hi dom,
what a coincidence, i'm in the market for a new custom bike, and i've got my
eyes firmly set on the '04 CAAD7 Frame w/Slice-Si Full Carbon fork. In terms of what groupo etc. i'll list them below along with the reason for it. In deciding
on what to put on the bike i had a basic methodology: keep it affordable, light
and fast, colour scheme: b&w, and to use a minimal amount of different manufacturers. The bike that i've got spec'd up will weigh just under 8kgs including pedals, bottles and cages according to weight weenies.
Frame: '04 Cannondale CAAD7 optimo si (anodised black) - its superlight and
stiff as [censored]!
Fork: Slice Si-Ultra Full carbon - its light.
Groupset: Campag Centaur 10spd except for levers - its the same price as its
shimano equiv. 105 but has all the quality parts of record without the price.
basically i've chosen the centaur over ultegra 10spd cause its cheaper, and its fully servicable whereas the ultegra is not. its great for a wannabe amatuer racer, cause if you crash you know its fixable.
Brakelevers: Campag Chorus Carbon - its carbon and cheaper than the record version. plenty of poser points too! made affordable by getting centaur instead of ultegra 10spd.
Wheelset - Campag Zonda or Mavic Kysrium SSCL - probably gonna get the zondas cause the mavic are abit too expensive. i heard that the zondas are killer on flats, but will be outperformed by the mavics in the hills due to the weight factor. Whats cool about the zondas is that it comes with record equiv.hubs, it has 30mm profile and the G3 rear wheel is f'*ken crazy.
Tyres: Vittoria Rubino Pro - heaps cheap compared to my old conti gp3000s and are just as good, possibly even better since its has greater wear life. no punctures to date.
Tubes: the cheapest ones i can find - i'm not a pro or anything so i cant really tell. i've used conti before but now i am using some cheap tubes from taiwan?
Handlebar: FSA Prowing - its got that flat section for greater comfortability, and it just looks cool, heard its stiff as too, i guess most oversize bars are super stiff.
Stem: FSA OS-140 - matches the handlebar, and its got a carbon face plate!
Crankset: FSA Pro team issue - matches the handlebar and stem, heard that its killer stiff n light, and yeah its CARBON
Seatpost: FSA SLK Carbon - its FSA and its Carbon haha=)
Pedals: LOOK Keo - i'm a look pedal guy, probably will never go to shimano. the keo is crazy light, and again made from CARBON! seems weird to be running a campy groupo and have shimano pedals, doesnt it?
Saddle: Fizik Arione - i'm using one already, they're so bloody comfortable. its the limited edition world champ version with the rainbow stripes. i'm still undecided if i should use it and ruin the colour scheme of the bike or buy a new black one so it matches the bike. what do you think?
Comp: Polar s725 HRM - had it for nearly 6 months now, and its freakin great. if your in the market for a HRM/bike sensor i highly recommend it, you definetely get what you pay for. its also got a fake carbon face which is pretty cool.
Cages: TACX kao - superlight at 37gms, and there fairly inexpensive compared to the light carbon cages.
I hope the information that i have provided is helpful, its what i'm getting hopefully before christmas if not after new years. tell me what you think, and what changes you would make.
MICHAEL
