2016 Croix De Fer

src1
src1 Posts: 301
edited July 2016 in Your road bikes
Hi,

This is my new 2016 Croix De Fer. It's for family outings such as towing the child trailer, putting the child seat on, taking on family holidays, etc. It'll also be used for commuting to work - bridleways in the summer, on-road in winter.

It's mainly built up from new parts, but also a few parts I had kicking about. It was my first time building disc wheels and fitting hydraulic brakes so the build took a bit longer than I was used to, really just because I ended up needing a few bits n bobs I didn't have for the brakes.

Mudguards to be added shortly and I might consider the carbon fork upgrade in the future.

Cd_F.jpg

Full Spec:

2016 Genesis Croix De Fer Frame & Forks size medium
Shimano ST-RS685 hydraulic disc STIs (from bike-discount.de)
Shimano BR-RS785 calipers
Novatec D771/2SB-11 28h hubs from eBay
Pacenti SL25 rims
Sapim D-light spokes
Shimano 5800 105 medium cage rear mech
Shimano 5800 105 cassette 32-11
Shimano 6800 Ultegra front mech
Pro PLT bars and stem
FSA SL-K seatpost
Specialized Toupe saddle
Challenge grifo tyres
Look Keo pedals
Weight with cages, pedals, pump = 10.9Kg
105 5800 50/34 chainset

I haven't ridden it yet so hope I like it!
«1

Comments

  • veronese68
    veronese68 Posts: 27,866
    Nice. I tried one a while back before getting my Kinesis. I found it felt heavy in the shop, but felt spritely enough on the road. I think I was won over by the green of my Kinesis over the black of the Genesis as much as anything. Wheels look good and I'd love to have full hydraulics.
    Kinesis Pro6
    Marin Nail Trail
    Cotic Solaris
  • src1
    src1 Posts: 301
    [url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19759599#p19759599]Veronese68[/url] wrote:
    Nice. I tried one a while back before getting my Kinesis. I found it felt heavy in the shop, but felt spritely enough on the road. I think I was won over by the green of my Kinesis over the black of the Genesis as much as anything. Wheels look good and I'd love to have full hydraulics.

    Thanks! When you build your own wheels, you do get very picky about them. In fact, wanting those specific wheels and full hydraulics were the main reasons for going for a custom build. I did have a few parts going spare, so the full build was quite a bit cheaper than buying off-the-shelf as well.

    On this new '16 version of the CdF, the forks are really heavy, hence why I might upgrade to carbon. We'll see what it feels like on the road. Genesis have also put a really high front end on it. It's not really a problem for what I want, but not ideal. The "Colonel Mustard" colour nearly put me off too, but I quite like it in the flesh.

    As for the Pro 6, much lighter and very nice looking, esp. the new '16 one in glossy red; I seriously considered getting one. The main reason for not getting the Pro 6 was that I'm not planning to do any CX races and wasn't sure I'd get on with the high BB. I quite fancied steel too for some reason.
  • lawman
    lawman Posts: 6,868
    Liking that a lot! Very much like last years Croix de fer frame only colour looks a lot nicer in the flesh! Don't suppose you've weighed it? Now tempted by one of these until my Datum frameset shows up!
  • src1
    src1 Posts: 301
    [url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19759759#p19759759]lawman[/url] wrote:
    Liking that a lot! Very much like last years Croix de fer frame only colour looks a lot nicer in the flesh! Don't suppose you've weighed it? Now tempted by one of these until my Datum frameset shows up!

    Thanks lawman. It weighs 10.9Kg inc. pump, bottle cages, pedals.

    I've just taken it for a short off-road and very muddy spin. A few thoughts:
    1. The saddle was way too low
    2. The gearing works really well off-road. It remains to be seen if I get on with the jumps between gears on-road.
    3. 45 psi in 32mm tyres isn't enough to stop pinch flats on the bridleways around here
    4. It's very muddy out there

    Can anyone recommend some good tubeless tyres suitable for on and off-road?
  • lawman
    lawman Posts: 6,868
    Reasonably light then! I have A Datum frameset on order but it may not show for several months, so I'm weighing up buying one of these in the meantime and using the build I would put on the datum and then possibly changing the frame's along the line. Though I dare say if I like it I could do as youre planning to doand just upgrade to the carbon fork.
  • src1
    src1 Posts: 301
    [url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19759845#p19759845]lawman[/url] wrote:
    Reasonably light then! I have A Datum frameset on order but it may not show for several months, so I'm weighing up buying one of these in the meantime and using the build I would put on the datum and then possibly changing the frame's along the line. Though I dare say if I like it I could do as youre planning to doand just upgrade to the carbon fork.

    Not light, but really not that heavy. I guess the frame is probably only 1kg more than a lightweight carbon framed bike, so not that much difference really. For me it was worth it for the extra versatility of the frame vs. other frames I was looking at. Cheap too, at only just over £300 for the f+f.

