thanks to all the help and guidance from members of STWF I have just finished my first ever build. It was a very steep learning curve (before, I had never even removed a crankset), but the results look pretty good to me.

the spec is as follows:-

Cannondale Caad 5 frame
Marzocchi MX Comp oil forks
Deore XT hubs with Mavic 717 Disc rims
Continental Speed King 2.3 tyres
Easton EA50 stem (110mm)
FSA Carbon Pro O/S riser bars
Superstar lock-on grips
FSA Carbon seatpost
Charge Spoon (cro-mo) saddle in brown
Avid Juicy 5 hydraulics with Clarks sintered pads
Alligator 160mm gold rotors
Deore XTR rear mech (slightly worse for wear… to be replaced) with kcnc gold jockey wheels
Sram 11-34 cassette with Sram 9-speed chain
Blackspire FR 170mm crankset with Blackspire 34t Mono Veloce chainring
Shimano BB ES51 E-type bottom bracket
Gold anodised self-extracting crank bolts, chainring bolts and stem top-cap
Superstar XCR upper chain device
Shimano M540 SPDS

All up build cost is circa £540 and I have the original wheels still to sell.

Can’t wait to get out and try it.

Nice.

where do you get these rotors?

the rotors where from Ready to Ride Cycles via their ebay shop… gogle alligator rotors and off you go.

kcnc jockey wheels 😛 *lust*

Looks sweet. I had a CAAD5 frame for a while with a Lefty DLR on it. Was really quick bike. Shame my significant bulk cracked the chain stay and Crack-n-fail wanted a fortune for a replacement (I wasn’t the original owner so couldn’t get a freeby)

i’ve read the reviews on the caad5 frame and know that they built it too light… there are no cracks so far and i only ride leisurely cross country, so i’ll see how i get on… if the frame breaks, i will simply buy another hardtail frame and swap the bits over (thinking on-one whippet)

That’s exactly what I did. Loved the bike for the 3 years I rode it. Frame failed and I then got a Cotic soul and some new forks.

Enjoy, looks like a quick bike

i’m quite chuffed with the cranket which looks the nuts… i think i must have found the last 5-bolt blackspire mono veloce chainring in the uk to go with the cranks i already had laying about.

Good job on the build. Now go ride it and report back!

I like very much.

I had a CAAD, lovely frames, sold it to someone who I suspect is using it as a commuter such a crying shame 🙁

The lightness was in the fork, the headshocks, even the basic coil/elastomer ones weighed less than SID’s and were hugely stiff.

for my next adventure, i’ve just stripped down my on-one inbred… not sure whether to go ss or not (it’s a geared version with discs and tora 318’s)…. hmmmm