So my frame arrived and I got busy assembling the bike.
The frame came in a slightly crumbled box but the content was intact and not damaged, wrapped in what they called silk foam. I spent 20 minutes unwrapping it
Frame itself is beautiful, well made, inside is smooth with no visible overruns or sharp edges. Brake mount surfaces are faced but could be better. I'm using Juin F1 hydro-mechs and rear caliper did fit (160 mm) by the skin of my teeth. Cutting the fork steerer was a bit scary experience because I never cut carbon which is easy to plunge into with a sharp saw.
The pain in the arse was guiding the cables through the handlebar and there's where I lost most of the time. You need to sort 4 cables (I'm using 105 mechanical) and then guide them through narrow spaces. After lot of struggle, I helped myself by guiding the old shifting cable from the opposite side and it served as a guide for the cable housings to easily go out. Other parts went pretty easily. Still need to do the derailleurs, tighten everything up with the torque wrench, do some adjustments and do the handlebar tape.
The whole bike came around 8 kg's with pedals and bottle cages. Feels solid and light. Had no chance to try it yet but sitting on it feels good in terms of my body position. I'm coming from the endurance geometry (Trek Domane) and I'm almost 50 years old so I left the full stack of spacers (which are aluminum and the C ring is a new design) so I'll be able to adjust the handlebar height eventually if I need to slam it furthermore. Can't wait to ride it but have a busy schedule these days.
Cheers!
