GF's workhorse commuter

A "current project" possibly not really worthy of the name, but thought I'd document the process.

For a while I used my old road bike as my commuter. It was very nice on the long road, but I would wince on the small gravel section, and I came off last winter on a cycle path covered in wet leaves.

I decided to get something better tailored to the commute.

It's not really a project because I'm buying most of it in one go in the guise of the Planet X London Road SRAM Rival 22 Hydraulic Disc:-

To do/source:

1. Just for aesthetics, I want to swap out as much as I can that isn't already logo-free and matte black (ie, saddle, stem, seatpost).
   
2. Similarly just for looks I want to swap the stem for something a bit more angled (12° probably, rather than the current 6°) so that I can get the stem, bar tops (and top tube - is this a bit OCD?) in alignment.
   
3. For comfort, I think I'll look for a carbon seatpost.
   
4. I need mudguards.
   
5. I need a rear pannier rack - which I want to get as low as possible, and which when fitted looks as integral to the bike as possible.
   
6. I have an old phone (Samsung Galaxy S4) I want to use as satnav/stava/etc which I want to have a decent mount for on the bike.
   

Got my eye on this as it's on my shopping list. PX are confusing me with their build options; last time I checked they had the option of putting on some SKS Chromoplastic mudguards. This option appears to have disappeared, but they do stock them. Have you considered asking them to throw a pair on, or did you have some other guards in mind?

1. Good luck finding a 12° stem... But I totally understand your need to have everything aligned :D
   
2. For comfort, choose high-volume, supple tires. It'll be immensely more efficient than a carbon seatpost when it comes to added comfort.
   

I think the specialised stems can do 12 degrees with their shim system?

PX are confusing me with their build options; last time I checked they had the option of putting on some SKS Chromoplastic mudguards. This option appears to have disappeared, but they do stock them. Have you considered asking them to throw a pair on, or did you have some other guards in mind?

Yeah, their website is a bit "hit and miss" - I read about how much better the Chromoplastics are than the Bluemels they also stock, and then opted for the Bluemels because they looked matte black rather than gloss.

Good luck finding a 12° stem... But I totally understand your need to have everything aligned :D
For comfort, choose high-volume, supple tires. It'll be immensely more efficient than a carbon seatpost when it comes to added comfort.

Yes, as Acliff says, the Specialized stem is the only one I've found. I don't know if 12° is right. Need to wait for the bike, unless it's possible to work it out from this diagram...

...which I don't think it is.

I've been emailed to say the bike is being built tomorrow, so hopefully it will be with me by the weekend.

I've ordered some bottle cages - Tacx Tao Light Bottle Cages:-

In my haste, I ordered the (marginally lighter and cheaper) polyamide "light" version rather than the sure-to-be more tactile pressed aluminium "ultralite" version.

Ordered a rack too. A basic Avenir Pioneer Transporter Rack in black.

I'm hoping the adjustable struts mean I can mount it as low as possible to the mudguard. This should suffice from the outset, but I'm eying up some pricier racks which I'll look into in more detail when I can measure the bike.

Suspect it's a foible of mine alone, but my search for a decent rack is being hampered by an irrational dislike of the tiny struts used to connect the top forward edge of the rack to the upper mounting eyelets on the bike. I know they take no/very little load but I'm getting obsessive about finding struts that look solid and connect the rack to the bike aesthetically as well as physically.

By way of brief update:-

The Avenir Pioneer Transporter Rack in black was a good choice, and matches the frame well, with decent stays that look robust. The adjustable height means I could get it fairly low, but not quite as low as I would like.

The Tacx Tao Light bottle cages are a decent match, but I suspect the aluminium ones might be slicker, and I may upgrade.

The mudguards are a bit of a disappointment however. The fittings on the bike frame aren't as generic or as ergonomic as they could be, and so after a lot of fettling the results are as pictured. I may change these.

My main priority though is to replace the saddle with a Bontrager I have somewhere. The Prologo is probably fine, but I'm used to the Bontragers, and the splash of red on the nose is itching my OCD.

You should look at Tubus racks

You should look at Tubus racks

I did! I think I looked at every rack on the Internet. Tubus look good, but the struts to the seatstays look weird and quite a few have narrow tops. Fine for panniers, but I generally just strap a drybag to the top.

I'm pretty pleased with the Avenir.

Now, for some reason, I'm considering lowrider and front rack options. I think mainly because I've been sucked in by the functional bikes thread.

I've got months before I need to think about getting (probably) this bike and setting it up for touring, so thanks for beta testing everything for me. Rack looks good. Carry on. :)

King Cage stainless cages are business

King Cage stainless cages are business

Agreed.In my search, those where the preferred option but I discounted them as they don't come in a black option. In chrome, they look good, but don't really suit the bike.

@GF would you mind measuring the vertical distance between the mounting point on the rack and the top of the rack? Similarly, I want a rack to sit as low as possible and my current one isn't adjustable.

They will match perfectly with all the other silvery bits!

They will match perfectly with all the other silvery bits!

What other silvery bits? Shhh! Trying to keep them to a minimum.