Look, Look, Look!!!!

rolf_f

I finally got my new bike having got the C2W voucher in September!! Picked it up from Epic last Wednesday but it didn't count until yesterday as I didn't ride it until then (had to change house insurance....).

The bike is a Look 585 Optimum - basically a 585 with a more sportive oriented geommetry which I need due to my slightly disproportioned shape! Budget went up a bit from the mid range Bianchi C2C I had planned; the Look 585 has real Tour de France credibility; Thor Hushovd won the opening stage of the 2006 TdF on one. My expectations are lower........

I got over to Epic before 12 so I could see it built up. Might be the only time I spend this much on a bike so I wanted to see it created! (Had to bribe the staff with chocolate biscuits for that!) I arrived just before midday and Lincoln had already started with forks, handlebars and bottlecages already mounted.

Next a spot of Record added (most of the Groupset is Centaur but supply problems meant I got some free upgrades to Carbon Record 10 speed....

On go brakes and wheels and tyres. Wheels are unfashionably low profile Campag Neutrons – I valued the weight savings over the aero as much of my cycling is up the steep stuff…..Durano tyres not quite the lightest but should fend off most punctures.


And finished. Anyone spot the spec difference??? I feel ashamed but couldn’t help myself


And some shots at home – what you can just see hopefully is the very neat cable runs – I went for the European arrangement as the front calipers are designed for it – gives an easier run for the front brake and a line for the rear that avoids cable rub:





Pedals are Look – couldn’t be anything else. I got a cleat fitting session with the new Look digital system; can’t be sure whether it achieved much but my feet felt pretty good on Sundays run…

And finally, an ‘Official Epic shot’


I’m really chuffed with it. TBH, I didn’t originally order it for its looks; the one I test rode was dull black with turd brown stripes, Tiagra and an orange Arione. I can’t love a bike with Shimano hoods; they are just spoilt the looks for me and the brown stripes weren’t a good look. This bike though has come out looking so much nicer than expected – maybe not as sporty as a red white and black bike but then you can wear anything on this thing and not clash!! The frame is a bit straightforwardly shaped (aside from the bit on the top tube were I leant it against a radiator!!) but I like that – lugs are cool and this one was made in Tunisia in the Look factory.

I’ve got 65 windy miles under it and it seems pretty spot on – only real concern is the gearing for Lakeland trips but I’ll find out soon enough if I can handle it!

Thanks to Chris and Lincoln at Epic Cycles for a great buying experience

spasypaddy

you swapped the bottle cages out you vain bugger


Absolutley gorgeous though.

but get some decent tyres on there, gp4000s would see you right

mtb-idle

yup, 'Looks' really nice!

TheStone

Seriously nice bike.

You have my favourite commuter/tourer tyres on, but a bike of that spec deserves something
quicker.

Matt the Tester

seriously sweet bike, wanna swap it for my Dawes giro 300?

stuaff

Very nice indeed, worth the wait I hope! But you've dinked it already? Aaargh...I did that with the Viner (day I picked it up from the first owner, had it parked in the garden, fell over & top tube caught a brick or something...). Velocity have a KG-something-or-other in store (451? not sure), looks to my mind a bit spindly, barely there rear triangle etc. But the 585 looks great (no pun intended).

lost_in_thought

Looks great Rolf. Worth the wait!

rolf_f

Stuaff - not really dinked it. I was just joking about the slightly odd shaped top tube and peoples fear of melting carbon etc. It has a squashed profile in the middle of the top tube to impart some give in the frame; the standard 585 doesn't have this. No idea if it really makes a difference but the ride quality is superb. I'm a bit paranoid about my stuff so I even bought the stand you see in some of the pictures (Epic went to the trouble of finding the only stand they had which colour matched the bike ) and I've put bits of frame protector on everything which might conceivably get rubbed!

Steady Rider - I'll get back to you re the Dawes!! Maybe......

The tyres are the standard Duranos - not the pluses. They weigh 255gms I think and enclose lightweight Vittoria tubes. The wheels are light as well so the whole rotating mass shouldn't be too bad. I wanted tyres that could reasonably cope with the crap surfaces of the typical Northern Sportive. I might look into alternatives though for training runs.

The Look bottle cages were a must. As soon as I saw the frame on the stand, I knew that the Elite cages weren't right for the bike. Tried them in white, gloss black and matt black but all looked wrong. So I bought the Look cages that on a previous visit I'd been taking the piss of with Chris - I mean, £40 for a bottle cage is ridiculous. Chris did give me stick for it though; they are probably more extravagent than the bike itself. But they do look good

stuaff

Rolf F wrote:

Stuaff - not really dinked it. I was just joking about the slightly odd shaped top tube and peoples fear of melting carbon etc. It has a squashed profile in the middle of the top tube to impart some give in the frame; the standard 585 doesn't have this. No idea if it really makes a difference but the ride quality is superb. I'm a bit paranoid about my stuff so I even bought the stand you see in some of the pictures (Epic went to the trouble of finding the only stand they had which colour matched the bike ) and I've put bits of frame protector on everything which might conceivably get rubbed!

That's a relief- having had another look at the pics, see what you mean about the top tube- it's fairly subtle though.

bigmat

Nice bike, good to see someone else with Euro cable routing as well. I've always thought that if some chav ever nicks one of my bikes, they'll go over the bars the first time they try to pull a skid!

attica

Looks fantastic, very nice indeedy.

One question:-
How did you manage to get that on the C2W scheme when the upper limit is only £1000?

amnezia

Very nice bike and a nice upgrade to the record dérailleur.

