Singular Osprey & Genesis Equilibrium: winter road bike build

Singular being a one-man operation I would be interested to know its owner take on these niggles/issues. Maybe you could email him?

It's odd when you get frames with "querks" like those. It makes you realise how many small but important design details go into a frame.

On the forks, out of curiousity, could they have just drilled it lower to resolve the problem, or would that then impact on the tyre/'guard clearance ?

The crown casting has a flat on the front around the hole so it was designed that way (rather than mis-drilled). Ideally it would just be a bit taller above the hole.

There's a few other things, like the bottom bracket shell having the cable guides cast into it… there's palpable friction on the rear derailleur cable and it's begging to rust up. Why they didn't just want to use a bolt-on plastic guide, I don't know. Aesthetics I guess, like the top tube cable guides.

Singular being a one-man operation I would be interested to know its owner take on these niggles/issues. Maybe you could email him?

Maybe, I'd definitely be happy to offer some feedback. None of it is deal-breaker stuff, really, just niggles.

So, I've finished building it up now. The shift cables need tweaking still but otherwise it's done.

First thought: so heavy, lol. It is by far the heaviest bike I own (unsurprisingly). Second thought: it looks a lot nicer than I expected. Looking forward to riding it.

Surely some of these 'quirks' are considerate with the design? The frame is advertised as "Lovely slim steel tubes, beautiful lugs, classic geometry, classic looks". It would be interesting to know if the design was a direct copy of an old bike?

The internal top tube routing .. I have had steel Colnago, Rossin and Gazelle frames that have all used an internal routing without stops. As you highlighted, it is a more weatherproof solution.

Cast cable guides under the bottom bracket .. Another design taken from old frames. If you want to improve the cabling friction, an idea is to strip the plastic tube liner out of the centre of a lined cable and run the cables through that in the bottom bracket area.

The brake fixing .. Again I'm guessing another design copied from an old frame. I had a similar problem to yourself on the previously mentioned Gazelle. My solution was a different headset from the one I originally installed (can't remember which one I used) and a 'thick' aluminium serrated washer off a set of Tektro brakes. I'm sure you can buy the washers separately.

Also the problem solvers are an M6 fixing .. at least the set I have are.

The problem is largely due to the case design of the fork crown, they could've chosen a different crown.

Surely some of these 'quirks' are considerate with the design? The frame is advertised as "Lovely slim steel tubes, beautiful lugs, classic geometry, classic looks". It would be interesting to know if the design was a direct copy of an old bike?

Yeah, I think when I was checking it out before I bought it I didn't realise how much the look of it was part of the design. I thought it was more like a 'practical' classic road bike design. Which it is, just with a few quirks.

The internal top tube routing .. I have had steel Colnago, Rossin and Gazelle frames that have all used an internal routing without stops. As you highlighted, it is a more weatherproof solution.

Yup, internal routing was certainly something that carried a 'high-end' connotation at one time, regardless of how it was done. Full length cable is just not a great solution, I don't think. Up on the top tube there's not really much chance of mud and water being sprayed at the cable stops (especially with mudguards), and breaking the cable outer along the top tube makes such a difference to the brake response it far outweighs any downsides.

Cast cable guides under the bottom bracket .. Another design taken from old frames. If you want to improve the cabling friction, an idea is to strip the plastic tube liner out of the centre of a lined cable and run the cables through that in the bottom bracket area.

I put some dry lube on the cable guide area now but that's not a bad idea. The hole is quite small but a cable liner should fit.

The brake fixing .. Again I'm guessing another design copied from an old frame. I had a similar problem to yourself on the previously mentioned Gazelle. My solution was a different headset from the one I originally installed (can't remember which one I used) and a 'thick' aluminium serrated washer off a set of Tektro brakes. I'm sure you can buy the washers separately.

Maybe… modern cartridge bearing headsets have bulkier cups which can cause problems, but in this case the brake actually fouls the crown race so I'm not sure a different headset would fix that.

Also the problem solvers are an M6 fixing .. at least the set I have are.

They are, I just didn't have any M6 bolts short enough to work. User error I guess. Although the front brake would have been an ugly setup, with a massive nut at the back and loads of washers spacing the bolt out at the front. There might not even have been enough thread engaged.

Picture of the finished build?

Shame about the painful build, hope it's worth it in the end.

I took a very shoddy NDS shot this morning, I'll pop it up in a second.

The build was really funny. Everything that could go wrong did… Mudguard bolt fouled the chain in the smallest sprocket, I didn't have a shorter one so I cut the bolt down… as I finished cutting it the bolt pinged off somewhere into the garage never to be seen again… Do it again, etc.

