CriticalThought

Thanks @High Fist Shin. The groupset is all Token. This was my first carbon bike and when I bought it I was looking at the beautiful Italian stuff. My coach at the time (former Olympic cycling medalist from Belarus) convinced me to try it since I said I just wanted an inexpensive light bike that worked. He had a few guys who were racing with Token groupsets and he let me take home a few bikes to try out. He also let me test them side by side with the Italian stuff I had my eyes on. I was impressed, and more so when I learned the price. He gave me a good idea of the quality control and how it held up in race conditions, so I went for it. Haven't regretted it. Outstanding value, and has held up for thousands of miles, tons of centuries and doubles, without missing a beat. I still lust after the pretty Italian stuff (and have some of it) but I think of this bike kind of like a Kalashnikov (well, how they've been described to me anyway)... beautifully and precisely machined where it counts, and a bit rough and not to pretty where it doesn't.

I think all of the components were (at the time I bought them) made at one of the big three carbon fabricators in Taiwan. It's no Wilier Triestina, but it's a seriously honest bike representing one hell of a good value.

Thanks for the compliments on the colors.

Non ci piove.

Haruhiism

So is the groupset a derivative of Microshift?

CriticalThought

@Haruhiism Yep. Microshift. Interestingly, when I had the bike put together (back in 2011 I think) they were just starting to be talked about and seemed fairly unknown, otherwise I would have called that out. At the time, since I wasn't building my 'dream bike' and instead was just going with what my coach recommended as best bang for the buck, I was willing to try them out without any research beyond what I described earlier. I was presently surprised.

Now you've piqued my curiosity and I'm going to do some reading. I'm curious how things panned out for Microshift and what kind of reputation they have now that they've been around for a while.

slowjamz

HOT, also.. nice senjafuda. Very njs.

Raedyn

Smoking hot.What frame?

budgetbike

^^^HOT (ellemenohpee's bike)

franswa

Pretty damn hottt

scotjonscot

https://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...1&d=1483117593

cycledogg

Interesting backdrop. Nice wheels. HOT-

growlerdinky

New addition to the growing stable. Just a quick shot from todays ride. Crockets Bianchi...

noodle soup

Very nice.

7400 DA?

growlerdinky

Thank you!

Yes it's all 7400 series DA. Brakes are dual pivot 7403s. Wheels are 36 hole Mavic MA40s laced to Superbe hubs.

lsberrios1 

That bike is gorgeous. I would love to own that thing!

ellemenohpee

Thanks! It's a Litespeed Firenze, and is my favorite thing in the world.

growlerdinky

Thank you. It actually kinda landed in my lap. It's a blast to ride, and was a lot of fun to build up.

Raedyn

Beautimous

kbarch

The celeste cages are a bit much, but otherwise Very nice.

sumgy

Personally, I think that the gum wall tyres are too much.
I don't mind the cages and matching bar tape at all.

TenSpeedV2

Preach on my brother.

growlerdinky

Thank you!

growlerdinky

Wait til my efforts with Fabric Saddles have resulted in a Celeste saddle with black base and script. THEN we can talk about "a bit much"!

kbarch

Actually, that would help. Nothing against the color combo, but I thought it was going well as mostly white. In fact, while others complained about "gumwalls," I liked the tires because I thought they were whitewalls.

lieven

GeneO 

Smokin hot!

kbarch

Spectacular!