Thanks! Foundry calls it a small — 545mm ETT, 390mm reach. It's a relative "medium" in many other brands/models.

Shiny braking surface is going to clash with all that black.. time for carbon rims/wheels.

Newbie here...please be gentle...

Reasonably fresh out the shop so still have a few things to add and not sure on (to make it look better).

Saddle/seatpost - This is the stock saddle. My old Arione was white which looked a bit weird so will have to get a black version. If the seat is in the current position, do I need a post with no offset?

Stem - I still have one spacer left, and its quite comfy. Any need to remove that as well? And do I need to cut the top off?

Pedals - these are my old ones which are pretty battered. I thought white ones would look really weird but they don't look too bad? Was going to get some Dura Ace ones but they only come in one colour.

Cabling - the cabling seems pretty tidy, but for some reason, something looks a bit strange at the front but I'm not sure what. Like maybe there's a big gap between them? The wireless dongle thing bugs me a bit but I don't think it can go anywhere else?

Anything other things I can improve?

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The reason your cables look strange is because you have your brakes set up left-rear/right-front which is fine if that's what you like but not how that frame and handlebar were designed to be used.

Fantastic bike, Should be totally hot. Familiarize yourself with the "rules" for photographing your bike. I see at least 4 major and 2 minor rules broken. Read here to start

Velominati ? The Rules


I'm not trying to be mean, I would love to have your bike!

Rid of the decals on seatpost, leave it nude carbon.
Replace black tape & saddle to white (or match the orange fork tips), match decals on frame.. it would look better, less boring.

Spacers on top of the stem are fine. I tend to leave about 2-2.5 cm, so when I sell the frame later someone else can still use it (ie not cut all the way down), and this is a somewhat standard practice.

Your brakes are reversed (ie "moto"). Swap them to how they are generally run and the cables will naturally fall into place.

perfection

Fiery-How you like your Palace R? I just pre-ordered a 56 of the new model coming in month or so. They get stellar reviews, geometry fit's me well, so thought I give one a shot on an impulse buy. That a 56 or a 58? If a 56 what's your saddle height?
Build looks great-not sure about that pink tape though but if it makes you happy and want to ride, why not!:thumb:

I'll be gentle here and since you are new, I'll remind you that this thread is strictly based on aesthetics and not all for purpose. So when someone says, your stem is too short, it doesn't mean its too short for your body, but rather that it would look better if it were longer. Most of us put a lot of thought into upgrading parts on our bikes, so its easy to get a bit butt hurt wen someone dislikes your set up. Try to take any "Not's" with a grain of salt. If you are looking for ideas on how to make it look better, be sure you are not compromising your fit to accommodate the look. We all know that at the end of the day, being able to ride your bike "X" amount of miles in comfort is much more important than getting a hot on this stupid forum.

First off, the reason your cables look weird is because you have your right side shifter controlling your front brake, which is reverse. It can be done, as I'm sure your bike is functional, but not a standard set up. Right brake usually controls rear brake which would allow your right shifter cable to have a more gradual line to the left side of your frame and your left side would cross over the right cable and into your front brake caliper.

second, I'd cut that steering tube above your stem 10mm or so. Again, this for aesthetic purposes. If you plan on keeping the bike for a long time, then cut that sucker down. If you plan on selling it in a year or so, keep it the way it is because it can make it more difficult for a buyer if the steerer is too short for their needs.

Third, I'd look at using acetone on the seatpost to take the white logo's off. Personally, I think that's an ugly seatpost anyway. Dont care for the offset design. You look fine as it sits now, but it is fairly far back on the rails. If you agreed with not liking the offset, you could look into something with smoother lines and a less offset such as the Deda superlaggero which has a 12mm offset instead of your current 20mm offset.

fourth, Get the Dura Ace or Ultegra pedals. I personally, dont care for colored pedals, but that's just my opinion here.

Fifth- The bars/shifters. Your hoods are pretty far up on the bar. Makes me think your reach is too long (Those bars have a long reach) and you are compensating by bringing the hoods up closer to you to make it more comfortable? Might be reading into that one, but generally that's what I see among those who have their hoods up that far. IF this is the case, I'd get look into getting bars that accommodate your fit better with less reach, which would then allow you to have the hoods lower and more flat (More flat, not necessarily flat). This can also make it difficult to reach the brakes or shift while in the drops. Speaking on behalf of the bars, I dont know anything about this bike, but it doesn't look like an aero bike to me. It may have aero features, but I dont look at it and consider it to be an aero frame. Aero bars always look odd to me on standard bikes. I personally think a more traditional compact bar would look better.

