Hey guys. I'm in Chicago and just built up a White Pake Rum Runner. Scrod or Dave as I know him was very helpful getting me on track. I'm a proud noob and just loving this bike to commute to work. I started with a purefix but the compact geo and **** high ten ride just discouraged me so much. I also have extremely long arms and legs so I went from a 54cm to a 57cm Pake. Great decision. This pake rides like butter on the terrible streets here. I'm still trying to get my seat height right but I'm well on my way to feeling truly comfortable on a bike.

Here are my specs:

D.B. Chromo Pake Frame 57
Retrogression straight blade fork (Love this Scrod!)
FSA Orbit headset (great fit)
Bontrager stem and bullhorn
Eighthinch crank, BB and pedals
DP-18 rims with Thickslick tires
ultra cheapo seatpost and saddle

I weighed her out on my cheapo bathroom scale and she's pretty close to 20lbs and that's with a long heavy seatpost that I could cut in half and cheap seat.
My drive- train isn't exactly silent but the noises are consistent so I'm not sure if anything is wrong per se.

I couldn't be happier with the fit, feel, and control of this bike. Of course there is always room to improve but this just works for now.

Sorry for the pic quality.

color scheme rocks, nice bike!

Looks great!!! Love the black/white scheme. Well done!

Thanks! Any suggestions? I ordered some plastic toe clips and single straps. I'll see how it goes. 46/18 gear ratio which is sooo much easier to accelerate from a stop than 44/16. Looking forward to some skidddzzzz as well.

Ride the crap out of it.

Looks good.