    I would rather have had a carbon fork, but not sure I'll upgrade, even assuming Genesis make it available one day.
  • bendertherobot
    bendertherobot Posts: 11,684
    Loving that. A great build. I wouldn't worry about a carbon fork. Though I had some judder when I had mine and always fancied a carbon fork it was only ever for weight. I never really thought it was that harsh in retrospect. And I was only running 28's on it generally. With 35/37c it would be very comfy.
    My blog: http://www.roubaixcycling.cc (kit reviews and other musings)
    https://twitter.com/roubaixcc
    Facebook? No. Just say no.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,325
    I have to say you did an awesome job with this... really like it! :D
    left the forum March 2023
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,325
    [url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19759818#p19759818]SRC1[/url] wrote:
    Can anyone recommend some good tubeless tyres suitable for on and off-road?

    I really like the WTB crosswolf... on the road they are not as slow as you might think and off road you can go down to 25-30 PSI
    left the forum March 2023
  • aberdeenal
    aberdeenal Posts: 200
    That looks ace - well done :-)
  • lakesluddite
    lakesluddite Posts: 1,337
    Looks good SRC, I love the colour!
    Also - full of admiration for someone who builds their own wheels. I built up my Rourke 853 this summer, but building the wheels? That's just a job too far for someone like me!

    Chapeau!
  • src1
    src1 Posts: 301
    Thanks all for the comments.

    I've done 5 rides on it now, 1 off-road, 2 with an 18month old on a bike seat on the back and 2 trips to work of about 17 miles each way.

    I haven't compared speeds to my other bikes, but I can't say I notice the extra weight, except maybe on one steep climb I have on the way to work.

    Overall I'm really pleased with it and it's perfect for what I want it for. It's my first experience of discs brakes on a road bike. They don't provide the sheer stopping power of my Shimano XT brakes on my MTB, but there's plenty available and I really like the way they work exactly the same wet or dry. No shudder from the steel forks either.

    Regarding wheel building, there's nothing difficult about it really, although the tools you ideally need does mean a bit of up front investment. Thanks for the chapeau anyway though :)
  • iron-clover
    iron-clover Posts: 737
    That is a very handsome bike you have there!

    Although it might be destined to be a workhorse, it's going to do it with style 8)
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,325
    Thinking of building one for my wife... flat bars, XT hydro brakes, 1 x 10 chainset... thoughts?
    left the forum March 2023
  • chrisw12
    chrisw12 Posts: 1,246
    [url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19765267#p19765267]ugo.santalucia[/url] wrote:
    Thinking of building one for my wife... flat bars, XT hydro brakes, 1 x 10 chainset... thoughts?

    Sounds good. FWIW I was going to use my mtb as a workorse bike, a bit of road and trails. Went 1x10 as I wanted to keep it simple, it just didn't work as I just ran out of gears on the road, but it's great as a mtb. So plan b was to convert an old cross bike I had lying around. I wanted disc brakes but there was no way I was paying for brakes that would cost more than the bike so I've gone down the xt and flat bar route. Shimano disc brakes are the dogs in my view, it's really nice to have predictable wet weather braking.

    I'd stick with 2x , big ring for the road, small ring for the trails.
  • src1
    src1 Posts: 301
    [url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19765267#p19765267]ugo.santalucia[/url] wrote:
    Thinking of building one for my wife... flat bars, XT hydro brakes, 1 x 10 chainset... thoughts?

    I really like this bike, so much so I was thinking of doing the same thing for my wife. I read somewhere you need a longer top tube for flat bars (compared to drops), have you heard the same?

    I did my first long ride on it yesterday, I guess I did start the notice the weight and slightly draggy tyres after a few hours, but it's just so comfy and smooth that it didn't bother me.

    I love the fact it's so enjoyable to ride both on-road and off, I'm even starting to believe the hype about it being a do-it-all bike. However, not quite enough to sell any of my other bikes :)
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,325
    re. single chainring... my wife is unlikely to run out of gears... a 36 x 12 is probably harder than she can push. 36 x 36 should be enough to go uphill.

    re. geometry... likewise, she won't do LEJoG on it, so I am not overly fussed about having the ideal geometry... I think stem length/orientation can go a long way to fix these issues
    left the forum March 2023
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,325
    In the end I could not resist the Planet X 20% Christmas discount and I ordered a Kaffenback for 159 quid, it did seem rude not to... :mrgreen:
    left the forum March 2023
  • tim_wand
    tim_wand Posts: 2,552
    [url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19767546#p19767546]ugo.santalucia[/url] wrote:
    In the end I could not resist the Planet X 20% Christmas discount and I ordered a Kaffenback for 159 quid, it did seem rude not to... :mrgreen:

    Couldn't agree more Ugo. Pressed the button myself, What wheels are going in yours?
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,325
    [url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19767594#p19767594]tim wand[/url] wrote:
    [url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19767546#p19767546]ugo.santalucia[/url] wrote:
    In the end I could not resist the Planet X 20% Christmas discount and I ordered a Kaffenback for 159 quid, it did seem rude not to... :mrgreen:

    Couldn't agree more Ugo. Pressed the button myself, What wheels are going in yours?