Sixth, The saddle. If it works, then dont worry about it. If you dont care for the stock saddle, then I'd toss it with the quickness and throw something else on that will fit your body better and hopefully will look better also.


OTHER (Broken rules):
-Line the logo of the tires up with your stem valve. The valve stem should be in the center of the logo's.
-When taking a photo of your bike, make sure the chain is always on the large front chainring and small in the back. Never...ever...EVER take a photo with the chain crossed. this means, no large to large or small to small. We will hurt you and call you bad names.
-Solid backgrounds that contrast from your bikes colors are generally best to show off all the details of the bike. If you had a solid white bike, a white garage door might not in your best interest. Same for a black bike against a black wall. But generally speaking, a garage door or light colored wall works best.

This is all just my opinion on how I think the bike could look better aesthetically. If you like how it feels and everything works for you, then dont change a thing.

But, it wont get a hot from me till you change everthing above :lol:

I think the bike is Hot. Much more than most.
I'm a form follows function guy, so that "colors" my response.

I like tube extending beyond stem. Not so much though. Find the fit and trim excess leaving a bit above. Yes - trim to 3 mm above stem and add 5 mm spacer.

Also, your stem is NOT slammed. Kudos! Most folks with slammed stems are Cat P12 or don't understand aerodynamics. I said most.

Chain should be on big ring, that would also fix RD chain wrap. No money to spend, unless chain is too short.

I think you ride motorcycles.

I like circles for rings, personal thing.

I don't get the white pedals. Buy Dura-Ace.

Chain catcher with electronic? Does not work. Adjust.

3T is not my fave, but it works fine. I think flat bars are what should be used.

I have the HB end Junction A. They are great. I internal routed the Di2. Still, yours is real clean.

One of the better bikes. Really nice.


Edit Add:
I wish I could find flat topped bars that sloped into the stem, rather than away from it. For the TT position forearms on bars, it is better to get arms in than out.

It's the original Palace - the new one is Palace:R. It's a 56, with the saddle height of 78 cm from center of BB to top of saddle along the seat tube.

I posted a first-impressions sort of review here. I've ridden it a lot since then, but the impressions have't changed much. It's a sharp handling bike that responds best to steering from the hips. Once I got used to how it responds, I no longer have any problems riding it no handed. It's eager to corner, but it holds the line well both going straight and in corners. I does tend to oversteer a little in long, sweeping curves if you're not going fast enough. While it does feel planted on uneven and broken pavement, it is not really confidence inspiring on slippery and loose surfaces, such as pavé or gravel; I find it feels like it's about to wipe out if I the handlebar turns even a little bit, so I want to tense up. However, once I relax and let it work under me without trying to hold it in line by force, it actually becomes more stable and it goes through just fine. Even though it doesn't inspire confidence in those conditions, it does handle them well.

All in all, it's a racy, aggressive feeling bike. It's fine for more leisurely pace rides, but at its core it is the sort of bike that feels better the lower the handlebars are and the further over it is leaned.

Which colourway are you getting? What will you build it up with?

I was expecting a lot of abuse so to get so many constructive comments instead is awesome. Thanks!

I can't believe I didn't notice and makes so much sense now! I had a look at some pics with it the other way and it looks a lot nicer. This is a big problem though as I'm in the UK and left rear brake is the norm. Apparently because we use our right arm to indicate more, so the left hand needs to be on the rear brake. Thinking about it, I do use my right arm to signal far more often than my left. I could swap around, but it would take a while to get used to, but would cause massive confusion if I use another bike (wife's, hire bike, borrowed bike, etc) so I'm not sure its good to go against the norm. Perhaps I can shorten the left cable a little to straighten it out a bit? It looks unnecessarily long? Now that I know what the problem is, its bugging me even more!

The seatpost is stock, and the decals don't seem to be easily removable. I think I may get a new post instead. For saddle, I'm looking at the Fizik Arione R1 which has carbon braided rails. I read somewhere that some seatposts have a 'pinching' clamp mechanism which might not be good for carbon rails. Is that the case? Any suggestions on good (looking) and light seatposts?

I did consider orange bar tape but I thought it might be a bit too bling? Likewise with white bartape. I still have my old white saddle and some spare white tape lying around though so I might play around and see what its like.

Yep, will see if I can pick up a set of reasonably priced DA pedals. Should save some weight as well as the white ones are quite chunky.

My first bike with Di2. Do the chains never fall off? I quite like a tint of red around there.

