Wires and Carbon

The world of bikes is always changing and now this is what your bottom bracket can look like during the build process;

This is bottom bracket of the build that those AX-Lightness wheels were intended for. A rather sick build... 9lbs. 6oz. all told, even using a Di2 groupo. As you might guess, the build was very very finicky and took a good bit of time. The finished bike definitely looked sweet, though I'd be a bit nervous riding it anything more than in the parking lot.

A bike at this weight definitely feels other-worldly. But in my opinion, a bike in the range of 11lbs. is going to give you significantly more reliability and durability, and is quite easy to acheive these days - with appropriately deep pockets. Or in the other direction... you could get even closer to 9lbs, with a slightly lighter frame, mechanical groupo, some lighter bolt kits, and lighter hoods and tape. You know, if you were one of those sickos. In truly the completely opposite direction, you can swing by Target and get your kids a hipster fixie right off the rack with tires that match the cut-down handlebars.

I have a feeling though, that this guy probably has a fixie...

I spotted this at the Urban Cross in Denver this weekend and just love the "hood". Not just the gate from a chainlink fence; but further reinforced with a bit of wire rack. Security can be a concern when you have a fine automobile like this in the city, so the owner was smart and secured the hood (several times) to the car using bike locks and bike cables. Meanwhile, I also just built some very cool wheels for a teamate.

There's something beautiful about classic wheels with polished hubs, and standard lacing. And these are tubular as well, intended to be used for both cyclocross and as a "classics" setup in the spring. They should be absolutely perfect for that! They're the kind of wheels that make you want to use tubulars everyday... other than the idea of glueing them, or ever dealing with a flat.

Using the new 11-speed White Industry hubs, 24/28hole 2x lacing with a mix of Sapim Laser and Race spokes to KinLin TB-25 rims, you get a sweet pair of wheels that will last forever. And still just 1,440g. Factory wheels are for the birds. And just because;