Just built this up as a foul weather bike.

Due to a generous spare parts collection and some careful internet shopping, I was able to buy the frame and fork and build this up cheaper than the 105 equipped full build that Genesis produce.

It isn’t super light (just over 9kgs), but not as heavy as I feared given the combination of steel, discs, handbuilt 32 hole aluminium clinchers and mudguards and it has the steel ride quality I was after. In fairness, the frame is quite competitive, but the weight is in the fork. I wanted a traditional looking bike with mudguards, but with a modern twist and functionality in the form of the disc brakes. This bike will never be raced, but will be ridden in mixed weather conditions, so the pros of discs (consistent, modulated stopping power, no rim wear) far outweighed the cons (weight, UCI approval). Since I want this to be a keeper, I wanted an element of future proofing, and a 135mm rear end with open hydraulic full length hose guides fits the bill nicely, whilst maintaining quite a traditional feel.

The spec was quite fun. It had to be Campagnolo (all of my bikes are and it is just easier that way). It had to have discs. It had to have mudguard eyelets and clearance. It had to have road, not CX geometry. I was originally tempted by a CdF last year, but glad I waited. It had to be reasonably priced.

In terms of the drive components, the chainset was a cracking deal (merlincycles.com) since it was an older model with 10 speed rings as standard. Fulcrum never really caught on for chainsets, and I can’t understand why as they do actually look slightly nicer than Campagnolo and are lower profile. I wanted Ultra Torque, not Power Torque, and the cheapest version that Campagnolo now do is Chorus which was almost double the price. I just bought a Super Record chainset for my CX bike and swapped the chainrings for the Campagnolo CX version, so I was able to fit the spares rings that I removed since the Fulcrum BCD is the same. I went for Athena mechs (shinybikes.com) to save money since they are functionally the same as their more expensive counterparts, but invested in the Chorus levers (merlincycles.com) since they have the same functionality for multi shifts as Record and Super Record. I already had a KMC 11 speed chain in the parts bin.

I built the CX bike recently with Avid BB7 SL’s, which have been great, so the brake choice was clear. The standard BB7’s were half the price (chainreactioncycles.com), and I already had the lighter Avid rotors on the wheels, so a nice halfway house between the weight of standard BB7’s, and BB7 SL’s. I just wish they did them in all black. The silver with red plastic dials looks a bit naff. I swapped all of the bolts to titanium, so other than the finish, they are now identical weight to the SL’s and won’t rust in wet weather. The brakes plus the ti bolts were significantly cheaper than the SL’s. You do get nicer rotors and a nicer finish with the SL’s though, although I already had the rotors and ti rotor bolts anyway. Roll on Campagnolo hydraulics!

Discs have been such a revelation that I have now changed all of my road bikes over. I built the Moots Psyclo X RSL already for CX, followed by this one, and I have a really pimp’d Moots Vamoots DR coming at the end of the month (can’t wait for that one to arrive). For me, the debate is over. Discs are the future for the kind of riding I do (e.g. fast, club runs for fitness rather than racing). The debate will rage for racing with regards to wheel swaps etc, but I am too old for that now. One of the biggest barriers is people with years of rim brake kit. Making the switch can be expensive, but I managed to move early enough that my rim brake kit is still current and this therefore lessened the financial impact. There are some advantages to being an early adopter!

With regards to finishing kit, you can’t go wrong with Thomson (chainreactioncycles.com) and Chris King (aspirevelotech.com). After years of black King components, I fancied something a bit bling to liven up what would have otherwise been a very black bike, so I was tempted by a pink headset. A bit ‘Rapha Continental’ I thought (for better or for worse!). At the point of purchase, I hovered the mouse over the pink button, but chickened out and went for the traditional black with bold logos. I think I won’t regret it, and might have got tired of the pink at some point. I already had the stem. The Zipp bars are the same shape that I have on my other bikes, but in aluminium instead of carbon and again were on a deep discount at merlincycles.com, as was the saddle. Fortunately I already had the King Cage titanium bottle cages. Total extravagance, but beautiful bits of bent metal!

