Planet X London Road build

[croftsj]

I picked up a second hand (albeit with 50 miles on it) Planet X London Road frame & fork last Friday with the intention of building up a bike from scratch as a mini project with my 15 year old son who's just outgrown his Specialized Hardrock and to tempt him away from iPad and iPhone and PlayStation and into the man cave and ultimately out on the tarmac with me.

I hasten to add, I'm new to building a bike, this is my first attempt so if you see any howlers or glaring errors please do say something!

The donor bike is my Giant Defy, my winter bike, which went into my LBS to have a fabricator repair the seat stays after an incident earlier this year, all the components were cleaned up ready to put back on it when I thought, sod it, lets go hydraulic brakes and electronic shifting and build a 'new' bike for the boy with the old mechanical discs and mechanical groupset.

Here it is ready to start (Yes the garage floor needs re-painting and yes I do have enough cycling shoes thanks, or do I?)


Fork, bars & shifters (Shimano 105 5800) installed.


Cabled with a Jagwire cable set, disappointing that they don't provide a long enough brake cable at the front for a disc braked bike.


BB & crankset installed Shimano 5800 Compact 50/34
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Front mech fitted and adjusted & chain also fitted.

Wheelset arrived today, trial fit.


So jobs to be done.

Fit callipers to frame.
Fit rotors to wheels and align calipers
Fit rim tape, tubes & tyres
Fit cassette 11:28 Shimano 5800
Fit pedals
Adjust and index rear mech
Bar tape - red Lizard Skin

So far only thing I've not been happy about re the frame is the cable routing under the down tube which could be improved upon by Planet X. Other than that we think it's going to look pretty smart and hopefully as he's helped build it, take care of it and ride it with pride.

More pics and progress in the next few days.

Costs so far.
Frame, forks, seatpost, saddle and a finishing kit £200
Cables £27
BB £19
Wheelset £79

Everything else has been upcycled.

[croftsj]

Re tyres, definitely going to make use of all that width in the autumn & winter with some CX and at the very least some gravel and trail riding.

[croftsj]

We finished the bike Saturday and had a short but successful test ride out to a local cafe.

[croftsj]

I'm not the one riding them but on the first ride you could hear the spokes bedding in. I wanted a cheap wheelset as I knew he'd be hitting potholes until he had a bit more road sense and didn't really want to spend more than £100.

In terms of quality they look and feel alright, I have Zipp808s and Cosmics so it's unfair to compare! The hub isn't great to be fair just doesn't feel as well made as a Novatec for example but £79 for a set of disc brakes wheels, you can't argue with that for a 15 year olds first road bike.