I’m famous! Or at least my Spa Audax is …

[amediasatex]

The 'more racy' one is especially interesting because I think most people, wanting to build that sort of bike, wouldn't start from there! But you have and it clearly suits you.

Racy might be the wrong term, but a faster but still comfortable road bike that I'm happy to take on the chaingang as well as general 'fast' rides, rather than the other one which is suited more suited to longer and slightly slower, but still brisk, and more exploratory rides where I also want to take lunch and spare clothing.

[PH]

The 'more racy' one is especially interesting because I think most people, wanting to build that sort of bike, wouldn't start from there! But you have and it clearly suits you.

Racy might be the wrong term, but a faster but still comfortable road bike that I'm happy to take on the chaingang as well as general 'fast' rides, rather than the other one which is suited more suited to longer and slightly slower, but still brisk, and more exploratory rides where I also want to take lunch and spare clothing.

Do you Audax on them? If so which or both?

[Samuel D]

Not to hand but I can type one out later if you're curious

I am curious and might not be the only one. Doesn’t have to be hugely detailed to be useful. For example, I’ve never heard of the fast front tyre, and the stem on the audax build is unusual.

And continuing the chainset talk, they're both gorgeous but that on the 'more audaxy' one intrigues me by its internally curved 'clover leaf' shape. What is it?

That’s the one I was referring to: the SunXCD. I got mine from Velo Duo Cycles in the UK, though I got cranks only and used Stronglight chainrings with a spider adaptor.

It’s not that those cranks were too flexible but that I was surprised by the stiffness difference between them and HollowTech II cranks. I went into the Dura-Ace cranks thinking they might be similar, assuming the flex to come from the square-taper spindle, but they were a lot stiffer.

[amediasatex]

Do you Audax on them? If so which or both?

I did on the 52cm when it was built up originally in a more in-betweeny guise, but I was also using it regularly for club runs and training rides which is what lead to buying the other one and the diverging builds. The 54cm is a more recent build and since i got struck down with a viral infection with inflammation of my pericardium in November I've only been on shorter <100km rides while I recover so it hasn't seen any long audaxes yet but I have been using it locally a bit.

Once I'm back up to full fitness the intention is that I'll use it more for audaxes and my general exploratory rides, and leave the quicker build for faster rides and the occasional dry audax <200km but...
I'm blessed/cursed with numerous bikes, several very similar in intent so I often swap between them depending on mood.

[amediasatex]

I am curious and might not be the only one. Doesn’t have to be hugely detailed to be useful. For example, I’ve never heard of the fast front tyre, and the stem on the audax build is unusual.

Audax/Plodder 54cm

Spa Audax Titanium 54cm frame
Soma Champs-Elysees fork (65mm offset, 380mm A2C)
Velo Orange Grand cru headset
Thomson Elite stem with Nitto mod177 (Noodle) bars
Bontrager seatpost (stripped and polished) with Planet X ti railed saddle
Shimano UN72 BB
Sun XCD Chainset with 48/30 chainrings (still working out preferred gearing as I'd normally use a triple on a bike like this)
Sram custom cassette 13-30 (currently)
Campagnolo Veloce 10speed shifters
Campagnolo Veloce 10speed rear derailleur
Shimano 105 5600? front derailleur
Shimano BR650 Brakes
Velo Orange mudguards re-profiled to 41/42mm width

Wheelset 1
Ultegra 6600 hubs on Kinlin ADHN rims with Sapim Race Spokes
Challenge Paris Roubaix 27mm tyres that measure 30mm on these rims!

Wheelset 2
Chris King rear Hub, SP PV8 Dynamo front on H Plus Son TB14 rims with Sapim Race Spokes
Challenge Paris Roubaix 27mm tyres that measure 29.5mm on these rims




Faster 52cm

Spa Audax Titanium 52cm frame
Ritchey WCS full carbon fork (45mm offset, 370mm A2C)
Velo Orange Grand cru headset
Syntace stem with Nitto mod177 (Noodle) bars
Van Nicholas Ti seatpost with Planet X ti railed saddle
Shimano 5700 BB and Chainset with 48/34 Stronglight chainrings
Campagnolo custom 12-26 cassette
Campagnolo Chorus 10speed shifters
Campagnolo Chorus 10speed rear derailleur
Shimano 105 5700 front derailleur
Planet X Ultralight CNC brakes with a tiny bit of filing on the rear one to extend reach.

Wheelset 1
Novatec road hubs with Superstar branded Kinlin XR-380 38mm Alu rims and Sapim D-light and Laser spokes
Specialized S-Works Turbo 26mm tyres that measure 25mm on these rims (currently)

Wheelset 2
Halo Retro 6D road hubs on H Plus Son TB14 with Sapim Race spokes
Fairweather For Traveller 28mm tyres that measure 28.5mm on these rims (currently)
^ These are another 'built by Panaracer' tyre with a similar carcass to the Compass/Herse tyres but with a slightly different tread pattern. They replaced a set of Compass (now Rene Herse) Chinook Pass tyres and performance seems almost as good, but I'll probably go back to Herse when they wear out.

