Starting the OFFICIAL Steel club.
#2076
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Location: Utah
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Guess it's been awhile so I can do a little update.
The Olmo is completed:

As is the David Kirk built Fishlips bike.

The Softride has been sorted out with some tasteful upgrades that turned it into my fastest bike.

Then I picked up a modern remake of the classic 1930's path racer, a Pashley Guv'nor. It's so comfortable and fun to ride!

I also picked up another Raleigh Team USA for the supercool paint job. I've run it in both road and "gravel" configuration.

Nice cushy 700 x 27 Veloflex tubulars with Suntour Superbe parts.

Fat 700 x 36 CX tires on Fulcrum Racing 1 wheels and it has an old "suspension" saddle on it now that's not in this picture.
And finally this beast of a steel bike that's pretty much an amazingly designed wonder bike with all sorts of shaped tubing. This thing is a rocket for sure even though I'm still sorting it out.
The Olmo is completed:

As is the David Kirk built Fishlips bike.

The Softride has been sorted out with some tasteful upgrades that turned it into my fastest bike.

Then I picked up a modern remake of the classic 1930's path racer, a Pashley Guv'nor. It's so comfortable and fun to ride!

I also picked up another Raleigh Team USA for the supercool paint job. I've run it in both road and "gravel" configuration.

Nice cushy 700 x 27 Veloflex tubulars with Suntour Superbe parts.

Fat 700 x 36 CX tires on Fulcrum Racing 1 wheels and it has an old "suspension" saddle on it now that's not in this picture.
And finally this beast of a steel bike that's pretty much an amazingly designed wonder bike with all sorts of shaped tubing. This thing is a rocket for sure even though I'm still sorting it out.

__________________
Steel is real...and comfy.
Steel is real...and comfy.
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#2078
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Ritchey Road Logic RB. 2015+ Chorus 11 with a pre-2015 Record 11 chainset. Love the HED Belgium R rims but they make for a heavy set of wheels. With my Shamals the RB it right around 17.25 lbs, but around 18.5 lbs with the Belgiums.

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#2079
Sunshine
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Des Moines, IA
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Bikes: '18 class built steel roadbike, '19 Fairlight Secan, '88 Schwinn Premis , Black Mountain Cycles Monstercross V4, '89 Novara Trionfo
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#2080
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Ritchey Carbon Streem. They look a bit funny with the new bartape I put on - I couldn’t get it to lie flat without a huge amount of overlap on the bend between the tops and the brake hoods so there’s a lot of bar tape thickness in the bend.
Last edited by RGMN; 07-03-22 at 10:21 AM. Reason: Add link
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#2085
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Location: Utah
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Bikes: Paletti,Pinarello Monviso,Duell Vienna,Giordana XL Super(2)Lemond Maillot Juane (2) & custom,PDG Paramount,Serotta CSI,Fuji Opus III,Davidson Impulse,Pashley Guv'nor,Evans,Fishlips,Prologue TT,Y-Foil,Softride, Tetra Pro, CAAD8 Optimo,Klein Quantum II
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Not at all, it's quite good and smoking fast. Get it around the mid 20 mph range and it just seems to take off on it's own while the pedaling effort seems to ease off.
Of course that is a mountain bike saddle on it so maybe that's why it's comfortable, LOL! That and the cushy Veloflex tires.
I have had harsh riding bikes that I needed to smooth out with fatter tires, Fizik Kurves saddles, etc. This one just feels light and smooth under me. I haven't needed to play with the setup at all and I ride on some pretty crappy chipseal roads.
Of course that is a mountain bike saddle on it so maybe that's why it's comfortable, LOL! That and the cushy Veloflex tires.
I have had harsh riding bikes that I needed to smooth out with fatter tires, Fizik Kurves saddles, etc. This one just feels light and smooth under me. I haven't needed to play with the setup at all and I ride on some pretty crappy chipseal roads.
__________________
Steel is real...and comfy.
Steel is real...and comfy.
Last edited by jamesdak; 07-03-22 at 08:18 PM.
#2086
Sunshine
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Des Moines, IA
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I haven't really considered saddles to be road or mtb. For that matter, cx and gravel also aren't saddle categories in my mind.
I don't know what makes a saddle be categorized as a road, cx, or mtb saddle. I figure the shapes are really in the end just different in order to accommodate each of our unique posteriors.
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#2087
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Location: Utah
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The fact that you have an mtb saddle on there is news to me. Definitely jot an 'of course' moment for this guy. It looks like a saddle.
I haven't really considered saddles to be road or mtb. For that matter, cx and gravel also aren't saddle categories in my mind.
I don't know what makes a saddle be categorized as a road, cx, or mtb saddle. I figure the shapes are really in the end just different in order to accommodate each of our unique posteriors.
I haven't really considered saddles to be road or mtb. For that matter, cx and gravel also aren't saddle categories in my mind.
I don't know what makes a saddle be categorized as a road, cx, or mtb saddle. I figure the shapes are really in the end just different in order to accommodate each of our unique posteriors.

