BackRoadsBiker

Could you take some close-up pics? I am now interested.

lite pete

here you go. i just flatted it with a bit off wet and dry and then clear lacquered it

BackRoadsBiker

Sweet! What was the final weight?

markyore

Ok I apologize, Bdc88 you were right my bike is lighter than I originally thought.

It comes in at 13.3Lbs with pedals (bottle cages are 22ea extra)!

I still have a couple of issues to Iron out with the build though. How free does other peoples (with carbon steerer and carbolock type device) handlebars turn? Mine turn freely but not as freely as my old bike (alu steerer with starnut). It feels like the headset is slightly too tight but if I loosen it even slightly it becomes too loose! Maybe its resistance from teh cable housing.

bdc88

Hey not probs. I thought by the build list that you had it a bit higher than I would have thought. 13.3 is very nice.

As for the headset, I think it is a fine line between too tight and too loose depending on some headsets. My PF RS2 was not a problem to set up but my PF MT single speed, I struggled to get it perfect. Finally I just took the whole front end apart, cleaned everything and put it back together and it was fine. Go figure.

I would say, take it apart quickly and see if you can sort it out.

Congrats on loosing 1 pound by doing nothing more than weighing the bike.

Cheers.

markyore

Thanks man, I think the original pronlem was (and I'm gonna come out looking v. stupid) I weighed the bike on a lab balance/scales, I took off both wheels and managed to balance the bike on the scales. BUT in order to prevent the bike falling forward I placed some counterweights on the rear triangle. In my haste to see what it weighed I forgot to deduct the counterweight!!!

But since then I did change up some parts (tires, tubes chain). FWIW I really like the KMC x10sl chain.

Bdc88 our builds are quite similar, obvously yours is more hardcore on the WW side. I originally planned on going with KCNC skewers, M2racer clamp and a syntace stem w. Ti bolts which would reduce the weight by another ~100g but now I'm not so enthuased.

What do you think of the SLK fork?

bdc88

@ Markyore - I really like the SLX fork that I have. It is more than fine for my riding style. Nice light weight and looks great without stickers. At some point, everyone decides what is enough for them no matter what everyone in the forums suggests they should do or makes some sort of comment.

For me, I wanted to get a bike into the 12 lbs. range and I am not thinking that I would like to hit the 11 lbs. range but that would mean a significant purchase in the way of Sram Red brifters, rear derailleur and a Record front derailleur. I would most likely have to go with new wheels as well. So when I start to think about what it would cost for me to get to 11 lbs. I think that I could buy another bike like a cross bike or bikes for the family and this would make me a lot happier than getting to 11 lbs.

So I get where you are coming from when you say that you are not so enthusased about dropping anther 100g or more. To each their own.

So not the forum suggestions. Ha Ha. You can get OMNI racer skewers (40g confirmed) and seat post clamp (9g confirmed) from Ernie at Professional Cycling Discount. Great guy and the pricing is pretty good. I do own 2 pairs of the KCNC skewers on my MTB build and they are also very nice.

I have to say that I love my Syntace F99 stems with Ti bolt upgrades. I have 7 of the stems with 5 of them complete with Ti bolt upgrades.

Post some pictures of the build when you can.

Cheers,

Brian

Nikolai

Holy shizzle that thing is sexy. Those curves remind me of the "redneck Buell" v-twin chopper I wanted to build a few years ago, only this one is actually affordable, and probably several times over mo-bettah for my health.

I'm about to go with a Moto setup, but this haves me thinking of a frame swap in the not-too-distant future.

Anybody looking to back out of this GB... or re-coup their price? I'm interested in the carbon/black version with fork, in a 55cm (L) size. Thanks!

Nikolai

I remembered yesterday, the all-black builds I'm seeing here remind me of this sexy beast:



Found here: https://www.confederate.com/confedera.../machines.html

squeegy200

Anyone using their RS2 with a Garmin Edge 305?

