Rotwild R.S2 SRAM/KCNC build - something a bit different

incog24

No pictures yet, but I'm just starting building my team bike for the year. Its something a bit different, and Rotwild haven't exactly had a huge presence in the UK recently, but they make sweet bikes and I'm looking forward to riding mine. The KCNC stuff is tasty too and super light. It'll be interesting to see what the final build comes in at. With some decent tubs it should be close to or just under 7kgs.

So, spec list will is currently looking like this:

Frame: Rotwild R.S2
Forks: 3T F340 Team
Bars: KCNC SC Force Scandium
Stem: KCNC SC Scandium wing (110 mm)
Headset: Stock
Bar Tape: Deda (Black)

Brakes: KCNC C6 (Black)

Shifters: SRAM Force
Cables: Jagwire (Black)
Front Mech: SRAM Rival
Rear Mech: SRAM Rival

Seat: Selle Italia SLR XP
Seat Post: KCNC SC Pro Scandium Layback 350 mm (27.2)
Seat Post Clamp: KCNC SC11

Cranks: KCNC K3 RD Cobweb 53/39 172.5 (Black with Gold bolts)
Chain: KCNC hollow pin (Silver)
Cassette: Force 11-26
Pedals: Ultegra
Bottom Bracket: KCNC BB86 (Gold - can't see it but why not...)

Wheels as yet undecided. Will be training on my powertap, but yet to decide on race wheels.

Oh and standard team plug, the bikes are available via the Fluid Fin guys at the moment with plans to upscale the operation in the near future. Link in my sig below.

incog24

So the bits are starting to accumulate.

First the frame came in:

Rotwild R.S2 Frame by incog24, on Flickr

It's been redesigned for 2012 so is a bit different from the model reviewed by bikeradar in 2010 http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/road/product/review-rotwild-rs2-pro-10-39348. They're saying that they've maintained the stiffness but introduced more comfort. The massive headtube/downtube/chainstays certainly look stiff and the seatstays are tiny, so it looks like they've gone in the right direction. I'm keen to have a play and find out for myself.

incog24

It taken a little while to get this built up and I only picked it up from my team mates today, but here are some partial build photos because frankly I'm already buzzing and can't hold on until its finished!


So here we are, complete with a set of American Classic 58s (tubs) that I picked up today too.


IMAG0063

IMAG0061

IMAG0062

Still waiting on the chainset, some Blackburn Slick cages, and some tubs for the wheels, but I have everything else so its nearly there! I think I'll be on the road next week...Cannot wait. The down tube and head tube are huuuuge, it looks sweet in real life. I'll get some decent photos with a DSLR soon...

Oh and I don't really ride with that saddle bar drop (pretty impossible unless you're a chimpanzee), I just haven't put it in properly so I don't scratch it up by mistake...

tim_wand

That is going to be sick when its finished, cant wait to see it, ( more anticipation than Ezy Riders graphics)

Do you think with the decals on the wheels and the detailing on the frame it may be a bit busy?

Looking forward to seeing it finished, (I had a rotwild MTB years ago when I was in the army in Germany)
brought it back to the uk with me and it was a real rarity for a while, so good to see something different.

incog24

Yeah you're right Tim, its something that I was considering yesterday. It isn't too hard to take the decals off the ACs so I may yet do that, but I want to see it built first before I make a decision. I 'might' work as the colours are very similar, but we'll see...In stealth mode the wheels look sweet anyway as they're non-dimpled zipp mold rims with nice contrasting sections of carbon.

I'm also a little concerned that the gold won't work, and I might swap the skewers for some red or black ones. Problematically though the jockey wheels only come with a gold centre so potentially if I cut the the rest of the gold bits it'll look odd. Decisions...

I like riding something a bit different, especially when its still a top notch frame rather than something utterly random, so Rotwild suits me well. I think people like you that have had them in the past are fairly few and far between!

tim_wand

Its a team race/ training ride so you've obviously got the onions to pull it off, wouldnt worry too much although I do love the stealth look especially of Matte blacks and things like the venge.

I think with a team bike you can get away with the bling as long as you can ride a bit too, would look a bit odd in a Cat 4 or a sportive,

I got rid of my Rotwild RTO2 MTB it was brutal would ride through anything like it wasnt there and the build quality was second to none. Would definitely like to check out the road frames if ever i m in the position for a serious build again.

