Condor Super Acciaio

tp2000

So after having to display a small amount of patience, my custom Super Acciaio finally arrived and was built up this week.

The service from Condor was utterly brilliant, can't fault them and their help throughout. From fitting to final delivery they were great.

The frame itself is beautiful - custom in that it was drilled for Di2 - and the detail around it is fantastic.

As for riding it.....super fast, super smooth and great handling too. Normally the first few blasts out on a bike result in some tentative handling, this was just begging to be leant over hard into corners and it felt rude not to oblige.

Build is a bit of a eclectic mix - I had Ultegra Di2 already, so the remaining parts were selected to optimise weight vs function too. Adding 2 lbs to the frame weight (I have come from an S-Works Tarmac) before I started was something I was nervous about, but having been out on it I really can't tell the difference in weight, even on short sharp (15%) climbs.

Frame & Forks: Condor Super Acciaio

Bars: Deda Zero 100
Stem: Deda Zero 100 Service Course
Seatpost: Deda Superleggero
Saddle: Fizik Antares

Shifters: Ultegra Di2
Rear and front Mechs: Ultegra Di2
Chainset: Rotor 3d+ (52/36 rings)
Cassette: DA 12-25
Chain: KMC SL
Brakes: Dura Ace 9000
Cable outers: Nokon

Wheels: Dura Ace 7900 C24 (a set of Archetypes with Chris King hubs and CX Rays are on their way)
Tyres GP4000 4 Seasons

Pedals: Keo Max Carbon

declan1

That is beautiful!

Vandiesel

Gorgeous 8)

danlikesbikes

Pretty stunning no emoji for drool if there was I would use it

noiseboyfeetman

Wow! I like that a lot.

FransJacques

Nice bike. Bet it rides well.

Colour-wise there's a lot of black to white then white to black changes going on, maybe too many. The stem, saddle, post, cranks, even the cables, and frame all have different white to black borders making it look a bit incongruous. It reminds me of the dazzle camoflauge used by the navy between the wars.

Maybe you tried a bit too hard? How about just a solid black post and a 3T ARX stem or simple silver and go retro. It is a steel frame after all.

alihisgreat

FransJacques wrote:

Nice bike. Bet it rides well.

Colour-wise there's a lot of black to white then white to black changes going on, maybe too many. The stem, saddle, post, cranks, even the cables, and frame all have different white to black borders making it look a bit incongruous. It reminds me of the dazzle camoflauge used by the navy between the wars.

Maybe you tried a bit too hard? How about just a solid black post and a 3T ARX stem or simple silver and go retro. It is a steel frame after all.

I think its great - apart from the white chainrings.. that was one step too far

FransJacques

B/c I provide feedback in good faith and not here to sh!t on someone's pride and joy I found the OP a link to another steel bike where matching was taken to extremes: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... _Light.jpg

....the bar take, heck even the zip ties on the fork blade were matched to the max. But note that basic black posts/stems are always winners.

This steel bike is quite black but it looks like it needs a restraining order: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-z2a0h7cSBq8/U ... +Campy.jpg Holy jumpin that gives me impure thoughts.

Maybe b/c your bike is steel and has a gorgeous frame that all black finishing kit would let the white/black of the frame stand out and make a statement? The way it is now ALL the parts are ALL making statements. BTW the chain is saying to book a sunny break with Vacansoliel

danlikesbikes

Well for balance I like the black & white look and had not noticed the changes until pointed out. Upon second reviewing of the photos I think they are done well & there is a bit of symmetry going on from the seat post to the down tube & the bars/stem to the top tube all white with the black in-between.

I guess its a case of each to their own, but I still like it :-)

RideOnTime

Super :P

philhul

I like the colour matching too! Looks well thought out to me.

pride4ever

Nice, needs deep sections.

mm1

That is lovely! I have 2 Condors, a Baracchi and a standard Acciaio. I now desperately want one of these and the new stainless Acciaio...

napoleond

Would suit all black finishing kit much better IMO. It's like a mobile chess board at the mo. it'd look great with black saddle/tape/stem/seat post and some natural sidewall tyres.

RideOnTime

yer, may go for the neutral tyres.

Ben6899

Nice.

I'm keen to hear how it rides - I've been looking at these, they're fabulous in the flesh.

tp2000

Apologies for the delay replying to some of the comments - week off meant time out on the bike and less time near computer and the internet.

Can see where some of the comments are coming from, although I feel perhaps its a case of damned if you do, damned if you don't - its the frame that has most black and white, so an all black finishing kit would still have a hint of the mobile chess boards about it (if only I actually could play chess properly then i'd have taken that as a compliment!!). The saddle I had already - so it was always going to be based around white and for no logical reason, i just prefer white bar tape (apart from when I'm cleaning the bike!)....so I suppose the only discussion is around the stem and seat post. Given the seatpost was 50% cheaper in white then I was going with that! But I take the comments made - this scheme is like marmite (without the aftertaste!) and had a feeling it would divide opinion.

In terms of how it rides....phenomenally.

I've put in around 800km on it so far and it rides beautifully. The handling is the thing that puts a massive grin on my face. Cornering is so surefooted and stable at high speed - I spent a lot of time (3 weeks) in the Pyrenees last year and I thought that my old S-Works was sure footed as they come - but the handling on the SA is even better.

I've done long (7hr plus) and short rides (1hr eyeballs out blasts) - and for all types of ride it is wonderful, a real all rounder. You can tell the difference in feel vs a carbon frame - the road buzz is diminished, but if my average speeds and times up climbs are used as benchmarks, then I'm actually going faster than before. However I have tweaked too many things on this build for it to be a truly subjective conclusion of the frame alone.

So in all...massive, huge thumbs up for the Super Acciaio.

Also worth knowing that for £100 extra (and a degree of patience for the timescales) you can customise any of the Condor steel frames (hence the Di2 drilling here...but geometry and paint schemes also tweakable if needs be).

thiscocks

pride4ever wrote:

Nice, needs deep sections.

No it doesnt

declan1

thiscocks wrote:

pride4ever wrote:

Nice, needs deep sections.

No it doesn't.

It needs some of these (with white hubs):



EDIT - just re-read original post. Glad to see we think alike

thiscocks

cant imagine they would offer any advantage over the shimanos on it? Pretty much the same wheel

RideOnTime

Ha, super.

MattC59

thiscocks wrote:

cant imagine they would offer any advantage over the shimanos on it? Pretty much the same wheel

Are they now......

MattC59

Not sure about Electronic shifting yet, I think it's still a bit ugly. It needs a few years refinement IMHO.

Still, lovely bike

Ian911uk

Hi
Would you mind me asking what size frame this is and how tall you are? Thanks

bazbadger

very nice. Good to see one with close up pics too.

Love Condors.