A Shiny Thing I Built: Look Upon My Works, Ye Mighty...

[Xipe Totec]

Oh wow. That's a funky seatpost indeed.

Is 80 a bit high for 32mms ? I'm running my contis at 50 on the front and 60 on the back. No issues with them in a few years.

80's the max recommended pressure for these but I am a bit on the hefty side - 95kg and then some, after comfort-eating my way through Covid! Could get away with less in the front but the rear distorts a bit under my bulk as it is, & may be prone to exaggerated wear & pinch-flats on the local bomb-cratered roads if I ran it with less.

how are the shifters going ? i can get a set of 10 speed to replace my tiagra for £65 that are looking worse for wear .

Fine so far, still just like new. The rear mech has a very stiff spring compared to Shimano, so that makes the lever action a little heavy after the 6800 Ultegra on my road bike - but I'm sure that won't apply to the Shimano-compatible stuff. I have no complaints at all about the functionality of the Sensah components but I guess durability/reliability remains to be seen.

£65's a big saving over 'proper' Tiagra but might be worth digging around to see if there any reviews & long-term experiences out there. I admit I bought the parts for mine fully expecting them to fall apart in a few months, it's so far a pleasant surprise that they haven't!

 

[Bollo]

I like how you’ve retained the aliexpress aesthetic while building something that isn’t a death trap. I like it. Chapeau.

 

[StuAff]

Francis Cade has been running a 12 speed Sensah group for a while, he's just posted an update on it....

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6vc5BpMpPw&ab_channel=FrancisCade

PS: nice bike!

 

[Xipe Totec]

I like how you’ve retained the aliexpress aesthetic while building something that isn’t a death trap. I like it. Chapeau.

Jury's still out on that one!

 

[Xipe Totec]

Updated update! Small hiccup replacing the rear mech cable, after finding the cable outer had shredded where it fits into the shifter - the fitting's too narrow to accept a ferrule & it looks like the consequence of stiff mech springs & nothing holding the outer together has taken its toll. Bodged at the moment but I'll have to replace the outer & open out the seat in the shifter to accept a ferrule. Bit of a pain in the bum as I'm having to use full-length outers, making the process more of a faff.

Anyway - gratuitous shiny-bike-in-the-sun pic with new bar tape.

 

[Xipe Totec]

25 month later update: It's all gone a bit MOR...

Cheap 105 deal came up shortly after my last post and I concluded that not having to live with the pain in the arse of constantly stretching cables & spongy outers (not to mention disintegrating BB bearings & dubious brakes) was worth 400-odd quid.

And thus AliExpress flair was ditched in favour of the grey, anodyne functionality of gears that shift and brakes that stop. Unfortunately the rainbow finish on the stem & bottle cages proved unequal to several Scottish winters, and started peeling & bubbling. So they too went off to the Great Spares Box In The Sky.

The upside is that it's great, everything works like a dream, and it's finished. For now.

 

[AndyRM]

That is a thing of beauty. Everything looks so well considered and balanced.

Chapeau!

 

[ianrauk]

@Xipe Totec what tyres are they?

 

[Xipe Totec]

@Xipe Totec what tyres are they?

Donnelly Strada. Second set of these as I got decent mileage from the first pair & only two punctures - one of which looks to have been a tube flaw as I couldn't find what caused it. Decent cheapskate road-oriented tanwall 32s - if you can find any!

 

[fossyant]

Ten year old 105 on my CX bike and a few of us have just done the King Alfred Way over 4 days and carrying tents on bikes that shouldn't be able to do it.

Definitely stick with the mainstream manufacturers for longevity.

 

[derrick]

Have been using aliexpress wheels and bars for years, never had a problem, i know of a few chinese frames going strong after 8 years, i think in the early days of carbon there were a few problems, but i have never had any.