I take it you have a shorter torso to leg length than most, hence the shorter top tube and stem?

magicrhodes

Attica wrote:

Looks fantastic, very nice indeedy.

One question:-
How did you manage to get that on the C2W scheme when the upper limit is only £1000?

What he said!!!???

Radioactiveman

Lovely bike

Aidy

Shiny shiny pretty thing

biondino

Have they changed the C2W rules? I just paid the excess on my Focus, and no-one minded.

Aguila

Looks lovely, even with the campag stuff on

Hope you've got somewhere safe to keep it at work, the tea leaves will be all over it.

amnezia

Aguila wrote:

Looks lovely with the campag stuff on

Quite true!

attica

biondino wrote:

Have they changed the C2W rules? I just paid the excess on my Focus, and no-one minded.

The rules have always been the same (£1000 maximum and no topping up), consider yourself lucky that someone was prepared to bend the rules for you!

\Grinds teeth

rolf_f

amnezia wrote:

Very nice bike and a nice upgrade to the record dérailleur.

I take it you have a shorter torso to leg length than most, hence the shorter top tube and stem?

Record front mech too! Forgot to mention, weight came in around 16lbs/7kgs without pedals but with the Elite bottle cages - obviously, I've saved a fair bit going to the Look carbon cages (aren't they pretty?! :oops: )



Yep - shortish torso; the handlebars are shorter than normal too. Riding position seems pretty good and the Arione I think will bed in nicely though I nearly fell off the back of it a couple of times!

As for C2W - I reckon it just about paid for the wheels. I do have safe storage for it at work but, sadly, it won't be able to be used for work until the Orange P7 I got last year on the scheme is completely worn out. It's annoying but so far it looks like that could be several 10s of thousands of miles away so I'll just have to keep the Look in standby for the commute and in the mean time just take it out a bit to keep things running smoothly.....!

biondino

It would do my head in that it says "Look" all over it - not just because it's so over-branded but also my reflex reaction is (and would be after the 1000th time) "ooh, what should I be looking at?".

jonginge

biondino wrote:

It would do my head in that it says "Look" all over it - not just because it's so over-branded but also my reflex reaction is (and would be after the 1000th time) "ooh, what should I be looking at?".

Says a man with a Focus. I am concentrating, I tell you!

The Rookie

'Focus' on the 'look' did anyone say....

Not my cup of tea but does look lovely, now it just needs some flat bars (retires in a hurry to avoid the thrown objects).

Simon

UndercoverElephant

JonGinge wrote:

biondino wrote:

It would do my head in that it says "Look" all over it - not just because it's so over-branded but also my reflex reaction is (and would be after the 1000th time) "ooh, what should I be looking at?".

Says a man with a Focus. I am concentrating, I tell you!

Heaven knows what would happen if your orange juice bottle said concentrate.

attica

UndercoverElephant wrote:

JonGinge wrote:

biondino wrote:

It would do my head in that it says "Look" all over it - not just because it's so over-branded but also my reflex reaction is (and would be after the 1000th time) "ooh, what should I be looking at?".

Says a man with a Focus. I am concentrating, I tell you!

Heaven knows what would happen if your orange juice bottle said concentrate.

What do you do when you reach a door marked "entrance"?

rolf_f

biondino wrote:

It would do my head in that it says "Look" all over it - not just because it's so over-branded but also my reflex reaction is (and would be after the 1000th time) "ooh, what should I be looking at?".

Over-branded! I thought it was relatively restrained! Mind you, I was originally going to buy a Viner....

And obviously, you look at the bike (better than Trek - I'd be thinking all the time, why is my bike telling me to walk?!)

jonginge

UndercoverElephant wrote:

JonGinge wrote:

biondino wrote:

It would do my head in that it says "Look" all over it - not just because it's so over-branded but also my reflex reaction is (and would be after the 1000th time) "ooh, what should I be looking at?".

Says a man with a Focus. I am concentrating, I tell you!

Heaven knows what would happen if your orange juice bottle said concentrate.

Probably get a lot more work done

jonginge

Attica wrote:

UndercoverElephant wrote:

JonGinge wrote:

biondino wrote:

It would do my head in that it says "Look" all over it - not just because it's so over-branded but also my reflex reaction is (and would be after the 1000th time) "ooh, what should I be looking at?".

Says a man with a Focus. I am concentrating, I tell you!

Heaven knows what would happen if your orange juice bottle said concentrate.

What do you do when you reach a door marked "entrance"?

SOP, surely




Stop laughing

attica

JonGinge wrote:

Attica wrote:

UndercoverElephant wrote:

JonGinge wrote:

biondino wrote:

It would do my head in that it says "Look" all over it - not just because it's so over-branded but also my reflex reaction is (and would be after the 1000th time) "ooh, what should I be looking at?".

Says a man with a Focus. I am concentrating, I tell you!

Heaven knows what would happen if your orange juice bottle said concentrate.

What do you do when you reach a door marked "entrance"?

SOP, surely




Stop laughing

You hypnotise doors?

jonginge

Attica wrote:

JonGinge wrote:

Attica wrote:

UndercoverElephant wrote:

JonGinge wrote:

biondino wrote:

It would do my head in that it says "Look" all over it - not just because it's so over-branded but also my reflex reaction is (and would be after the 1000th time) "ooh, what should I be looking at?".

Says a man with a Focus. I am concentrating, I tell you!

Heaven knows what would happen if your orange juice bottle said concentrate.

What do you do when you reach a door marked "entrance"?

SOP, surely




Stop laughing

You hypnotise doors?

3-2-1 *snap* and you're back in the room...

cjcp

Very nice choice of tyres.

Bike's not bad, either. 8)