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Thinking of building up my winter bike - most likely a genesis equilibrium in that lovely red with silver 105 groupset and likely 105/open pro wheels.
Looking for ideas for the finishing kit - ideally a matched silver to the 105 - not really up on road parts / brands. Don't want to spend loads but also don't want boat anchors or stuff the finish won't last on in winter. So willing to spend for the right components.
Suggestions?
Dia Compe do some nice polished stuff - also have a look at Genetic for bars, seat posts.
Have a look at the H Plus Son TB14 rims as an alternative to the OPs - low profile retro style, polished silver is an option. You'll be wanting some tan/skin wall tyres too?
Hadn't got as far as tyres or saddle / bar tape colurs. Was thinking brown something like the charge spoon without the chaffing stitching.
Who does tan or white wall tyres then? Charge? And more importantly how do they fair with punctures.
Was thinking of 105 / open pros as I can pick them up for around £150 I'll see what I can get the son rims for...
Open Pros are nice, but they are not polished. They have a matt silver finish that is attractive (of course there is also black and grey). I have samples of all three and eventually fixed on silver for my winter/commuter bike.
And instead of 105, may I suggest Ultegra 6600. Properly shiny kit and not so expensive used. And of course, external cables shift better than internal 10 speed. You will want the matching R650 long drop brakes to fit over the mudguards of your winter bike. These are also part of the Ultegra 6600 groupset, though not labelled as such.
Hmmm can I pick up 6600 anywhere new? 105 is £300 from Merlin, was looking to keep the whole build under £1k, any more and my Sunday bike budget will start to get reduced, and we definitely don't want that 🙂
Dia compe stuff looks nice, towards the higher end of what I was looking to spend. It seems Thomson stuff is a bit cheaper than when I last bought some. Always liked the silver stems, layback post would look horrible though
There's some polished Identiti rims which look good on retro builds.
Ritchey Classic range looks good and is reasonably priced.
Have a look on www.hubjub.co.uk lots of silver shiny stuff.
Trawl Ebay. It's seriously nice kit that looks suitably retro. You'll need the R650 brakes anyway. I had to source a RD after I trashed mine, and a very kind gentleman delivered it to my door. Stuff comes up pretty often and is likely to have been on a good/best bike, so not abused.
Freshtripe is worth a look for VO and other classic styled kit.
Grand Bois tyres come in tan wall, and are supposed to be great. Not cheap though.
You can get Thomson posts inline, rather than layback. Unless you're saying you need some sort of setback, but you don't like the way Thomson does it?
OP I'm on the same sort of mission as you.
The silver of 105 is a little dull, go for Campag silver(I've got Veloce, it's the equivalent of 105) - it's a much higher polish.
The Ritchey Classic stuff is good although some of the parts look a little white rather than silver, and batches vary (based on two different stems).
If you want gum wall tyres [u]don't[/u] get Veloflex masters unless you want to get loads of punctures.
As mentioned Ritchey Classic is nice and reasonably light. Hope, Deda and vintage stuff, or Ti to consider. Have been known to spend winter evenings polishing black kit with emery-cloth, thought it might spoil / oxidate but stayed OK.
The linked bike did not have the front wheel or tape at the time of picturing but was nearly there.
Campag Veloce groupset, ritchey classic bar, stem and seatpost.
this build had open pro handbuilts but I;ve built a lot of wheels on H+Son TB14 polished rims and I would say they are almost as good as the open pro.
Velocity A23 rims in silver on shiny silver Ambrosio Zenith hubs look awesome and won't break the bank.
I had a pair built by JRA about two years ago, still shiny and silky smooth after two cumbrian winters.... cartridge bearings so don't need much upkeep.
Some great suggestions, and both bikes look lovely, in fact matthewshotbolt is almost exactly as I envisage it....though I was planning on something other than white bar tape as I've experienced winter and white tap = grey tape !
Will go off googling veloce
Been looking on ebay for the older ultegra, not much there 2nd hand other than cranks and they seem to be £75ish, and new shifters for £200!!
the tape was absent in the picture but he went for black to match his saddle.
the only thing I would have done to change the way the bike looked would be Brooks honey coloured bar tape and a matching saddle.
Challenge tyres for natural side walls.
If you want classic try Spa cycles for their own saddles.
Keeping 10 speed?
Why not used Campag. Plenty in silver.
Remember black is for tyre tread and brake blocks.
struggling to find anywhere that stocks veloce. Looks like this will be quite a mission.
part of the fun is sourcing the parts:)
Conti now do a nice gumwall version of their Grand Prix tyre. Stuck them on some TB14s on a similar sounding build. They look ace(IMO!). Also went with Ritchey Classic finishing kit to keep it shiny. Good luck with it.
Anyone with a chicken cycles or I-ride account could get you a veloce groupset
The cassette is a bit heavy, but otherwise good. Campag fits your style of bike more than Shimano imo.
I was thinking about this today; bikes used to lookso much nice with simple,polished components, rather than the anodised/multitone nasty lookiig stuff now.
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Ribble are out of stock of the shifters but crc have them in, no rush as I need to sell some kit to fund the build so will watch ebay etc...to see if I can pick up some nearly new kit.
I think I'm sold on veloce and ritchey classic. How is the clearance with the calliper for a mudguard? The frame says it is designed for long drop.
I have a set of prolite braccainos in shiny silver too, but they are a shimano freehub, and from reading about I can't use a shimano cassette and chain and I can't seem to find a campy freehub. Reckon they will need a rebuild too as I haven't had much luck with alloy nipples and winter riding
I have a shiny polished Genesis road stem in mint condition, quite nice quality stuff like most of their finishing kit.
Drop me a line if interested. Email in profile.
🙂
Veloce is nice. Indeed, any used campag groupset. If you want 9 speed, then Tiagra was also shiny and the shifters were nicer than 10 speed. If you are in no immediate hurry, I could be persuaded to part with my 6600 groupset, because I was thinking of upgrading to 10 speed Ultegra Di2 on the race bike later this season.
Mmmm. Shiny!
So, after some more research I've read the veloce chainset requires a special (and expensive) tool to fit / remove. Anyone confirm if this is the case?
I've been quite taken with some of the kit on fresttripe. Chucked everything I fancied in the shopping basket and it came out at around £350 😯