Northern California - All Done!

Finally done. 54cm Surly Pacer built to go far away. I finished on Sunday afternoon and have put only 52 miles on it in the last 2 days - I absolutely love it. Going from a stock-out-of-box carbon bike to this hand built steel roadie with Ultegra, Dura-Ace and Ritchey components, I'm much happier with this custom build.

After riding only fixed for the last 2 months, having a geared bike again sure is nice.

Yes, that is an anodized blue cable end :D

http://www.uglypads.com/steelisreal.jpg

http://www.uglypads.com/steelisreal2.jpg

Very classy build. Simple and stunning. Congrats.

Thank you! That was exactly what I was going for.

Beautiful! :thumb:

But tell us - How does it RIDE?

Beautiful! :thumb:

But tell us - How does it RIDE?

Rides like a dream! Very smooth, and the combo between 700c X 28 Gatorskins and the plush steel ride, it glides over the bumps and lumps like a Cadillac. You really can't go wrong with Dura-Ace shifters, too.

My goal was to build a non-racy, comfortable ride that I can go forever on. I used to have one of those Scattante CFR Race bikes and I did a century on it and it killed me. It just didn't fit me and I learned that building a custom bike, although a bit more expensive, was really the route to go. I know it is unlikely, but I was a little nervous about bombing down a hill at 45MPH on my carbon bike - took away my confidence. I feel a lot better on a steel steed. The geometry climbs SO easy.

My brother really helped me pick out components and we finished it Sunday afternoon in Santa Cruz. I drove back to San Jose, got dressed, and took it out for the first time which, I thought, was just going to be a 20 mile quickie. I soon found myself 20-30-40 miles before I needed to beat the sunset to get back home. I could've kept going - and unlike my CFR, it didn't beat me up so I had the energy to go.

Fits every one of my expectations. I guess when you spend a $$$$, time and research on a build, it's worth it in the end - much better that a stock bike for me.

nice! very clean!!! that is a lot of spacers though, but it blends well with the shifters and seatpost collar.

Why are you afraid of going fast with carbon?

nice! very clean!!! that is a lot of spacers though, but it blends well with the shifters and seatpost collar.

Why are you afraid of going fast with carbon?

Not really... I psyche myself out with it more than anything - imagining bombing down a hill and the thing exploding - which is is less likely than me eating it due to rider error.

As far as the spacers are concerned, I was going for more comfort so I wanted a less agressive bar position. And in case I ever have to swap stems, I wanted plenty of room to accomodate.

That's a seriously sweet ride you've got now. Yeah, you don't need to be too agressive in your position on long hauls. Hey, is that steel lugs I see on the fork? Pretty classic.

Wow.. that's beautiful. Man I love silver bits. So classy and jsut plain pretty. Nice job.