I ask because I am having difficulty mounting the chainstay Cadence/Speed sensor. There isn't a consistent surface to mount the sensor. To align the cadence magnet and the wheel magnet requires delicate alignment that I can't seem to achieve. Because of the articulate shape, the sensor either is too far away from the magnets or bumps the magnet/crank.

The organic shape of the chainstay makes it difficult to mount the sensor and I was wondering if any of my fellow RS2 owners have tackled this problem.

squeegy200

Mine isn't quite as light as some of the other completed builds on this list. I spent about $1900 on the entire project including having a set of custom built wheels. (In black of course) I did have some parts which I scavenged from a previous bike.

Total weight arrived at 15.9lbs

Here was my build list
PedalForce RS2 Frameset 980g
Reynolds Ouzo Race 370g
Campagnolo Record Hiddenset 52g
Carbon Spacers Qty 2 Carbon 20g
Oval Concepts R900 120g
Easton EC90 Equippe 188g
Deda Elementi Grey
Campagnolo Seatpost Clamp 22g
Fizik Alliante Ti rails 242g
Chorus Ergo Brifters 10s 365g
Campagnolo 2005 Chorus Brakes 358g
Front Derailleur Chorus 10 C 93g
Rear Derailleur Chorus 10 QS Short Cage 204g
Nokon Cable set/PowerKordz liners 96g

FSA SL-K compact 787g
Speedplay Xero CrMo 218g
Specialized Composite Bottlecages Qty 2 68g
Bottle Bolts Qty 4 16g
Custom American Classic/Velocity Sapim Spokes Wheelset 1310g
American Classic Ti Skewers 96g
Cassette Campagnolo Centaur 10s
Campagnolo Cassette Lockring 14g
Wipperman 10s Chain 260g
PedalForce Carbon Seatpost 32g
Campagnolo 35mm Frt Derailleur clamp 24g
Velox Rim Tape Qty 2
Continental Attack & Force Tires 348g pair
Performance Lunar Light Inner Tubes 100g

kenshinvt

I fixed the problem by using two pieces of rubber (think the type of thin rubber shims used to fit computer mounts on smaller diameter handlebars) underneath the sensor and then using the zip ties to hold the thing in place. Without the extra rubber pieces I could get it in the right position but it would eventually shift away. Part of the problem is that the curvature of the bottom of the GSC-10 sensor is nowhere near the curvature of the part of the stay where the sensor needs to be mounted.

C_Heath

sweet bike squeegy

Amen

Why is your seat sitting so far forward???

squeegy200

The Pedalforce seat post makes my saddle position look awkwardly forward.

The Saddle position relative to the bottom bracket centerpoint was determined by my bike fitter. The tip of my saddle vertical centerline is 2.5cm from the centerline of my bottom bracket spindle. My knees at this position are consistent and I no longer have any pain or discomfort after he established this position.

So I don't argue.

I should probably use a zero offset seatpost - but the Pedalforce seatpost was so inexpensive.

squeegy200

Thanks Kenshinvt

Your suggestion worked great!

FrankBattle 

Yes, what Kenshinvt said. I think mine came with said rubber piece to which I secured the sensor with zip ties. It has not moved. I have pictures somewhere if you are interested.

ezee

Funny you mention this.
Yes, I feel your pain :-)

Actually, don't blame the PF seatpost, because it's simply a regular, 2.5cm set-backed model.
A few pages (weeks) back I'd posted the following in response to dsilver668's comment:

I posted:

Quote:

From dsilver688: Please do let us knkow. I have a feeling it will fix the issue straight away. It isn't that I don't like the PF seat Post but wish they made a straight carbon one too..

Ok, I received the Thomson no-setback post, and set it up (in exchange for PF's carbon set-back post).
Still did not end up with the anticipated, extra 2.5cm that the two seatpost's setbacks theoretically differ by, when measured center-to-center!
After reading a few other similar comments from BFers, re the RS2 and ZX3 frames (re. seats being neccessitated being jammed way forward), started assessing the possible reasons why:


- 1) Possible different seat-rail lengths depending on different manufactureres/models of seats- therefore somewhat comparing apples and oranges, IF we are comparing different seats.

