Waterford ultimate commuter, with pics
 

After an agonizing two month wait, my Waterford frame has arrived. It was built up today and I just rode it for the first time this evening.

BACKGROUND
I was in the market for the ultimate commuter bike, a perfect all-around ride. I ride every day and I wanted something that fit me just right. At 6'4" with some odd proportions, standard geometries left me reaching across a long top tube. My wife and I are selling our car and both bought new bicycles (although I think I got the better end of the deal to her Volpe). My main requirements were disc brakes for wet Seattle winters, a lugged frame, 177.5mm road cranks/gearing, and mounting options for fenders, racks, etc. I wanted something strong and bombproof that required very little wet weather maintenance but was still fun and lively on a weekend ride or solid enough for a light to moderately loaded tour.

COMPONENTS
Frame: Waterford custom based on their RST-22 geometry. The frame is their lugged OS frameset. As for my colors, I went with lug masking. Black metallic on the TT, HT, ST, downtube and fork, and charcoal gray metallic on the lugs and stays.

- Vicious XC disc fork
- Shimano road disc brakes – BR-R505
- Dura Ace triple (177.5mm, 52-39-30), front derailleur, and BB
- Campy Ergopower Centaur shifters & rear derailleur
- Shimano 10 spd. cassette (12-27)
- JTek ShiftMate
- Chris King headset
- Ritchey Comp Streem drop bars and Pro stem
- Salsa Shaft seatpost
- Phil Wood disc hubs laced to DT Swiss TK 7.1 700C rims (36 rear, 32 front)
- DT Swiss Alpine III spokes
- SRAM chain
- Brooks Swift
- XTR SPD pedals
- Continental Grand Prix 4-Season tires - 28mm
- SKS Chromoplasts fenders - 35mm

My first quick ride was tonight, it fits like a glove and was buttery smooth, I couldn't be more excited.

http://home.comcast.net/~davemanelsk...d/IMG_1783.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~davemanelsk...d/IMG_1784.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~davemanelsk...d/IMG_1788.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~davemanelsk...d/IMG_1789.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~davemanelsk...d/IMG_1790.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~davemanelsk...d/IMG_1794.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~davemanelsk...d/IMG_1802.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~davemanelsk...d/IMG_1803.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~davemanelsk...d/IMG_1806.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~davemanelsk...d/IMG_1809.jpg

Footnotes: A miscommunication with Waterford means I didn't get braze-ons on the front fork for my fenders/racks, hence the very inelegant p-clamp. A problem soon to be remedied, but c'mon, would you send it back right away? I'm waiting and riding it awhile before I cut down the fork/stem, hence the huge stack up there right now.

More pics:

http://home.comcast.net/~davemanelsk...d/IMG_1816.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~davemanelsk...d/IMG_1819.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~davemanelsk...d/IMG_1820.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~davemanelsk...d/IMG_1821.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~davemanelsk...d/IMG_1826.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~davemanelsk...d/IMG_1827.jpg

Whoa. That's beautiful. The cranks are pretty long though.

My thought, exactly.

The only thing I'd made different is a Schmidt Dynohub with Solidlights 1203D. And you need a mudflap on that front fender. Hope your bike goes in the office with you.

Holy sh*t! That is a nice fire place! NICE! That's a serious mantle. What is that, gas, wood?

Yeah yea, it was dark outside my garage door, alright :D

How much does that thing weigh? I have a giant ocr touring that's set up pretty much the same, ultegra sti triple, avid road disc brakes, full fenders, spd pedals. All in all, with my tail light, it ended up being like 34 pounds. Now I'm looking at seeing if I can build up a single speed that's roughly half the weight.

It weighs in at a not-so-light 26.5 lbs. With lighter (yet still sturdy) rims and hubs, I could knock off about 2 lbs., but I was going for bomber, low maintenance.

thas pretty dang sexy. how long will it take to feel comfortable locking it up outside downtown for a couple of hours?

Not to mention those brass andirons!

Not a chance of that happening, she will live next to my desk. I was thinking that on tour I'd go for pitlocks though, and a NYFU from Kryptonite.

good god, thats what dreams are made of.

Beautiful, it's like a sexier Trek Portland (ish).

The fork intrigues me quite a bit. It looks pretty tough, and it reminds me of the steel forks on the Jake and older JTS.

Looks like you built up a really fun ride. A truly awesome urban rider. And I'd love to do some light touring with something like that as well--I've heard good things about disk brakes giving you some killer stopping power with a heavy load.

EDIT: Out of curiosity, what wa syour total cost?

Wow. It's not often you get wood for someones commuter, right? Very very nice. And 26.5 is not so heavy either, really. Are you gonna put a rack on that?

I ride with a messenger bag on my commute so I'll probably not put a rack on for everyday use. I have plans to tour however, and will likely add a rack at that time.

I have to ask - Dura-Ace cranks, Phil hubs, but why didn't you go with at least Chorus shifters? Just sayin' is all...

Very nice!


Haven't heard of Shimano road discs; I thought Avid was the only one in that game. I'm not crazy about my Avid's, so I'll be interested to hear how the Shimanos work out.

Oh my...

The only thing I would want differant, is the crank. If you go with Campy, I would have stuck with the Centaur alloy crank. Only because it matches. That, and the Veloce BB is bombproof.

Other than that, you have yourself a commuter from heaven. :D

Because I wanted the durability of aluminum, so I went with '06 Centaur.

I would have gone with Campy cranks, or even Shimano 105's. Honestly, I didn't get Dura-Ace to buy the best cranks, I bought them because they are one of the only splined BB cranks that come in 177.5mm.

If I may suggest, hang the battery pack for the DiNotte from the stem instead of the top tube. It will, at minimum, scuff the paint. Stems are cheap and easy to replace by comparison to having a frame repainted.

My NiteRider battery pack has worn through the paint in about six months of riding. I doesn't matter as much on my alu hybrid, but I'd be heartbroken were it to happen on a Waterford. I've ordered a DiNotte for my road bike, and, having learned my lesson on the hybrid, its battery pack will be riding the stem.

wow...

i really like how they mounted the disk out of the way in back so you can still use fenders and racks normally!

have fun on that!

Very nice. I like the rear disk brake caliper mounting. Doesn't interfere with fender stays or rack if you ever put one on. I like how you picked the components based on function over style, yet it is still a classy ride. Yes, your wife did get the short end of the stick. Time to start planning her Waterford build...

Edit: Looks like max-a-mill and I were thinking the same thing at the same time!

cool, really neat.
I am in love with waterfords,have been since 1999 when I bought my lugged 2200

Uh, wow. Drool. Stunned. Jealous. Envious. Now where's my credit cards? :D