Z953

Just realized that I posted this in the wrong forum, meant to do this in the "Road Cycling" forum.

Brief history:

I bought my first road bike ('14 Specialized Allez Sport) last May with basically no knowledge of any kind. Six weeks later I upgraded everything on the bike with the exception of the frame and forks (did all of the work myself). It was a fun/frustrating-at-times and expensive experience. The Allez is so dialed-in now.

What happened:

So stupid me got curious about CF frames (for absolutely no good reason at all) and found a frame/fork combo for what I thought was cheap. I couldn't get myself to pull the trigger because I couldn't (and still can't) justify a second bike to myself; so when I saw that it sold, I was disappointed. Then a couple of days later it was on eBay again and I thought, "WTF!? Something wrong with the frame besides the cosmetic chip in the top bar?". I still couldn't get myself to BIN because the cosmetic chip was enough to turn me off of the frame. So I thought: "I know, I'll put in an offer that I would totally pay but the seller will reject my low offer and I'll know that at least I tried....".


Nope, a couple of hours after I submitted my offer the seller agreed! I guess they were thinking about it (all of my offers done previously with other sellers were either accepted or countered within five minutes of my submitting them). I thought, "What the hell did I do!?". I paid immediately and started the hunt for parts...

Found a complete (take off) 105 groupset, Fact CF bars and Specialized adjustable stem on eBay. Found some Fulcrum Quattro's w/tires on Craig's List and used an S-Works CF seat post that I alerady had, the left over OEM saddle and Shimano carbon pedals from the Allez to complete the bike. It took a little over five hours for me to put together and adjust...



...boy am I stupid, what am I suppose to do with two bicycles?

sch

Now you have a spare if one develops a slow leak/flat tire in between rides in the garage. Other than that you just ride them.
I alternate mine but one (was) a compact with 11-28 10spd not suitable for long or steep hills but now is an 11spd compact
with 11-32 so gearing matches the 50/39/30 with 11-28 10spd cassette on the other bike and either are suitable for any
hills within a 200 mile radius.

Homebrew01

Moved to Road from Mechanics

jamesdak 

Soon you'll discover the value of N+1.

NYMXer

I have three roads bikes, my main Cannondale SuperSix Hi-Mod EVO, a Specialized Roubaix at the GF's for those impromptu type rides and a spare, my cheap Mercier Galaxy AL for back up or for rides in bad weather.

I think you made a good choice from used parts!

ltxi

Haha...I maintain two road bikes at any given time. One primary and one back-up/different for when I need or just want a change.

Bah Humbug

All that without any threads about "should I buy this?" or "which groupset is best?".

ltxi

x2 on the

Z953

LOL! Thanks.




Thanks to everyone for helping me justify the second bike (like having a backup when one develops a slow leak) and letting me know that I'm not the only one who has more than one bike.

deapee

Having two bikes is so much better than just having one. If I needed something done now, or replaced at the LBS, and it was going to take a day or two, I wouldn't even care.

WalksOn2Wheels

He even managed to refrain from asking whether or not he got a good deal.

A++++ thread. Would read again.

TimothyH

I don't know.

Is there really such a thing as a "cosmetic chip" in carbon fiber?

Asking in all sincerity.

WalksOn2Wheels

An experienced shop would be able to quickly determine if the carbon was damaged. Provided he paid little enough for the frame, there are reasonably priced carbon repair services that would still put him in good value territory. (Psst. Don't tell the #steelisreal crowd that carbon can be repaired)

FeltF2Tarmac

I was really expecting a lot worse. But not a bad looking bike considering. A picture of the damage or chip would be interesting.

topflightpro

Ha, I've been close to that. I bid on a set of wheels I was on the fence about. I was suddenly the high bidder with just seconds remaining, and I thought, "Oh god, why did I do that."

I got lucky though, someone outbid me at the last second.

elboGreaze

You can never have too many bikes ! Nice build, looks very nice !

CafeVelo

I recently went through my bikes and consolidated down to just bikes I'm using for racing and competitive riding. It was frankly starting to suffocate me to have so many sitting around. I had far more than my profile says, and I need to update that too. I'm now down to: Road bike, spare road frame in case of catastrophic crash, cross bike, ongoing project vintage bike that will culminate in my doing leroica California. I still need a tt bike and possibly a spare cross bike, and am resisting the urge to build up my emergency frame. I get the n+1, but I took it way too far.

N+1 on wheelsets though, I'm all about.

Inpd

That pannier will most likely scratch up the top tube due to constant rubbing. It wont put a deep scratch rather many many small ones which will dull the paint work.

Z953

You know, that's a legitimate question.

I never thought of posting a pic of damage... So I've tried my best to keep the original resolution by cropping the picture and not reducing the size. It really looks horrible when photographed (the photo that the seller posted in eBay pretty much looked like this)--but it really doesn't look that bad "in person".

Z953

LOL! Wow, some of you are as jaded here as the curmudgeons that I've befriended in a Watchmakers' forum. When I first joined the Watchmakers' forum I couldn't understand why they would start off by telling someone that just joined the forum to "...do a search in the forum website for help..." every time someone asked about making a watch based on a design that they came up with (oh, and every single post made like that was by someone who had absolutely zero experience in watchmaking). Well, I didn't understand until I saw that very same type of post made...a dozen times...in the first two weeks that I was member over there.

Z953

Thanks for bringing that up. It's funny because that never occurred to me...you can't tell from the pics in my original post but I've actually put electrical tape on the seat post to prevent it from getting scuffed by the saddle bag strap--but it never occurred to me to do that with the top bar. I did mention that I'm dumb...right?

Z953

I do know the feeling about really not wanting something. I bid on watch and bid kind of high, then I noticed that it was an "homage" watch (I'm being kind when I say that, the seller probably thought it was genuine and described it as authentic) and I nearly had a heart attack when I realized it because there was only like 30 seconds left in the auction and I couldn't cancel my bid. Fortunately someone else wanted that fake watch more than I and out bid me with like 7 seconds left.

TrojanHorse

So what year is your bike and what kind of fork is that? Doesn't look like my old Roubaix' fork at all. I got mine as a bare fork/frame on ebay (it's a 2007 model)... rode it for a year and found a newer SL3 that I just had to have, so now this guy is sitting in the bike shed, forlorn. You coulda had it for a song if you needed a 58 and I knew you were looking!

TimothyH

Fair enough. Thanks.

By the way, steel is not fake, nor does there have to be a war.

-Tim-

FeltF2Tarmac

Damage looks cosmetic, great looking bike just the same. Needs to be ridden