Any idea what the whole build will come in at (To the man in the street) . Also a big fan on KCNC stuff, swapped out a carbon post for their scandium one on and love it.

tim_wand

Is it done yet, I m dieing to see the finished article. Especially whether or not you kept the decals on the AC's?

incog24

Nope still not finished! Waiting on the crankset at the moment, apparently it should be arriving in the UK tomorrow...I'm away for a week after that so it'll probably be finished (finally) next Friday...Its getting a tad frustrating waiting! I'd chuck another crankset on, but at the moment the only compatible one I have has Q-rings on and I can't be bothered with the faf of sorting the front mech out to work with them...Best to wait for the complete package anyway...

I popped the wheels into the frame the other day and at the moment I'm leaning towards keeping the decals. Its easy enough to get rid though, so I'll wait until I've got some pictures of me riding it with team kit on before deciding.

I reckon to build up something similar yourself you'd be looking at a smidgen under £3k without wheels if you started off with a frameset (£1799), or you could go for a full ultegra build at £2999 and work backwards that might work out pretty similar and allows you to swap out bits as you go along. It depends what groupset you fancied, but obviously the sram is a tad lighter. The stock rotwild kit is already seriously nice, I just took the option to go full KCNC because its a bit rarer and I've heard great stuff about them.

Photos galore in a week (fingers crossed...).

Beatmaker

I like that. Looking forward tepo seeing the finished article.

tim_wand

I ve bumped cause I want see this. common, must be built by now?

incog24

It is! Finally the shimano BB out and the KCNC one in on Saturday and finished it off on Sunday!













I weighed it without the chain or bottle cages on Saturday and it came in at 6.6kgs, so it should be just a tad under 6.9kgs fully built up. Not bad! That's also with the wrong cassette (a 1050 11-26) which I think is fairly heavy. I haven't really ridden it properly yet, but first impressions are that its surprisingly comfortable. I had the tyres (21mm) up at 120psi so I expected it to be harsher. However, that was with the new wheels so I'll stick my training ones in soon for a better comparison. Despite that it seems to maintain the snappiness under power and steering response you'd expect for a race bike. The geometry is spot on for me too. I need a slightly shorter top tube than most XLs spec, but more seat tube than most Ls, so the 59cm seat tube and 59.5cm top tube is perfect.

Early days yet for ride analysis yet though, I'll put up some more thoughts after I've done ~500miles and a few races.

noiseboyfeetman

Very nice. Some good you've done work there. I like the look of the chainset and the other KCNC bits, not convinced on the American Classic decals though on the wheelset tbh.

incog24

Yep I'm not 100% on the graphics but they're staying for the moment I think. The chainset is pretty crazy. Quite glad I didn't get it all in gold, that would definitely have been overkill.

alihisgreat

Love the chainset, and i do think the wheel decals fit well with the frame, because they are both quite busy styles.


The rear dérailleur and pedals need to be black -> still a stunning bike with the silver though!

incog24

You're so right about the rear derailleur! I hadn't considered that before. The front doesn't stand out but if the back one was black it'd look great with the jockey wheels. I've considered changing the pedals, but its a bit of a faf and you can't really see them once I'm on it anyway...I've also been hedging my bets, as whilst a change to speedplay would look good and save loads of weight I'd like to get the garmin vectors if they ever actually come out and don't want to waste a ton of money buying sets of pedals that I then have to flog second hand.

andy46

First time I've seen this thread, love the bike definitely different.

From your location we may pass each other at some point, I'll definitely recognize that bike

incog24

Cheers Andy . I just realised my location is slightly out of date though. I'm up there from time to time doing geotech stuff but mainly based down south now. I'm next up wc21 may so I'll keep my eye out for the Forme and if you go to the AoD I might see you there.

tim_wand

Stunning, well worth the wait, that chainset is awesome. IMO keep the decals on the AC's I really didnt think they would work but I like it, a lot think they match in with and lift the grey on the downtube and fork.

Can you get a carbon cage for the rival rear mech, and can you change the pivot bolts on those otherwise awesome Calipers?

What is the bottom bracket standard, looks press fit but then with something else and what is the awesome looking headset. (sorry if you ve already specced and I m being lazy not reading up)

The stem is just gorgeous got me twitching for one to match my seatpost, but I really cant justify it at the moment.

Beatmaker

I like that a lot. I especially like the 'German Cycling Device' graphic. Does exactly what it says on the tin

FransJacques

Keep it as it is, the wheels work fine with the frame. It looks quite pro b/c it looks like you just threw together whatever the sponsors gave you and who cares if it's all totally is pantoned to the exact some ISO colour standard.

Looks wickid. Reminds me or riding in Mallorca. The chainring looks like the Beijing bird's nest stadium!

Ride the snot outta it!