Project three-ish - comfort revision

exciting... frame looks grand all cleaned up and shiney!

Cheers, hopefully the right balance of shiny and rat.

10 degree stem on, picked up some Gators for a decent price to try. Front will get swapped to a 4 season but wanted to see what the reddish sidewall looked like. Bit off atm but I’m guessing/hoping they’ll settle with wear. Might be shifting the carbons so currently thinking about a lightish LF wheel set with a few less spokes for an everyday wheel set

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Front end is still a dogs dinner but the back is coming together nicely. Silver rims and post really helping the silver graphics pop.

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Banging 🔥

Cheers, getting the there one tedious Ebay bidding war at a time. Not sure if I can justify R8000 shifters and I’m still undecided on forks or bar tape but thinking a polished @gbj_tester top cap would finish the stem off nicely

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needs da9000 calipers imo

Can’t justify better shifters but can justify these utterly pointless carbon bars on the Dart...

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Yeah I passed on a pair on here a while back and have since regretted it. Saying that other than the wheels this is still a budget build and DA would off probably pushed this build from a bit silly to totally pointless (see bars above). Current hope is to find a CAAD12 frameset in 52 that needs a repaint and maybe go for Hollowgram cranks with everything else R8000.

thinking a polished @gbj_tester top cap would finish the stem off nicely

Don't forget I also have spacers and bearing covers in raw too 🙂

dura ace calipers really are a cut above - when it comes to braking - though

Eagerly awaiting full-bike pic 👀

EDIT: Making no sense as always, OTT cranks even though I said I wouldn't.

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Electrical tape Photoshop.

Just as this was coming together something new and OTT is on its way. Not totally convinced I'll abandon this but no doubt lots of things will be up for sale soon enough to cover costs.

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looking very nice like that, the hubs pop out

it peaked here...

After selling quite a lot of parts including my carbon track wheels I was getting some space back in my life so to celebrate I've been on a fairly pointless bender of unnecessary impulse buying.

First up the above Sugino 75 DD's. Track cranks prices have gotten silly so when these came up at a good price it was too tempting. They came with a Zen and minty Sugino BB which I'll sell on to bring the price down to very reasonable. Probably too nice for a bike that'll get locked up at times but the old cranks were ugly and I may have a need for a second set of cranks anyway. Do they feel any different to my old cranks - no, do they look nice - yes.

Next up wheels. knee issues aside I'm still hoping to get track accreditation done and do the Saturday sessions at HHV. My carbons were perfect for the track but given I'm a total novice I decided something more robust/cheaper to fix would be better. So as my Kinlin/Zenith's were looking pretty tired I decided they would be an ideal track/spare wheelset and I would get my self something new for the road. Why not use just one wheelset? Because changing tyres/cogs every week was going to annoy me and having a spare wheelset made some kind of sense in my mind. Knowing your going to run a brake makes choosing rims tricky but after a fair amount of research I asked Arkane to build me the 25mm DCR rims in 24/24 (rim front, disc rear) with Sapim spokes, Zenith track on the rear and Hope road on the front with a Zipp track Skewer. I had wanted a LF rear hub but choices are pretty thin/expensive in a low spoke count. For tyres I wanted wide 28's so I've gone Hardshell on the back and 4 seasons on the front for more grip. Given the extra puncture protection I've used lightweight tubes which have been good to me so far. I was hoping they come up a little lighter than my kinlin's given the specs but in reality there's nothing in it however they do roll very nicely and will make great R/F wheels with some faster tyres. Do they feel any different to my old wheels - no, do I slightly regret getting them - probably.

New beater 130mm Superzero stem really suits the bike IMO and the carbon bars are really comfortable. However since switching back to ESI grips I really doubt I'll tell the difference between the Carbons and my old beater Alloy bars so I may switch back and sell the carbons to recoup some funds.

And then there's the Bowman with DA9000 I just brought but I'm not really in the mood to talk about that one right now...

Resting up against project architect

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And today in commuter mode

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very nice!

Nice mix of rat and understated bling. What’s the bag please?

That's poppin man!!

Nice mix of rat and understated bling

Cheers dude, that's exactly what i'm aiming for.

Bag is a Road runner Jammer bag

https://roadrunnerbags.us/products/the-jammer-bag

Thanks, looks like a very versatile piece of kit.

The Capo is back! Just as I've been getting into riding track a lucky twist of fate has reunited us. It hasn't been used since I sold it and thankfully this was a trade so my wallet has remained unhurt. I'd been holding back enough spare parts to do a track build and had been toying with getting a Dolan so I'm pretty happy to have this back.

It's been thrown together this morning without too much care but after riding the Dart then the Capo back to back at HHV I can tell the Capo feels more at home there. Chunky seatpost is a loaner and although this'll clear 28's in the right gear I'm gonna get some 23c (or true/narrow 25's) tan walls to allow me to play with the gearing more on the track and give it some colour. I don't get many seatpost insta points but the slammed 120mm stem felt great and I may go even lower with a 10 degree PLT.

Needs tan walls

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