First Build LOOK 496
 

Hello everyone, I decided I wanted to build my first bike from the ground up and with that, I will be needing tons of help! I decided on the 496 because I liked it, the color scheme and its decent quality. Im not a track ***** by any means, but I am planning on trying out the velodrome on those saturday amateur early morning sessions. So for the mean time I'm planning on building it to be able to go to the track sometimes and riding it out and about. If anyone has any tips on the build route, by all means please give your input. Im currently debating on which hubs and rims to get, Phil Wood and Paul Components so far are the two I'm thinking of hub-wise. Foer 41 and H+ Son sl42 are the two rims I'm thinking of. So with that, heres the picture of the 464. As if you guys haven't seen one before! Any other suggestions hub/rim wise? Thanks in advance.

P.S. I was psyched it came with a bunch of swag!

http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/7206/img3125v.jpg

Ummm...that's not a LOOK 496.

But his only 32 away. We can let the new guy slide for this one.

lulz, was just going to say that's a 464.

And to answer your question:

Wheels: Mavic Ellipse. Perfect for track and street...and are also French. They will compliment the bike. The hubs/rims you mentioned are not necessarily great racing or training wheels, yet will cost way more than the Ellipse.

He's also about $9,000 away, too.

I can let him slide. I had the 496 on the brain for a long time too.

hahahaha, I apologize for the title, Mods please fix. Finger moved before the brain sorry.

Also I was looking at the headset bearings. I was wondering if anyone can help me with the order here, So far heres the order I "think" its suppose to be from fork up. Left most bearing sits on bottom of steerer tube -> Frame -> other Bearing -> Split Washer -> Those thin spacer/washers -> the FSA labeled piece. Thank in advance.

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/9527/img3134v.jpg

Yeah come on guys! Whats 32 between friends! I think I was looking at all the other LOOK bikes prior to creating the thread, hahaha. Thanks for cutting me some slack.

Carleton, I do like the Ellipse. Do they come completely built?

That's the only way they come... except for cog and lockring which you have to buy (lockring's included), install and tighten down yourself.

If you buy them online, you would want to true and tension them before riding on them through.

Leuky, I will also be using these for zipping around town. I was concerned with the non machined rim, is that an issue? Also an even bigger issue, I would like to have a front brake when I'm in town but don't want to get the stock fork drilled. Can anyone recommend any good alternative forks with brake bosses?

No that would be a short term issue, a break surface will develop with more use; however that'll come at the cost of the black surface going to raw aluminum.

For the fork, I'm pretty sure you want a fork that's deserving of the caliber of the frame. Don't you mean drilled for a road brake?/ not cantilever brakes? Anyhow a good drilled brake that matches the 464 off the top of my head would be leader's I06 full carbon fork (they just discontinued it but you can easily find one online used/ deadstock); a bit on the pricey side through, especially since I'm pretty sure your wallet took a beating for that 464.

Thanks Leuky. Yes, I'm looking for an alternate fork with road brake option. I searched for the I06 but the closest thing I found is Leader's I8xx forks.

Build wise my goal is to stay at the 464 "calibre" or maybe slightly step-up. Thank you for all the input, I greatly appreciate it.

I just realized I forgot the 8 in I806..

Yea you should also check out enve forks.... pricey nonetheless... you have to understand through that a drilled track fork limits you quite a bit in selection.

If your wallet is off its toes from the purchase of the 464, you can take a cheaper alternative and save the stock fork for track day by getting a carbon fork from a forsaken road frame on ebay, I once helped my friend win a full carbon fork from a originally $4000+ frameset for $45 shipped. Road forks are always drilled. ;)

Thanks Leuky!, that is a good alternative. Road fork it is! Should I be worried about overall length and rake or whatever numbers?

Geist, wow thank you so much for finding that. I was going through so many pages of nameless/brandless bikes on eBay trying to find a fork. I will get that fork, I hope it fits well. Again, thank you.

they do....and i will second (third? fourth?) mavic ellipses. quality....plus would probably look sick on that frame.

Has anyone compared Mavic Ellipses to Novatec Forces? They are the same depth profile, but the Forces are claimed to be lighter and substantially cheaper (if you can get a hold of them). I used to want an Ellipse set, but I'm very satisfied with my Novatec Force wheelset.

To the OP: Custom wheels aren't always better. There are plenty of pre-built wheels to choose from these days.

I have custom High Flange Dura Ace hubs laced to tubular Velocity Pro Elite rims (tubular versions of the Deep V) and I'm strongly considering getting a set of Ellipses if I see a nice pair come up for sale.

I only rode the Ellipses for a short period training on the track, and one semi-competitive race. But I was not impressed. The hubs are fine, and the wheels are reasonably stiff. But I think that you could build equally stiff wheels on nicer hubs and save some money and weight.

Thanks for the input. I'm already looking at the ellipses, hopefully I can get them at a decent price.

I too would like to know comparisons between the two as I have seen some good feedback regarding the Novatec's.

Carleton, I'm open to any and all suggestions. Thats why I wanted everyones help in building this bike. I understand that I don't necessarily need to build some wheels. If I come across a decent deal on some ellipses or components to make a "custom" wheel then I'll get them. I might end up having two wheelsets in the end! Keep the suggestions coming, not on just the wheelset but also on other components. Thanks in advance.


Any examples?

Also, anyone know the answer to my previous question regarding the headset stack. Please look at my previous post (#7). Thanks guys!

I can't determine what headset that is from the photo's. Here's the official Headset Instructions.

What's the black cloth with the Look logo printed on it?

Seems like a dust bag of some sort... just like the one's that come with women's designer purses....