We did one of our little away days from Haarlem today, this is Edam. Lovely little village, famous the world over for some very boring cheese
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That is a jolly sexy bike.
We did one of our little away days from Haarlem today, this is Edam. Lovely little village, famous the world over for some very boring cheese
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Cool As F. But why no pedals! Can't ride it far without pedals.
The fork looks "interesting". Is it a fox? That reverse arch looks like it's going crunch into the down tune under compression, but presumably it won't, and what's the tyre clearances?
Nevertheless, dream machine.
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I don't think so, the compression of the fork is clearly far less than the gap between the arch and the downtube.
Lovely bike.
I'd guess the frame will be £1.5-£2k
Cotic Cascade offers something similar for a bit less cash. But not as special that's for sure
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Last edited by xxnick1975; 7th October 2023 at 21:07.
Yes, very cool.
No pedals, as it was about to go into a box bound for a bike show in Dresden,Germany. ( Bespoked 13 - 15/10/23 ) where it will be on show on the Schwalbe stand.
Yes, that is a Fox fork, very cool and first one I have seen like this and do not worry that arch will be no where near the down tube at full compression.
I am not sure of the tyre clearance figures as I was photographing for Curtis Bikes, but good clearance as this is a full custom and thought out machine.
It will be going on Curtis Website very soon.
Sorry I am not sure, but if you are interested drop Curtis bikes an email or give them a call.
I know, this bike is the first of few variants that is coming soon, I got a call Wednesday from Curtis Bikes to ask if I could come and take some pictures.
I was there on Thursday before it was shipped to Germany for the Bespoked Bike show.
I went to Curtis 50 Anniversary year event last summer and took my camera, to capture the, event, the bikes and the Curtis Bikes Family. These shots are on their Website.
I am looking forward to getting one soon, the quality of these frames are absolutely outstanding.
Last edited by pastrana72; 8th October 2023 at 10:08.
Nice work Clinton, paid I presume?
How you they contacted you for the photo shoot (we all know your photography is quality)
Cheers,
Ben
..... for I have become the Jedi of flippers
" an extravagance is anything you buy that is of no earthly use to your wife "
Hi Ben, thank you.
Not paid for this one, I am doing it for a friend and for the experience for my portfolio.
Payment was offered but happy to do for the experience.
I went to their 50th Anniversary event last year, took loads of pictures I was happy with, so shared them with them.
Their Photographer tragically lost his life at a Motorcross event this year, so they contacted me to ask if I could help on a project they working on and obviously I am happy to help.
I have been doing a few events for experience and portfolio, photography is a hobby and something I get enjoyment from.
Shot a cracking portrait of the chap In Taunton Market, who has the booth doing watch straps and batteries for decades, do you know him?
Cheers,
Ben
..... for I have become the Jedi of flippers
" an extravagance is anything you buy that is of no earthly use to your wife "
Changed my much loved 2017 rim braked supersix the other month for this....mainly for vanity / cos i was a bit bored but my god road bikes have come on a lot in the last 6 years.
It's a lovely fusion between my gravel bike (Fairlight secan) and my old road bike - it's planted but the handling is telepathic....it's simply wonderful. Quite enjoying di2 as well. Sadly no pics do the colour justice, it's a lovely shimmery green with dayglo yellow accents. Cannondale are knocking it out the park with colours this year but you have to see them in the carbon. Similarly no pics can convey how narrow the seapost and seatpost tube is.
P.s the bars are now lowered a bit but that was a faff and a half that i didn't want attempt myself
Last edited by Lazydonkey; 9th October 2023 at 11:48.
That’s who I thought it was Clinton.
Nice portrait.
Cheers,
Ben
..... for I have become the Jedi of flippers
" an extravagance is anything you buy that is of no earthly use to your wife "
Quick google shows those Fox forks ( 32TC) are gravel specific , adjustable upto 50 mm a cool £600 for a pair. Specialised do a “ futureshock” built into the headset that has 20 mm of travel. However the Curtis should slow then energy getting to the frame, resulting in less buzz and feel more planted.
Love that! I was just looking at it online too, quite tempted but I don’t think I get out enough on my current bike to justify a change! Is Di2 worthwhile? I always thought it seemed lazy but most seem to be going that way now so again I am tempted….i mean, how hard is it to manually shift??
There is obviously nothing hard about shifting manually, especially if it is set up correctly.
But there is something that is intrinsically satisfying about using electronic gears. It’s hard to quantify but after having a couple of bikes with Di2, I wouldn’t willingly go back. And that’s before you start messing with the semi-auto and auto options.
