Project three-ish - comfort revision

No intention to move the Argos on yet, girlfriend has agreed to let me hang it up somewhere if i gave it a clean, nice to see it all sparkly again.

New fork, TRP caliper and some 28c GK's have really brought the Surly to life. Fork came up cheap on Ebay and got good mates rates on some TRP's as these'll likely be needed for my next road build. Also swapped out the polished hardware for some ratty black steel bolts for a slightly more dressed down look and provide a better mate for the Hexlox's which look like cheesy LED's.

Thought the fork would look all wrong but i actually quite like it, 400g weight saving has made a notable difference and it's nicely patina'd to not look out of place with the paint.

Going back and forth in my mind about what to do with the CAAD. Before i consider selling I wanted to see if i could get any fatter rubber on to allow for more mixed surface riding and @ad441 kindly hooked me up with an old 30mm G-one to try for size. Enough space on the front but unfortunately too tight on the rear brake bridge so 28c will be as big as i can go. Unless i go 650b with the TRP's?...

Well it was all going so well.

I'd ordered a new rear wheel with London's king of Kinlin which would allow me to sell off the rear XR22/Zenith with the front i've been trying to shift. I went for an all black build to match the Ellipse/XR31 and keep everything suitably reserved (dull). But then on collection some brake levers i've always liked came available and we got chatting about what i could put them on. A certain frame on the forum fit the bill and after not much convincing i decided it would be the perfect match for said brake levers. After a sleepless night thinking how i could raise funds i'd all but decided it was not to be but then i get the email, Carphone Warehouse, refund. This has to be scam, call CW, it's not. Standards agency has decided the insurance i paid over 5 years ago was crap, i'm being refunded the full lot, comes to £3 under the frame price. Needless to say frame is now in my possession.

So realistically for the time being it's project four not three, but this at least free's up the Surly to be the bike i'd prefer it to be and gives me another bike i can lavish some love on. As i don't need/want two road fixed builds the Surly has gone riser and i've thrown on the last of the spare parts i have to build something that ticks the bad weather/town/lock up bike box. OG fork will be going back on, as will a brake and maybe i'll swap the cranks from my girlfriends Lee Cooper for something less polished. But best for me is i've found a good home for the XR22/Zenith wheelset, they look way to shiny right now but a few rides in crap weather should sort that.

And here's a sneak peak of bike number four, more on this soon.

Started on the Capo today, the general condition is very good so all that was needed was a good polish and a coat of wax.

ATM the build will only consist of things i already have with the exception of a Zen if i can find one for a good price, the current drive train cleaned up fine.

I had thought about using my Ritchey NC's on this but decided to try them on the CAAD. Instead i'll use the RHM 02's that i had on the Surly, acetoned Easton stem if fairly stealth as is the black Fizik classic tape. Brake setup will be S500 levers, Rival caliper and Swiss stop pads.

Nice! New build looks tasty already.

Small progress on the CAPO. CAAD is donating PMP post and power saddle (forum may deliver Arione R1 if funds allow), 10 degree Easton looks just right, cheers to @Kaloy for your assistance with the Zen, it's mint!

Thanks dude, hoping this will be a keeper!

New bike day, did not see this one coming...

Yesterday i built up the Capo into road fixed mode thinking all i'd need would be a matching front wheel and possibly a new saddle to finish it off. But a quick ride prior to wrapping the bars just left me feeling a little dead inside. I have no doubts over the quality of the Capo frame but after converting to wide risers on my Surly i've been really enjoying a different kind of riding. The drop bar setup on the Capo just felt too focused and for me and just not that much fun. So after a quick cockpit swap i was a happy boy again, risers gonna rise and all that.

Not entirely sure where to go from here but i think based on peoples love for these frames i should put some miles on before deciding if it's gonna be the Capo or Argos for my nice commuter/weekend bike. Argos has the edge in looks right now but i's sure with some attention the Capo could be a looker.