__________________
Steel is real...and comfy.
Steel is real...and comfy.
#2088
Newbie
Cross-posted from Miyata thread.
1984 Miyata 710 frame powdercoated, built up as 1x11 with 105 R7000 shifters, brakes and hubs, Deore XT M8000 11-40T cassette, GRX RX812 RD. Cranks are from NOS 105 FC-1055 with 42T Wolf Tooth ring.



1984 Miyata 710 frame powdercoated, built up as 1x11 with 105 R7000 shifters, brakes and hubs, Deore XT M8000 11-40T cassette, GRX RX812 RD. Cranks are from NOS 105 FC-1055 with 42T Wolf Tooth ring.




Last edited by Prunesquallor; 07-28-22 at 09:00 AM.
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#2089
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#2090
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I meant to say decades.
#2092
Sunshine
Join Date: Aug 2014
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#2093
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Bikes: Casati Laser, Colnago Tecnos, Ciöcc Exige, Black Mountain Cycles Road
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Black Mountain Cycles Road, with Whisky fork

1995 Colnago Tecnos

2001 Casati Laser Acciaio
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#2095
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Location: Tulsa, OK
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Bikes: 2005 Orbea Spirit + 2018 Specialized Diverge; Gone but not forgotten1987 Centurion Ironman Master; 1974 Raleigh Grand Prix; 1978 Austro-Daimler Vent Noir II;2003 Specialized Allez Comp; 1974 Raleigh Sports; 1953 Claud Butler Colson 3-Speed
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Orbea Spirit, 2005
After a couple of years trying to make a Specialized Diverge my do-it-all bike, I really wanted to get back on a real road bike. I like tinkering and rebuilding, so my summer plan was to get a quality steel frame with 130 dropouts that fit me well, and separately to find a quality 10 speed groupset, then build it up into my dream bike. I thought the whole project would approach $1000 and take a few months. But, a few weeks ago, this appeared on the market near me:

We met at a Sinclair station a couple hours from my home. The owner had built it up when it was new.
It is a 2005 Orbea Spirit, built with Columbus Spirit tubing, with a Campagnolo Chorus Carbon 10 speed groupset, Zeus carbon fork and seatpost, and Mavic Open Pro rims. And it was way, way less than budgeted for the frame and groupset!

After some messing around with it to make it more suitable to me - older and fatter than the guy who built it - IFL this bike. Swapping in a 50/34 crank I had made the gearing pretty good for me, so I'll probably hunt down a prettier one someday. My preferred Fabric Line saddle. New Open Pro UST wheels with GP 5000s; 28mm just does fit. For a test, I put the stock handlebar from the Diverge on there and like the reach and drop, so will find a suitable keeper bar soon. It weighs a hair over 19 lbs as you see it.
It's an interesting bike. Columbus Spirit came out in 2004 and Orbea tried this model for just one year. The tubes are so thin and of such a variety of shapes, I had to use a magnet to persuade myself it was steel. It does ride like steel, though, if maybe a bit stiffer than others I've had. I'm well below budget, with a better frame than I had hoped to find and a great groupset (once I get used to those damn thumb shifters things!).
Catalog pages below for the curious.


We met at a Sinclair station a couple hours from my home. The owner had built it up when it was new.
It is a 2005 Orbea Spirit, built with Columbus Spirit tubing, with a Campagnolo Chorus Carbon 10 speed groupset, Zeus carbon fork and seatpost, and Mavic Open Pro rims. And it was way, way less than budgeted for the frame and groupset!

After some messing around with it to make it more suitable to me - older and fatter than the guy who built it - IFL this bike. Swapping in a 50/34 crank I had made the gearing pretty good for me, so I'll probably hunt down a prettier one someday. My preferred Fabric Line saddle. New Open Pro UST wheels with GP 5000s; 28mm just does fit. For a test, I put the stock handlebar from the Diverge on there and like the reach and drop, so will find a suitable keeper bar soon. It weighs a hair over 19 lbs as you see it.
It's an interesting bike. Columbus Spirit came out in 2004 and Orbea tried this model for just one year. The tubes are so thin and of such a variety of shapes, I had to use a magnet to persuade myself it was steel. It does ride like steel, though, if maybe a bit stiffer than others I've had. I'm well below budget, with a better frame than I had hoped to find and a great groupset (once I get used to those damn thumb shifters things!).
Catalog pages below for the curious.

