I FINALLY have my first proper racing bike!

[Andrew_Culture]

After a build that ended up lasting about two months I've finally finished transferring all the components from my old Ribble Audax frame that was too big for me onto a Bianchi alu frame I bought from Ebay for £30.

The steel rear cassette is a bit jumpy and worn, so I'll be changing that ASAP

I'm on my third 52t chainring in just over a year, I quite like this black one though.
The Ultegra front changer I previously had was almost work entirely through, I'm surprised it didn't snap.

This beast isn't light at 10.4kg but the difference in handling going from the Audax frame to this is remarkable, it actually feels safe over 30mph!

Well that's my winter bike sorted, now I just need to save my pennies for a plastic bike

 

[swee'pea99]

Nice one!

 

[Pikey]

I never got on with my ribble audax frame, same reasons as you said really.

Lush build tho @Andrew_Culture , kudos!

 

[inkd]

£30 for a Bianchi frame? so there are some mythical bargains to be had still on ebay.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

£30 for a Bianchi frame? so there are some mythical bargains to be had still on ebay.

The seat tube was chock-full of shattered carbon parts, but nowt appears to be amiss!

 

[Andrew_Culture]

Nice one!

Proof that it's still possible to have a really nice bike without having deep pockets

 

[Andrew_Culture]

I never got on with my ribble audax frame, same reasons as you said really.

Lush build tho @Andrew_Culture , kudos!

It served me well enough as my first alu frame, but it also scared the hell out of me on many occasions. I really did squeeze all the life out of it, I donated it to a bike project in africa in the end, and I still feel a bit bad about that as it was pretty damned worn out!

 

[Andrew_Culture]

Oh my, I NUKED a KOM on my maiden voyage! I really honestly wasn't trying!

 

[Booyaa]

Cracking looking bike! Well done.

 

[swee'pea99]

Oh my, I NUKED a KOM on my maiden voyage! I really honestly wasn't trying!

I have no idea what that means but jolly well done! You could probably nuke two koms if you put in a bit of effort. Just a thought.

 

[Saluki]

Lovely looking bike, you've done a great job.
Well done on the KOM too

 

[Andrew_Culture]

Lovely looking bike, you've done a great job.
Well done on the KOM too

Ipswich Bicycle Club will no doubt destroy that pretty quickly, all my KOMs are flukes!

 

[threebikesmcginty]

You don't need a plastic bike, a good alu frame is a good frame, nothing wrong with a 10.4kg bike, if you want to make the riding ensemble lighter lose a few pounds and/or make sure you've been to the khazi pre-ride. Anyway, nice bike.

 

[biggs682]

Proof that it's still possible to have a really nice bike without having deep pockets

well said shame more people dont realise thay

 

[EltonFrog]

Nice job, enjoy.