Spa Steel Audax

also these from kinoko: http://www.kinokocycles.com/polished-alloy-fenders-1.html

cheap and long. I've got them on my bike and would recommend. Also £25 for kinoko to fit them and well worth it to save the faff

25 Pounds to fit mudguards? Sounds like a rip off.

£25 sound normal for a Central London bicycle shop to fit mudguards.

Better off getting the Honjo that are on sales (picture show velo orange), should be able to fit 43mm if Spa Cycles is true to their word about 28c + mudguard clearance;

http://www.kinokocycles.com/honjo-hammered-fenders-style.html

People speak very highly of Honjo don't they?

Could pop in at lunchtime and pick those up but perhaps I'd better wait until the frame arrives so I can be sure they'll fit. 43mm seems on the wide side.

I have a Honjo, it made the Velo Orange look very rough and primitive in comparison.

The great thing about the steel/alu mudguard is that it prevent water from dripping on the side due to the channel inbetween,

Honjo hammered should look like this;

Short mudguard mean your feet and drivetrain will get wet;

Oh so you were being serious.

^ must spread rep...

I can't bring myself to open. At the moment there's nothing wrong with it.

Looks like there's plenty of room for the Honjo at the brake bridge but will be tight behind the BB and at the fork...

As your suspecting, I think you'll struggle with a 43mm guard under a 47-57 drop brake. I managed the VO 37mm, just. Of course depending on how much fettling you want to do it can probably be made to work. Pity honjo don't do something for 28c Max.

I managed an SKS 45mm with the Shimano R451, was pretty tight, but nothing a dremel can sort out.

I think rather than mess with dremelling out wider steel or alu guards (which is destined to fuck up, knowing my unsteady hand) I'll go for 35mm Chromoplastics and upgrade if I feel the need. I have them on the pomp and they've been fine in wet weather all year round.

You also forget about little things like cable stops and front mech clamps...everything costs money.

...everything costs money.

Only if you're in a rush.

Rush it Miek

I've rushed it now. I've placed an order to have the cable stops machined out of platinum.

Rash decision?

Are you going to be fitting a rear rack or going with some other kind of saddlebag support architecture?

Could make a nice antidote to the heavily front-rack-centric nature of the 'Functional Bikes' thread

I'm putting a my Carradice Bagman QR on there and my Barley bag, taken off my commuter. I wrestled with the decision about front vs. rear rackage and in the end it came down to cost, mainly.

Steel fork with eyelets was an extra £50, then a little front rack is £50-£100 and those nice front rack bags are at least £50. I was probably looking at £200 vs. £0 for rear.

Having said that, following lemonade's post in FBNPNA I bought a Revolution bar bag on Weds night just because it was cheapish. I might bung that on this in place of the Carradice for some rides and see how it feels and how much it holds.

As I understood it the long version are only longer on the top part of the front wheel, to suit bikes with massive front bag / high rack type gubbins.

Found it;

Easter is here and lack of money has stopped acquisition of parts. Here's where I'm at.

I make no apology for the rubbish pictures.

Incredible pictures of some stunning bike bits there.

Did you decide on bartape yet? The first out of the two you posted was lush imo

When I was at Herne Hill a couple of weeks ago there was this dude with a fair amount of NOS splash tape. Much better choices than what I've posted above. I'll go to the next one on 3rd May (I assume) and get some.

Keep an eye out for bar-end shifters, as you can get them from next to nothing.

Brought an 8 speeds one for £15.

Huh - I could have sworn I replied to that last post ed.

Anyway are there any particular models or brands of bar end I should look out for that would work with the Sora 3400?

Nah, any 8 speed one will work, it'll likely to have friction mode to trim it without reaching for the barrier adjuster.

Entirely up to you really, on a budget, bar end shifter felt much better than the cheapest STi, it also free up a choice of brake levers to go for.

You've raised a very interesting point actually. One for me to think about.

I could just sell the brifters and use the money to partly fund a nice, cleanly operating cockpit. I'll probably start out with the Sora TBH and look to change if it's as frustrating as people say.