Zydeco build

After watching a few friends build tasty cross bikes then have a hoot getting them covered in mud, it was high time I built one, too. I didn't know what to get, cross bikes have changed a lot since I sold Redlines seven years ago. When my favorite shop became a Cinelli dealer and had two beautiful frames hung on there wall, it became clearer. After some finagling around trying to get the correct size, I ordered one!

Here's the bike getting it's stock 105 parts removed and replaced with Veloce.

And here's the final article.

It's so, so much fun. It's the only 'modern' frame I own, so the 1.5" tapered steerer and carbon fork feel massively stiff and immediate. The beefy rectangular stays are great, too, and being a bit longer are comfortable over the bumps. I may need to swap out the rear der for a longer cage but I'm happy with the 2013 Veloce setup. It's very snappy and seems to work better than the ~2009 Veloce/Centaur mix on my Supercorsa.

I also want to mention the TRP 8.4 mini-V brakes. They rock. They are crazy strong, match the cable pull of the ergoloevers perfectly, and look fantastic. No futzing with cantilever straddle cables, using a ouija board to divine the correct angle. Set pad clearance, a tiny bit of toe-in, and ride. I'm not sure how much better they are then the standard $30 Tektro mini-V's but they so look better.