Routed the chain wrong through the RD like I ALWAYS do (outside the cage between the two jockey wheels) so I had to break it and re-join it.

Then the right shifter wasn't cranking the cable tension up enough. I eventually realised the cable hadn't seated properly in the slot, had to fish it out and re-seat it, etc.

It just took forever.

Worst photo of a bike you've ever seen:

That'll buff out.

^ would've been better with white components

#notracist

Few shots from this morning's ride (the 'cursed' theme continues by the way, stupid valve core came out of the inner tube twice, seat pack dumped its contents on the road, re-clamped the QR skewer and the mudguard started rubbing, etc etc).

Quite interesting, it's really nice to ride. Not as sharp as I'm used to but it's not a slow handler by any means, and it's very nicely balanced, very composed. It squirms a little bit when the tyres are loaded up through a corner, but I think I might play with the tyre pressures and see if I can dial that out. On the whole I'm really impressed, it's a better handler then I was expecting. It climbs really well too (despite the weight lol), the rear feels really solid, though I think the 36-spoke rear wheel might have something to do with that.

Yeah, it's good, I'm happy.

Looks great!

Sound like a great bike, the tyres pressure is very much a personal preference, during the LEL, I drop my pressure to 30psi front and rear (handlebar bag), I wanted to get the most comfort during the 5 days ride, but on my commute, I like to cane it a bit every now and then, so I tend to ride with 35 front, 40 rear to reduced the tyres squirming when getting out of the saddle.

too bad it's cursed, that frame looks lovely.

looks lovely, regal, hope you have many happy miles together

Sound like a great bike, the tyres pressure is very much a personal preference, during the LEL, I drop my pressure to 30psi front and rear (handlebar bag), I wanted to get the most comfort during the 5 days ride, but on my commute, I like to cane it a bit every now and then, so I tend to ride with 35 front, 40 rear to reduced the tyres squirming when getting out of the saddle.

I'm actually not sure if I need to raise or lower the pressure. Probably lower it. It's not squirm in the sense that the whole tyre is deforming, it's like it just wanders a tiny bit over the surface. It doesn't lose the line but it doesn't stay locked in quite like the Colnago does (though I may be expecting too much). It might just be a bit of twist in the skinny frame, or something else entirely. No biggie - on the whole it's great to ride.

Final build spec:

Frame - 56cm Singular Osprey, 1" threadless fork *
Hubs - 36H Shimano 105 5700
Rims - Mavic A319
Spokes - DT Swiss Competition (front), Alpine III (rear)
Tyres - Vittoria Rubino Pro 28C, Conti tubes (grr)
BB - Ultegra 6600 SL *
Chainset - Ultegra 6600 SL, compact 50/34 *
Front derailleur - Ultegra 6600 SL
Rear derailleur - Ultegra 6600 SL, medium cage *
STIs - Ultegra 6600 SL
Cassette - 105 5700, 12-27
Chain - 105 5700
Pedals - 105 5600 *
Brakes - Shimano R650 *, Koolstop salmon pads
Seatpost - Deda Drittissimo carbon
Stem - Deda Zero1 (with Thomson shim)
Bars - Deda RHM01, 44cm
Bartape - Cinelli Gel Cork
Saddle - San Marco Regal-e *
Cables - Shimano SST (stainless inners)
Mudguards - SKS Chromoplastic

• = second hand, parts bin or re-used
  

was the frame second hand? I just thought the problems with the front brake could have been caused by an over-enthusiastic facing of the crown race seat

The frame was second hand, yeah. I considered that but they would have had to have faced the seat down by several mm... Seems unlikely. Especially as you probably wouldn't normally be facing that down as much as you would be the outer diameter. Dunno though, I guess it's possible. Would be interesting to see another one for reference.

Do you think minus mudguards and with lighter wheels this would feel like a passable summer bike? I'm looking for something that I can fit wider tyres on in the winter but that will pass as a decent road bike when the weather improves and this is on the current short-list - just unsure where to make the compromises...

Why not? weight make very little difference providing the bike handle and ride well.

Mine's exactly the same, except I don't removed the mudguard in the summer.

I'd probably leave the mudguards on too to be honest! Was more asking in terms of geometry/feel/flexiness - not looking for a sportive style sofa but want something that is a bit more adaptable than my current main bike

It would be more than passable as a summer bike, definitely. It handles like a road bike.

It'll never be super light, but if you were that worried about the weight you probably wouldn't be looking at steel in the first place. It's barely noticeable on the road.

I did look at the Kinesis Racelight T2 frameset, which wouldn't have been much more expensive (and would definitely have been lighter), but I'm not really into the way they look.