My “Budget” Road Bike build

[>> Bender <<]

I thought the BPL folk would get a kick out of this. I have been seriously into mountain biking for years so it was about time for a road bike. I budgeted $1000 but after a few tweaks the build total was $1296.13 and $121.36 for shipping & tax for a grand total of $1417.49. Saving more weight can easily cost a few dollars per gram.

Weight: 14.09 lbs or 6389g

Some components are new and some used. The biggest score was $30 for a pair of Sram Rival double tap shifters from Craigs list. The shifters were crashed and had no hoods. I took a file to the levers and was able to smooth out the scrapes. After some fine sand paper and aluminum polish they look awesome! For hoods I used 2" heat shrink like I have seen here on the forums. The Prologo c.150 saddle was also a great deal. It was only $26 but scuffed up and well used. Some calf skin and contact adhesive were all that was needed to reupholster it! The KCNC CB1 brakes killed the budget but got it closer to the sub 14 pound barrier. Its hard to find inexpensive brakes much under 300g. Ride impressions: the bike feels like a rocket ship! Handling is quick but not twitchy. Comfort is fine but I haven't done any very long rides on it. Being an MTBer I have little to compare with.

Critique the build :D

Bottom Bracket: Crank Brothers Cyan Titanium without center tube 142 $50.00
Rear Brakes: KCNC CB1 & SwissStop Green Pads 167g $87.50
Front Brakes: KCNC CB1 & SwissStop Green Pads 0g $87.50
Cables: Yokozuna Reaction housing & cables 166g $44.21
Cassette: Dura Ace CS-7800 12:27 195g $81.00
Chain: KMC X10 256g $0.00
Crankset: FSA K-Force ISIS 53:39 172.5mm Alloy Bolts 525g $51.25
–Crank Bolts: FSA Aluminum 21g $3.95
Derlr (Front) Sram Rival 102g $23.00
Derlr (Rear) Sram Rival 189g $10.00
Fork: Hong Fu FM015 367g $0.00
Frame: Hong Fu FM015 55cm 3k 1124g $277.00
Grips: Scattante Cork tape 54g $6.39
Handlebar: Syntace Racelite 2 42 cm 202g $62.02
Headset: Hong-Fu Integrated 73g $0.00
Headset Cap/Bolt: 0g
Pedals: Bebop Stainless 195 $34.99
Quick Releases: eBay TI QR no springs 47g $19.99
Seat Binder: KCNC SC11 34.9mm 11g $17.95
Seat: Prologo c.one50 reupholstered calfskin 170g $26.00
Seatpost: Hylix Carbon 31.6 cut to 330mm alloy brake nut + steel bolt 149g $60.00
Shifters: Sram Rival with 2" Heat Shrink Hoods 310g $30.00
Stem: Ritchey WCS 4 Axis 120mm 123g $24.95
Tire (Front) Michelin Race Pro 3 Light 23mm 181g $32.97
Tire (Rear): Michelin Race Pro 3 Light 23mm 182g $32.97
Tubes: Michelin Latex 161g $23.78
Wheelset (Front): Complete with veloplugs 547g
Wheelset (Rear): Complete with veloplugs 718g
Wheelset: 0
–Rims: Kinlin XR-200 20h 376g & 24h 381g 0g $70.00
–Spokes: DT Revolution $34.76
–Nipples: Alloy $3.95
–Front Hub: BikeHubStore 66g 20 hole $35.00
–Rear Hub: BikeHubStore 211g 24 hole 16:8 $65.00
Misc Option: BB Cable guide & Inline cable adjusters 12g $0.00

[John S.]

Looks great. Congrats.

[Craig Savage]

wow, great job hunting this stuff out. for me, if this bike ever sees a crit… consider alloy bars to match the stem. I have actually seen the very expensive, carbon punji sticks that are born from mayhem

I didn't see a chain keeper? meh, I love my Time and I don't have one either. again, great job!

[>> Bender <<]

Craig the Racelite 2 is much stiffer than the original Racelite :) The bike is built for speed & comfort; it won't see any racing. A few things may change but overall I'm very happy with the bike.

[Greg Wheelwright]

Very nice weightweenie build, lotta bang for the buck. The only thing questionable is your rear wheel build. 24 spoke rear wheels built with Revolutions tend to be fragile and flexy unless you're a flyweight.

[>> Bender <<]

Greg I don't weigh a lot at least for my height. The interesting bit about the rear wheel is the spoke lacing. I went with 16:8 which means there are 16 spokes on the drive side and 8 non drive side. This equalizes the spoke tension much better than the standard 12:12. For a heavier rider the Kinlin XR-270 rim would be a better choice than XR-200. FYI I built the wheels mostly from parts at BikeHubStore.com

[Greg Wheelwright]

That's an interesting way to balance tension between the spokes. I'm a little more conservative but most of my wheels are built for other riders.

How do you like the Superlight hubs? Have you used the mountain version or the Rotaz disc models?

[larry savage]

Glad to see you changed the brake pads on the KCNCs, you would not be happy camper with the stock pad.

[>> Bender <<]

The Bike Hub Store hubs have been fine so far. The bearings are silky smooth. The front spins for a few minutes in the truing stand! The rear hub is a bit loud though. I haven't tried Rotaz but they are popular. For the MTB I have American Classic disk hubs laced to AMC 350 rims & Marwi TI spokes. I chose 3x lacing all around. With 28 & 32 spokes the MTB wheels are only 1311g.

Larry the Swiss Stop pads completely transform the brakes!

[Craig Savage]

The bike is built for speed & comfort; it won't see any racing. A few things may change but overall I'm very happy with the bike.

no joke, that stack height makes it scream "speed". be safe out there!

[Adam Kilpatrick]

Is that spoke pattern similar to the Campy wheels lacing?

The only thing that scares me with that (I have a Khamsin wheelset that I'm less worried about as its heavy and has 27 spokes) is breaking one spoke and inducing a massive wheel wobble on a downhill decent. But that that could happen with 24 spokes with any lacing pattern. I probably weigh too much to ever consider that few spokes myself (78kg atm).

[>> Bender <<]

Adam the lacing is like the Khamsin but without the triple spoke grouping at the rim. I thought your 27 spokes was a typo but it makes sense with 18:9. A broken NDS spoke on such a wheel would cause a huge wobble. Broken spokes are rare on a well built wheel so I don't worry about it. Butted spokes generally have a much higher fatigue life and bladed spokes like CX Ray are higher yet.

[Adam Kilpatrick]

Yeah if you are keeping it pretty light and rebuild your wheel before it gets too old you should be fine.

[Craig Savage]

The bearings are silky smooth. The front spins for a few minutes in the truing stand!

this one still spins away

[>> Bender <<]

Awesome I had Nuke Proof hubs back in the day!

[Lobby Robert]

Awesome, I like Your bike.thanks for sharing your such a nice bike with us.

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[W I S N E R !]

How's the overall quality of the frame/fork look to you? Everything straight and finished well, BB threads, etc. good?

I've heard about Hong Fu and thought about one but have been hesitant because I've yet to see a frame in person.

Thanks.

And by the way, nice ride…it looks like it puts a lot of pricier bikes with big names written on them to shame.

[Ken Helwig]

Bender, great job, she looks great!

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