To add to this ^^^^^ Shimano have made the shift !! to electronic shifting on all groupsets from 105 and above. I would think all £2000 plus bikes in 2/3 years will all be Di2 or Sram red etc.
Just as an aside there was a BMW parked at my local bike store reg no D12 XTR ;)
There's a soul to mechanical gears though unlike all this new quartz electronic shifting...
Last edited by Dean Learner; 11th October 2023 at 14:55.
No, it's a hybrid of wired and wireless.
Sram's patents have made their solution difficult to replicate.
Thanks for the Di2/eTap comments. Certainly something I will look for in future but for now I’ve just dropped a wedge on a new set of wheels (Campy Bora WTO 45). I was itching for an upgrade and this seemed like i would see the biggest change.
Is upgrading from manual Ultegra (R8000) to Di2 (either 105 or Ultegra) do-able…or just get a new bike. I ride a 2020 BMC SLR01 TWO Ultegra for what it’s worth.
Last edited by ManCityDG; 11th October 2023 at 19:43.
The cannondale is my first electronic groupset and i've been jumping between it (105 di2) and grx 800 1x....and i'd say that di2 is totally worth it if you go full syncro and then it's just like running a 1x with a huge range. One button makes it harder, one makes it easier. i've also reprogrammed my left shifter so the levers work the opposite way round from mechanical... as it then keeps the nearest the brake is easier, further away is harder and it works in my head. Only negative so far is the buttons would be difficult to tell apart with full gloves on. But it's a summer bike so no real issue.
I worried that i wouldn't like mechanical grx after getting used to di2 but it's been fine.
Full syncro is very very cool though,
As in worth the effort and finances. But yes that too. I’ve just watched a video on YouTube (below) of a guy doing the upgrade himself. Looks hard graft 😂
His bike is similar to mine only I have rim brakes.
https://youtu.be/y79T6L0ePHI?feature=shared
Ah, I see. I'm not familiar with your frame but - practically - I don't think I'd bother going electronic if there were e.g. external cable stops and no place to put the battery other than under the down tube or whatever.
If the frame had internal routing, was Di2-optimised (if you will) and I could find a good deal, maybe. Don't know if upgrade kits are available but a complete Ultegra 12 speed Di2 groupset can be had for around £1300.
I think 11 speed Shimano hubs work with 12 speed cassettes so your new wheels should be OK. Not a Shimano expert by any means though.
The bike industry constantly dreams up new stuff to keep selling.
DI 2 will be replaced by something snazzier in a couple of years any way. Electronic hub gears, infinite ratios that maintain your cadence blah blah blah.
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I did...not voluntarily in that I broke my Di2 bike during lockdown/Shimano supply issues time, and sourcing a Di2 bike at the time was hard and added literally £2k to the cost.
No regrets TBH, Ultegra cable shifting is good, but I did like Di2 a lot, and will certainly go to it again.
What I didn't like about Di2 was the two times I ran out of battery (user error, but before the times you could see the level on your Garmin), and the time the cable came out of the right shifter (installed incorrectly) and I had to ride up Watlington Hill in 7th gear (average cadence circa 45rpm 😬 ).
On balance though I would say 50/50 on the group rides I've been on between Di2 issues versus cable issues or some such on mechanical.
But yes, it's a great system and I look forward to get back to it 👍
Anyone else come across this problem before. It works, they don’t fall out but my bottle cages are too close to each other and it bugs me. Only one bottle will sit in flush. I can’t install the cages any higher than they already are.
Does anyone know of any cages that will sit more flush to the frame. I’m reluctant to buy 2 more incase they’re the same
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That would annoy me ... have a look at the cages as usually they have different mounting options to allow you to move the one on the down tube towards the head tube ... if not you will need to buy some new cages ...
That's pretty much what he's already said.
You could try these as a low cost gamble if there's no local bike shop to visit and test options. They are one of the most popular cages around and have been for many years, pro peloton use them a lot.
https://www.wiggle.com/p/elite-custo...B&gclsrc=aw.ds
Cheers mate. Far more adjustable compared to those I’ve currently got. Should definitely do the trick
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I use these side loading Zee cages that might work for you.
https://www.specialized.com/gb/en/ze...ext=43020-2114
I use the seat tube cage for a tool bottle mostly. Convenient place to carry things.
Sunday was perfect weather for a little 25 mile retro MTB/gravel jaunt. Need to get out more.