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I'd say if you are thinking of drilling bars or fabricating a custom mount for extensions, then why not buy some bars that are designed for mounting armrests and remove the worry of losing your teeth at some point?

I agree - this is the alternative, I can run a standard stem and bar with clip-ons, exactly as I am on the red Trek TTX. In fact, I could just take the front end off that bike, which would mean I have to find another turbo slave, but I do have a tried and tested solution.

There is still some customisation required: I'd have to find a way to deal with the cable routing, which means making some sort of custom headset spacer top cap that mates the headset spacers supplied with this frame to a standard stem. But that's possible.

Also, going this route looses some of the aero benefits, maybe, but it would mean I could alter the fit much more easily by swapping stems.

The alternative is to drill the bars and inset three stainless fixings, then screw the aerobars to these. Its neater, I guess. It'd look like a factory job. But I would want (need?) to fill the inside of the bars near to the fixings with epoxy/chopped carbon to make sure I didn't compromise the strength. So, I would need to do some work before I could mount the bars onto the bike...

OK, here's a few cardboard templates of what it could look like. The first one would be two pieces of 3mm carbon (which is pretty strong) top and bottom to sandwich the bar, with fixings between. I'd fill the gaps with wet layup carbon, which is time consuming. My issue with this is its pretty chunky and it would potentially take a long time to get the wet layup looking nice. On the plus-side, I could mount the bars now and make some progress towards actually having a rideable bike whilst I muck about with the carbon. Building the aerobars wouldn't stop me building the rest of the bike. I don't think...
Plus I don't have to drill holes in the bars

Thanks, @barry - interesting! Again, I think I would need to custom-make the clamp, as ControlTech say this only works with their own stem. But it does show the concept works!

I think that full-size aerobars are permitted this year, and I'm taking the risk on that. I have used mini bars before and they're very uncomfortable for me.

The point of the aerobars isn't so much the aero as much as the comfort. I think this is sometimes not understood by the organisers. A full aerobar with decent side and rear support allows me to take all the weight off my wrists and palms and spread it over my elbows/forearms with comfort.

At PBP last time, without aerobars, I lost all feeling in my little and ring fingers, both hands, and the numbness was getting worse. It was only a matter of time before I couldn't use my hands - bit worrying!!

Cheers, @Georghe That's kinda what I was thinking about, but there is a big risk that the bars I have are not quite the same shape as the Giant bars, and I've wasted £200! But I could make something pretty similar, I think.
I wonder if Giant have reinforced their bars for these to work?

This week's delay is procrastination over the handlebars.

As I said up-front, the bike will run aerobars. Not having them isn't an option. The internal cable routing in the bars (I guess with most bars these days, whether they are integrated bars/stem or separate bars but with an aero profile) means the cables and hoses are also inside the bar, which means changing bars is just not realistic.

So, I need to commit to a bar, and make this work. And now the SPCycle bars that came with the frame are drilled and test-fitted, it makes sense to use them. The big problem is how to fit an aerobar?

I've been kicking around a load of ideas - making up some custom aluminium clamps, adding some threaded inserts, drilling the bars versus epoxying or laminating onto the bars... the permutations are driving me nuts!

After chewing on this for a week, the solution I think I'm going with is to fill the hollow section of the inside of the bar (underneath the channel for the cables) with epoxy/chopped carbon, which will add some weight but also increase strength. Then I'll drill through and insert 3 or 4 stainless M5 threaded fixings, and epoxy these in place.

After a big gulp of confidence, I drilled the stem yesterday. It worked OK, and the bars are now in place; next: Cutting the steerer.

I couldn't resist sticking some wheels on today. Tyres are Conti Gatorskins in 32mm flavour, on Mavic Open Pro rims. There is only 4mm above the tyre both front and rear, but a lot more clearance around the sides. So, a 32mm on a wide rim would be a good option.

Have you still got the Thomson x2 100mm stem, please?

Dear me, I am procrastinating badly due to a few things, which I'll try to explain...
First-up, marking the stem to drill the two small holes is a pain. I tried @Yemble's trick, but its not easy to do it cleanly. I tried again with marker pen and masking tape. Its a little better. But even on a mini pillar drill, I am not 100% confident I can drill these so there is no slop.

Next up is the real issue; having mounted the bars I need to figure how to add aerobars. Any suggestions welcome?!

I have lined up three different bars - Toseek on the left, the SPCycle that came with the frame in the centre, and a separate bar and stem on the right. Each of these has aero-profile bars on top. None really plays nicely with aerobars. I am nervous about drilling bars, having tried this once before and it not ending well. So, to mount aerobars, I either have to make something that clamps onto the bars or the stem. Or something else??

I do have these 3T Team clip-ons which have a really slim clamp, like 13mm. They nearly go onto the 3T Aeronova bars either side of the stem. I'd still need to shave a bit off the stem/clamp to make it work, but its nearly there. Or I could just go with a round bar. But that's no fun!!

How about this as a response to my request to the manufacturer?!
Perhaps this is the issue with buying direct from China. You wouldn't get this if you went to your local shop, but I've not done that. I can fix this; but its just not right, and if anyone else is thinking of going this route, be ready!

So, my solution is probably to mount the stem and spacer to an old bit of steerer tube and drill all the way through the spacer and just into the stem by 2mm, then put in a new bit of dowel. If I just try to measure and drill for the existing dowels, I am not 100% confident I can be accurate.

Today is also the day to cut the steerer tube, I guess. Gulp. I'll remeasure, but I'm sure that 50mm drop from saddle to bars is OK; if anything, I need to go down 10 or 20mm.

