Maiden ride was a little muddy, so BoB the Dog got his first wash.

A look that only a mother could love.

This Hinloopen.bike mount is so good I’m going to go out and buy a Wahoo computer just for it.

Ti hardware on the OEM seatpost is a nice touch.

Tactic hubs sound unique, but not as loud as I was expecting.

Much thanks to Sam at CCACHE for putting in some overtime in last night to get BoB the Dog ready for me to ride today.

Of-course no build is without issues:

1) The bearings in the front wheel are shot. With the bike in the stand you can hear the bearings when the wheel is spinning, hand on the bars and you can feel the vibration through the bars. We took the wheel off, and spinning the hub with your fingers you can really feel how gritty they are.

I messaged the seller, he was as shocked as I was as he had hardly ridden on this wheelset. Either way I have to replace the front bearings. The Tactic web shop has some ceramic bearings for the TR01, but I’m not sure they fit in the TR02. I’ve shot them an email in any case for confirmation. I might also reach out to the local shop that the seller bought the wheels from (I do have the receipt).

2) The frame and groupset came with 2 x 140mm brake rotors, and when putting on the front rotor the brake caliper hits the spokes. Putting on a 160 fixed this, but when out of the saddle the caliper juuuust brushes the spokes. It’s tight in there but there is more space between the rotor and the fork than the caliper and the spokes so I’ve ordered some centrelock specific shims and hope that will do the trick.

Initial impressions: It’s a fast bike! I expected it to “feel” faster than my S-Works SL8, but I actually think my SL8 not only is faster, it feels faster too. Yes, the Dogma is stiffer and it feels really planted but the SL8 feels lighter and more playful. The SL8 is 1kg lighter though so I’m assuming the weight difference might be the difference here.

Dura-Ace shifting lives up to the hype. It’s definitely faster and feels more direct than SRAM Red E1 and the front mech shifting is light years ahead of SRAM Red E1. I absolutely hate that the right shifter is for both going up and down the rear gears though. Apparently I can program it to work like SRAM? I’ll look into it as I’m only ever in the big ring so having buttons on the left shifter that don’t do anything feels odd and unbalanced to me.

I really love the Red E1 hood ergonomics, but the Dura-Ace hoods are also great. The Dura-Ace brakes though feel nowhere near as powerful and sensitive as SRAM Red E1.

I went for the 4mm longer axles on a set of Dura-Ace pedals and really like them. What I like most about the pedals though is that now I can swap bikes with my mates! Today I let 2 of my mates try the Dogma out and both of them were super impressed with how fast the bike is (though one of the guys who’s ridden my SL8 says the SL8 felt faster and had more of a WOW factor).

The 120mm stem on the cockpit is perfect for the aero tuck position but too long for me when I’m in the hoods. It’s passable though and I’m hesitant to pay up the insane asking price for a shorter Most Talon cockpit, for now.

All in all it was a good maiden ride. I’ll sort out the brake caliper and front wheel bearing issues ASAP and I’m still waiting for my saddle, 0 offset seatpost and direct derailleur mount to arrive.

Finally found a Dura-Ace front derailleur with the right diameter clamp (just happens to be NOS too).

Perfect fit, and the clamp bolt no longer gets dangerously close to the rear tyre anymore.

Found a titanium seatpost clamp bolt on eBay (steel one was 12g).

Way cooler when it was 6.66kg’s.

Officially UCI Illegal!

Working on Nick’s new VeloBuild VB-R-268.

I drove way out West to pick up some wheels I bought off FB Marketplace and the guy selling the wheels just got this FDJ SL8 frameset. Looks AMAZING IRL but beefy dude was pretty upset when I told him that it was the women’s team bike.

Cybrei in 162.5. Light and damn tempting.

But naaaaah. Went for these. 165’s, 50T compact. Bit porky at 677g, but this is no weight weenie project so all good.

Woof!

Ugly bike begs for ugly wheels.

I’m really enjoying the process of looking for the ugliest parts for this ugly frame (I joke as the only reason I own it is because it’s grown on me over time). I’m also really looking forward to seeing what all the fuss is about how amazingly Dura-Ace shifts as I have SRAM Red on everything else I own. I’ll also have to get a Direct Mount Derailleur Hanger! Always felt like I was missing out on that with SRAM.

I can’t bring myself to spend $7K AUD on a set of the new Princeton Evolution wheels (can’t help but feel that for that price I’d rather order them in bronze to put on my SL8), but I am in talks with a guy who has a set of the previous model for sale and we’re close to closing the deal.

I did some more measurements last night after setting up my saddle height. The seller let me choose from 3 different saddles. A beaten up Selle Italia SLR (a saddle I’ve always wanted to try), a heavy and plain looking Fizik, and a Repente Aleena which I’ve never heard of before. It had an Italian flag motif on it and felt pretty light so I took it home.