I recently built the wheels as a spare pair for my CX bike, so these are probably the biggest extravagance in terms of spec, and the biggest ‘cheat’ in terms of the overall cost of the project. The Open Pro CDs are well proven, and because of the anodised braking surface they make a great disc rim.

Fitting the mudguards around the discs was a challenge, but a few long spacers and careful stay bending did the trick. They are rock solid.

So, for less than the price of the Genesis full bike, I ended up with something really nice, that fulfils its purpose with a bit of added style, and will hopefully last me a while with a regular squirt of Frame Saver. I know I won’t enjoy the weight, but it will do me good, and the ride quality is a joy

Frameset – Genesis Equilibrium Disc
Aheadset – Chris King NoThreadset
Chainset – Campagnolo Fulcrum R-Torque RS 50/34
Bottom Bracket – Campagnolo Record Ultra Torque cups
Pedals – Look Keo Blade Carbon CroMo
Front Derailleur – Campagnolo Athena
Rear Derailleur – Campagnolo Athena
Shifters – Campagnolo Chorus
Brakes – Avid BB7 Road
Chain – KMC X-11 SL
Cassette – Campagnolo Chorus 12/25
Wheels – Chris King R45 Disc, Mavic Open Pro CD, DT Aerolite Spokes, DT ti ratchet skewers
Tyres – Vittoria Open Pro
Mudguards – SKS Chromoplastic
Stem – Thomson Elite
Bars – Zipp Service Course SL
Seatpost – Thomson Elite
Saddle – Fizik Arione CX
Bottle Cages – King Titanium
Grips – Deda Mistral

Nice ti torx bolt on the brakes. I’m still not sold on the steel fork vs carbon myself, and I like a dash of colour here and there. Nice build.

Could you run a full length outer on the rear gear cable? That’s what I do on my all-weather commuter.

Sweet bike.

I’d have gone with 105 though. Campag seems to be made of chalk these days IME.

yep, thats nice.

Very nice, tempted to get one myself, I have a normal equilibrium that I use for commuting and have just replaced the rims from worn out surfaces. They disc version wasn’t out when I bought mine but would have got that.

I would say you need some mud flaps on the guards, i originally bought the sks pro flaps that fit straight on but I still got huge amounts of spray up. I went searching everywhere for some decent flaps and finally found the raceblade long flaps for sale in 35mm, they fit straight on the chromoplastic p35.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sks-11070-SKS-Rbladelong-spoiler/dp/B0089AX6H2/ref=pd_ybh_3

thats nice

the full 105 ready built does seem steep… same price as the Cannondale Synapse Ultegra disc

Genesis pricing has been ridiculous for the past 3 or 4 years now.

I wish they’d go back to the company they were – honest, well built, excellently designed bikes at reasonable prices.

But no, they’ve gone ‘aspirational’, ie keep hiking the prices ’till sales drop off, then reduce them a little.

Didn’t work with the Grapil or Fortitude, but they don’t seem to have learned from it.

That, sir looks totally evil! Much likey

Genesis pricing has been ridiculous for the past 3 or 4 years now.

+1 and the same for Saracen.

I think they could’ve made a success of it if they’d been more realistic with the pricing and less stingy with the specs.

The Equilibrium is about the only Genesis/Saracen model that isn’t regularly available at 40 to 50% off in the sales each year.

Your bike looks nice OP, but personally I’m sacking off discs for normal calipers (with kool stop pads) on my winter bike build. Never been in a situation where there wasn’t enough braking power with them.

Your bike looks nice OP, but personally I’m sacking off discs for normal calipers (with kool stop pads) on my winter bike build. Never been in a situation where there wasn’t enough braking power with them.

About to fit the kool stops to my Tektro long drops soon, hoping the performance is as good as you say and better than the BBB ones I have atm…

Maybe it’ll stave off the thoughts of a bike like OP’s or the Cannondale

Very nice build.

