SINTESI 707 custom build is here (3yrs in the making)

phil_pompey

Hi,

Its been a long, hard battle against the little challenges life throws at us but its finally in the work stand and slowly coming together. I brought the frame back in April '09 when I was made redundant. Slowly I purchased the components bit by bit and now here she is:

SPEC:
Frame - Sintesi 707 Aluminium frame in white 20"
Forks - Rock Shox Recon Gold TK Solo Air 100mm
Brakes - SLX M666 Disc brakes with 160 rotors
Cranks - Shimano Deore hollow tech II in silver
BB - Shimano Deore press fit.
Shifters - SLX 9speed
Rear Mech - SLX shadow
Front Mech - Shimano XT to swing.
Bars - Syncros AM 35mm Rise
Stem - Syncros AM grunge 100mm 10deg rise.
Saddle - Charge Spoon in brown
Grips - Superstar in brown with gold lock rings.
Headset - Ritchey WCS pro intergrated.
Headset spacers - Superstar gold
Seat Post - Thompson Elite in black
Bling - Hope hose guides in gold.
Wheels - Temporary donation by my brother Gimpie quatro things. Hope to get Superstar switch wheelset soon.

I appreciate that the colour scheme will not be to everybody's tastes but I don't think it looks to bad.
Your feed back on spec would be appreciated though as this is my first mountain bike since i sold my 2003 GT Idrive 2.0 back in 2008.

Cheers,
Phil

phil_pompey

Better pics of finished build to follow (Hopefully at the weekend).

agent_buchwald

Ace - look forward to more pictures - love my 707 they are the gear.

phil_pompey

Agent Buchwald wrote:

Ace - look forward to more pictures - love my 707 they are the gear.

How do you find it? Not ridden this yet but when I first got the frame i thought it measured up a bit small. Looking at it now it doesn't look too small but I was concerned at first as I'm 6'2".

CraigXXL

I built one of these for a mate a few years back when Merlin were selling them cheap. They are pretty good frames and built into a nice bike

phil_pompey

CraigXXL wrote:

I built one of these for a mate a few years back when Merlin were selling them cheap. They are pretty good frames and built into a nice bike

That's when I got mine before they flooded ebay with them.

Quick question, I fitted my front mech today and I think I was told the wrong fitting by merlin. Have a look at the pic and let me know if you think I should have got an alternative mounting one. At the min the clamp sits right in between the bottle bosses on the seat tube. Seems very High to me. Advice please? :S

CraigXXL

Low mount would have looked better but they'll both work just as well

DomN86

I cant see the pictures in the first post ?

The Northern Monkey

DomN86 wrote:

I cant see the pictures in the first post ?

+1

MountainMonster

I can't see the pictures at the top either.

As far as the mech, it is a high mount mech, which isn't a problem at all.

phil_pompey

Thanks for the replies guys, Not sure why you can't see the pics. I will upload some more taken with a proper camera when she's finished as i'm still putting it together and I have to do it when there's no local kids hanging around otherwise I won't get chance to ride her before she goes walkies! lol

CraigXXL

Just noticed your bar/stem combo which is quite long with a high rise. If it feels horrible flip the stem to mimic low rise and see how it feels then.

phil_pompey

CraigXXL wrote:

Just noticed your bar/stem combo which is quite long with a high rise. If it feels horrible flip the stem to mimic low rise and see how it feels then.

Thanks, I'm 6'2" and a lot out of shape so gone for the relaxed approach. When my fitness comes back I will be changing the bar stem set up anyway. I had this set up on my old saracen to ride to work on last summer and it was really nice. And i'm usually a fan of the head down arse up position. Hated riser bars when they first came out.

MrBibble

Thanks for the heads up, but i cant see any of the images?

chillijam

MrBibble wrote:

Thanks for the heads up, but i cant see any of the images?

phil_pompey

Here are the original pics again.

I will post new ones up when I take them tomorrow.

phil_pompey

A few more

agent_buchwald

To answer your question -I love it but can only compare it to a previous Hardrock - feels about twice as expensive, lighter and more direct.
I got one of the frames from Merlin when they were too cheap not to and like the fact it's not mainstream - I built it as cheap as possible with secondhand Dart 2 forks, Hardrock Pro wheels and a selection of XT, Deore, SLX from wherever had the biggest discounts.
Planning to do the SDW in a day on it in the summer but that's dependant on a complete personality change and the subsequent training.