting?

I would suspect so, but I think he sends it to someone to get done.
He's brazing cantis onto and painting some forks for me at the moment.

Looks awesome, dat wishbone is insane.
Would I be too nerged to say that I think all black would look rad? Box sections (tb14s?) and SRAM.
All personal preference though and Athena would look lovely.

I think all black would also look great - reckon this frame would work equally well with really modern looking stuff.
But, it's definitely getting my Brooks swift on it... so that's making me lean towards something more classic.
(also my track bike's pretty much all black and red so need a bit of variation).

I don't reckon you can go wrong with combinations of red/black/silver. I like the idea of unfashionable silver rimmed wheels on it as well.
Basically I originalyl wanted it to look like a modern version of my current road bike

before ruling out that sort of paintjob on cost grounds.
(this picture may also make it clear why I need a custom frame - see seatpost and stem height/length.

Matt arranged painting of this one via Vaz, sure he can help out arranging painting - he gave me various options.

let me know if you would sell the rick powell frame separately. If you would then PM me size and price. cheers!

let me know if you would sell the rick powell frame separately. If you would then PM me size and price. cheers!

I'm a bit too attached to it I'm afraid - have done a lot of miles on it. Not really sure what I'm going to do with it, but it might end up hanging on my wall for a while.

Now if anyone wanted the groupset and wheels that'd be a different matter.

Frame's back from painting and looking very good...

Have decided (after painful experience doing Ditchling Devil on my current gearing) that at the age of 40, it's time to give in and get a compact crankset.

Which means saying goodbye to my nice 8 speed dura ace and going for something more modern. Up to now I've only ever used Shimano and I'd have been inclined to again, however I find modern Ultegra just too ugly and can't afford Dura Ace. So I'm 95% decided on going for silver Athena. I'm going to keep the silver theme and also go for silver seatpost & stem (probably Thomson) & headset. Now trying to decide on wheels.

as you've probably heard choosing your gruppo on aesthetic grounds is not that clever. campag has a very different gear changing system compared to shimano. plus, you'ld then have to buy new wheels etc etc. why not go shimano or sram, keep the wheels. and there enough other manufacturers offering silver compact cranks on their own: buy gruppo, sell cranks, buy different ones, simplez.

Have decided (after painful experience doing Ditchling Devil on my current gearing) that at the age of 40, it's time to give in and get a compact crankset.

Which means saying goodbye to my nice 8 speed dura ace and going for something more modern. Up to now I've only ever used Shimano and I'd have been inclined to again, however I find modern Ultegra just too ugly and can't afford Dura Ace. So I'm 95% decided on going for silver Athena. I'm going to keep the silver theme and also go for silver seatpost & stem (probably Thomson) & headset. Now trying to decide on wheels.

Why not go for non compact crankset but a bigger range cassette like 12-30 or 11-28?

try some ergos/sti/whatever sram system also for handshape and grip. just walk into a bike shop and go all touchy feely whilst shooing off the approaching staff.

I could be wrong, but I don't think anything over 8 speed is compatible with 7410 dura ace hubs and I think I'd probably need a longer cage mech to get any larger a cassette than I've already got (think I'm running 28 as largest option on rear already).
I do need to gear down quite a bit... I like hills but I'd rather not spend quite as much time out the saddle.
I'm pretty adaptable when it comes to bikes so happy to get used to a new system - having said that, I think SRAM might be too much of a leap.
I don't know, I'm still in two minds about it all, but I am quite into the idea of having something a bit more modern. I'm also thinking that keeping the dura ace group + wheels together will make it easier to resell them so that's another factor in just going for something totally new.

Hmm if 28 is still not working for you then yea Compact would be the way to go, to be easier on the wallet have you thought about 105 groupset? In my opinion (having used 5700 and 6700 i.e. modern 105 and ultegra) I didnt feel much difference. Of course ultegra is nicer. I'd imagine with the 11 speed ultegra out you could get a good deal on 10 speed 6700 ultegra somewhere.

Merlin is doing it for £540.

I was at Vaz's 2 weeks ago and saw your frame...

Very very nice!!

L

I know I'm being fussy and it's totally the wrong criteria for choosing bike bits, but I just don't like the look of modern shimano very much at all, I did think about 10 speed ultegra, but it's still got those spaceship cranks and the overly chunky brakes...
I do like the shape of campag levers and reckon it won't take me long to get used to the different shifting.

I was at Vaz's 2 weeks ago and saw your frame...

Very very nice!!

L

Pleased to hear that - I've not seen it in the flesh since we took it in for painting. Matt has been very good at keeping me updated with regular photos (yet another reason I'd highly recommend his frame building deal) .

One thing I'm very pleased with is that despite the proportions of the frame being quite weird to accommodate my t-rex arms/legs, it seems to look quite normal.

How about SRAM Rival in silver, if you can find it.

^i thought of that but didnt want to let the poor bugger set his mind on a gruppo which is very hard to obtain.
shimano hubs are compatible for 8-10sp Shimano and SRAM, so no reason to sell m because of that reason.

keeps me wondering why the three big company's don't bite at this uprising newsteel/vintage market, can't be that hard to make a set that's modern, yet looking awesome on a classic steel frame..could also suit some hardcore touring folks

^ ?

But almost £100 more expensive and if you ask me; anti.

well yeah, it is suitable, but the origin of rival and veloce was to be somewhat entry level.. and that's why it happens to look like that.. if you'd altered them a bit (bit more durable/performance, perhaps some oldschool engraving/logo's) i'm sure a lot of people would appreciate it..though the veloce group is indeed going the right way, and might just go in the direction described..

I'm thinking more like

Silver Rival's nice but I also want something that'll be ready to ride soon...

I'm not totally into it looking retro - I just like red/black/silver as a colour combination really. Modern looking but silver's probably more what I'm going for. I just find all the modern shimano a bit too space age, particularly when the one part I'm definitely using from my old bike is my ti swift.

if you can afford athena (£80 more than ultegra) then thats the way to go. They have an option of 12-29 cassette as well.

The moment I decided to ditch my old groupset I was already over budget... a bit more won't hurt.
Much.

Slightly ashamed of opting for a 12-29 cassette, but it's less embarrassing than a triple on a road bike.

7410 groupset + wheels coming soon to classifieds probably...

you reckon you can avoid compact if you go 12-29?