    That is an interesting question... I have a pair of bog standard PX wheels that I got from Bendertherobot. Nothing wrong with them, except they are built with plain gauge spokes, so they are heavy as a sin. I'll probably rebuild them with DT revolution and should end up being 1.6 Kg or so. That's the cheapest option... Otherwise I might get some better/tubeless rims, but I don't see the point of tubeless rims for my wife TBH...
    left the forum March 2023
  • src1
    src1 Posts: 301
    I've just fitted my first ever tubeless tyre, a Schwalbe G-One 35mm to my Croix De Fer. My thumbs hurt, someone please tell me road tubeless is worth the bother!

    I'm not hopefull there will be any air in the tyre tomorrow morninng either :(
  • src1
    src1 Posts: 301
    Ok, so I may have overstated the difficulty. I did the front tyre this afternoon and with warm hands and taking my time it was really very easy.

    Here it is with 35mm Schwalbe G-Ones. I think I could probably have got away with the 38mm versions, but these are plenty big enough for me.

    Schwalbe_G_One.jpg
  • lawman
    lawman Posts: 6,868
    Where did you get the g-ones from? Might be after some for my Datum soon. Bike looks ace btw, nearly went for one myself but the lure of the Datum was too much.
  • src1
    src1 Posts: 301
    [url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19780782#p19780782]lawman[/url] wrote:
    Where did you get the g-ones from? Might be after some for my Datum soon. Bike looks ace btw, nearly went for one myself but the lure of the Datum was too much.

    Thanks. I got the G-Ones from from Bike-Discount.de, but they only seem to have sporadic supply.

    http://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/schwalbe-g-one-evo-osc-tl-easy-35-622-folding-502998/wg_id-658

    I did my first ride on them today. They come out at about 37-38mm on my Pacenti SL25 rims, but fit fine under the 'guards. I ran them at 40psi front and rear, but could easily go lower if I wanted; at that pressure they seemed to roll well on road. I haven't tried them off-road yet.
  • CDFan
    CDFan Posts: 1
    Picking my f&f up tomorrow, the colour looks great in your pics. Still haven't actually seen it in the flesh.
    What mudguards are you using? Any issues fitting them with disc brakes.
    Can't wait to get mine built up, lost the cycling bug recently but I'm sure this will kick-start all that...
  • ding33
    ding33 Posts: 11
    Just fitted my 2015 Croix de Fer 20 with the g-one 38s running tubeless on American Classic TCX wheels. First impressions are they are awesome - roll amazingly well on the road compared to stock wheels and tyres and plenty of grip for my purposes off road.

    Also fitted salsa cowchipper 2 bars this week (together with some slightly sketchy black and white bar tape)...

    It's a fantastic bike - loads of character and great to have something quick enough on my commute that is fun / capable offroad too.
  • bendertherobot
    bendertherobot Posts: 11,684
    SRC1 wrote:
    [url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19780782#p19780782]lawman[/url] wrote:
    Where did you get the g-ones from? Might be after some for my Datum soon. Bike looks ace btw, nearly went for one myself but the lure of the Datum was too much.

    Thanks. I got the G-Ones from from Bike-Discount.de, but they only seem to have sporadic supply.

    http://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/schw ... /wg_id-658

    I did my first ride on them today. They come out at about 37-38mm on my Pacenti SL25 rims, but fit fine under the 'guards. I ran them at 40psi front and rear, but could easily go lower if I wanted; at that pressure they seemed to roll well on road. I haven't tried them off-road yet.

    Mine are on the way. 35c. I've run 37c Hyper Voyager on my XLS and they are the limit. I am hoping these come up big, but hopefully not 38c!
    My blog: http://www.roubaixcycling.cc (kit reviews and other musings)
    https://twitter.com/roubaixcc
    Facebook? No. Just say no.
  • guym
    guym Posts: 50
    Lovely looking build!!
  • src1
    src1 Posts: 301
    CDFan wrote:
    Picking my f&f up tomorrow, the colour looks great in your pics. Still haven't actually seen it in the flesh.
    What mudguards are you using? Any issues fitting them with disc brakes.
    Can't wait to get mine built up, lost the cycling bug recently but I'm sure this will kick-start all that...

    I used SKS 45mm road guards. They fitted fine except I had to use a long bolt and a few washers to get the mudguard stays clear of the front caliper. I couldn't use the quick-release mudguard mount on that side either for the same reason.

    I can post a photo if you'd like to see the arrangement...
  • src1
    src1 Posts: 301
    Have now taken the CdF (with g-ones) off road as well as on a fast(ish) club run.

    The tyres worked well on a frozen gravel bridleway, I'm not sure they'd work so well in mud given their minimal tread.

    The CdF & I coped just fine on the club run, although I did get a few comments about the size of my tyres. It's not the fastest bike around - just because of its weight and the gearing on it, but it's really not that much of a difference.

    It did make all the other bikes with mainly 23mm tyres look very under-tyred!

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