Ok it's a road bike
but with a twist
January 2013 i will build from scratch my very own audax bike.
Traditionally, audax bikes are quite, well, traditional, taking their cues from the touring bikes of yester-year, quite often steel for comfort or more recently titanium for comfort and lightweight adorned with bolt on mudguards, dynamo cubs and Carradice bags, well in part i shall be joining this fraternity but taking cues from other cycling factions.
Intention is to build a Steel Audax frame & forks, part lugged, part fillet brazed at Downland Cycles with Disc brakes
Spec of components will be largely Ultegra with Hope where possible, some tried and tested parts such as Mavic Open Pro CD rims but with the latest Shutter Precision PD-8 Dynamo hub, latest cyclocross mechanical disc brakes and some carbon where possible to offset the weight of the steel and to further comfort. Additional oddities are likely to be a custom Frame bag instead of the ubiquitous carradice, USB charging off the dynamo for GPS and phone etc
November 2012
2012-11-08
Handlebars:
Easton EC70 Aero Road Bars in white
Purchased from: Merlin Cycles
RRP: £149.99
Price paid: £79.99
the ball is now officially rolling
2012-11-09
Cassette:
Ultegra 12-2810 speed
Purchased from:
RRP:
Price Paid: £42
Chain:
FSA SLK Superlight 10 speed
Purchased from:
RRP:
Price paid: £25
2012-11-12
Shifters/Levers:
Ultegra 6700 10 speed STI levers
Purchased from:
RRP: £
Price paid: £220.49
Rear Derailleur:
Ultegra 6700 10 speed short
Purchased from:
RRP: £
Price paid: £53.99
Seatpost:
FSA SLK Carbon 27.2
Purchased from: Planet X
RRP: £74.95
Price paid: £39.99
2012-11-27
Bikefit at Downland cycles
My first introduction to Downland cycles other than booking the course online...what a great shop, it looked fairly naff and dull from the outside, like and industrial unit, but once inside it was a really nicely laid out shop with visible workshop, on tap teas and coffees and changing rooms.
In separate building was the bikefit room and frame building workshop
Plan was to go through a bike fit, updating my current stead whilst gleaning the relevant information for the forthcoming frame building course.
having looked ta their website and seen the accreditation's they had for bike fit, my expectation was computer alignment through on screen joint recognition bla bla bla, nope it was pretty low tech....a fully adjustable jig which resembles a road bike attached to a turbo trainer, next to it another turbo trainer for my current bike
The time went well, working through from adjusting my shoes then my seating position and finally the bars, Brian wasn't a chatty bloke but seemed to know his stuff, all went without a hitch and was completed in under 2 hours including cup of tea and changing
My Scott was fully adjusted in line with Brian's recommendations and a new Bontrager stem purchased which was considerably steeper and shorter than the stock one
One of the aims i had from the bike fit was to eliminate two "injuries/aches/pains" I suffer from, 1 is a pain at the top left of my left calf just below the knee, the other is a pin behind my right knee cap, as i am writing this in retrospect i can confirm the my left calf is now fine and dandy, however, my right knee is not, i shall be seeking further advice as it seems to be really painful on or off the bike, it usually goes after 20 miles of cycling but if i don't cycle it can get really painful, weird one
this is me before and after:
Yer i know, the camera adds pounds, some how it makes me like i ride a kids bike, honestly i am only 5' 10" and my bike is a rather tall medium cyclocross, hope i don't look that stupid riding it normally.
December 2012
to be continued
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