- 2) I noticed that even though theoretcially, the Thomson straight / no set-back post SHOULD give about 2.5 cm more maneuvering on the seat rails (ie. seat forward, post back, position-wise), compared to the 2.5cm set-backed PF carbon seatpost..., in practice, this isn't the case.
If one examines the respective post's heads and clamping mechanisms side by side, one quickly notices that the Thomson's post has a much beefier, stouter head (by about 2 cm- 2.5 cm). This limits how far backwards, the rear (or conversely the front) bolt/clamp can be moved on the seat's rails.
Therefore, even though in theory, center-to-center, post-to-post measures, will make one assume they'll gain about 2.5cm by switching between these 2 posts, in reality, one only obtains maybe about 1 cm of gain- maximum.

Check this for yourself and see. The PF seatpost head/clamp is actually significantly smaller than Thomson's. This therefore allows one to slide one's seat way forward if desired (thatis, at least for a traditional, set-back type of post).
Otoh, Thomson's beefier construction of the head clamp, in essence, limit's one's maximum fore-aft range, when compared to PF's, or other older, traditional set-back posts.
I'm referring to 1980's 1990's Campagnolos and Control Tech from about 5-6 years ago)

- 3) Finally, I still suspect that the PF frame's respective seat-tube angles may be slightly less (ie. slacker) than advertised, therefore, necessitating those of us with relatively shorter femur lengths, to really jam our seats forward, way past the so-called, "recommended" zones outlined on the seat rails.
(Btw, my seat on the PF is an SLR. My other seats on other bikes are the Avocet Racing Ti 40 and Selle Italia Flight Max)

Any combination of the above 3 possibilities can potentially explain why the some seats are being jammed too forward on certain PF frames.

Possible remedies?
-A Smaller frame? (ie. A frame with more aggressive seat-tubes in "real" ranges of 74-75.5 degrees)?
-Other 0 set-back seatpopsts, with less beefier head clamps, allowing a bit more fore-aft range on the seat rails.
-Comparing different seats and choosing one that has rails going relatively more back (ie. longer) in the horizontal plane, before turning up towards the seat?

Good luck.

ZXiMan

AND heavy!

OnTheRivet

Nope. Look at the nose of your saddle, it's almost in line with the center of the bottom bracket, that's FAR from typical. Either A.) you have really short femurs or B.) Your bike fit was done incorrectly. If you truly have short femurs you should be looking at a custom frame.

dsilver668

Ezee yup that explains a lot. I am probably going to get an aluminum cheepo to test then get a nicer carbon once I know what works measurment wise. it isn't horrible and I can ride now but it seems like it would be even better with a different post.

Youngin

Sorry for bringing this up, it's probably been discussed mmaaaannnyyy times. I really like that frame and noticed it said something about FACT design. Any way that it is related to the specialized FACT design?

OnTheRivet

It's fairly certain that the frame comes out of the same factory(TopKey) as the Specialized frames and the fact logo is identical to the Specialized one.

workscollective

About time...picked this up from the shop this morning...



Ride planned for about 30 minutes from now...

Can't wait. 15.08 lbs without pedals and cages. Not sure what it is with. I'll be getting a white saddle as soon as I decide on which one to get. And yes I'm going to have the steerer tube cut as soon as positioning gets worked out.

I'll do a ride report once I get back...gotta go do some climbing...

oh yeah...I can't wait...

rickreck

this replaces a lemond zurich for me. the pf is so much lighter...

a few rides in I think it is very comfortable, at least as comfy as the lemond, yet much faster. descends like a demon. handles well in the sf wind. i used to get pushed around by the wind with my old bontrager bladed wheels.

handling requires a bit of attention.

pf seatpost is crap. hard to adjust, gave out on me on a hill and i had to ride home without sitting...

switch to red and compact has been interesting. i have dropped the chain 3 times so i guess the front der. is set wrong. jury is out on compact set up. i have found that most shallow hills can be done in the big ring, but dropping to the small means upshifting in the rear at least 2 cogs which does not seem too smooth...