My Genesis Equilibrium Build

jonny_trousers

Twice now I have tried to write this post and twice now I have ended up going on a massive rant about how utterly cack the customer service I received from De Ver Cycle and Colour Tech was, but you don't want to hear about that! I'm sorely tempted to begin an LBS review thread somewhere as personal therapy, if for no other reason, and I will no doubt rant the arse out of those two companies there, but for now, behold the beauty that is my Campag equipped Equilibrium (finally received 5 months after placing the order, grrrr!)





Frame: 2012 Genesis Equilibrium sprayed gloss black by Colour Tech (don't touch them with a barge pole)
Fork: Dedacciai Black Rain (nabbed from my old Condor Fratello - takes mudguards and looks the absolute shizz with its fat profiling)
Wheels: Campagnolo Khamsins front and rear with 23mm Gatorskins
Crank and integrated BB: Capmpagnolo Centaur
Front and rear mechs: Capmpagnolo Veloce
Brakes: My old Fratello's Condor branded long reaches (Shimanos?)
Levers: Campagnolo Veloce Ergos (actually had alloy Centaurs on at first, but prefered my Veloces so refitted)
Bars: 3T Ergonova (love, love, love)
Stem: 3T ARX Pro (see above)
Tape: Fizik something or another.
Saddle: 2010 Specialized BG Romin SL (still available online for around 60 quid - awesome saddle!)
Seat post: Bog standard Condor carbon
Pedals: Either 105 SPD SLs or SPD M520s depending on what I'm up to (Shimano with Campag? Sacrilege right? I know, but it's what I happened to have and they are both great!)

I'd really fancied an Equilibrium for over a year now, but several things got in the way of me buying one (most notably the awful 'cherry red' paint scheme that devalues the incredible frame Genesis have created), but trust me, believe the reviews, listen to the hype and do yourself a favour before Genesis realise that they really ought to be charging double... It's fast without you noticing, as comfortable as you could wish for and handles like it's part of your body (without embarrassing you the way other parts of your - er - or is that just me?). Admittedly I've only so much to compare it to, but I honestly can't imagine a better do-it-all frame. J'adore!

alihisgreat

That looks incredible; i think the new paint job was worth it!

Usually not a fan of genesis bikes (probably for the same reasons as you - the colour) but this one looks amazing.

Future upgrades? go stealth with the crankset, rear derailliur and wheelset?

RideOnTime

Yep, looks good.

jonny_trousers

Cheers you two!

I'm actually ok with most of Genesis's colour schemes, but the 'cherry red' always bothered me. It just looks so cheap on a frame that is held in such high regard. If they'd only have offered the colours that the two lower specked full-build Equilibriums come in I'd have been happy. I even waited several months last autumn when I knew that I wanted an Equilibrium to see what the 2012 colour scheme was going to be before buying. Imagine my delight to discover it was to remain unchanged. :shock:

I don't know why I say this particularly, but I get the vibe Genesis are looking to push their brand forwards right now. Despite the fact that they've produced some cutting edge bikes over the years, I think they might still be viewed as a mid-range manufacturer only. The last few months has seen them prototyping some very cool looking machines that will hopefully go into production. I don't know how much of the Equilibrium was clever design and how much was fluke, but there is so very little out there in the market to compete with it. Condor's Acciaio has only ever attracted luke-warm reviews and their Fratello is a wonderful bike, but a little more of an audax geometry than many would want - not to mention that both Condors cost way more than the Equilibrium.

I'd actually planned for a much more interesting paint scheme at first. It was meant to be pale blue with white panels containing copied Genesis logos, but I got so annoyed with Colour Tech for sitting on their arses doing nothing that I told them to just spray it gloss black. But in a way I'm glad that I did. It would maybe be cool to have some custom logos on it one day, but I have no idea how I would go about getting them.

Totally agree that a stealth groupset would look amazing, but I just went with what I had from the Fratello. I doubt very much I will ever upgrade it purely for aesthetics, but parts do wear out and need replacing right?

nathancom

I think the bike looks great - steel bikes always look so smart compared to most CF bikes with their noisy colours and oversized tubes (especially at the same price point).

If you can manage to upgrade to the new centaur black/red with some Mavic Kysrium SLR it would look even more awesome.

jonny_trousers

nathancom wrote:

I think the bike looks great - steel bikes always look so smart compared to most CF bikes with their noisy colours and oversized tubes (especially at the same price point).

Thanks! I kind of agree with you and would probably go ti if I had the money for a really flash bike for that very reason. There are one or two makers who do understated CF, but I guess most people with money want the team bike replicas that are doused in bling.

If you can manage to upgrade to the new centaur black/red with some Mavic Kysrium SLR it would look even more awesome.

Oh God, don't tempt me. It's only a matter of time before I Google the new Centaur groupset now.

I should probably have stated in my first post how much my build cost me in total. It was one of those projects where I thought I would save by using older parts, but as is always the way, the temptation to buy new bits and pieces was too big. I'll total up what I spent this afternoon, but I doubt it will have been any more than an off-the-peg Equilibrium 20

the_fuggler

Still annoyed with myself for not buying an Equilibrium. That annoyance has been multiplied by 10 having seen this beauty. I'm sure it didn't feel like it at the time, but that has to be worth the 5 month wait. What a cracker!

jonny_trousers

The Fuggler wrote:

Still annoyed with myself for not buying an Equilibrium. That annoyance has been multiplied by 10 having seen this beauty. I'm sure it didn't feel like it at the time, but that has to be worth the 5 month wait. What a cracker!

