The retro-grouch credo is not necessarily Luddite. Don't change that thing if it doesn't make it better. I wanted to see how far I could push a steel bike into the really light range. The answer is "Not Far", but probably as far as I want to go. I don't think that I'd be comfortable on a 13 pound bike...
At the same time, I did not want to stray from the classic and vintage bike very far, and didn't want to break my poor little piggy bank while doing it. So, shy away from boutique parts, and stick with the classic flavor.
Down tube shifters are a must, because I like 'em and don't see one thing wrong with the way that they work. 10 speeds in the rear are available, and i just luuuv to ride at 102 rpm. Up hill, down hill, into the wind, with the wind, into the bumps and gravel. 102 rpm, if I can manage it. Those 10 rear cogs really get me closer to that ideal, and so 10 speeds there are.
At the same time I really like those campy brifters under my hands. Fortunately campy saw fit to offer brake levers without the rifter guts. I didn't have to buy an expensive pair of brifters and gut 'em myself...
The frame itself is Reynolds steel, assembled in the modern mode. I think that TIG likely makes a little lighter frame than lugs or fillet-brazing. It is just, well, ugly. Sorry, I know I'm being snobbity, but TIG is not esthetically pleasing. On the other hand, this fits me nearly perfectly, and I appreciate the ride.
The original fork was brazed up from 531, and rode very nicely too. But it was way fat. The carbon fork trade removed over a pound from the bike (and I never could get a Grammo stem for what I thought was reasonable). So, carbon fork it is. I think that this carbon fork stiffens the front end, which is good for me out of the saddle.
The group is mostly Campy Carbon Record 10, from the last couple of years or so. Not the lightest, but pretty darned light, and Campy has my best interests at heart (I think. At least they would like for me to live a couple of more years so that they can beat the maximum profit out of me).
- Ritchey WCS road stem. Honest 103 grams. Beautiful to look at.
- Easton EC-90 bars. I know that multi-bend bars are not "new", but I can't get over thinking that they are. These bars are bent just like I like 'em, and executed in carbon, so they weigh very little (about 180 grams...). I just can't expect 'em to hold up in a get off, now can I? I can't expect me to hold up in a get off anymore, either. So I choose my packs carefully, and spend a lot of time riding by myself...
- The square taper record bottom bracket. Light, but not weird. Carbon Record Cranks to fit that bottom bracket. It is good to have a few AR friends that must have the latest, hollow-bottom-bracket, outboard bearing thingies on their bikes.
- Electron wheels that have been discussed in a thread a while back. 1500 grams or so for the pair, about as light as I dare to ride with my fat butt suspended over 'em.
- Ultremo tires and tubes. About 255 grams each wheel. Tubular weight, if not quite tubular ride.
- Campy Steel/TI cogset. I tried to score a full TI set, and that would have saved considerable weight, but would have cost about twice what the frame and fork originally cost. So, Steel/TI.
- I replaced the skewers with the only boutique parts on the bike. From Black-ops, a TI and Carbon set. They were pretty cheap on eBay.
- the brakes are the only new parts on the bike - Record Skeleton D brakes from 2008. Really light, and the rear is really a conventional side pull. Not zero gravity, not zero gravity cost, either.
- The saddle is a selle italia SLR, honestly 135 grams, and I like it.
It was not cheap, but really not breathtakingly expensive either. The whole thing cost me less than a used Ghisallo frame...if I switched out the Havnoonian for the Ghisallo, I'd be in the 14 pound range, wouldn't I? I just bought Patti a new road bike for Christmas, a Specialized Ruby Expert, with the new Ultegra SL group on it (her old road bike is almost moving into the Vintage category...she has about 10 years on a Trek 5200 with about 3K miles per year on it). That bike weighs almost exactly what the Havnoonian weighs (w/o pedals, again). Costs nearly twice as much, too, but it is new, and very pretty.
The chain is supposed to be assembled only using the Campy tool which costs about 100$...I put this one together with a Raleigh 10-speed tool. Honestly, it didn't go well, but it went together, and I expect it to stay together for a while...
How does the Harry ride? I dunno. I have single-handedly reversed the global warming trend by putting this bike together. It has snowed every day since the bike was completed, and the temperature has never gone above about 20 degrees farenheit. The weather is cold all of the way down to Gainesville Fla. I guess you could say that I've used up all of my Carbon Credits.
heh.