Another frame building course... done, dusted and ridden :)

[DA-EVO]

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So, two days ago I turned up at Enigma with a bunch of parts, hoping that I'd manage to get bits that fitted my new frame OK and also hoping I hadn't forgot anything. I had arranged with Enigma that I would get some help building the bike, largely because I wanted to get it right and I wasn't sure on how to do some of the bits (bottom bracket being one of the things) but also I wanted to find out how they managed to bolt together some very nice bikes.

I was firstly pointed at the wheel building jig where I placed my lovely round wheels that I'd laced a few days earlier. Except, well, they were not that round really. This was the first time I'd used an actual jig and it had dial gauges on it and everything. Thus I had a bit of time to try and sort out getting the wheels actually round and try not to inflict too much strain on the springs. actually after a while, they did become quite round. All that said, I had a whole bike to build and the wheels were round and I then put the tyres on

The next step was the headset, which needed a little persuasion to go in. Reaming has to be done carefully as it does generate a bit of heat and it can upset the paint. As mentioned, as far as possible I was using parts that were from EU countries (yes I know its a bit of a stretch to say they were made there) but my hope headset looked fine on the bike and finally the forks and the frame were on speaking terms.

 

[DA-EVO]

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Next up, I got a bit of help and asisstance fitting the Campagnolo BB as it wasn't one I'd done before. We also had to make a little adjustment for clearance of the chainset on the frame which made for an interesting 1/2 hour. The paint on the bike was also looking really well done (whether you like the colour or not the job is really good) so I had to remove a little bit of paint at points to fit a few parts and not snag up a load of paint behind things.

As time was getting on, I had to cut back on taking the pics and get on with building the bike. I also had some great help from Greg who discussed how we would go about things or ask me what I wanted, sometimes we agreed on how things were done other times he had some ideas that were er... well better really so that was useful and I picked up a good few things including the difference between doing bar tape OK and doing it really well.

The day was moving along and the parts were being stuck into place.

 

[DA-EVO]

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So, even down to the dying moments of the day we were fitting bits, bar tape, cables and so on. As people were starting to go home I was starting to infringe on someones evening but they were more than happy to get the bike finished with me. The final obstacle was a little bit of paint in the downtube which was causing the seatpost to be rather reluctant to go in, but at around 6:00pm the wheels of my new bike finally hit the floor for the first time. Job Done.

 

[MRGRUMPY]

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That is cracking.
The paint job is awesome.Well done my man.
I hope it rides as you want it to.
☺☺

 

[DA-EVO]

Re: Re:

That is cracking.
The paint job is awesome.Well done my man.
I hope it rides as you want it to.
☺☺

Cheers The guy who painted it was a star and was really enthusiastic about it all, although that might have been the paint fumes

I'm just waiting for a nice day now, don't want the 1st ride to be in torrential rain.

 

[DA-EVO]

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Rides 1 and 2.

On Saturday I could have sworn that the new bike was looking at me funny in a sort of 'Are we going biking then or what' kind of way. So after 2 weeks of just the short commute to work, I put on the bike clothes and ventured outside with my new bike. This was actually the first time that I'd seen the bike in daylight / sunlight and, rather biasedly, I thought it looked really good.

I was a little sceptical as to how I would feel riding my own bike, but I couldn't help smirk as I clipped into my pedal and pushed off down the road.

So without waiting a moment, I went straight for coffee, covering a whole .75 miles in doing so. After that, it was actually time to do some biking and therefore I set of on a 15 mile loop near to home in case there were any gremlins or problems. This was a bit cautious as actually from the off and no doubt due to the assistance I got at Enigma, there really wasn't any problems at all. 15 miles done and I figured that was a good start, more coffee and a quick photo and we're done for the day.

Ride 2 was the following day, which was not quite as sunny and had more dampness attached. I even got the bike muddy and managed a minor scratch for good luck! So largely, I have put it away for a few days until things improve with the weather.

The bike rides nicely and that's probably no small part in due to a comination of Enigma, Geoff Roberts, Bike Cad and so on and of course a lot of iterations of the history of the bike. However, I quite liked it but as the weather was a bit inclement, I was a bit cautious and still had in my mind the thought of the the bloke stood there, tongue poking out of mouth, welding it (me). Therefore it'll take a few more hills and corners to understand if it handles well and climbs nicely.

So that's it, I noted its not yet snapped, its still in one piece, it got coated in mud, scratched. It is therefore officially one of my bikes

 

[Mike Muz]

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Well done mate, that looks fantastic !

Hope to see it in the flesh soon, probably at a certain cafe in town !

Mike :xmas-wink:

 

[DA-EVO]

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Well done mate, that looks fantastic !

Hope to see it in the flesh soon, probably at a certain cafe in town !

Mike :xmas-wink:

Going to get some different tyres to deal with the Winter weather, yeah, hope to catch up soon.

 

[The History Man]

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Nice job and a good read.

Very cool to have a unique ride.

 

[DA-EVO]

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Nice job and a good read.

Very cool to have a unique ride.

Thanks, much appreciated. As a man with many bikes in the stable, I think doing this sort of thing would suit you down to the ground Plus, how can you get rid of a bike when its got your own name on it?