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That is awesome, link?
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Cheers @M_V , RaceKing + Marathon looks like a decent affordable fit
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I've got an old 26er (BSO really but essentially NOS) gifted to me from my Dad's recent shed clear out.
I'd like to use it as a back-up commuter but also have the ability to try a bit of moderate off-roaring, which for mean would mean anything that wasn't sealed tarmac!
So I'm thinking 'semi-slick' tyres, but I've never bought a MTB tyre in my life, what are people recommending?
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I just think it deserves a modern group, just use a non-groupset crank!
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Yeah I'm just using a basic Cycleops mag trainer, garmin speed and cadence and a eBay special USB Ant+ stuck, works surprisingly well!
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Yeah this my theory for the first 18 months of riding it with this set up.
But then I lost count of the times I found myself grinding my way up a climb, unable to quickly shift down a gear. Yes I told myself 'it's all about gear selection before the climb' and I got better over the time I've been riding this set up but I just gradually convinced myself that an update was what I wanted. #buyer
With regards the potential failure of an STI, this is much cited, but, touch wood how often has this actually happened?!
Lots of people using STIs or even Di2 on things like the Transcontinental, e.g. @skinny without problems, and that is much more hardcore than any touring I will get up too!
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So I thought it was about time I told the world of LFGSS about my Wide Open which has been my one-bike-to-do-it-all since the middle of 2014 until about a month ago.
Bought not long before Kinoko shut it's doors, the frameset was significantly reduced because it was the 2013 green version rather than 2014's blue. This was enough to convince me to part with the cash. At the time I was still a student and was riding this slowly put together Merckx Team SC, that while very cool, was definitely not what most people would call a '54cm' ( which it was listed as on eBay...)
At the time I justified my brand new frameset by convincing myself I would sell the Merckx to fund it. The Merckx is currently in my loft...
However I did sell most of the parts and the Wide Open received a hodge-podge, slightly unattractive mix of parts left over from my well intentioned but ill-informed attempts at various previous builds:
However it was the first bike I had owned which was actually my size and I loved it. I rode it everywhere and for every occasion, to uni, to work, on club runs.
As I got more adventurous I added a rack and did my first century rides, London to Brighton:
Culminating with LeJOG this past July:
Anyway, if anyone is still reading my little ode to my bike (thank you), it is at this point that it becomes an actual 'Current Project'.
Riding LeJOG it became clear that although I thought down tube friction shifters and classic drops looked cool, I had had enough. Riding my newly acquired SuperSix with 105 5800 only re-affirmed the fact that I wanted to update the Wide Open.
I ride this bike every day as my commuter, it will be my rain bike for club runs over the winter and as a result it will remain the bike I do most of my 'training' on. So I may as well have the shifters etc that I want. Or at least that is how I am justifying it to myself.Here is how it stands at the moment:
Here is the pile of parts I have already collected for it:
On it's way to me is a bunch of 5800 parts and also not pictured are a half new pair of RS11 wheels.
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Does that mean I need to replace both front and rear mech?
I saw this on eBay and was tempting myself, just came up at the wrong time of month!