Bamboo bike build ... the beginning and a few questions.

Bamboo bike build ... the beginning and a few questions.

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drivin_me_nuts

Original Poster:

17,949 posts

212 months

Saturday 21st November 2015
quotequote all
Hello,

After deliberating a while, I have decided that I am going to build myself a bamboo bike. It will be a bit of a mini winter protect and in a couple of weeks I plan to purchase a road frame from here:

http://bamboobicycleclub.org/kits-for-bamboo-bike-...


There are a few things that I need to resolve in my mind before I go ahead with the purchase and they are to do with an option they offer and the other is to do with suitable wheels (wheel knowledge to date: they are round, have spokes and make a decent satisfying clickedy-clacky sound on my Domane!.. and that's about it)

So, my plan is a road kit,
a groupset that will more than likely be 105/Ultegra (jan sales somewhere like Wiggle might prove to be handy)
happy enough with ultigr rim brakes and a set of green swissstops,
suitable wheels question 1
suitable fork question 2

This then leads me to my first two questions,

Question 1,

how does one even go about choosing wheels. My ride 'profile', for want of an expression is just-to-be-50, an ftp of around 200 and not a racing snake. I prefer distances and the odd climb but my ride choice currently lies around 50 - 75 mile rides maybe twice a week from spring to late autumn. So, I realise i'm more Mondeo wheel man than McL650s man. That said, I have no idea how to even begin to decide what might work in this case.

Question 2.

Headset. Now, logic says a cf fork would be the most sensible way forwards with this, but tapered and oversize (a choice they offer). Why choose one over the other?

I'd appreciate any feedback on this. Though this is hardly into the 'lets build a kitcar' territory here, it would be nice get some ideas of what might be the most sensible and also, the nagging thought at the back of my mind that I might have forgotten something important!

Cheers,

DMN