Turns out it’s a 150g MTB saddle. The rails do let me push the saddle a lot more forward than other saddles I own though, so with the measuring tape out the saddle to bars with this saddle pushed forward is only 1cm more than my SL8 setup. With the Hylix 0 offset seatpost I’ll easily be able to get in the right window.

The shorter 90 Roval Rapide cockpit which replaced my 115 made such a huge difference to my SL8 though. I’ve got my fit so dialled in so I know that pushing the saddle forwards isn’t as good as getting a shorter stem. I can’t find any local stock of the Most Talon Ultra cockpits with a shorter stem (shame as there are a few in stock in wider/longer options all on sale). There’s a 90 stem cockpit on eBay for $1400 AUD (and I thought paying $850 AUD for a Roval Rapide cockpit was bonkers!), and I can get the new 2025 cockpit in any size for, get this, $2K AUD. Another option is to get an AliExpress replica for $138 AUD.

I still think the move is to at least get the bike together and ride it (I’m itchin’). Hopefully the Princeston wavy wheels will be mine today. Off to the LBS later today to get this crankset off and look into a a 165 replacement (they have a 165 Dura-Ace non-power meter in stock with 50T chainring and they have a 162.5 Cybrei too I think. Leaning towards the Dura-Ace though as I have no intentions of going too weight weenie on this build and I’ve not owned the new Dura-Ace (I also think the plain black Dura-Ace crankset suits the overall look).

Speaking of looks. I’m not sure I can look past the ugly SMP eagle beak saddle as the perfect saddle choice for this build! The 3D printed version is $1K AUD (crazy). Might happily settle for the all black EVO model with steel rails for half the price (still crazy).

Reggie’s NA.

Spotted Reggie a mile away.

Ukrainian food! I’m all for it! Donations too.

Ran into Mark, who sold me all the Dura Ace 7700 off of this lovely Geoff Scott Clamont frame.

Had a great chat to this old dude who built up this lovely Peugeot for his wife, but you know, it weighs a tonne and she don’t ride it. Guy rides 4 days a week and still races Heffron too. What a champ!

Cycle Messenger World Championships (CMWC), these guys are legit keeping the torch lit! Visit: www.cmwc2025sydney.com

Reggie, Eugene and I dropped in to Revolve ReCYCLING’s Wheels and Deals buy and swap event today. I bought the Dogma yesterday, so was pretty keen to buy nothing but food and coffee today! Was awesome just being there though and having great chats with many of the stall owners.

A few months back I was hanging out at CCACHE with Sam and he was pretty excited to show me a bike, in my size, that he thought I’d be interested in.

Turns out it was a Pinarello Dogma F.

Funny as I actually hate how they look. Those wavy shapes, it’s as if the frame designer was on acid. The SL8 is just such a good bike. I don’t NEED the Dogma, but secretly I’ve been wanting one because it’s… different. Add to that I’m cycling obsessed and feel happiest when I have a project bike to work on.

When I got up at 4am to get ready for a ride this morning I saw that Joel Lidden had re-listed his mates 2024 Pinarello Dogma F as a frameset + groupset (IE: without wheels) for $11,950 (he was previously asking $20K with a Lightweight wheelset)

I was hovering over the contact seller field, but thought I’d better not waste his time as I was 50/50 on it so I shut the laptop and got ready to ride.

The ride was awesome, and when I got home and hopped on messenger I realised there was a marketplace message waiting for me. It was Joel replying to “Hi, is this available?”.

WTF! I did not send that (I would never send that and hate it when people message me with that when I have listings for sale). I took it as a sign though (lol) so I apologised for dick dialling him, but we got chatting anyways.

The frame was my size (50), but the stem on the cockpit was way too long (120) and the crankset too long too at 172.5. He suggested that he could remove the crank and lower the price. He gave me a great price, but I’m Asian, and I have to haggle (parents brought me up this way, can’t help it!). I offered $10K and I’d take it and pick it up today. Joel called his mate, and well fuck. I now own a Dogma F.

Frame: Pinarello Dogma F 2024 ONYX BoB (Black on Black)
Size: 50
Bars: Most Talon Ultra Lite Aero 400 x 120 (380 at the hoods)
Bottom bracket: CeramicSpeed
Groupset: Dura Ace 9270 12 speed Di2
OSPW: CeramicSpeed

I need to drop in to see Sam at CCACHE on Monday to remove the crankset as Joel didn’t have the specific tool needed to remove it. The brakes are installed European style too so I’ll have to get Sam to swap them around.

I think the 120 stem will still be too long even if I get a zero offset seatpost, but I figure I’ll at least try that before looking into a new cockpit. I’ll need a crankset with 165 crankarms and I think it’s going to be hard to not look past the ugliest wheels out there, the Princeton CarbonWorks Wake 6560 Evolution which are as wavy as wheels get.