White or carbon fork?

O.G forks back on the Surly, just needs ratty Omniums to tone it down.

White or carbon fork?

The white carbon one.

Agree.

+1

i like the white, but how about an alpina track fork to close the gap? :)

Hey, what's the bag on the front of the roller?

Road runner Jammer bag, love mine.

Looks like I'll be going with white. Alpina is a good shout, I turned one down recently because of the rake but yeah you're right, closing that gap would be an improvement.

Rode it 10 miles a day for ten years, always locked up outside the office, serviced by me twice a year. Surlys are indestructible man. Glad to see it in the family. I was on the brink of powder coating it, glad I didn’t, it would have been far too shiny for your taste!

Surly is my current favourite atm, this could be project one as it really is that good. Looking forward to snow so i can put some 35c knobblies on for the commute.

Hoping once the Capo gets built i like it as much!

Update time.

CAAD has been split and sold. Slight regrets but it wasn't getting used and I needed the money to fund other builds.

Iroko has been sold. Was very much looking forward to a year of MTB'ing but personal circumstances have changed and it wasn't going to happen. It's stayed within the forum and maybe/hopefully I'll buy it back one day.

With the money from the CAAD I had a friend build me a wheelset that would work as a track, road fixed or single-speed setup as that's the only riding I plan to do atm. I went for 45mm deep 20/24 FSE carbon road rims on DT Swiss dbl sided track hubs, spokes are similar to CX rays and tyres are GP 4000's found on the forum. In hindsight I'd probably of preferred low profile rims but the main driving point was the spare stock of 45's I was able to get for a good price. Needless to say Martin has done an amazing job with the build and they're lovely to ride.

So now I have three frames (Surly, Capo and Argos), three wheelsets and more than enough bits to build three bikes. I've decided on Surly for commuter, tracklocross and maybe long-hauler single speed. Capo will be my nice commuter, weekend toy and road fixed weapon. The Argos is a bit redundant and I really don't see the point in having three fixed rides for the road. However I'm looking into doing track accreditation at HH to get over the loss of MTBing this year so it may turn into a proper track bike yet.

On the Capo it rides great but looks shit. I stuck a load of my "nice" bits on it and it just ended up looking like a very lardy run of the mill stock build (see pics below). So as I like a challenge I've gone back to the drawing board and will try and do something better with it.

Zen, Omniums, Monkey bars, Fizik R1 saddle and carbon post all heading to classifieds soon...

I was tempted by the capo when it came up and honestly you've done a far better job than I'd have. It looks sweet. The paint's never not going to be slightly challenging but all in, definitely would ride.

Steamroller build makes me actually want to buy one though, good work.

Thanks Ali, neither are finished yet and both already look better than the pics above (IMO!).

The Steamroller has been great. Maybe it's just nice to have a bike i can lock up and chuck around without worrying about but i really think it rides nicely. If you get one deffo put some decent wheels/tyres on as that makes all the difference. Plan for weekend rides is to see if i can fit some 35c tyres on there with a rear caliper if i want to go S.S instead of fixed. Something like G-one speed or maybe even Compass Barlow if i can get them at a decent price. They'll definitely fit as road fixed but the caliper drops from the bridge a little reducing space. I was gonna stick on my Omniums with Hope B.B but on review the "beater" crankset on there is a Condor Legacy unit with Shimano UN55 which is actually pretty decent and actually suits the bike better than the Sram.

Capo time, trying to make it look a bit less chubby and bland, opinions welcome.