Yep, I was thinking of getting it cut when I take it back to the shop for the first complimentary service. Do I need to leave a spacer on top or get it cut more or less flush with the stem? Which spacer should I leave on top?

Wow I can't believe you noticed this? This is how the shop fitted it. I did think the feel was slightly weird but I didn't notice until you mentioned it! I'll see if I can move it down a bit without wrecking the bar tape.

Haha thanks. I did find out some of the rules but after the photos. I'll try risking a round two after various changes suggested and reseek approval!

Thanks lot for the comments so far. You guys are hard to please!

For round two, please resize the pictures before uploading. Even though they are displayed smaller by the forum software, in the background they are still huge files that the browser needs to download and handle.

The color matching for handlebar tape, saddle and frame decals is for spectator's view to flow between different parts of the bike.

Having bright color at the edges (i.e. axles, seat, handlebar, pedals) would guide (subconsciously) spectator to flow their viewing of the bike from one edge to the next.

If all the parts are black and muted, the flow of view is much slower, no direction for spectator to follow.

Solid color frames with bright color decals to attract spectator's attention.
Similarly the titanium frame with nude satin or matt finish with bright color decals on the downtube.
Matching the color of bar tape, saddle with color of frame decals or other bright color spots on the frame would connect the whole bike's aesthetic.

IMO, seat post decals makes it too busy.. leave it nude carbon or just solid black. Seatposts are one of those items that you put on the bike, adjust and forget, you don't want to be constantly moving it, no need for extra attention to it unless you really get close to admire the carbon weave finish.

Carbon railed saddles are just overkill, no one will see it unless upclose and rider would never tell the difference while riding. You want the seat to be comfortable for riding. Three contact points of your body and bike are to keep comfort as priority: bar tape, pedals and saddle.

Ritchey Superlogic post with carbon rail clamp kit. It's what I'm using with my Arione R1.

In response to another post about the uselessness of carbon rails, I don't care if anyone can see them or if I can feel any difference. The Arione R1 is considerably lighter than the other Arione options (and I like the Arione shape) and in my budget so I bought it.

Thanks for the thorough reply fiery! Sizing wise my saddle is in the ballpark of yours ~1.5 cm lower so that is helpful in visualizing how my fit setup might look. I recently had a fitting and my guy adjusted me to a more aggressive position with a lower, longer front end so that should work out great with this geometry.

First impressions on reading your ride description, was "hmm, hope I don't break my face on this thing" haha, but I think I will be ok.:) Sounds like it will be punchy and fun to ride and a snappy contrast to my other bike, which has a more laid back attitude. Yeah I read your earlier write up when I was combing the forums looking for intel on these frames before buying.

For my build, going pretty basic and budget oriented, as is my norm: Ultegra 6800, Fulcrum Quattro LG, Deda/Zipp/Selle Italia cockpit, and Stages PM. Carbon wheels would look great on here, maybe down the road-bit of a retrogrouch :50:) the Quattro LGs aesthetically won't look out of place, and I really like how they ride. Going for the Black/Jade. Cant wait!

1985-ish De Rosa Professional

2x9 Campagnolo Chorus drivetrain, shifters and brakes. Chorus hubs with Velocity A23 rims. 700x28 Vittorio Corsa G+ tires. NOS S. Marco Concor genuine suede saddle.

http://i1356.photobucket.com/albums/...psflwa0ljn.jpg

http://i1356.photobucket.com/albums/...pso7s56uu4.jpg

http://i1356.photobucket.com/albums/...psxsnxcy3n.jpg


.

If you plan on rerouting the cables anyway, I'd just unwrap the bar tape to fix the cables and then adjust the hoods. unless its a very minimal adjustment, moving the hoods without taking off the bar tape can ruin it. Its pretty simple to rewrap that tape.

You--I like you. This post should be a mandatory read for anyone posting their bikes here. Lately, people seem to have forgotten that this thread purely about aesthetics; it is most decidedly not about functionality.

Don't worry, it's a solid handling bike and the front end feels very secure, not twitchy at all. It's only when you throw it into a corner that you realise how sharp it can be. I was surprised by the contrast with my old bike that had a twitchy front end, yet didn't really want to corner as sharply when it came to it.

Sounds like a solid, no nonsense build, just right for this frame. Looking forward to some pictures once it's built up.

Hot.



Edit: CampagnolO.

http://i.imgur.com/aaCdGbT.jpg

First time posting my bike here. Any thoughts? Specialized 2016 Roubaix SL4 Expert UDi2

Not

why not?