All City Commuter

After quite a few years of riding sans gears I'm looking to build up a sensible commuter. Something I can use for my ~10mile daily ride and the occasional gravel/tow path rides. I bought this All City Macho Man from the awesome @yetidamo and now I'm looking to build it up.

I thought the frame would be much heavier than it is. It weighs in at just over 3.5kg with forks and BB. So, I'm thinking to focus on keep it as light as possible so I can easily carry it up to my third floor tenement flat and ride up the hills of sunny Glasgow like a sweet summer breeze.

I don't have much of a clue about components (esp lightweight) so any advice is appreciated.

SRAM
Handbuilt wheels

Depends on your budget but 1x and chinese finishing kit can help keep the weight down. Kalloy stems weigh fuckall and whichever 27.2 carbon post you can find on eBay. Hydro is lighter if you can afford it, if not sypyres dont weigh too much. Sub 9kg all in would be something to aim for. Itll never be a super light build :)

Cheers @Turkish if I could keep the rest of the build down to about £400 then I’d be happy - won’t be worried about leaving it around town too much but hopefully I can buy a few lighter bits to keep it sub 9kg.

Hydra wheel set is a good choice. Hard to find them second hand though atm.

Was thinking 1x also. I don’t know much about 1x setups. Is 1x11 most popular?

Hydra wheel set is a good choice

You mean hydro or Hplusson Hydra rims? Doubt you'll be able to fit a Hydra wheelset into your budget

Cable spyres off ebay, random 700c disc wheelset off classifieds, sram 10 speed 1x is what I would aim for if youre trying to spend sub 400. Throw in some finishing kit and tyres/tubes and should work out pretty cheap
One tip I would say is spend money where you'll notice it. Ie good saddle and compressionless outer. Dont spend 300 out of your budget on a wheelset that will function the same as any other

Yeah sorry I thought you were meaning a hplusson hydra rim wheel set. Think you meant hydro disc set. I'll probably go for cable discs as they are easier for me to maintain.

I will most likely re-use my stripped flight saddle, Compressionless cabling is a good shout too. And yeah I agree on not blowing my budget on wheels. Although it is tempting.

Folks opinions on this wheel set: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bontrager-Paradigm-Comp-TLR-Disc-Wheelset/223088788228?_trksid=p2485497.m4902.l9144

Seem pretty light at just over 1.5kg - with tyres and discs/cassette I might be able to do just over 2kg.

I'd get something like this https://www.bike-components.de/en/bc/Urban-XT-Disc-Center-Lock-28-Wheelset-p56262/

Cheap handbuilts from Germany, they do a dynamo version too. XT hubs. Good value IMO.

Cheaper with Alivio hubs and A119 rims https://www.bike-components.de/en/bc/Urban-Alivio-Disc-6-bolt-28-Wheelset-p56222/

Rose bikes also do cheap handbuilt wheels https://www.rosebikes.co.uk/rose-28700c-mavic-a-319-shimano-deore-xt-780-hybrid-wheelset-247983.

You'd need thru-axle to QR converters

I’d just get these centre lock shimano wheels cheap to get it on the road. Save up for something tarty later. All black wheels look the same anyway.
Spend more on finishing kit and cranks. Expensive cranks are always necessary.

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/325355/

Good deal that ^

I've got some basic alloy finishing kit you can have? Compact bars, 27.2 seatpost, 110mm stem (I think)

Not the lightest but you can have them for whatever the postage costs to keep your budget down?

Wheels purchased as per recommendation from @PhilDAS.

Thanks for the offer @Josh - I'll see what I can cobble together from my parts bin and defo give you a shout if I need anything. I'm good on seatpost and stem, but bars might be needed for sure.

Awesome! Will lurk looking on with interest.

Will lurk

Dito

Glacial pace updates.

Got some cheapy wheels so I can ride the thing,
Set of Panaracer Gravel King 38s,
100mm Thomson stem
Sram Force 22 crabon crankset
Selle Italia Flite Saddle

In the post is an SRAM Red 10 Speed cassette and derailleur
Thomason Elite seatpost

Question for you clever folks. Is it likely I require some spacers for the crankset as there is about 5-8mm movement from side to side once fully tightened?

i dont know much about sram, but i am guessing u are right with the spacers thing.... ;)

I've never seen any sram cranks take spacers. I have 3 sets of Red and 1 rival. Never any play once tightened (they need to be very tight)

For road cranks + road BB width you shouldn't need (and shouldn't use) any spacers. You only use them for MTB cranks with road BB width IIRC.

But I have experienced the same thing as you. You have to torque the crank bolt incredibly hard, I think it needs 40 Nm!

It's a crap system IMO. HTii is better.

ok cheers. I'll go and tighten it even more. I don't have a torque ratchet so I'll just see how I get on.

What are folks opinions on disc brake sets. Been looking at trp spyre. These any good?

I use them on 2 bikes and my girlfriend uses them too. They do the job just fine.

Tightened as much as is realistic and there is still about 3-5mm movement side to side.

Also the drive side crank arm is so close to the frame that I can flex the arm and make it touch the frame. Something doesn't seem right to me...

Have you forgotten a dust shield from the bb?

Hmmm, good question. Wish I new. There's a thin metal washer (about 2mm) which I've put on the non drive-side to see if that makes a difference but there is still a few mm movement.

Paging @yetidamo - any ideas?

SRAMs official advice for play in a bottom bracket is packing it with more grease (Does work). Sometimes there is a gap on the driveside which does seem a bit wrong, but that's mainly with MTB cranks.

WheelsMFG BBs are much nicer to deal with and make better srams spec BBs than SRAM.
They spec a wavey washer on the DS

https://wheelsmfg.com/tech/PDF/THREADED-ROAD-SRAM-ZERO-CERAMIC-INSTRUCTIONS.pdf