Roberts 853 Audax

That's a good point, I was recommended such thing, and a forumeanger have them on his bike.

Pharoah, what brakes does the Roberts take? short reach or normal reach?

It is built for 47mm to 57mm reach and I hope the 39-49mm drop will work.

This project has come off the rails. This was supposed to be nice but sensible bits around a quality frame. Then B'jammin suggested some bling hubs. I convinced myself to press ahead with the nice but sensible route.

Then this happened.

I guess I should have seen this coming. I was simply enjoying some Jack Daniels the other night when I received a PM from Telescope 1608 about some hubs he had spare that would work for this build. Hmmm, sure I'll take a look. Well, they do match the headset. I blame Gentleman Jack.

Now I have noisy hubs and an irreparable hole in the budget. Telescope is a fine chap and a good trader with some nice kit, but if you know what is good for your bank balance put him on ignore :)

Now to pick a rim. Spokes will be silver, still Sapim Race. I think I still want Open Pros but yet to decide between black or silver. I think the latter.

Hahaha pretty much what you just said about Telescope.

Out of interest, why Open Pro's? Why not something a bit wider and modern? Open Pro's are stuck in the past - man!

Well, I am stuck in the past. Have thought about archetypes too

I agree with JB, I think the game has moved on a bit since the day of the Open Pro.

Decent rims for sure, but the wisdom of the masses seems to suggest that wider is better.

I'd be tempted by some of the HED rims to go with the blingy hubs.

That said, I switched to tubs a while ago so have never tried the latest wide rims, bar using TN719's with 25/28c clinchers last winter, which worked very well.

If I were doing tubs I like the ambrosios you have for the Serotta Dammit but I am not. So no decisions made yet. Open to suggestions.

Hah, Good call PS.
That telescopic chap sure has some tempting treasures and at this rate is slowly ruining half the forums' chance of having any Christmas indulgence. Still, we'll all be out whizzing round on our pimped bikes to give a shit.

I don't think I'd go back to open pros now, unless there was a pair of ceramics on the table. Hed/archetype/tb14/a23 all seem like good options.

Yeah, what Dammit said. The Belgium's that are laced to the CK hubs from Telescope ooze quality and make the Archetypes look a bit cheap in comparison. Having used the same tyres, tubes and tyre pressures on both the Belgium's and Archetypes, the Belgium's (not sure why) feel much nicer to ride.

Also, now that you've spent all that cash on hubs, you need to give them the rims they deserve :-)

JB I saw that you took his CK hubs to HED rims. I just hope he stops pedaling his crack on my streetcorner :) I will have to read up a bit more on this rim choice.

Ha, did laugh. I did yes - very, very, very nice wheels. I would - unless you try them, you'll never know how much better wide rims are with regards to ride quality!

I do like the tb14s. But I am indecisive. This may take a while.

TB14's do pass the "look cool" test, what's the internal width of those?

23mm IIRC. Haven't looked it up.

Yeah 23mm. Tb14s rode nicely. Archetypes rode nicer and the Belgiums are even nicer. I appreciate that tb14s would fit this build very nicely, though.

Have Open Pro on one bike and the Ardennes on another. Would agree that a really discernible difference between the bikes is in the rims. There is a real difference between riding these wheels like between an aluminium or titanium frame. JB Ardennes vs. Archetype ride feel is possibly more cognitive dissonance then anything else.

Dark grey tb14s silver spokes and the black CK hubs then. Now to see if that is an option....

Mavic are stuck in the past - man!

ftfy.

They show no sign of wanting to evolve from their original design.

That said, I switched to tubs a while ago so have never tried the latest wide rims, bar using TN719's with 25/28c clinchers last winter, which worked very well.

The width of the 25c on the TN719 is pretty similar in shape to a modern 23mm rims with 23c tyres, so it's pretty much spot on.

This might be worth reading:

http://fairwheelbikes.com/c/forums/topic/2013-rim-roundup/

The Pacenti SL23 looks like a good choice. Pretty sure someone on here got a pair. The only downside is I think they're only available in black.

Having just scanned that review I'd definitely back TB14's for this as they would look great with the frame.

Have always liked the look of tb-14s and agree with Dammit they suit the frame

Really nice frame. Out of interest (without becoming too weight weenieish) did you weigh the frame and forks? I have just stripped my Roberts down (the one pictured on the Roberts thread) and weighed 2.750kg with forks and hs.57/58cm frame.

@thiscocks, what tubing, do you know? For interest purposes only, I have a tiny little touring fillet brazed Roberts coming in for the missus, and am intrigued what sort of frame weight I'm looking at.