Rourke meets SRAM

For your perusal and wise counsel.

The idea is an oldy but goody. Classic steel meets modern componentry.

The frame is a 90's Reynolds 653 Rourke with some ratty looking touch ups but nice detailing as you'd expect from a Rourke. Forks are CSN carbon 1"and should do the job for now. If I like them I might drew the eyelets - if not then I might update along the way with something more special, but for now they will suffice.

Group is SRAM rival 10spd (with some other APEX pieces because life). FSA finishing kit, chinarbon saddle en route.

Wheels ... Unsure. h plus sons archetype laced to something with something bladed ... something.

I imagine this will shift and evolve but for now ... More pictures to come.

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Nice frame. Be good to see this in Sram red eventually..

If you want bladed spokes, have a look at Pillar. About 1/3 the price of others and general consensus is they're pretty good! Certainly happy with the 20/24 build I did

Nice one Ian! You didn't fancy the straight bladed fork in the end then?

Waaatup — TBH still undecided !! Going to do some A/B testing.

Box of bits arrived today.

Seatpost, wheels, stem and cranks are placeholder. Cranks need to be swapped for Rivals I have on another bike. Seatpost will be new china crabon special. Wheels might have to wait till October invoices come through.

Also unsure about the Ritchey headset. any ideas for nice, low-stack 1" that isn't King (£££)?

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Lessons for the day:

Tifosi 1" carbon forks are JIS.

So are M:Part threadless headsets.

Rourke frames are not. Fix en route ... will report back.

First build up complete! Gears need a polish pass but feels good. First time with double tap so getting used to it still ... Also I need to replace that cheapo saddle.

Got a fulcrum rear wheel waiting on new freehub bearings that should help shed some weight and add some stiffness in the rear.

Stem is slammed out of necessity, the steerer is just too short ... Keeping my eyes open for new fork options.

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Im definitely getting a vintage/sram, this has inspired me!

Looks good.

I am a big fan of retro frame / modern running gear, I have a 1980's Coppell, a 2004 Rourke and have just finished a 1997 Lloyd Concept 90. Luv em.

Build update : Fizik Antares, Fulcrum Racing 3 rear wheel, Rival compact crankset.

Also flipped the stem to get a little positive rise. Made the world of difference.

Just got some Pasela's through the post ... To skinwall or not. Maybe for the spring ...

Today:

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Looks really good. Well played. The chainset is a big improvement.

Sterling work Ian...

Looks great, nicely done. How does it ride?

Cheers Kev !

@jambon On the whole, fucking loving it ... it's an absolute pleasure to ride and the 653 / carbon forks seem to keep road noise down whilst cornering/descents feel good—if I was being pernickety I'd say I notice it can sometimes give a bit more flex when out of the saddle than I'd like, but nothing like 531's and some other bikes I've had in the past. Thinking of getting a new stiffer wheelset (Chinese crabon) next year before I take this to the Alps and take on Ventoux to help this, but might just save my pennies for a new project ... watch this space.

Also now getting used to SRAM doubletap and it's little idiosyncrasies .. actually really liking the feedback it gives.

Update: just took nail varnish remover to all the tatty and mismatched touch-ups. Looks 100x better already ... now how to get the bike into Boots to colour match ....

Lovely bike.

This place is great for buying small pots of touch up and also matches RAL colours, you can specify gloss level and which type of metal you are using it for.

Not seen this place before, loooks like a good place to start.

Option B is to ride it all winter get it done it stripped and clearcoated raw and then completely re-decalled ... seems a touch sadistic perhaps but could be interesting.

Looks great! Is that still the tifosi fork? If so what was the fix for the jis issue? They look good with steel frames but have also avoided buying them before as thought they need a long reach caliper?

Cheers ! Same fork.

Fix for JIS; 1 part patience to 2 part file graft then liberally apply an ISO sealed bearing headset and split the race.

Update: weighed in at 8.1kg

Not usually that bothered with chasing WW concerns but chuffed with that considering some of the parts I still want to upgrade. By the end of the winter would like to find a nicer (matching?) front wheel, compact bars & lighter stem, lighter pedals, then hopefully that will push this sub-8kg for Ventoux next year.

New front wheel arrived today. New 28c shoes on. Compacts and new stem arriving next week. Allez etc etc.

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Looking very good.

So nice!