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Thanks for the info @edscoble and @Mr_B.
I'll stick with medium and then sell it when it doesn't fit.

Can you say a bit more about the size and fit?
I just ordered the rizzle dizzle jersey and arm warmers in medium, as I fell between the sizes given for M and L. Having second thoughts though.
I take a medium in the Rapha club jersey, to get a snug fit, so I am now worried that medium in this will be way too tight.

Thanks everyone.

^^ is that the one with the 59cm toptube? Remember looking at it. You sure did the frame justice with the lovely build.

Yep that's the one - I saw it and knew it was the one. Quite an unusual frame I think.

^^^ I'm a sucker for red, white and blue (/purple?) bikes but that's bloody lush! I did the same trick with my Novatec hubs and Campag Veloce skewers, which have more of an old-school elegance to them as well.

Thanks, your Ron Cooper was definitely in the inspiration folder. The paint is amazing. The red is really rich and bold, and the blue sort of fades between a dark blue and purple depending on the light.
The skewer thing was annoying - lost a bit of paint from inside the chainstay. I'll look for some nice campag skewers for sure, just using one from the spares box at the moment.

^^^^^ So lovely
Silver Campag Athena?

Yep, athena 11, with a NOS (does that count?) Ultra torque crankset. Will de-logo at some point. I am used to sram, so need to get used to the shifting, but I like it a lot so far.

White tape w black saddle can be OK. ^ proof.

Ha, I spent an unreasonable amount of time deliberating over saddle colour.
The team Motorola mx leaders from the 90's had white tape and black saddles. The look great, but they have a much lighter blue, and more white in the frame so wasn't sure if it would work.
In the end the concor is just what I had, along with a black arione, but I've been finding both of those quite uncomfortable over longer distances recently. The plan was to get a flite and a white regal, and see how I get on with them.
Sort of tempted by one of these too:

That might look cack though eh?

I have been slowly putting this together, and with a little help from the LBS its finally rideable. The frame is a 62cm 1994 Basso Astra, columbus ELOS tubing, bought from classifieds.

I'll change the bars for something silver, stem for something longer and saddle for something flatter, but other than that, I'm really happy. It rides great - very smooth, and likes to go fast. Can be a bit twitchy at the front, but I've been a croix de fer since last autumn, so it will seem a bit skittish after that.
There were a couple of issues like the derailleur hanger needed straightening, and the bit of the fork where the crown race sits needed filing, but other than it was quite a straight forward build.
A note for anyone considering Ambrosio Zenith hubs - they are really nice, but the skewers that mine came with weren't strong enough to hold the back wheel in the horizontal dropouts. I replaced it with an older internal cam skewer, and it was fine.

I think your build will be a whole lot nicer than mine, which is a mixture of 105 and ultegra I found as cheap as possible.
The idiot who owned mine last chopped of the front mech braze on and resprayed the seat tube. Re saddle, I think the concor will work if the other parts suit. Doesn't bother me on that frame. I got a good deal on that fizik and find it comfortable.

These frames are lovely to ride. Springy, climbs and accelerates well, nice tight back end. I've never ridden a modern road bike so to me this feels light. It was the top end, and lightest, Columbus tube set in 1996. If you get your build right it will easily be pornworthy.

That's a real shame about the braze on. Maybe it was damaged so they just got rid of it? The paint on this is amazing, so I hope they at least did a good job with the respray?

Sounds great, thanks, wasn't sure what to expect from it.
It certainly feels light and between the oversize tubing and the large chain stays I was thinking it should be relatively stiff for an older steel. It's replacing a very smooth, but a bit flexy early 80's Bob Griffin 531sl, and a very light and stiff but profoundly uncomfortable aluminium Trek, so I'm hoping for a sweet spot between the two.
Either way, I've ridden nothing but a Croix de Fer for months now, so this'll probably feel like a rocket.

Finally got the road bike running after months and months of failing derailleurs. Ugly tape / seatpost also gone. Ergo bars and big 105 levers still fugly, but it works now. DA seatpost is nice.

Snap!
I'm building up one of these frames at the moment. How does it ride?
Cant wait to get mine on the road, but it might take a while. It's getting Athena 11, and some hand built wheels - probably ambrosio zenith + tb14. Not that imaginative, but should make a good bike.
Can't quite decide on saddle though. Not sure the Concor suits it. I do find them comfortable, but have never tried one over longer distances. Might try a white Regal, or a Flite and see how I get on with them.

Hi,

I have a Campagnolo athena 9 speed hub set for sale. They are NOS, and in their original boxes. I bought them for a project, but have now changed my mind about using them. See pictures below for condition. Bigger pictures here: https://plus.google.com/photos/100580039410761101840/albums/6011757437980946945?authkey=CKjUg5HC2N_P_wE
32 hole front and rear.
No corrosion anywhere (the stuff you can just see on the qr lever in the 4th picture is just glue I think and has now been cleaned off).
Comes with QR skewers.
Please not that these need a 26mm lockring, which is not provided.

I'm looking for £120.00 posted, but open to offers.

Interesting, thanks!

The Nitto's could be ok then, but I definitely prefer a 44cm c-to-c, and don't really want to spend that much cash on a compromised fit.

I missed the 44cm silver Highway one's being back in stock at sjs, so tempted to polish up some black ones.

