My loving babe is treating me to a once in a lifetime custom bike for my 40th and I can't wait. Most of it has arrived, just waiting for the frame, spoken with the frame builder mark reilly from enigma bikes and it's nearly ready for dispatch… Hubs sent to harry rowland for build…
Stainless xcr frame
king r45 hubs with excellight rims 32h 3 cross rear 28h 2 cross front
force 2010 groupset
just contemplating what finishing kit to go for
ooohhh baby….

You used 'darkside', 'babe' and 'ooohhh baby' in one post. I refuse to listen to anything else you say.

Sounds like a midlife crisis to me.

Should have boght something good if its a once in a lifetime bike…..like a Pinarello Dogma or similar 🙂

Oh and as already pointed out, Darkside, FFS !

ee20 and misterp You are both so right… But I still can't wait.

tragically1969

please! A plastic frame can never be a once in a lifetime build. They are funtional, not fine engineering.

You used 'darkside', 'babe' and 'ooohhh baby' in one post. I refuse to listen to anything else you say.

+1

Do people realize how ridiculous these words are when used in public? All you need now is to add a "bless" and you'd have the set!

😉

Having said that I would be interested to see the frame, Enigma are rather nice.

Richey finishing kit? Or Syntace?

Richey finishing kit? Or Syntace?

ooohh, neither i should hope, got to be ITM or 3T ?

Nice frame!

like a Pinarello Dogma or similar

Interesting thread on Weight Weenies about how heavy some of the Dogmas were coming out. Combined with the fact they're absolutely gopping. I'd still love a Prince though!

Ritchey finishing kit is nice, dunno what I'd use these days.

Well I think the OPs bike sounds flipping lovely!

Looking forward to the obligatory pics. What colour have you opted for?

You used 'darkside', 'babe' and 'ooohhh baby' in one post. I refuse to listen to anything else you say.

+1

Do people realize how ridiculous these words are when used in public? All you need now is to add a "bless" and you'd have the set!

My loving babe is treating me to a once in a lifetime custom bike for my 40th

It's a road bike not the dark side and start talking you age.
Nice soundng bike though.

currently thinking of Thompson or 3t post & 3t k-wing compact bars (use those bars on my other road bike and they are perfect). Enigma are doing me a colour matching stem. And it'll be the same White as shown on their website elite bike. Asked them to leave the right chainstay bare polished stainless as per my old chromed White tommassini was back in 1988. Polished braze on hanger and all tubing micro tig welded. King hubs and headset (subtle graphics versions) in pewter. Mark advised to use columbus' new retro full carbon fork that's specificaly designed for non-integrated headsets to give cleaner lines. That's also being colour matched.

Btw suitably ch?s?tened about innapropriate forum terminology.

When I said 3t I realy meant FSA

So where is this dream bike, please send me some pics, cheers

finally built her up and i'm chuffed to bits.

full set of pics here: clicky here – flickr

As a rule I find most [whisperssoasnottoupsettheselfappointedforumvocabularypolice]
darkside
[/whispersoasnottoupsettheselfappointedforumvocabularypolice] bikes to be much of a muchness, but that looks sweet.

nice flowers…the grass looks healthy… 😉

Bike looks lovely and hope she is all you were hoping for…

I had this made to measure 853 frame when i was forty, it makes all the difference cus it fits me properly 😛

Sorry crap photo

looks very nice…

it makes all the difference cus it fits me properly

Your steerer begs to differ. 😉

Bar angle FAIL
Bar tape/saddle mismatch FAIL

looks nice other than that :o)

Your steerer begs to differ.

I'd just built it soft lad 🙄

like the look of that enigma but the angles dont quite look right , did you specify them or did enigma do em ?

charge and fizik make brown tape to match your saddle btw

in reply to trail_rat – frame angles 73 seat, 74 head. specified by Mark @ Enigma. I did hunt high and low for bar tape to a) feel right and b) match colour of saddle. but didn't like the feel of the others (brooks, fizik and charge) – this stuff from Cinelli feels great, and will age well by darkening up with use and abuse since it's good quality thick leather.

Which one of the following is the correct spelling – gawping or gopping? That to my tastes is the answer to my previous question.

perhaps its just the shaping of the forks that make it look wrong angles then .. used to seeing straight blade carbon on modern machines.

to compare angles – the Cervelo is 73 deg f&r

seat angles look about the same but the head angle looks steeper than the numbers suggest esp when compared to that cervelo. although the forks look a bit shorter imho on the enigma which would steepen the headangle – could all be camera trickery mind but it just doesnt look like the most stable at speed – who am i to doubt enigma though

btw flip – love the rourke ! one of the few frame builders around that can stick a nice paint job on and not make his bike looks like a homebrew ….

I had King hubs on my roadbike a while ago. There was so much drag in the freehub the chain went slack freewheeling in the small cog, sometimes throwing the chain off.

Not funny descending the Glandon at 50mph+! It'll be interesting to see if the new road hubs are an improvement.

There was so much drag in the freehub the chain went slack freewheeling in the small cog, sometimes throwing the chain off.

indeed this used to keep me away from King hubs, but having seen these new R45's in use localy, I was impressed. King have done a great job of engineering this hub specificly suited for road use. I can spin these and watch them for ages as they gently spin and spin with little friction slowing them down. just like a good old pair of 1980's campag record hubs I have.

Bar angle FAIL

quite right old man…. indeed on the inaugural ride this morning I found the saddle was needing to be tilted up a smidge and the bars rotated forwards a couple of smidges.. well spotted

Agree with trail_rat on the head angle, particularly compared to the Cervelo, does look a bit 'twitchy'!

Two points:

– that bike is lovely, I hope you're very, very pleased with it.

– if I can say, in 9 years time "My loving babe is treating me to a once in a lifetime custom bike for my 40th" I shall be a happy chap. Ignore the haters, they don't have a loving babe, just "'er indoors" or "bitchface". 🙂

The saddle and bar tape are making the sweet baby Jesus cry.