The X bike

[Pickle]

Wow, that is mint

 

[brocklanders023]

Really good build and story. Thanks for sharing.

 

[magicmistertea]

wow... amazing detail in your build, I love threads like this written allmost as a book with progress pics.
My favourite parts are the grips !! what are they ? i really want some silver ones...
very very nice build

 

[mike_eb]

Love it, a really well planned and executed build.

I cannot help but think some egg will steal it though...

However that would probably get Mary in the paper!

Good work

 

[ragnar1984]

........and a red reflector maybe

You must have eyes like an eagle :shock:
Bonus points to you for spotting the reflector

Can i bring a frame round to be painted black

Bring cake too. I'll put the kettle on

I frickin hate gold!!!!

My favourite parts are the grips !! what are they ? i really want some silver ones.

They are Portland Design Works Speed Metal grips.
I found them on eBay. They are available in silver too.

I cannot help but think some egg will steal it though...

However that would probably get Mary in the paper!

The thought of theft has struck my mind, but I doubt that it will ever be out of our sight. And yes, should it happen it would certainly generate publicity and what politican doesn't want that?

 

[mikee]

amazing attention to detail m8
very nice build log too

let us know how mary fares in the election

 

[skinnyboy]

Sweden is ace! Love that build mate.

 

[mikesnowdon]

Bike is sooo

Its just my opinion but the rims would be my only criticism. Black would look better and with proper mtb tyres too. Dot get me wrong though, I really like it and well done!

 

[Dead Rats]

superb work - a totally custom build... excellent!!

 

[ragnar1984]

... I love threads like this written allmost as a book with progress pics.

I love writing threads like this
Actually there's more to tell about The X bike, but I had to restrain myself because the page was getting slow to load with all the pictures. A picture tells a thousand words but it takes a thousand times the bandwidth too!

But seeing that we now are on a picture-less page two, I just might tell the story of how I combined a 1" threaded steerer with a 1 1/8" threaded headset and a threadless stem.
That's almost a little build thread in its own right

...but the rims would be my only criticism. Black would look better and with proper mtb tyres too

Criticism is always welcome
But Mary doesn't agree with you

I want gold, lots of gold!

I actually made a mock-up in Photoshop with black rims and some knobbly tyres. I felt that the bike looked too bottom heavy, like a big black blob with a little gold sprinkled on top. That impression gets even more exaggerated with the matte black crankset I'm planning to mount.

When I suggested black wheels, Mary didn't say anything but she gave me That Look(tm), so I think the golden rims will stay

There are two reasons for the Schwalbe Marathons.
One: Mary likes to bike but she's not an avid MTBer. The roughest terrain The X bike will ever see is maybe a well kept gravel road. There's no need for big knobs.
Two: As she's running for high office, she is being scrutinized by media in every way possible. If the tabloids can find anything at all to rack down on, they will. That means that The X bike has to be entirely street legal. Swedish law mandates lights and reflectors when it's dark. The reflective white stripe on the tyre sidewalls means that we can avoid the ghastly spoke reflectors.

PS. I can't believe I'm here talking about the visual impression of a bike. I'm an IT guy for ****s sake. I do network performance tuning and database clusters and stuff. I don't really do "impressions", honest...