Swapping the cranks from Omniums to 75's i feel has helped but I want a ring that takes the weight out of the side view. This came up on the bay and whilst it's not black as advertised I do think it works better than the Zen

Again the PMP post and Fizik R1 had quite a heavy look to them and added to the slightly by numbers look so this is one potential option

I took the bike to Bath where the roads in places are quite shit and I noticed the front end felt a little harsh. I'd been looking to ditch the Monkey bars and whilst doing some research found these which have foam inside them to aid comfort! They rate well in mountain bike world but TBH it's the fact they're a similar shape to Shred bars and have a little colour that one me over. Condor track grips are a temp while I look for some thicker Yoshida's

Whilst in Condor I found a Romin test saddle for a no longer available model. As I wanted something very sleek with ti not carbon rails this fit the bill so I did some fairly weak negotiating and was able to buy it. After scrubbing the paint of the rails and it's now looking a lot better

And after originally not wanting gum walls I'm trying my brown 28c GK's to add some more colour and close the gaps a smidge

So with a slightly longer temp stem here's where that lot takes me to

Not entirely convinced about the saddle, my beater Antares VS actually looked better but I snapped the base last week. It is however very comfy and the right kind of saddle if I'm gonna try longer distances on risers. Wish I got on better with O.G Flite's as they'd be perfect for this.

I love the seat post but it looks all wrong with the black stem. Luckily a helpful forumonger is gonna lend me a nice sleek ti stem to try which'll hopefully match the brushed steel (not ti as I had hoped...) seatpost.

Or I could stick with black stem and use this oddball Easton post?

Budget wise it's actually pretty good. Between my parts bin and some recent good deals the bit's I've taken off will more than cover the new stuff. Bars/saddle aside it feels like more classic stuff is starting to work, it's just the newness of some of the bits that still looks off to me.

Current thoughts/options include

Swap 75's for some used DD versions (and sell current setup) or just get some matching dust-caps?
Silver or black finishing kit?
Strip bars?
Silver KMC SL or black/gold Super toughness chain (too bling?)?
Maybe a Flite variant, something retro and sleek?

Currently leaning towards D.D's, silver finishing kit, Izumi chain and a different saddle.

Looks great, i'd strip the bars if you wanted something less flashy. The build is pretty understated as is, I think the SPANK logo is a bit of a stand out. Flite would look perfect, but you can't argue with your butt!

Updates...

I picked up @amey 's Dart frameset as a potential replacement for the Capo. I'd been lusting over the new sparkle steel Vigo and this came up pretty close to the spec for a fraction of the cost. Columbus tubing, beefy/tall headtube and a tapered Columbus fork. There's more stack and less reach than the Capo so the geo suits me well and will make better road fixed platform for me. Amey had got all sensible and had Winston weld on some grown up stuff so the paint needs sorting so i figured i could have a go at doing my own awful NJS sparkle rip-off paint job.

Problem is riser-ed Capo is now my favourite bike in the whole wide world and there's no way i'll be selling it anytime soon.

So after a few trial setups and realising the FEL fork will take 30c G-one's (the rear will take a 35c!) i've decided this is going to replace my much loved Steamroller. I may end up regretting this decision but it'll be a lot easier to source another over the Capo. The frame has gone back to Winston to remove the braze on cable guides as i want the option to use it on the track (Columbus is thin, my files are fat) and then it'll get a Steamroller inspired rat paint job. Wheelset will be Kinlin/Zenith with G-one's, everything else will be beater grade spare parts/freebies. Steamroller will be up for sale soon as a full build.

There's good stuff coming on the Capo but i need Wiggle to correct my order before i can do a full strip/rebuild to fancy spec, more on that soon.

Lastly after selling my MTB i realised owning a road bike might not actually be such a stupid idea as touring Japan on my CAAD last year was amaze balls. So a conversation with my partner that started something like this

Ended with me bidding on this the same day

Not great pics (see above) and collection only resulted in a good deal. It felt like a bit of a gamble but it's paid off as it's really tidy and bar the wheels is 95% original. Owner included original cassette and RD as well. Plan is to give it a full rebuild, sort the fit and that'll be about it. Looking in my spare parts bin i'm hoping this will be project £zero as i have not intention of throwing cash at a bike i won't be using much. For now.