*Matt* Builds ~ Serotta Legend Ti // All City Mr Pink // Bob Jackson 631

Bit of a win today, Condor had TRP CX8.4's in black on sale for £70. Purchased immediately.

I resisted temptation and went with Tektro RX6 the other day ..

Here you go:

London to Newhaven Port via Brighton: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/9830928

Dieppe to the Eiffel Tower: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/6327026

I should say that @branwen and I got a little fed up with the route from Dieppe (just being a little impatient really) and did on-the-fly Garmin re-route to cut out that dogleg at the end so I can't confirm that this route will get you there in under 24. Obviously Tim is a monster and he was on the rivet for 80km at 38kph pulling me all the way to the Seine which is the only way we managed it.

@amey - how are the RX6's working out for you? I have to admit I only read up on the CX 8.4 and everything seemed positive about them so just went for them.

Love the look of the Paul Minimoto but didn't know if they'd actually work well in the wet and of course $$$$.

@youramericanlover Thanks for those routes fella! Your London to Newhaven was a similar one to what I had in mind. Not sure about about Ditchlinng Road with a saddle pack and 2 D locks! Oof.

Had saddle bags but no lock. Other top tip, in between Brighton and Newhaven stop at the Sainsburys for oj and pastries for breakfast!

Oh, and @youramericanlover, I think that's a bit too generous

Cheers! We are setting off at 4pm on the Friday from Clarkenwell to catch the 11pm ferry from Newhaven.

Fuel stop at Buries sounds like the right solution.

It'll then be a blast from 5am-??pm to get to Paris. Beers, Brie, Bread and then fucked no doubt!

Exactly. And @branwen is right, refuel in Brighton and stock up on supplies on the way to Newhaven, there's nothing there

@youramericanlover cheers mate. How secure was the bike parking on the ferry?

Right, this thread needs some pictures. There aren't many Galactic builds around, best I found was on the Brother Cycles website;

- //- The Build List -//-

Frame + Fork: Kepler Galatic 58cm
Headset: Hope
Wheels: Chris King R45 Pink 32h / CX-Ray / Pacenti SL23 w/Hope Skewers
Tyres: Pasela 28's
Groupset: Sram Force 10 Speed
Brakes: TRP 8.4's
Seatpost: USE Sumo
Saddle: Flite
Stem: Thomson -17 100mm
Bars: Deda RMH01
Tape: Cinelli Kaleido
Cages: King Iris

The posty came yesterday so a few snappy snaps:

^ Always been an advocate of Chris King, but seriously impressed with the quality of the Hope headsets, cheaper than CK but same quality, really beautiful.

Not really bike parking, just bike pile in the cargo hold but it's safe as far as I could tell. People took their saddle bags with them but I'm not sure you could access the bikes before you arrived in Dieppe tho. Have to remember people have prob ridden to the ferry and it's midnight and people want sleep so not sure bike theft is high on people's priority. Other passengers prob dont know where the bikes are anyway.

RX6 = CX9
RX5 = CX8.4

The difference is 90mm and 84mm arm length. TRP stuff is just nicer.
TRP claims 90mm is for shimano and 84mm is for sram and campag.
I am using cheap tektro short pull levers with RX6 and they are fine.

As @andy_k mentioned its worth reading Sheldon's article about mechanical advantage here: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/cantilever-geometry.html (mainly the V brake bit). What it means is you have to put the pads closer to rims compared to cantis but the lever pull is more.

On the point of wet braking performance - mini motos/ rx6/ cx9 - won't make a difference. All just down to the pads.

My cheap tektros went from deadly to sublime with the purchase of some nicer pads.

I've been using kool stop salmons, certainly improved my calliper brakes but they're stock on my paul canti brakes and feel pretty useless. is there anything out there softer? swiss stop green? sorry for mini hijack

Don't the TRP's come with a Swisstop compund?

Think that's just because canti's are useless...

I've heard Mini V's are more powerful with Cantis more of a modulated feel but less weak.

From this pidgeon knowledge (if indeed correct) I went for Mini V's.

Would an upgraded compressionless housing make any difference? Swisscom green has always worked well for me once bed in. Got them on the Serotta with Force calipers work a treat.

Oh. And the frame has Arrived. Boom.

Working from home today so picture time!

Oh hai.

Its very glossy out of the box, thought they may have gone for a semi-matt lacquer:

Not sure where the frames made:

We have MOAR Force!

this looks soo nice

Bling parts. Is it a light frame?

You can try; this is a cheap one: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/lifeline-performance-brake-cable-set-shimanosram-road/

I use that on all bikes I have and works really well. Just cut right length; file down ends etc.

Funnily enough I have 3 essentially road bikes with different rim brake systems; standard 7900 DA caliper, direct mount DA 9000 and Mini V /csb

The mockup so far looks good; might be the most bling kepler build!

Just go the extra mile and get these: http://shop.donhoubicycles.com/product/barrel-adjusters

@plexarice Surprisingly yes it is, it's 4130 Cromoly so expected it to have some weight to it. The tubes make more of "ting ting" than a "ding ding" the seat walls are pretty thin but the they need to flex to tighten I guess.

@amey Cheers for the Donobrou link, I've ordered a pair. Can I now officially call this a Brother x Donohou collaboration?

No.

Re: cabling, I'm leaving all that in the safe and very capable hands of Sam at LMNH.

Looks set to become a stunning build! What's this about the £80 discount?

@russmeyer Thanks.
They are currently on sale with £80 off:

https://www.brothercycles.com/shop/kepler-galactic/

i've got those barrel adjusters and they are so hard to turn!! look lovely though

Cheers