vqstaphbeard

I recently commissioned a frame from Aaron of AR Cycles and Christmas done came early. Frameset arrived last night and I got a bit done. Mainly polished parts, should have done this beforehand.

Frame is Columbus Spirit for lugs, fork is SL, lugs are Sachs Rene Singer, Pacenti Paris Brest fork crown, and Sachs Richie-ssimo BB shell.

I'm trying to decide which group to run:

Universal Parts List:
Stronglight 49D
Pacenti PL23
Grand Bois Hetres
Grand Bois fenders by Honjo
Nitto M12, looking into M13
Zefal pump
Stronglight A9
Lepper stem
GB randonneur bars
Brooks B17 Select (wouldn't hate an Ideale)
Radios taillight with retrofitted modern internals that will be mounted to ST mount
B&M IQ Cyo headlight (have a Radios headlight I may stick this into)


Option 1 (as partially shown):
DA 7400 brifters
Mavic 841 & 8 860 derailleurs
Paul canti's
Mavic 571/2 rear hub

Option 2:
Huret Jubilee derailleurs
Simplex Retrofrictions
old French cantilevers (look like Mafac's except the arms are forged)
Mafac levers
Maillard 700 or Campagnolo Tipo rear hub

I'm going to run the brifter setup first as this will be a daily rider. Maybe I need another frame with center-pull braze ons with the new compass brakes and rack

vqstaphbeard

Here is a bag I'm making for it; I still need to bind the edges in leather. I will also be making low riders.

sloar 

Beautiful bike, I love that color. Nice work on the bags also. Can't wait to see it finished.

vqstaphbeard

Thanks! I couldn't be more pleased with the color. I still need to bind the edges of the bag, but it's close. The low riders have yet to be started.

belacqua

I like it. Can you tell us about frameset?

Lascauxcaveman 

And you can color me a teensy bit jealous.

vqstaphbeard

I met the builder through the Velospace forums, username 8Aaron8. He has a build thread on there and has a Flickr. He's does it on the side and is mainly word of mouth right now. He does great work and I was happy to support him. We were in communication the entire time, probably sent over 300 emails back and forth. Turns out gmail starts a new thread after 100 haha.

Frame is Columbus Spirit for lugs, fork is SL, lugs are Sachs Rene Singer, Pacenti Paris Brest fork crown, and Sachs BB shell.

He was great to work with. I'm very particular and he put up with it quite well.

Haha I'm still in heavy excitement. I have long legs and a short torso so it's hard to find frames that fit. It will be nice having one fit to me.

Sir_Name 

Wow. Congrats - that's a dream right there.

redcaymatt

great looking frame and very nice color. I'd go option 2. Nice work on the bag.

vqstaphbeard

Thanks all.

If I were going for aesthetics alone option two would be the only option. I currently have no bikes with brifters, nor have I really ever, so part of me wants to give it a go.

The Golden Boy 

That bike looks fantastic! I REALLY love that fork crown. You seem 'out of breath, super chatty, giddy excited' about this- as I would be as well. No matter how you build that up, it's going to look sweet.

Congratulations!

The Golden Boy 

Suntour Command Shifters and XC Pro RD... *nudge nudge **wink wink*

belacqua

Very nice

rootboy 

Beautiful bike. Whatdoyou call that color, anyway? Split Pea soup? I like it.

Your skills are really showing on that bag. Great work.

rootboy 

…but, what's with that steerer tube sticking up out of the headset lock nut?
Or is that a sleeve of some sort?

vqstaphbeard

Thanks, I am very excited indeed. I've never tried the command shifters, but they seem cool. I'd like to give them a go sometime.

It has an exotic name...RAL 6011 haha. Acording wiki it's Reseda green. Thanks on the bag. I've made a few now and been tailoring my colthes for years so the bags are a nice change from that.

haha, someone asked me about the headset, or "spacers" as he put it, on velospace. The headset wasn't installed yet in the photo, nor was the locknut. That's just extra steerer that will need trimmed off. I asked he leave extra so I could make sure I can squeeze all my goodies in there.

gomango

Very nice.

Solid build plan and I love the color.

The frame details look nice and it will be fun to hear a ride report.

Do you just contact him through Velospace?

I have a question or two for him.

vqstaphbeard

Thanks!

You can pm him there and I know he is on the paceline forum as well. Not sure if he's on here. I'll ask him if it's alright to pass his email, then I could pm it to you.

gomango

Thanks.

I spend more time on PL nowadays, so I should be able to find him pronto.

You have nice wood floors.

southpawboston

That is looking to be a very classy build! Spirit tubing is *really* thin... and your frame is quite large. May I ask how much you weigh? Is the tubing OS or standard diameter?

Great work on the bag, too!

Can't wait to see the glamour shots when it's all done!

JAG410

Wow, that is outstanding! Love the color. The bag is a work of art as well. Do you cut your own leather edge binding? I can't seem to find any online.

vqstaphbeard

Thanks all! I leave work at noon on Fridays, so I should have a nice day to work on it tomorrow.

Good deal, I believe he has a build thread on there as well. Thanks on the floors

Yep, tis thin and big but I'm a light guy weighing in at a mean 127 lbs. Tubing is OS.

I do cut my own. I looked fairly extensively as well to no avail. I use a yard stick and run an xacto knife down each edge to get a nice parallel strip.

Wildwood 

I would really like to ride a bike with lugged Spirit frameset.

With the Honjo fenders it is quite an eyecatcher, in an elegantly understated way.
Absolutely screams that the rider knew what they wanted and built it without compromise.

A good relationship with a builder is a wonderful thing.

Wildwood 

I'm guessing 62cm ctc with a 22 HT.

vqstaphbeard

Thanks for the kind words. It was definely a great experience. I was able to toss around ideas with him through the entire process and he was very responsive.

ST is 59 ctc, TT is 56 ctc, and HT is 19 cm with the extended head lug.