Tadah..... My Chinese Carbon Twenty Chiner...

Well, it's finally built, tested in Bellurgan Park and Ravensdale and I'm happy to announce that feck all broke on the maiden ride.  A bit of fine tuning for the saddle height, fore and aft and tyre pressures required.

The final piece of the jigsaw....... has arrived.

Well, finally.. it's arrived, the 32T chainring, like a child, can't wait for this working day to end so I can get the chainring on the cranks, chain sized and rear mech dialed in.  Then out for a spin to make sure all is tightened up correctly...

Completed build photo's to follow, watch this space...

WIGGLE - since when does this look like this....Part 2!!

All I can say is, Wiggle, this...

Still doesn't look like, this...

Anyway, cutting a long story short, I'm returning the 2 incorrect Hope brackets and SLX shifter to Wiggle, they just can't get it right!!  Reverting to the SRAM Type 2 rear mech which CRC got right, old X7 10 speed shifter until I can get a good deal on an X9 or X0 and the Formula Matchmaker bracket.  All I need now to complete the build is, 1 x chainring which is hopefully being delivered tomorrow by Karl :).

WIGGLE - since when does this look like this....!!

Damn you wiggle, only 3 items to get and 2 were from you, and 1 was wrong of course.  Seeing as I ditched the idea of a SRAM Type 2/Grip Shift setup, I'd ordered a hope shifter mount clamp for the Formula RX brakes.  Only needing 1 of course (this is a 1 x 10 setup) and 1 shifter (SLX I Spec shifter @ £20 odd can't be bad), ordered, delivered, Arghhhh.  Not compatible with the shifter, or the clamp, whichever way, it's more of a delay now.  Ordered again just now, it'll probably arrive before the weekend, hopefully.

What I wanted...

And what I got!!

A bit of good news though, weighed the bike as it stands at the moment (only things missing, chain, shifter and chainring).  Comes in at a respectable 9kg (without pedals) and that's with a healthy amount of Stans in each of the Specialized Fast Track tyres (which aren't lightweight at around 1200gms for the pair (29" x 2.25")).  Maybe get my hands on some seriously light Racing Ralphs and get a sub 9kg HT. 

Super Glue, only thing it seems to stick to is me!!

Well, got home, out with the torx bits and proceeded to butcher the crank arms, well actually remove the spider from the drive side arm.  They were tight enough, careful now, don't want to screw them up.  Anyway job done, cheap Argos scales out once more for the before and after shot!

So coming in at a hefty 737gms complete with spider and 2 x chain rings.

And after a bit of doctoring, a mere 544gms, add on around 50gms for the 32T and I've saved around 150gms, bonus.

So to the super glue.  The chainstays on the frame are quite beefy and looking around the likes of the Lizard Skin chainstay protector in Jumbo size just won't cut it and I don't particularly want one of those stick on leather patches which will invariably fall off in due course.  Having found this random video on Youtube I set about making it, well feck me, talk about awkward, more glue on my fingers than the trimmed inner tube and the only thing that was sticking was my hands to the inner tube or the tube of super glue!!.  Abandon that idea, go for the "Old Skool" chainstay protector.  Job done, and not a bad one at that and at no expense at all.

So, cranks installed (it's a case of RTFM when you're installing BB30 cranks) the spacers don't go where you'd like them to go and you see the wavy washer which normally is on the drive side of a GXP, well it doesn't go there either.  I had great fun removing the spindle from the frame after I'd greased everything up!!

"Old Skool" chainstay protector

Maybe I can stop using the new bike build as a balance bike soon!!

Another piece of the jigsaw arrived this morning, SRAM X9 crankset.  Super value for money £50 including delivery from EBay.  26/39 80/120 BCD chainrings which will save me a bunch on the next set of replacements for my SRAM XX crankset on the Anthem, win, win.  As per the EBay listing these chainrings weren't used, they were just pulled off a new bike and this can be clearly seen in the photo's.  I've kind of been impatient with the progress of the build, I want it yesterday attitude, cos it's so damn light, so, I've been riding around the house on the top tube of my 29er balance bike.  That'll have to stop now :)

The intention with the crankset is to remove the spider which holds the 2 chainrings onto the crank arm and install a spiderless or direct mount chainring.  If you look at the image below, you'll see the 3 retaining screws (marked).  It's just a case of removing the 3 screws, remove the spider and install the chainring and 3 screws, easy.  Now the only downside is that the drive side spacer is only 9mm, so I've had to go with a chainring with little or no dishing.  AbsoluteBlack are producing a Narrow/Wide chainring to suit the standard spindle length (they already produce one for the longer spindle).  So in the meantime, my EBay special 32T (£13) will be the testing ground to see whether I've enough gears climbing or flat speed before I invest in Narrow/Wide chainring.

The cost of doing online business...

What's the cost to me so far?

Carbon saddle - $30 (Aliexpress.com)

Frame, 3 mech hangers and headset - $345 (Aliexpress.com)

Carbon flat bar - $47.49 (Aliexpress.com)

GBP £250
EURO €315

SRAM X9 39/26 BB30 crankset - £50 (EBay New)

MRP Direct mount chain ring 32T - £13 (EBay New)

SRAM BB30 bearing kit - £22 (CRC)

Effex Frame Protection - £10.99 (CRC)

SRAM X0 10 speed Grip Shifter £69.99 (CRC)

SRAM X9 Type 2 Mech - £64.99 (CRC)
Ritchey Foam Grips - £10 (CRC)
Motion Control Damper and Remote Lockout - £15 (EBay)
Hope Shifter Mount Clamp Race - XT/Saint - £11.88 (Wiggle)

GBP £137
EURO €173

To be purchased:

XT or SLX 10 speed shifter - £20 >

Total cost excluding the 10 speed shifter:  £382 or €482 (crap EURO rate at the moment, 1.26)

Update, SLX shifter bought for £22.39 so grand total now is £404.39 or €511

Anything that's missing from the list I already had, sitting doing nothing.

Cheap as chips.....