[Bmblbzzz]

And continuing the chainset talk, they're both gorgeous but that on the 'more audaxy' one intrigues me by its internally curved 'clover leaf' shape. What is it?

That’s the one I was referring to: the SunXCD. I got mine from Velo Duo Cycles in the UK, though I got cranks only and used Stronglight chainrings with a spider adaptor.

It’s not that those cranks were too flexible but that I was surprised by the stiffness difference between them and HollowTech II cranks. I went into the Dura-Ace cranks thinking they might be similar, assuming the flex to come from the square-taper spindle, but they were a lot stiffer.

Ah! I thought you were talking about the other bike. Although they did look like Shimano to me... Thanks!

(Those chain rings are so gorgeous - and in the sizes I'd want - but I'd need new cranks too to fit them; can't justify it )

[JakobW]

Audax/Plodder 54cm

Spa Audax Titanium 54cm frame
Soma Champs-Elysees fork (65mm offset, 380mm A2C)
Velo Orange Grand cru headset
Thomson Elite stem with Nitto mod177 (Noodle) bars
Bontrager seatpost (stripped and polished) with Planet X ti railed saddle
Shimano UN72 BB
Sun XCD Chainset with 48/30 chainrings (still working out preferred gearing as I'd normally use a triple on a bike like this)
Sram custom cassette 13-30 (currently)
Campagnolo Veloce 10speed shifters
Campagnolo Veloce 10speed rear derailleur
Shimano 105 5600? front derailleur
Shimano BR650 Brakes
Velo Orange mudguards re-profiled to 41/42mm width

Very nice indeed - can I ask what the rack and front bag are?

[amediasatex]

Very nice indeed - can I ask what the rack and front bag are?

The rack is a Nitto M18 and the bag is a Gilles Berthoud "Alex Singer Mini Bag"

https://www.renehersecycles.com/shop/components/bags/berthoud-alex-singer-mini-bag/

The Singer bag is an excellent little thing, just big enough for a day ride with lunch, tools and a few spare layers, and slips over the rack tang and has a single integral elasticated cord for security so it's easily removable and requires no strapping down yet is perfectly secure and stable.

Although when I need a bit more room I do also sometimes use a much bigger front bag that I had made by Mack Workshop in Bristol that I wrote about on another forum:

https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=107430.0

It's cavernous and needs strapping to the rack to be secure, but I use it in winter or on longer rides where I need to carry more stuff. It's construction though is super-light so despite being massive it's pretty much only as heavy as what you put in it unlike some bar bags which weigh a kilo or more on their own!

[Samuel D]

Thanks for the build list, amediasatex. Interesting that you didn’t use bladed spokes even on your fastest wheels. Any particular reason?

You might be interested in some new drag testing of hub dynamos, covered here. The Shutter Precision models didn’t test as well as I had expected. I think I’ll splurge on a SON the next time I buy a dynamo hub.

[amediasatex]

Thanks for the build list, amediasatex. Interesting that you didn’t use bladed spokes even on your fastest wheels. Any particular reason?

You might be interested in some new drag testing of hub dynamos, covered here. The Shutter Precision models didn’t test as well as I had expected. I think I’ll splurge on a SON the next time I buy a dynamo hub.

The main reason I didn’t use bladed spokes is I didn’t have any left, but had a good stock of round.

I’ve put about 5,000km on that SP hub so far and not noticed it being any more or less draggy than my SON Klassik or the Shimano 3N80 and 3N72 I have on other bikes.

The SON is a better hub no doubt, the shell is better for building decent wheels, the innards are super reliable and they consistently perform well in tests. I bought the SP to test it out due to the very competitive pricing, so far it’s performed well, and I’d not hesitate to use them again, but if you have the cash the SON is the better hub.

[slowster]

Samuel D, would you please tell me what your saddle height is (measured from the bottom bracket in a line through the centre of the seat tube).

[Samuel D]

Samuel D, would you please tell me what your saddle height is (measured from the bottom bracket in a line through the centre of the seat tube).

I will tell you this: the saddle in the photos was substantially too high. I had just eyeballed it and gone out to take the pictures. Even in trainers I could tell it was far too high, but since I didn’t want my tool roll in the photos, I had no tools to fix it. It came down when I went for my first ride with SPD-SL cleats.

I do have a record of my saddle height on my home computer but am currently in Romania without access to that or the bicycle. I think it’s in the region of 73.5 cm. What makes you wonder?

[slowster]

Thank you for that information. I asked because I am considering buying one of the new Spa Audax Mono frames. Previously I would have considered the 56cm the right size for me, but the photographs of your bike have made me question that. With a 56cm I would need 40mm of spacers under the stem, possibly even more. A 58cm would reduce that by 20mm, which would look much better.

The other side of the coin is the reduction in the amount of exposed seatpost with the larger frame. I recalled that you had posted previously that your saddle height was ~73cm, which is the same height I use. However, I suspected that the saddle was higher than that in your photographs, hence my question seeking confirmation.

The difference in effective top tube length of the two sizes is sufficiently small that I don't think it is decisive, and so the decision for me seems to boil down to one largely of aesthetics. And in that regard I greatly like what you have done with your bike.