On the brink of pressing go on a Deng Fu carbon road bike. Can’t find anything to excite me at something approaching a reasonable price from any of the main brands I can get good prices on (Trek, Spesh, Fondriest, Look, Pinarello).

Build will be Dura Ace 9070 Di2, FarSports carbon wheels – probably some 50mm clinchers for every day and some silly light 20mm tubs (or go 38s for everyday? Lighter, but less of a difference between the two then). What finishing kit would folk go for? Budget isn’t unlimited, but sensibly high. Up to Enve type money, although not sure I see much merit in Enve themselves, heavy stems, seatposts prone to rounding etc…

Bontrager have always been solid, if a bit dull, Ritchey look good, but I’d have a WCS stem and Superlogic bar and post, which may offend my sensibilities given it’s still quite a lot of money. What else do folk like? Zipp? Easton? Deda?

Aero bars? Seem to add a chunk of weight, and I suspect make 3/5 of sod all difference (not that the weight makes any real difference either). I’m only 68ish kg, so don’t need a massively stiff stem. I imagine carbon bar and post with an alu stem. I prefer ergo drops compared to round – it’s the Ritchey Superlogic Logic II that’s caught my eye. Looks like my current Bontrager RXL Carbon that I like!

I’d go for 3t bar, stem and post. Just classy, well made, stylish components.

I wouldn’t go for aero bars as I’m not a fan of bars with flattened tops. For the bars I’d go for ergosum stealth, then matching stealth stem and post

Build will be Dura Ace 9070 Di2,

Nice group to hang off a Deng Fu!

FarSports carbon wheels – probably some 50mm clinchers for every day and some silly light 20mm tubs (or go 38s for everyday?

What would you use the silly light carbon tubs for? About the only time I’d use them would be hill climbs.

What finishing kit would folk go for?

Most of mine are a mishmash of Deda, FSA and Zipp. Gone carbon bar for the first time here with the K-Force compact and liking that.

What would you use the silly light carbon tubs for? About the only time I’d use them would be hill climbs.

Hill climbs 😉

They do a very light set for not much money. I’ll use them for hilly rides, again, under no illusion they’ll make any real difference, but for £300 for a set of 900g wheels I’m curious! Good for the “my bike weighs X” discussions too! Like I say, I did wonder if I’d be better just getting some 38mm clinchers as all rounders.

Nice group to hang off a Deng Fu!

Well I was going to get something much more expensive, but none of them quite tick all the boxes for me. I was all prepared to get an Emonda SLR or S-Works Tarmac or Madone 9-series. I figure if I’m saving £2k on the frame there’s no reason to downgrade the groupset (and having an additional £300 pair of wheels isn’t much of a hardship either!).

I’ve had my current Madone 10 years (and still love it), and there’s every likelihood I’ll have this a similar length of time, so I don’t mind throwing lots of money at it. Had a bit of a windfall, so the money is there for it.

If disc brakes are ubiqitous in 3 years at least I’ve not sunk insane amounts of money into an obsolete frame as well.

The Deng Fu FM208 is 840g too, so still a decent weight. Was looking at the VeloBuild sommat or other but put off by stories of woeful customer service and QC.

so don’t need a massively stiff stem.

Thats marriage for you…

Ba dum tish! You’re here all week, try the fish. Don’t forget to tip your waitress 😉

I keep looking at Zipp sl-70 aero’s, I’m not 100% convinced by the aero claims either what with them being positioned in front of your legs but think they look cool. Double check the 3T aero bars work for you, the reach is much longer than most bars.

After fitting PlanetX 50mm tubs to my race bike and never feeling bothered by the wind I’m not sure I’d ever go for uber shallow for a nice bike, I’m generalising but 99/100 if it’s really windy it’s rainy here so I’ll be on the bike with guards anyway.

Where you getting it from Njee? I keep looking at the FM086 TT frame, thing is they don’t seem to be that much cheaper than the same version PlanetX have in. (If PX start discounting ’em I’m not sure I’ll be able to resist)

Interesting. I had some 50mm clinchers years ago (Bontrager ones) and they were great on the flat, but really horrible on hilly rides, just felt sluggish. Hence the shallow wheels as well.

I was going to buy through Deng Fu direct, pricing seems reasonable ($725 shipped) and they’ll do custom painting for $53 (very precise!).

Have to say on my ‘dream build’ I love the Ritchey Superlogic II bar and stem. It was weirdly the stem that I fell for when looking at the finishing kit!
I went with Dura Ace mechanical group & wheels apart from the Ritchey. Not a fan of Ritchey posts though – that was the Thomson Masterpiece.

