b-skinny by English

[pocketbeagle]

Just thought I'd give a shout out here as well... Rob just finished up my latest bike...





More details and pics on my Flickr page:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pocketbeag ... 255732058/

[pocketbeagle]

Build list and (nearly) final weights - I think tubs have not been glued yet and a couple of misc bolts and stuff:

Frame: English custom steel ISP 1160g
Fork: English custom steel 358g
Headset: Chris King 1" Nothreadset 98g
Stem/steerer/bar: English custom steel 592g
Seatpost: English custom cap, Edge hardware 94g
Saddle: Becker pop 110g
BB: Lightning inc
Cranks: Lightning, carbon spider 444g
Chainring: Fibrelyte 44T 36g
Chainring bolts: Aluminium for single ring 8g
Rear wheel: Extralite, Enve 1.45, CX-ray 554g
Front wheel: Extralite, Enve 1.45, CX-ray 434g
Tyres: Vittoria CX 504g
Skewers: KCNC Titanium 44g
Cassette: Recon aluminium 12-25 104g
Chain: KMC X-10SL 222g
Rear derailleur: SRAM Red 148g
Brakes: KCNC C7, Enve pads 166g
Cables: Vision, Sram 120g estimated
Shifter: SRAM TT900 76g
Bar Tape: Felt tri tips 76g
Brake levers: Vision TT 88g

5436g 11.96lbs of nearly all-steel goodness!!!

Bottle and cage: Arundel Aero 126g
Draft box: Bontrager 188g
Draft box bag: Bontrager neoprene 34g

No pedals yet - I will be most like be reusing my old keo carbons which will weigh about 230g.

[pritchet74]

Wow, those bars are awesome!

[Ypsylon]

Great thinking outside of the box. The bar is really awesome.

Is the Trek box there just for aero reasons, or do you actually carry stuff around?

Is that a shiftmate that doesn't actually mate?

[Fibre-Lyte]

I like it, very different

I think for those who browse this forum but not the other one, some of the history behind the bike that you have posted on the other forum may be useful here

[skimons]

hammer!
really like the clean design. and amazed by the weight of the steel fork (!) great job, rob!

[pocketbeagle]

Thanks for all the positive comments so far!

The project started nearly a year ago when I think we were at the height of the oversized everything, carbon everything trend. New BB standards, new fork steerer standards, every good was supposed to be carbon and supposed to be bigger! There was also that 'steel is real and can be classically beautiful too' (and they are!) trend that was being fueled by great events like NAHBS. So I was thinking, do I really need something that is 1539% stiffer and yet more comfortable than what I have today? I also have a couple of great looking steel IFs already. So given my small size, weight and my riding preferences, I reckoned that I could make some design decisions that could result in a bike that is light enough, stiff enough and fit for purpose that is not carbon, not oversized and just not completely 'normal' So it had to be steel, and given the amount of unconventional design elements, I thought it had to be Rob (have you seen the kickbike he built!!). The bike is as 'small' as can be, 1 inch top and seat tubes, the down tube is actually a teardrop-shape top tube, 1 inch steerer for the fork that has 7/8 inch ovalized blades. Of course, the seat stays are the usually skinny stuff from Rob. Head tube is as small as possible to minimize material from the actual head tube and also the steerer - this is offset somewhat by the stems.

Just a bit on the bars - first of all, I do nearly all of my riding on the hoods. I'm properly positioned for the drops as well on my current IF but I don't quite like using them though. So the primary idea was to replicate my current hoods position and to keep everything aero. Using the vision brake levers and bar end shifters allowed me to have fingertip braking/shifting but it is also lighter than normal brifters. The cross-bar recreates the aero tuck position that roadies used to have when STI was still cabled externally - it is also safer now because its a rigid bar rather than floppy shifter cable housing. As for the 'stem', I thought 2 skinny 'stems' might be more aero than one tube (Look does it too!). Finally, the 'pistol-grips' would allow me to still have a 'drops' position, but now it is much closer to my body (I have short arms) - I realised that it is the angle in your wrist that allows for a lowering of the body more so than fore-aft extension. Also notice the little flanges that Rob put on the bottom of the grips so my hands will not fall off on bumpy roads. I'm thinking maybe I should call them 'shootout' bars given the way the rider might look grabbing on to them!!

@ ypsylon - well, the box is primarily for aero purposes (couldn't fit in an Arundel in there as originally planned) but it could be used to carry spares etc. Also, thats a Avid Rollamajig - given that the rear shifter cable is routed internally through the top tube and drive side seat stay, I wanted to reduce the cable loop at the rear derailleur. So with the Rollamajig, I can use a shorter, straighter cable run and still have smooth shifting.

@ fibre-lyte - don't the chainrings look nice??

[pocketbeagle]

a couple more pictures... details of the bars...



detail of the stem 'crown' area...

[pritchet74]

So damn innovative. I just love it.

[pocketbeagle]

[Fibre-Lyte]

@ fibre-lyte - don't the chainrings look nice??

The whole bike looks nice, but the chainring/crankset combo does look great (even though I'm bias ). When I first looked at the pics, it did remind me of a Gates belt drive... until I saw the chain

[dunlinii]

Haha thats truly amazing.

[Boonen]

That's one sweet bike you got made there pocketbeagle! Goes well with the rest of the collection, some amazing stuff

Is that a shift mate in the rear derailleur?
Curious to hear how this one rides and how those bars work out.

[pocketbeagle]

Its an Avid Rollamajig.

Yes, I can't wait to get my hands on it too!

[pocketbeagle]

Rob has posted some studio shots of the bike on his site...









Photography courtesy of Tina Buescher (www.tinabuescher.com)