Unless anyone has any silver ones they want to get rid of?

Do Nitto make the m106 in a 44cm width? Can't find any mention of anything over 42cm.
Also, are the Highway one's flexible as in useless, or flexible as in comfortable?

I read up about the decals too and it seems, as Natal says, that they didn't always have Over Sized written on them. No idea why, year of manufacture maybe?

Either way I'm super excited about this bike. Now I just need to decide what to build it up with!

Thanks again Natal.

Oooh, dibs!
PM on the way

Hi, I need to sell a couple of bikes and am struggling to decide what to ask for them. Any advice would be very much appreciated.

First, a Bob Griffin road bike

More Photos

Here's the spec:
Frame: Bob Griffin 531sl (Seatpost ctc = 62cm. Top tube ctc=57)
Crank: Campagnolo Strada 177.5
Chainrings: 54/
Stem: Cinelli 1a
Handlebars: Cinelli Giro D'Italia 44cm
Headset: Miche
Saddle: Selle San Marco Concor
Seatport: Genetic 27.2
Front Derailleur: Campagnolo Nuevo Gran Sport
Rear Derailleur: Campagnolo Nuevo Gran Sport
Shifters: Suntour symmetric top mount
Hubs: Campagnolo Athena
Rims: Mavic GP4 tubular
Tyres: Vittoria Rally 23c tubular
Brake Calipers: Cherry (long drop)
Brake levers: Galli

And a Trek 1.5 w SRAM Rival

More Photos
Spec:
Frame: 60cm Trek 1.5 2009. Alpha aluminium
Fork: Stock fork carbon w/alu steerer
Stem: Deda zero 2 110mm / 83 deg
Handlebars:Deda Newton / 31.8 clamp / 42cm wide
Headset: Cane Creek
Crankset: SRAM Rival 175mm, compact (50/39)
Bottom Bracket: SRAM Rival GXP
Shifters: SRAM rival carbon levers
FD: SRAM Rival
RD: Sram rival short cage
Cassette: Shimano 105 11-25
Cables: White Jagwire
Brakes: Non branded / out of series
Saddle: Selle Italia SLC
Seatpost: Bontrager carbon
Wheels: Bontrager SSR
Front tyre: Gatorskin 23mm
Rear Tyre: Continental GP 4 Seasons 23mm

I love my Rapha Merino Base Layers, but it's time for some new ones now. However, at about £60 a pop, I'd like to know if there was something of similar niceness for less priceness.

Anyone tried these?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/230969165307?var=530141013886&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

I really like the DHB merino base layers from wiggle. They kept me nice and warm last year, and will be re-emerging soon.
Admittedly I haven't tried rapha's so cant compare. I imagine in the long run the dhb are not quite as durable, as they have a thinner mesh section down the ribs. No problems with them so far though.

Thanks!

It took me a lot of fiddling to get my Avids working with my Apex levers.

I know you've only just built it, but I'd definitely recommend finding some 2nd hand BB7s to replace the BB5s...

With a travel agent fitted to the front, I now get fantastic braking power, I would argue stronger than the hope minis on my MTB.

Yep, that's a good shout. The brakes are ... adequate. Just. I decided to just give it a go before spending any more money, but now a travel agent is high on my list - there's a lot of lever movement before the brakes bite.
Same for BB7's. I got the BB5's quite cheap, but maybe a compromise too far. That said, they stop me and seem quite effective in the wet compared to my other bikes with rim brakes. Maybe I'm in denial.

Absolutely lovely, desticker those rims do ;)

Definitely. As soon as im sure im keeping them :) Nice rims but getting standard tyres on is potentially more effort than I want it to be.

very nice genesis up there, how are you finding it Bewlay?

First impressions are that it's a really nice, reassuring ride - comfortable and steady over all sorts of surfaces. That sounds really boring, but basically it feels like you can chuck it around and just enjoy it without worrying.

It's not fast (that's not what it's for) but when you do get it up to speed it moves pretty well. I'm looking forward to touring on it.
As well as geometry etc, this might be partly down to the weight, but its not as heavy as expected. Anecdotally, I took it for a 30 mile ride with a mate who was on his full carbon road bike. We're relatively matched, and for the first 15 - 20m or so I could keep up. After that it started to feel heavy. But again, that's not what its for.
I was thinking of getting it a carbon fork, but having ridden it I'm worried the lack of weight up front will throw the balance off. Anyone tried this?

Hi - new here - I got a lot of really helpful information from the forum when building my recent project, so I thought I'd share it. Like a spectacularly underwhelming token of gratitude.

As you can see it's a (yet another) pretty standard disc brake / commuter / tourer / potential off roader.

Genesis Croix de Fer 60cm
Hope pro 2 / Stans Arch Ex
32mm Panracer Pasela's (35 mm racing ralph's for off road)
Salsa Cowbell 3 bars
Sram Apex throughout, except the rear derailleur which is Rival medium cage
Avid BB5's
Thomson stem / seatpost
Cane Creek headset
Fizik Arione
Pedals are either Wellgo mtb flats, or Time Atac
SKS Bluemels when I can be bothered to fit them

There are still a few tweaks to riding position and brake setup to be made, but so far I like it a lot. So thanks for all the advice!