So, this phase of the project is called ‘Rapid Acquisition’.

I’ve identified, located, and ordered almost everything I need. All that remains is field collection of small gifts, such as cabling, shims and the like. And they’re starting to roll in. Literally!

Here we have this week’s arrivals so far.

These wheels were hand built by IRO in NYC. The cost of this fully custom wheelset was significantly less that I could get by collecting all the parts and having them built, or even building them myself if i were that bold. It’s insane! And that’s a 130mm rear hub, so it’s not like these are just pre-built stock. The rims are a v-shape from velocity, not the Deep V, but a good compromise section that balances depth and weight of material. I got them machined, because I want to run a front brake, and I’ve braked on non-machined rims, and it’s not a good feeling, for a reason. However, I had to do machined in the rear too, because being kind of anal, I wanted them to match. So less none more than they could be. But light and beautiful, they are!

Additionally, we have another set of Look Keo pedals. These are the same classics that i use on my road bike. I thought about getting carbon pedals with titanium spindles and the like, but I couldn’t justify the cost vs the weight savings. Anyway, a steal on ebay at about 40% off of new.

Lastly, my slightly controversial purchase.
I knew I wanted to use a Thomson X2 stem because:
a. The name
2. The awesome manufacturing
d. The two -bolt bar connection.

You can see in this image below, how the cap that bolts to the stem to hold the bars on is carved from a single piece of aluminum into two bladed arches, and held by two bolts, and has been tested to be rigid enough for road stresses. It’s pretty awesome. The whole stem is carved from a single piece of aluminum as well, with the center bored out on either side, and the steerer tube clamp an integrated part of the stem. Not atypical. But need to look at up close.

This was mildly controversial, only in that I chose to get a 130mm stem. My current road stem is 110mm. I tried a number of morphologies on my road bike, trying to simulate longer stem, different angles, and I *think* this will work. Lung cautioned me to wait and use a cheapie adjustable stem first to test. But here’s the rub: I found this stem on ebay for the same price as the cheapie adjustable. And it normally runs $100. So I HAD to do it. For science. We’ll see if it works as intended.

But stoked!
It’s an awesome stem.

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