Bike Build - Ride Magazine Office

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Dougie
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Joined: 11 Jan 2008, 16:39
Location: Dulwich Hill

Postby Dougie » 07 Jun 2013, 15:44

Shimano Di2 9000 Firefly Titanium Bike Build – Ride Magazine

So there I was sifting through the spam in my inbox and I came across a nugget of gold. It was just a little glint, easily missed amongst requests for my bank account details from some very well spoken Nigerians and the promises of undying love from some breathtakingly attractive Russian girls, all of whom by some remarkable coincidence are named Oksana.

Toby Shingleton from Ride Magazine emailed subscribers to invite them to view a bike build in their Sydney Office. Now I have to admit the desire to get to know “Oksana” was strong, but I knew that she, along with my new Nigerian friends would still be waiting for me tomorrow. I hit the reply button to Toby and screamed “pick me”. Toby’s reply was as swift as it was succinct. No build for you! Too late he cried, but you are on the waiting list. Oh well, back to Oksana.

A couple of days later Toby advised there had been a drop out and I was now “in”. Clearly, that person has secured a date with Oksana because she had stopped taking to me by this time. Toby gave me all the details. Come along to our office and see the new Shimano Dura Ace 9000 Di2 fitted to a custom built Titanium frame by Firefly. There will be beer and pizza! How good is that? I secured a leave pass from the Bride by telling her that I had a rendezvous with a Russian friend. I just knew I would never be allowed out to do secret bike business.

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The Ride Magazine office is everything you imagine. The place was littered with bikes, wheel sets, tools, group sets, random parts, memorabilia and pizza boxes. Toby made the six or so of us very welcome with introductions to Rob Arnold, Ride’s Publisher and Greg Chalberg Ride’s House Mechanic. All three fellows went to great lengths to make the discussion very accessible. Nothing was off limits and there were no barriers at all. The other attendees appeared to come from all walks of life but with a common interest in our sport.

Greg had the Firefly frame mounted on a work stand, much in the same way as a nude would pose for a still life drawing class. The lines of this Titanium beauty were something to behold. Greg encouraged us to get up close and personal with it. As you can see from the images it is beautifully painted. A lot of the discussion was around aesthetics. Personally I like my titanium like I like my still like models, nude. This bike however was black and strong. Before you ask if that’s how the Bride prefers her “coffee”, the quick response is no, white and half full has always been her preference.

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This frame had been measured up and custom build for Toby. Toby commented that he weighed 74kg and I think he is pretty close to 180cm. To my eyes it looked very stiff and quite aggressive in a non-confrontational sort of way.

Greg had already fitted the forks, bars and headset. The battery used was an internally mounted, in the seat tube model. This all looks clunky to me. It was hidden to be sure, but very afterthoughtish. I hope that the manufacturers can produce something that is little more thought out. If you are going to spend a similar amount to the GDP of a same Pacific Island nation on your midlife crisis bike, this solution could be better.

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The wiring seemed to be based on a combination of the physiology of a Portuguese Man o’War and Pasta night at the local RSL. It would appear that the solution to stop the annoying noise created by cable rattle in the tubes was to attach what looked like (but wasn’t) about a thousand cable ties to the wiring at right angles. This is another crude solution to in an otherwise elegant product. I would estimate that about half the build time went into wiring. That time would have been longer if it wasn’t for some neat little tricks he picked up from the old hands at Team Garmin and Team Sky.

The front and rear derailleurs went on to the frame smoothly. Adjusting them via the Di2 system seems to be a breeze. The resulting noiseless and silky spin of the drivetrain is testament to the quality of the parts and ease of fitting.

All the way along and as the build progressed the “peloton” chatted about a myriad of cycling topics. Literally everything from Armstrong to Zabel. Rob, Greg and Toby all fielded both the answers to our questions and also appeared very interested in our thoughts of various topics. The banter was good natured and everyone seemed genuinely pleased to be there. Finally, other than bar tape Greg completed the build. This bike weighed in at around 7.3kg plus bar tape and pedals. As you can see it looks very very nice.

A super opportunity and one I hope I can do again in the future. My sincere thanks to Toby Shingleton, Greg Chalberg and Rob Arnold of Ride Magazine.

‘til next time

Dougie

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Dougie
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Joined: 11 Jan 2008, 16:39
Location: Dulwich Hill

Postby Dougie » 07 Jun 2013, 16:01

Image

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marc2131
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Joined: 03 Jul 2011, 13:14
Location: Ashbury
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Postby marc2131 » 08 Jun 2013, 12:22

Doug, I am confused ..... So is this ur new bike, or we're u just there to witness the assembly?

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Dougie
Posts: 755
Joined: 11 Jan 2008, 16:39
Location: Dulwich Hill

Postby Dougie » 08 Jun 2013, 15:10

Just there as a witness. I thought some may find it interesting

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Stuart
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Joined: 11 Mar 2008, 10:43
Location: Dulwich Hill

Postby Stuart » 08 Jun 2013, 15:16

I really like the workstand ... oh, and the bike looks good too.

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Adrian E
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Joined: 07 Mar 2007, 13:15
Location: Newtown

Postby Adrian E » 08 Jun 2013, 20:50

It's a Feedback Sports Sprint workstand. Sometimes called Euro-style workstand... it's popular with race mechanics.


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