Talbot Frameworks custom road frame

I've still made no decision - most likely to go for silver Athena still, but not ruling out 2nd hand Sram or something, have been keeping an eye on ebay.

Take your time. As it's your 40th birthday bike there's no point rushing it, you want it to be just as you want it.

I reckon I spent at least a year researching the bike I bought for my 40th, then changed my mind on the frame builder a week before I was going to order it. I'm so glad I did.

Matt recommended Tb14 as well - but I need to decide on groupset before making any wheel decisions obviously. I reckon TB14s are maybe a little sensible looking, but they are nice.

I think if I've not decided on a groupset by the time I've go the other bits I'll temporarily build it with my old groupset/wheels. While I'm up for being patient, I also really wanted to ride Dunwich Dynamo on this bike...

Archetype are really beautiful and well-made. Strong too. And a bit lighter that TB14.

I'd be tempted to go for a different crankset from the rest of the group. A pricey, but not *too *pricey option would be something like Rotar’s stripped and bead blasted. But I’m sure you can find something else with a bit of thought.

Dura Ace 7800 would give you a nice balance of classic looks/colour and decent performance. I have 6700 and like it, but I do get what you mean about the matt grey and chunky looks. A 7800 groupset with a 7700 crank would work well aesthetically.

I'd also add that although you have roundy tubes and some classical styling, it's not a old fashioned traditional road bike. So I think there is a lot of scope for more modern components if you want them and wouldn't let it tie you down.

I think if I'm going fully modern I prefer Sram - had a play around with the shifters in Evans yesterday and liked the feel of them.
It's a shame all this year's Sram stuff seems to be either black or shiny grey - the previous stuff with more shiny silver would suit the look I'm going for far more.

Stripped crankset would be nice, but bearing in mind my limited time these days is probably more effort than I'm likely to go to.

Silver rival shifters:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=13267

Stick a 10 speed Red front / rear mech on it - they are silver. Cry when you can't get the bendy front Red mech to play nice.

Crank...buy a Rival crank and strip / polish it...

But I agree who has time for that. A shame because the sliver Rival group looked splendid.

There's a pair of those on ebay I'm keeping an eye on. Along with a 2011 red groupset, but I think that'll go for more than I can afford.
I've come round to the idea of not minding a black/partially black crankset as long as the bulk of the parts are silver.

^^An awful lot of time and effort, but this frame is worth it.

I'd be tempted to go for a different crankset from the rest of the group.

This.

I would says that once you ride it with the groupset you liked, you'll be less bothered by the lack of colour option, I did the same with my custom as I prefer the look of the non-aero levers and rando bar, but comfort outweight this during long ride.

Any progress on this?

I've got some handlebars...

Basically no, not very much. I'm leaning towards buying a second hand sram group at the moment, one with predominantly silver bits and have bookmarked various ebay auctions, but been too busy to make any proper progress.

Also waiting for headset to arrive, which will give me option of building it up temporarily with my present groupset if I get really impatient.

hold on, wasn't this one yours?

No, that's Matt's one. Mine's similar but more t-rex proportioned & a darker red.

So this all got a bit more delayed than intended, but we're nearly there.
I ended up going a bit more flashy than originally intended and getting some very nice wheels (courtesy of Talbot wheelsworks)...

On top of that I've been busy picking up groupset bits on ebay. With a bit of patience/ebay sniping I've acquired most of an Sram Red 2010 group for significantly under what a new Athena group was going to cost. The only thing remaining is a crankset - I'm not keen on the look of Red ones (or the cost of them), so I'm still trying to decide on this. Really hoping to have it ready to ride by the weekend so I need to make my mind up.

What wheels did you end up with? and I guess by the teasers we're going to have to wait for a pic of the completed frame ..

Bit of a left field suggestion for the cranks but have you thought about the Specialites TA Carmina Cranks?

What wheels did you end up with? and I guess by the teasers we're going to have to wait for a pic of the completed frame ..

Bit of a left field suggestion for the cranks but have you thought about the Specialites TA Carmina Cranks?

Excellight rims/Hope hubs, all silver. Should be very nice & a lot lighter than my old wheels.

I did think of those a while ago as the look was pretty much perfect & I used a T.A. crankset on one of my touring bikes and really liked it. But I finally ordered a crankset this afternoon and ended up going for something totally different & more modern than I'd originally been intending...
http://www.dulight.fr/product_info.php?cPath=91_75_152&products_id=2051
(coming to classifieds soon if it looks totally wrong).

How come you settled on the Rotor Agilis'?

How come you settled on the Rotor Agilis'?

If it looks wrong then I'm blaming Matt for encouraging me... if it looks right then it was all my own choice...

Seriously though, I decided that what with the various Sram bits & the ec90 forks with logos on and everything, it was all going to look quite modern anyway, so I got less bothered about classic looking parts.

Really hoping to get it built by this weekend.

Why Agilis over 3d?

Why Agilis over 3d?

Much cheaper.

The wheels sound good .. Those Excellight are a great alternative to the Open Pro, and Hope hubs are excellent. Maybe not as desirable as Kings in the populace, but easily IMHO a match functionally based on the abuse I've put different sets through on and off road. No proprietary tooling to service them also and not mentioning the additional Taxation .. Good luck for the weekend. Can't wait to see the build now.

and it's finished... sort of...

Did first test ride on Brixton club run on Sunday and it was amazing, it's really great to have a bike that actually fits my weird t-rex proportions. Definitely had less back pain at the end of the ride.

I've promised Matt I won't take full photos until we've swapped out a few temporary parts (currently got my old chainset, a mismatched front tyre and the wrong stem), hopefully later this week.

you tease

Photos or it didn't happen ;)

Blame Matt...

Also, I am aware that as soon as I post full pictures it'll be open to merciless internet criticism and I'm enjoying putting that off... I feel the chainset may be an unpopular choice... I'm not 100% sure about it myself still, need to see what it looks like fitted.