The build that never ends.....

Back in 97 I bought my De Rosa frame and built it up with a hotchpotch of the campag parts I had to hand - mostly Chorus and Athena.

By my wedding in 99, which I rode it halfway across Denmark to get to, it was all Chorus but with Dura-Ace brake calipers and SPD-Rs.

By 2002 I was starting to think that it would one day have classic status and maybe I should change everything to the last alloy-levered generation of Record.

By 2006 I'd pretty much got everything - but the cranks were 10-speed 172s and the front mech wasn't the right model. Tyres were also "wrong".

2008 I managed to get a Fizik Pave saddle with the right date stamp.

2010 I managed to get some suitably nice Conti GP3000s in the same grey colour as the frame. And the right 9-speed chainrings.

Last weekend I went out on a 150km ride and had to clean the bike.

YESTERDAY.... I fitted the final part of the puzzle - a correct 170mm 9-speed chainset with much nicer chainrings than the other one, that had arrived that morning. Elation!

While polishing it - I noticed - a 1cm tear in the rear tyre..... CRAP!!! Will this project EVER end? It's been going on longer than my marriage! And we've been married since 1999!

A simple answer, No it never ends...

I have a 2008 Ridley Triton-T which I will never get rid of, it started with full 6600 including wheels and morphed through several different tyre/saddle/equipment changes so it now has full 6700 and no doubt will keep moving forward like that until I retire (or later).

Does it matter? Not in the slightest, as long as you enjoy the bike and it is still sound and safe just ride it!

Have to agree. It never ends. Unless you have the budget, find everything you look for NOS and hang it on your wall. Then never ride it and you're done. But where's the fun in that?