thenomad

So it's like a revolving door around here lately.
I get one bike out and another is in.

So now my wife will soon be joining me on the trails and needs a bike. After searching for used I decided to just build her one, again on a budget, but as nice as possible. She'll do road riding mainly but occasionally some gravel trail.

She looked at a few of the road frames I showed her and said "what about those cyclocross bikes?" . . . so a cross bike it is!

I went ahead and got a new budget frame in the perfect size for her (hard to deal with sizing when looking used)
Performance's Scattante XRL Cross. it should do everything she needs and more while keeping the cost down.

Got it for $198 on sale price with another 10% discount. Comes with carbon fork of course. No choice on the colors so black and red it is.

thenomad

will receive these shortly

Quijibo187

I've convinced my wife to go with a CX too.
But I'll be getting one pre-built.

Mine on the other hand, well that will be a fun project.
There will be a thread.

thenomad

I talk so much about the stuff that it just sunk in. When I said I'd "just" build her a roadbike I guess she didn't want "just a roadbike". This is one of the few battles I've won, I shall revel in it... silently.

Here are the wheels that will be used. Beautifully smooth hubs. Mavic Helium.
Red Anodized for bling, light and strong.



And some fancy bar tape for even more style points.
Eleganza Red

Cynikal 

I just bought a pair of those as my tubular wheels.

thenomad

Plenty strong for her, I've not got the experience to trust them for my 180lb slamming around on them.
I bought some ultegra/open pros for myself.

This may be overdoing it but I'll see what it looks like:

thenomad

got some goodies from member "bamacrazy" that will complement my crank

RT

Liking the black/red theme...

thenomad

Red Seatpost came in, nice and red, not pink loooking.
Hope the finish is durable, not sure if the bargain version I got is real anodizing.


So here's a question I've been pondering: My wife's a beginner rider, should I go with 700x28 tires or 700x23?
I'm not convinced one is faster than the other but I know there may be a comfort aspect to deal with for a newbie.


Also looking for women specific saddles.

This build will happen all at once when the parts all get here.

Cynikal 

Go with the bigger tires. She won't have to avoid every little bump in the road and she can focus on riding.

thenomad

Got everything now and the saddle is en route:
Terry Fly Ti WSD




Got a little work done last night but stopped at the integrated headset. Got confused as there was no diagram for what went where.

This is going to look nice, and I hope I can dial the fit without buying a ton of different stems.

After mounting the components, I really wish I had a black crank.

thenomad

700x28 tires mounted
Bike only needs cables and housings, bar tape and headset spacers.
Did a test fit with my wife and it's right in her range.

Saddle and bar tape revision though. The Terry saddle was not comfortable to her so I've gone with a Fizik Vitesse and I'll go ahead and match it with white bar tape.

Soon to be complete and pics are forthcoming.

RT

THAT, sir, is a sweet saddle.

thenomad

It better be. I'm fully tapped out on this build. I need to sell off the parts I have in the garage that I don't need just to break even again.

To make matters worse, my chain breaker tool gave out trying to get the chain set up on this one. Now I have to go get another just to finish the project.
Oh well, this one was a budget buster.

RT

LOL! I have been a resident on CL for all of my old stock. Turns out buyers are really flaky. I'm saving to build a cross bike for my son in college and need the income from those old parts (flat bar stuff) to fund the build. Waiting on pics from your third build.

thenomad

So here's another big question that relates to my current chain length needs:

Should I use a 12-27 cassette or go full on and put the 11-32 cassette on it? She's a total noob and I thought this may be a way for her to have enough gear to get up any hill I take her to, therefore reducing the "too hard" factor. These are the two options I have readily available to use with the 39/53 front.

thenomad

Ok, It's done!
I think the 11-32 is just barely too large so I'll probably switch back to the 12-27 if I can't get the RD to stay further from the sprockets. A 30 would be perfect for a novice rider/climber.
Other than that, it just needs the cable ends trimmed and crimped. Had to take pics before dark though.

I want this bike now, but my wife is sure to put some miles on it.
(It fits me too with a longer stem )

Scattante XRL Cross frame
Mavic Helium wheels with 700x28 Vittoria tires
Shimano 105 group with Tiagra brifters
Mini-v brakes with Jagwire Red cables
Fizik Vitesse saddle with SRAM bartape (maybe Fizik Microtek in the future)
Specialized classic bend bars and red anodized seatpost
And a Pink Cat Eye computer to finish it off .

Slightly over budget but comes in around $580 or so, counting everything I had.
A better bike than I could buy new.

RT

Man, those wheels and seatpost really sex that bike up!