Thought it may be wise to make a record of my build for future reference. Will be stating weights from $20 digital scales and prices of the parts delivered. So here it is…
Decided to replace my old cecil walker with something a bit more modern. Ended up getting a Look KX Light ‘frameset’ off ebay.
The frame is approximately 2003-2005ish and 53cm. Diamond Carbon fibre tubing and alloy lugs. Sadly the frame alone weights quite a bit at 1561g. Have given it a good clean and mild polish, unfortunately the downtube cable adjusters were fused in (snapped when attempting to undo them), so spent a good few hours boring them out and re-tapping the thread. Frame has a few usual marks, bubbles and scratches, but solid for the age.
‘Frameset’ cost $675 delivered and, as show in the image, came with:
FSA Carbon pro post - keeping
Tektro RX20C Dual pivot brakes - keeping
ITM 90mm Stem - keeping
Easton EA50 bars - selling
Ambrosio A7-a forks - Weigh 632g with topcap (ouch) so plan to sell these (they do look nice imo though)
San Marco ProRace saddle - will sell
FSA IS headset - bearings were shot and will need a new crown race for replacement forks, so keeping this for spares.
Will hopefully sell the unwanted parts for $80+ making remaining parts = $595
For the wheelset I ended up going with some ‘Halo Mercury Aero Race’ clinchers. Chose these because they are fairly cheap and light. Wiggle had 10% off instock wheels, would have preferred these in red, but only white was instock.
They get mixed reviews online (as do most wheelsets in this price range). Also picked up some velox rimtape, conti race tubes, conti Force + Attack tyre set and ‘Blue label’ quick release Ti skewers.
From initial inspection the wheels seem reasonable. To be picky, I would question the spoke tension, and the grade of alloy used might not be the very best… black axles??. Half of the stickers were not on properly too (required to peel off half of the sticker and ‘restick’). So basicaly, they are quality ‘cheapy’ wheels, but they are not ‘top spec wheels’ at a cheap price. Also the price does not include tape or skewers, which is something to consider.
With rubber etc:
Part | Price paid | Weight
Halo Mercury Aero Race Clincher Front Wheel | $135 | 667g
Halo Mercury Aero Race Clincher Rear Wheel | $192 | 977g
Blue Label Titanium ROAD Hollow Axle Skewer Set Silver | $28 | F-24g R-26g
Continental Grand Prix Attack/Force Road Tyre Twin Pack | $84 | Force-192g Attack-198g
Velox rim tape X2 | $7 (3.50x2) | 34g (17x2 *includes packaging)
Continental Race 18-25 60mm presta tubes X2 | $16 (8x2) | 214g (107x2)
Get a roll of Stan’s 19mm rim tape it’s only 5g per wheel and a roll that’ll do 5 wheel will cost you $12 from wiggle
Grams that cheap don’t come to easy!
Even though I still haven’t resolved my frames headtube spacer issues, I decided to clean up and service my shifters.
Ending up buying some used SRAM Red shifters for $257 delivered.
The hoods were worn and the clamp bolts were a tad rusty so bought some hudz clear hoods ($17) and titanium tbolt and nut ($20).
The hudz weighed in at 48g vs stock sram worn hoods at 44g.
Ti bolts and nuts were 8g vs stock steel at 14g.
After clean regrease new hoods and bolts, shifters weighed in at 284g.
To make the build look a bit more professional I think you should consider re-fitting the tyres so that the Continental label is sitting centred at the valve hole.
Pull he stickers from the wheels and get rid of the valve caps and the threaded washers from the valve stems…
That’s a free 10-15g per wheel and the wheels will look helps nicer… ( the threaded washers are a drama any way… They come loose making ‘fucked wheel bearing’ noises and they’ll scratch the rim up when you get the shits with them coming loose and tightening them up)
Here is a pic of my mismatched headset which is a combo of a Giant TCR integrated headset (needed for 45degree races), a FSA carbon headset top cover, and some Canecreek shims and a custom washer.
All up the cost of the headset after I will sell off the remainders will come to around: $125 (ouch)
86grams
As mentioned early, the forks I received with the frame were on the heavy side. So scored some Ritchey WCS Carbon forks with 45mm rake in near new condition: $160 Delivered
297grams (with crown race and ‘star nut’)
So bolted that up and a bunch of other stuff:
Parts included:
Sram force bottom bracket (NEW) - $35? | 110g
Sram force compact crankset (NEW) - $150 delivered | 665g
Look carbon spacers - $20? | ?g
ITM 90mm stem with Ti bolt upgrade - $37 for bolts and washers (ouch) | 149g (-10g from bolts) [thought initial weight was less than this, should have gone a different route]
FSA Carbon Pro Compact Wing bars - $57.50 delivered | 320g
Bioflex Ti rail saddle - $46 - 208g
FSA carbon pro seatpost with Ti bolts - $16 bolts and washers - 220g
Haven’t adjusted bike fit yet, but have bolted on the brakes:
Planet X CNC Ultralight brakes - $135 delivered | 208g the pair
Quite happy with these brakes, good quality, come with all required tools and Ti and Alloy hardware. Also come with swisstop greens. Very good value.
All up 2332g which is extremely hefty. I would try and focus on reducing the weight of your wheels. Anything decent with an Open Pro rim should be in the 1800g region, while a good mid range wheel like the Mavic Ksyrium will be around 1500g. That’s almost 850g less in rotating weight.
My evne extralite wheelset comes in at 1800g, tires, cassette and skewers
That’s still a good Weight given the cost…
So far things look pretty good. U might want a torque wrench and some carbon paste though…
Over torquing bolts with carbon bars and stearing tubes can get expensive real easy
sugarkane: I am using FSA carbon paste and doing the torque by hand. Spent many years on cars etc, so trust my feel better than my old dodgey torque wrench.
dayne: forks are 1 1/8inch … I will be selling the ambrosio forks sometime in the future, they look nicer than the ritcheys but given they are alloy steerer they weigh a bit more than the monocoque full carbon ritcheys.
You can get a 5mm hex with a 5nm click real cheap from a number of places…
The face plate bolts on my stem will snap at 3.5nm and cost 40€ a set I wouldn’t even look at the things with out a torque wrench…
The old feel method is good +/-2nm on a good day