I went from carbon Bontranger Race-X-light to Ritchey WCS evocurve alloy, but then I hated the bontranger for their really sharp bend a the end of the tops which left no room for forearms when on the drops, OTOH I find I can’t get my whole hand in the drop on the evocurve, but I do have big hands. As for stiffness, they’re a lot stiffer than the bontranger, but in a good way (better feel/steering but less fatiguing).

Those Farsport clinchers are probably as light as my PX tubs! Go for it if you do a lot of hill climbs though, it’ll still work out cheaper than one Giant/SpecTrek frame! Personally I doubt I’d use ’em as tubs are like cat AIDS and the deeper wheels seem to work so well.

Cheers, will take another look…

I think Deda makes nice kit , Zipp very nice too.

I don’t do a lot of hill climbs really, but I live in a flat bit between the North and South Downs, so rides tend to be flat or hilly without much crossover, thus choosing between two sets of wheels isn’t all that tough. Moreover I really enjoy climbing, and previous experience tells me that a light set of wheels makes that feel more enjoyable, even if there’s little real world benefit.

I kinda figure while I’m ordering one set it makes sense to get a second pair and consolidate postage. I suspect I could sell them for a sensible sum anyway if I really never use them.

Interesting TINAS, I’m not bothered by the sharp bend in the Bontys, but I do like the slightly convex shape to the drops. The Allez has round compact drops and I find them horrible in comparison.

Just not sure I see the point in carbon stems STL. Heavier for no real advantage.

Ritchey WCS always looks good (had matching forks, stem and bars. Zipp looks dull (no logos). Deda would be my choice to brighten up a plain frame. Nice logos, a splash of red and white. I like it on my track bike.

Or for much matchiness go for Fizik everything (including saddle and bartape)

Njee20, I’m surprised you’re not waiting for a new Madone!

If you decide to go for Deda and fancy the 35’s I can only suggest going to for carbon ones as the Alu ones felt too stiff to me, I had tingly hands after less than an hour. However, the carbon ones are stiffer than I need and really comfy.

Njee20, I’m surprised you’re not waiting for a new Madone!

Well, I was, but the trouble is that I’d much prefer an H1 geometry frame, but that means you have to buy the RSL one, which is £4200 for a frame, and I can’t quite stomach spending that much on a bike given the marginal benefit over something £3k cheaper, particularly given my marginal levels of fitness!

Hadn’t really thought of the 35s though, standard too far I reckon!

Ritchey WCS always looks good (had matching forks, stem and bars.

I have Ritchey fork, headset, stem spacer (one only), stem, bars, bar tape and seatpost on my dry day commuter.

I like matching 🙂

But I wouldn’t call it really nice, just functional and alright.

That’s kinda what I felt about Ritchey. I like it, used to use WCS stuff on the MTB, but it’s almost a bit utilitarian, like Bontrager. Decent, solid kit, sensible weight, not insanely expensive, but just not overly exciting. That said, I’m not sure “exciting” is a characteristic I want from a pair of handlebars. Invokes images of breaking bits!

Fizik is one I’d not considered. Unlikely to take a punt on their saddles as I know what I like, but bars/stems/posts could be interesting.

Fizik is nice kit, and you really can go match crazy – shoes, saddle, seat pack (if you must).

You don’t see it often, which is good.

I was in a similar position a couple of months ago. Slightly higher end frame than you’re looking at, Reynolds Assault’s, Ritchey WCS/Superlogic finishing kit, Fizik carbon Arione and mechanical DA cos I don’t care for electrickery.

Happy with the build though I’d be even happier if it was half a kilo lighter. It came in at 7.2kg ready to ride.

Would be good to get under 6.8kg with the 50mm wheels. Prob gonna go for PowerTap P1 pedals which doesn’t help though.

I seem to have managed to kick my weight weenie habit (though I don’t think it was anywhere near the magnitude of yours njee!) I think it’s a testing thing and my focus moving from weight to aero. Obviously if I can have both then that’s even better 🙂

Haha! I’m not that bad, and never done proper weight weenie on a road bike, nice to have a bit of a target in mind when building though!

New ENVE post is a much better design and requires much less to nip up (5.5 nm). I’m using the compact ENVE bars also, good fit thankfully as I don’t pay for them!