Thanks. I do love it, but I just wish I'd bought the frame online, had it powdercoated at Armourtex across their usual three days and then paid someone else to build it up. De Ver charged me a hell of a lot to build it and the gear indexing was all over the place when I first collected it. Never mind, a lesson learnt!

What did you end up with? I remember you looking at Equilibriums.

the_fuggler

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

The Fuggler wrote:

Still annoyed with myself for not buying an Equilibrium. That annoyance has been multiplied by 10 having seen this beauty. I'm sure it didn't feel like it at the time, but that has to be worth the 5 month wait. What a cracker!

Thanks. I do love it, but I just wish I'd bought the frame online, had it powdercoated at Armourtex across their usual three days and then paid someone else to build it up. De Ver charged me a hell of a lot to build it and the gear indexing was all over the place when I first collected it. Never mind, a lesson learnt!

What did you end up with? I remember you looking at Equilibriums.

Bought a Cannondale Synpase 105 (alloy edition), which is absolutely fine. My budget was the 900 quid I paid, despite really wanting the Genesis (or a SuperSix). Annoyingly, a couple of weeks after I bought it, I got a tax rebate for 600 quid. Patience is indeed a virtue...

jonny_trousers

The Fuggler wrote:

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

The Fuggler wrote:

Still annoyed with myself for not buying an Equilibrium. That annoyance has been multiplied by 10 having seen this beauty. I'm sure it didn't feel like it at the time, but that has to be worth the 5 month wait. What a cracker!

Thanks. I do love it, but I just wish I'd bought the frame online, had it powdercoated at Armourtex across their usual three days and then paid someone else to build it up. De Ver charged me a hell of a lot to build it and the gear indexing was all over the place when I first collected it. Never mind, a lesson learnt!

What did you end up with? I remember you looking at Equilibriums.

Bought a Cannondale Synpase 105 (alloy edition), which is absolutely fine. My budget was the 900 quid I paid, despite really wanting the Genesis (or a SuperSix). Annoyingly, a couple of weeks after I bought it, I got a tax rebate for 600 quid. Patience is indeed a virtue...

I hear great things about the Synapse, but if you really want an Equilibrium you can pick up a frame for around £260 and build it up with the Cannondale kit. Bish, bash, bosh!

Marcus_C

I like this,very similar spec to mine, although mine is still the old cherry red, I don't mind it actually but have long been toying with the idea of a dark brooklands green or something similar. If it means i'd have to be without it for that long though!!!

blkmcs

That looks good in black, though I do love my cherry red version.

Good to hear that it is living up to your expectations.

jonny_trousers

Thanks guys!

To be completely honest I think I probably got a bee in my bonnet over the cherry red Equilibrium for no reason beyond the fact that my very first 'racer' was a cherry red Rudi Altig: a total and utter piece of crap that began to fall apart on the birthday it was presented to me. I also got to see how a custom Equilibrium build could look when using the black frame taken from a '10' when discussing them in this thread.

Dark green sounds great Marcus. If you are ok losing the decals then I have never heard anything but compliments for Armourtex's powder coating service.

Middleaged

I was interested to see the Ti version news come out a short while ago -

http://road.cc/content/news/53063-icebi ... lant-alloy

and quite fancy one apart from the suggested price - if they really are going to ask £1500 its quite a bit more than similar Ti offerings,eg Kinesis Granfondo/VN Yukon etc

Sorry to hear about your problems with the bike paint job and build - I hope you get many miles of enjoyment out of it to help make up for the grief.

the_fuggler

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

The Fuggler wrote:

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

The Fuggler wrote:

Still annoyed with myself for not buying an Equilibrium. That annoyance has been multiplied by 10 having seen this beauty. I'm sure it didn't feel like it at the time, but that has to be worth the 5 month wait. What a cracker!

Thanks. I do love it, but I just wish I'd bought the frame online, had it powdercoated at Armourtex across their usual three days and then paid someone else to build it up. De Ver charged me a hell of a lot to build it and the gear indexing was all over the place when I first collected it. Never mind, a lesson learnt!

What did you end up with? I remember you looking at Equilibriums.

Bought a Cannondale Synpase 105 (alloy edition), which is absolutely fine. My budget was the 900 quid I paid, despite really wanting the Genesis (or a SuperSix). Annoyingly, a couple of weeks after I bought it, I got a tax rebate for 600 quid. Patience is indeed a virtue...

I hear great things about the Synapse, but if you really want an Equilibrium you can pick up a frame for around £260 and build it up with the Cannondale kit. Bish, bash, bosh!

Thought had crossed my mind I must admit...It sounds like a project that would also require another bike to keep me mobile while I build the Equilibrium up.

Redhog14

blkmcs wrote:

That looks good in black, though I do love my cherry red version.

Good to hear that it is living up to your expectations.

+1 on the cherry red for me too, like the old school feel to it. I was very very tempted by one of these and it is still on my list! I have a kinesis CX bike but would probably swap it happily for the Genesis.

Nice build none the less.