RiddleOfSteel

Classic near-sunset ambient light photo "session" before a test ride, and then an impromptu ride with @ctak for 23 miles or so around the city. He was testing a new setup on a bike of his, and both of ours did well. After wringing my hands over needing a bike that could just shut up the poor roads, with said bike needing 35mm tires at least, a setting of 75F/84R on these Conti 28s with latex tubes ended up doing incredibly well. The Impulse was a very happy bike, which is, in the end, the goal. If it's happy to be a bike, I'm more than happy to ride it. It's almost as if it said, "Finally, you give me the parts I want!" even if I've had these same wheels, tires, tubes, seatpost, and saddle in the previous 105-level build where it didn't seem to fare nearly as well.

The 50/34 setup in front looks a bit small on such a BIG and very white frame. The 11-28 cassette out back was nice to have for ratio tuning, but my goal is to better proportion the drivetrain against the massive frame by running a 53/39 and 11-32 combo. It will give me the same low ratio, while bumping up my top end, which I will appreciate. As of now, this bike weighs just 20.4 lbs as pictured. The Innicycle headset looks fire (as the kids, and apparently I, say) with the slender Deda stem. We were almost done with the ride and the thought "Could this be my only bike?" crossed my mind, completely unprovoked. That was huge. I had wanted to do this combo of headset and componentry since I bought the bike, and most riding leading up to this point had been disappointing or just lacking in some critical regard. It was not supposed to be this good upon a semi-windy mid-50s test ride and subsequent 20+ mile ride around town. Heck, it was doing work for me in a number of places--completely out of the blue.

Anyways, I hope to get better photos soon, and in perhaps a different location but for now, just a side view. This is why we build and ride bikes.

bear_a_bug 

RiddleOfSteel , great build - got some stormtrooper vibes with that black/white contrast.

This thread was making me regret selling my Impulse a few years but bulgie 's notes on the narrow clearances reminded me that I, in fact, prefer tires wider than 30mm. Still, the Impulse was a blast to ride when I wasn't hitting expansion cracks or rough roads.

JaccoW

Gorgeous bike, bravo!

RiddleOfSteel

Thank you! I hear ya on the narrow clearances. I basically threw the kitchen sink at this to give me some margin when hitting big cracks/gaps/expansion joints/Paris-Roubaix-wannabe streets. The Impulse very much lives up to its name, and its ability to handle considerable wattage simply means that it's no fluffy blanket when it comes time to surface irregularities. It's a very honest bike. It's also one's friend, where it has that subconscious connection to its rider--no weird steering, no lagging out-of-saddle characteristics, just giving back whatever you put into it. For a rapid but plush ride, I have my 720 as well as my Trek FX (which I did a drop bar conversion on, and it's epic), which is now getting 5800 105 since I took the Dura-Ace on it and gave it to the Impulse.

An interesting note on braking. Every generation, companies are touting their calipers are stronger or discs are stronger and all of this stuff. Dura-Ace 9000 braking power, with Kool Stops, is plenty good. Lots of modulation built into the system it seems. Dura-Ace 7800? Plenty good as well. So is the 7900 generation. I suppose I tend to measure a braking system's effectiveness by it's eagerness to stop me. In that case, 7402 levers matched to 7800 calipers with Kool Stops is easily the most vicious of all of these, which I find great, and also quite interesting. A good V-brake setup is also vicious in initial bite and sustained effort. Perhaps the trade-off to that is brake buzz, especially under light application. Disc brakes, especially hydraulic disc brakes, never seem to bite as hard as everybody makes them out to. They're plenty fine, but V's hit harder (and yes, these are properly setup and bedded in Shimano disc units). Anyway, just some observations as I've ridden through the years--I'm not starting a debate here. As long as the brakes on one's bike stop them sufficiently, that's what matters. 9000 brakes do their job well, with no buzzing or weird vibrations or noise.

RiddleOfSteel

Thank you, Jacco!

An update on the gearing, especially since you and me ride very tall frames that dwarf their componentry: I have a 53/39 chainset coming soon, having scoured ebay for a pair that didn't cost what a complete crankset does and have succeeded. I was really angling for a 54T big ring just because the frame is so big, and because it'd be hilarious (to me), but alas, they were much too expensive. Can't wait!