I’ve got a Genesis CdF (cheapie one with 9 speed Sora, not the full fat Croix de Fer) which I bought last year my first new bike in 22 years – and the first one with drop bars since the 70’s. Currently it’s got cyclecross tyres on it but it might evolve over time with lighter wheels, road tyres and sks mudguards so I can be more road orientated if I want to.

being a real cycling newbie, how much difference in handling is there between a Cx bike (or what the CdF actually is) and something like the Equilibrium?

Road geometry is slightly steeper (and therefore quicker handling in terms of steering response). It will be slightly longer in the top tube (because you don’t need to chuck it about as much as a CX bike, and because it will be slightly more aerodynamic). It will have shorter stays (because it doesn’t need to handle wide tyres, or give mud clearance). This in theory makes the back end more responsive (because there is less flex and the rear wheel is more tucked under the rider). And it will have a lower bb (because it doesn’t need the cornering clearance) which will make it handle better in the bends due to a lower centre of gravity.

All very minor changes, but the sum of these makes road geometry more suitable if the sole intention of the bikes is riding on the black stuff. CX geometry is more compromised on the road, but serves its purpose well.

jerrys – Member

being a real cycling newbie, how much difference in handling is there between a Cx bike (or what the CdF actually is) and something like the Equilibrium?

i’ve got a Cdf, and an equilibrium, they’re (un?)surprisingly similar.

i love them both!

solarider – thanks for your reply, much appreciated.

Out of interest, which stem have you got, the rise looks higher than on my CdF and my back is telling me to change mine 🙂

Nice build, I had a lot less issues with TRP Spyre brakes and guards.

If anyone wants a cheap 60cm frameset, see my profile;-)

A little surprised the Kaffenback 2 frame is only 100g heavier (approx)

I agree with Genesis pricing. I think it is a bit steep. Particularly given what this cost to custom spec.

First ride yesterday, and rides lovely. I wish somebody could tune carbon to give the ride of steel at the without the weight. I so dislike trade-offs! In the end, for its purpose, I would go for the steel ride quality over weight actually. I am fortunate enough to have a nice light bike for when the sun shines.

I have a zero degree rise 110mm Thomson X4 in the picture. If you want something with a zero degree rise, you will have to go MTB. The closest you will get with a road stem is -6 degree. Actually, the Thomson is for sale if you want it. Ironically, I just swapped it out for a 120mm 6 degree to achieve my desired position.

Ref bigdugbaws ad. Mine is a 60cm too. Don’t let the size put you off. Genesis measure stupidly small. This would be classed as a 57cm by most manufacturer’s measurements.

Solarider,

Given that this is a winter build, have you treated the frame with anything to prevent corrosion?

Lovely bike, i bought a Croix de fer but have a secret hankering for one of these instead…

Treated with Wiegle Frame Saver.

Messy stuff, and best done before the build.

I know its an old thread but alas 😆

I contemplate buying the same frameset and mount it with mudguards but wonder what is the biggest size of tyres that I can fit as the chainstay length is not enormous at 41.5 and getting the wheel out can become pretty cumbersome, the bigger the tyre size and mudguard “hinderance”

28 is probably OK but 32 too much ??? 💡 ❓

incidentally I will build it with an alfine but don’t want the day one press fit bottom bracket setup 😕

Am I overlooking things as the equilibrium is more regular speed derailleur setup than alfine compliant but still prefer to have a chain tensioner with this frame ❓

Hooray for the equilibrium love in. Great looking bike! I got mine for £350 about 5 years ago and some 14,000 miles later I’ve still not found an excuse to upgrade. Best value bike purchase I’ve ever made.

edit: only just realised this is a thread resurrection.

The 2015 frame looks like good value at £500, it includes a carbon fork, rack mounts and Di2 compatibility.

The 2015 Equilibrium disc frames are due into Sportline on Friday. I just need to find some brakes and wheels to put on one.