6.8kg is a weird one in its randomness. I wonder how the UCI ended up at 6.8? Notice it is almost exactly 15 lbs, that sounds a more likely number to decide on.

Obsessive weight weeniness seems to have gone a bit out of fashion these days. Quite a few bikes from the pro peloton a fair bit over the UCI limit. Seeing more weighty XC bikes at WC rounds too (usually with RS-1 forks!)

Re Enve… the brand association with Surrey hill mountain bikers with the latest Santa Cruz (with colour co-ordinated decals!) on an Audi roof rack is a bit off putting these days 😉

New ENVE black on black ftw! Unless you’re building a bright show bike….

I built my Colnago C60 with Fizik R1 Bars, Stem and Seatpost and saddle. I like the Arione saddles anyway and I had to have matching collars and cuffs for the rest of bits to satisfy my ocd element.

It’s lovely kit and works well, it’s ‘italian’ and isn’t seen much, just like the frame so that suits me just fine.

New ENVE black on black ftw! Unless you’re building a bright show bike….

For the person who want’s you to know that they have too much money, but doesn’t want you to know that they want you to know.

How about PRO vibe carbon? I’ve had alloy stem and bar and the carbon stuff looks very nice. ENVE is way beyond my affordability but they are a great sponsor!

Think Pro stuff looks a bit cheap TBH.

Fizik looks good, the R1 bars look a nice shape, the stem looks good. Seatpost seems expensive for what it is, but not too bad.

I agree with TINAS and mrblobby re Enve!

New ALR looks nice njee……

Well it all has to match, 3t for the solid if boring choice, got it on my cross bike and it’s all good.

Deda make some nice stuff but it’s not normally light, my road bike kit.

Ritchey is good call, light, nice looking, carbon, although not cheap.

The Zipp stuff has left me somewhat underwhelmed.

The Fizik option is a little unusual, would definitely look into that, matching saddle option too!

Is it that bad in the Surry hills? I tend to be at races or lonesome riding away from things. Easton sl stuff is also pretty good. Bontrager?

Ritchey kit for me belongs on an xc mtb. Don’t know why really as they make some excellent road stuff.

New ENVE post is a much better design and requires much less to nip up (5.5 nm). I’m using the compact ENVE bars also, good fit thankfully as I don’t pay for them!

I’ve got 3 ENVE posts, on 3 different bikes, and they have never moved,

there does seem a dearth of decent finishing kit, unless you go mad weight weenie money and then there are loads,

how about Syntace?

Think Pro stuff looks a bit cheap TBH.

my brother has one of the stem/bar combo’s – its nice, but would be a lot nicer if it was matte UD carbon

Is it that bad in the Surry hills? I tend to be at races or lonesome riding away from things. Easton sl stuff is also pretty good. Bontrager?

there are a lot of Enve equipped SCs certainly! The cliche holds up! Bontrager stuff is good, just a bit dull. The latest stuff is nice though, the XXX bar/stem/post is tempting, understated, functional.

New ALR looks nice njee……

It sounds daft but I don’t think i could psychologically replace a top end carbon frame (albeit an old one) with a mid range alu one from the same brand. The ALR is a chunk heavier than my Madone too.

I think the 3T ergosum carbon with stem looks great. The shape works for me too – but I have alu.

Look forward to an unbiased report on your kit. Especially the wheels.

Deda and Zipp for me. I had the Deda top end alloy and the stem snapped, so I’ve opted for their light alloy bars on a more basic stem!
Deda 35 is really nice, using it on the crosser and plan to put it on my 2016 race bike.

Look forward to an unbiased report on your kit. Especially the wheels.

Deda and Zipp for me. I had the Deda top end alloy and the stem snapped, so I’ve opted for their light alloy bars on a more basic stem!
Deda 35 is really nice, using it on the crosser and plan to put it on my 2016 race bike.

Deda Superzero or Super Legerro a pretty light twin bolts units. That’s what I’ve got/would choose. Also got a Fizik post that’s pretty good. Don’t bother with anything if it hasn’t got two bolts.

3T ARX stems and Pro PLT stems are decent; whip the logos off with some nail polish remover if you’re not keen. They do 140mm lengths for the tall folk aswell. The 10 degree angle of the Pro is a great choice for many modern frames, as it matches the angle of the top tube perfectly. Like wise, if your new frame has a horizontal TT, get a -17 degree 3T stem.

I agree w/regards to the Enve stuff; it looks pish, especially that monstrous stem. Road bike aesthetics are all about clean lines; that stem spoils them.