Had the foresight to build this bike right before COVID hit. Served as a commuter bike to work (~5 miles) with the hope that it would inspire me to ride more often like I used to. Fast forward to September I grabbed a smart trainer and started structured training and found a local group to do weekly group rides. I did my first metric and imperial century on this bike with ease. About 2500 indoor/outdoor miles on this bad boy this season alone.
The bike itself is a mystery Litespeed frame I got off Craigslist. I was in the market to replace my old Ti bike (Airborne zeppelin). The stickers were stripped but the serial number wasn’t flagged. It still had a 3×9 ultegra group from the mid 2000s and a really heavy fork. Did some research and believe this to be a 2005ish Solano based off the geometry.
Took the bike down to the frame for cleaning. There really wasn’t a single part I wanted to keep. New Ritchey WCS fork, ZIPP SL carbon seatpost, stem, bars. SRAM Force 1x group. The ZIPP 202s are really nice too despite most of their tech being snake oil. I’m also one of those freaks that fit SMP saddles perfectly and this saddle has been with me for over 7 years.
The Ti frame paired with the classic geometry made this a perfect long distance rider. I come from riding fixies so the 1X drivetrain was a no brainer. This bike can keep up with a lot of modern bikes. Sadly the bike itself is a bit big for me and I’ll be selling it to fund a new project.
2 Comments
Had the foresight to build this bike right before COVID hit. Served as a commuter bike to work (~5 miles) with the hope that it would inspire me to ride more often like I used to. Fast forward to September I grabbed a smart trainer and started structured training and found a local group to do weekly group rides. I did my first metric and imperial century on this bike with ease. About 2500 indoor/outdoor miles on this bad boy this season alone.
The bike itself is a mystery Litespeed frame I got off Craigslist. I was in the market to replace my old Ti bike (Airborne zeppelin). The stickers were stripped but the serial number wasn’t flagged. It still had a 3×9 ultegra group from the mid 2000s and a really heavy fork. Did some research and believe this to be a 2005ish Solano based off the geometry.
Took the bike down to the frame for cleaning. There really wasn’t a single part I wanted to keep. New Ritchey WCS fork, ZIPP SL carbon seatpost, stem, bars. SRAM Force 1x group. The ZIPP 202s are really nice too despite most of their tech being snake oil. I’m also one of those freaks that fit SMP saddles perfectly and this saddle has been with me for over 7 years.
The Ti frame paired with the classic geometry made this a perfect long distance rider. I come from riding fixies so the 1X drivetrain was a no brainer. This bike can keep up with a lot of modern bikes. Sadly the bike itself is a bit big for me and I’ll be selling it to fund a new project.
Excellent taste, well executed.