Principia Ellipse SX c.2005

dangardner27

Completed building last week (minus bottle cage / now fitted). Ridden yesterday for the first time. Principia Ellipse SX 59cm frame, Ksyrium SL's, Ultegra SL drivetrain, 3T Funda Pro forks, Ritchey WCS Carbon One bolt seatpost, Arione CX braided saddle. Weighs approx 7.5kg.

Searched high and low for an original Principia / Isaac fork but to no avail. Thought it would be a bit harsh but was actually surprisingly forgiving.

Matthewfalle

Lovely. Understand class and comple antithesis to so many ugly over branded bikes flying around.

Really, really nice that there be.

dangardner27

Thanks very much - I'm really pleased with it.

I did a bit of research on the original Principia aluminium frames and there seems to be quite a lot of love for them.

Matthewfalle

Agree - they are lovely.

I was eying up the white one that CRC have on a massive discount (especially as it's a 57) but as I'm barely touching any of the other 6 bikes in the garage I can't (even to myself) justify the expenditure.

Yours is very, very sweet though - so much prettier and classier than the average carbon off the shelf job as well.

dangardner27

If that white one was 59cm it'd be on its way to me!

You should pull the trigger, this will undoubtedly be my go to bike...

Matthewfalle

dangardner27 wrote:

If that white one was 59cm it'd be on its way to me!

You should pull the trigger, this will undoubtedly be my go to bike...

So want to just don't have the spare spends at the mo' - tempted to sell n2 bike (Planet X superlight, full Ritchey WCS stem, seat post, bars, EC90 SLX forks, Dura Ace gruppo) to fund frame plus a bit more but head says to hold fire as I also have a race motorbike that needs funding .............

Hmm - if some one wanders up and offers suitable cash then yup - the white one will be mine!

How's yours riding? As sweet as it looks?

bianchimoon

very nice build, well done!

Matthewfalle

bianchimoon wrote:

very nice build, well done!

Thank you - it was just a little something I cobbled together one weekend.

The Principia up top is dead nice as well though.

dangardner27

Matthewfalle wrote:

dangardner27 wrote:

If that white one was 59cm it'd be on its way to me!

You should pull the trigger, this will undoubtedly be my go to bike...

So want to just don't have the spare spends at the mo' - tempted to sell n2 bike (Planet X superlight, full Ritchey WCS stem, seat post, bars, EC90 SLX forks, Dura Ace gruppo) to fund frame plus a bit more but head says to hold fire as I also have a race motorbike that needs funding .............

Hmm - if some one wanders up and offers suitable cash then yup - the white one will be mine!

How's yours riding? As sweet as it looks?

Amazingly smooth all things considered, given that it's set up with Ksyriums on 23mm rubber currently. I think the fork may have something to do with the front end smoothness. I'll change the Ksyriums in due course for some Archetypes as there's plenty of clearance for up to 28mm.

MrStealYourSquirrel

dangardner27 wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

dangardner27 wrote:

If that white one was 59cm it'd be on its way to me!

You should pull the trigger, this will undoubtedly be my go to bike...

So want to just don't have the spare spends at the mo' - tempted to sell n2 bike (Planet X superlight, full Ritchey WCS stem, seat post, bars, EC90 SLX forks, Dura Ace gruppo) to fund frame plus a bit more but head says to hold fire as I also have a race motorbike that needs funding .............

Hmm - if some one wanders up and offers suitable cash then yup - the white one will be mine!

How's yours riding? As sweet as it looks?

Amazingly smooth all things considered, given that it's set up with Ksyriums on 23mm rubber currently. I think the fork may have something to do with the front end smoothness. I'll change the Ksyriums in due course for some Archetypes as there's plenty of clearance for up to 28mm.

So I realize I'm replying to a 2-year old post but I recently came upon a 59 cm Principia. It is a bit to big for me so I'm looking to sell it and figured that if anyone on this thread was still active and looking I would offer it to them first.

dangardner27

Just stunning frames - I am absolutely in love with mine.

racerex

I should take offers on the CAAD 4 in my garage....

ledeev

That's a really fantastic build. Nice touch with the Ultegra SL.

I always lusted after one of these back when I couldn't afford one.

Matthewfalle

racerex wrote:

I should take offers on the CAAD 4 in my garage....

50 quid.

Weegie77

Hi, long shot but do you still have the 59cm Principia frame for sale ? Are you in the UK ? I’m in Scotland if you still have it could you call me in 07908-892803 Regards, Martin

So I realize I'm replying to a 2-year old post but I recently came upon a 59 cm Principia. It is a bit to big for me so I'm looking to sell it and figured that if anyone on this thread was still active and looking I would offer it to them first.[/quote]

Matthewfalle

OP's bike is still stunning - utterly lovely.

term1te

I've always liked Principia bikes, there was a matt blue one I saw a lot in the early noughties that I was very jealous of. They seemed to get the proportions of the aluminium tubes right, aesthetically. A lot of bikes then were playing with different shaped and sized tubes, that might have given some performance advantage, but looked wrong, especially with the awful colour schemes popular then. I was tempted by one on eBay a few years back, but there was no more room in the garage.

dangardner27

Whoever has that off you Weegie77 will be VERY happy. If it's not found a home I'd consider it as a spare!!

3.5 years and many thousands of miles later, I am still just as much, if not more in love with it....

Proves to me that the manufacturers just talk bollox with all their claims of increased stiffness, improved handling etc etc etc.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Used to have a green Principia RSL from 1997 IIRC, fond cycling memories.

mercia_man

I used to have a Principia RS6 Pro (the ultra light frame in anodised black) in the early and mid 2000s. It was built up for me with Campag Chorus groupset, Nucleon wheels and Deda finishing kit by Climb On Bikes of Ludlow. They said at 16lb (7.2 kg) in medium size, it was one of the lightest bikes they had ever sold. The frame was really stiff and brilliant for climbing. Its downhill handling, as I found out on the Maratona dles Dolomites in 2007, was so good I really enjoyed overtaking people by braking late into the hairpins. The ride was a bit harsh compared with my subsequent carbon bikes (I used 22mm Veloflex clinchers) and the downtube alloy was so thin you could see it deflect when you pressed it with your thumb.

Present day riders might be swayed by marketing claims of how good the latest 2020 model bikes are with their must have aero frames, electronic gears and disc brakes, but when it comes to real life riding, that Principia was just as good or better than most modern bikes.

dangardner27

So finally upgraded the worn out Ultegra SL for DuraAce 7900.

DeVlaeminck

Nice - I've got the AS audax specific as a winter bike - they were very good quality bikes.

MattFalle

Still utterly lovely after all this time.

So nice in fact that I've gone browsing....

Principia, Campag Record, some phat 90s.... has potential.

First.Aspect

Yeah, round tubes just look nice.

MattFalle

espesh oversized ones - Principia, CAAD.

Just proper.