A bit of an aside, but yesterday I was working on the other side of the project - my legs! Went for lactate and respiratory gas testing. I only have some of the data back so far, but its good news (for me); I can go faster and longer than last year! :-)
FTP is down, but I don't give a monkey's - I'm much more interested in what I can do for 8-24h, and how I might need to fuel that (which then has a bearing on what I need to attach to the bike).

Geometry check today (and yesterday):
I started with getting the headset/bars/fork loosely assembled, then levelled the frame on the through axles.
I've set the saddle height and angle to match that on my Trek Equinox turbo slave, which has been really comfy. However, the Equinox is a halfway house between my road bike and TT bike in terms of saddle setback. The TT bike is something like 77 degrees effective, my road bike is more like 72, and the Equinox is 74. As I move the saddle back, I use my hamstrings more, and after a day in the saddle, they get sore. But too far forward = too much weight on the bars, and my hands get sore! The Equinox has been really comfy for a couple of 400k audax, but probably only because I have been able to rest on the aerobars; without these, 74 degrees of effective seat angle is too steep.
For the SPCycle, I'm starting off at 72.5 degrees. I'll maybe experiment with moving forward, but that would involve changing the bars and stem (or at least, the stem). That's the major issue with the integrated bars/stem and totally internal cable routing.

So, with the saddle pretty much fixed, I stuck on the Ultegra R8000 shifters and checked the bar-hoods, which is within 5mm of both the Equinox and my old CdF. Then with a single 10mm spacer, measured the saddle-bar drop at 50mm. That is more than 30mm higher than the Equinox, 30mm higher than the CdF and 15mm higher than my gravel bike. For me, this is super-high! I've also rotated the shifters further up on the bars, which means the hood position is even higher. This is all OK - on the turbo, I have been wondering if the bars are a bit low, but I simply don't have any room to go higher on the Equinox. And I have plenty of room to get my aero bars on. I'll fine-tune that all in Spring.

Other details, that matter - to me, anyways :-) - the front centre is checked at 608mm, which might reduce the #times I kick the front wheel. Head angle is 73, seat is 73. Rear chainstay 412mm. It's going to have slightly quicker handling than the Genesis Datum, I guess, but pretty close. I am optimistic that its going to build up how I wanted it to.

In other news, I'm keeping delivery drivers in jobs with the number of parcels arriving. Hydro cables are here, calipers arrived yesterday. Still waiting on some Shimano SP41 gear outer, though.

Cheers, all for your thoughts on stopping the spacers rotating. One thing I can see (and its much easier with the pieces in front of me) is that the spacers are very unlikely to twist relative to the stem because there's only just room to get the 4 cables through the gap. I might add a dab of superglue at final assembly.

Thank you, collective LFGSS genius! Particularly @sifriday - that explains it!
I've emailed SPCycle (again). I should probably give them a little time to get back to me before breaking out the tools!

A few more pics here of this pesky headset. I've tried to show how the dowels foul the shoulders of the underneath of the stem, but its tricky to get a camera and torch in low enough. I'm pretty sure I'm going to file them off now I've had enough time to get my head around it. Thanks for all the help and suggestions, guys.

Cheers, @kjlem - I was on the turbo trying to think and type. Not a good combo.
@zephyr26 - did you get any further with aerobars? I'm thinking full aerobars are now OK for PBP as long as you aren't riding them in the peleton (as per the regs that @Samuli posted), so that's what I'm planning.

whats happening with the datum?

Sorry, what do you mean?

@hippy - the rectangle with the odd hole in it below the seatpost? There's a rubber gasket and a seatpost sliding clamp thing. The gasket slips onto the post and stops (!!) the frame filling with water. Time will tell...

Maybe they are designed to be filed off when you've picked your config.

Maybe, but its confusing and like you say, a bit shoddy that i'm left (with the help of you guys!) to figure this out. I could file them off or drill two tiny holes in the bottom of the stem to locate them. Seems a fag.

Thanks you guys - lots of responses whilst I was typing!
@Alf0nse - the spacers are labelled 4, 5 and 6 in my photo. They all have 4 dowels on top and 4 holes underneath (2 per side). They do stack together nicely (like in the SPCycle pic).
@TheBonk - ah, maybe you've identified the underlying issue here! :-)
@kjlem - cheers, and thanks also for posting the pic. The piece top left a few posts ago is now labelled 2 above. Its odd, it is the only one with a circular 1 1/8 hole. I kinda thought it was an optional bottom piece if you wanted to fit the integrated bars/stem to a bike with a regular 1 1/8 headset. I can't figure out what else it could be. It has 4 dowels on the top, so it does seem like a direct replacement for the bottom piece in my tower (pieces 1, 5, 3).

I was going to save fit (inc bar height qns) for tomorrow! I've been measuring the geo today...

Cheers, @hippy - I thought they would be to stop rotation too, but whichever way I turn it, there's nothing to engage them. These pieces all have 4 dowels/4 holes so they stack (and don't rotate) so there's only one way to build the tower. There's one definite bottom piece - that's the one I have at the bottom. Its the only one with a round base, and the only one that covers the bearing. Any of the other pieces leaves a big gap somewhere.
I'm attaching a marked up photo (I hope!) with all the headset bits I have. The stack I have built is parts 1 (at the bottom), 5 and 3 (at the top). Part 2 is a bit odd; it kinda looks like its an alternative bottom piece if you want to use the bars/stem on a bike with a regualar 1 1/8 top bearing. So at the moment I'm ignoring it! Also, it doesn't play nicely with the bottom of the stem no matter how I rotate or turn it!

Today's dilemma; there aren't any build instructions with the frame, and in particular the headset and integrated bar and stem. I have a large collection of round-ish black plastic parts (pic 1), some of which fit together in various ways. I've pushed three pieces together (pic 2) to resemble what is on the SPCycle website (kindly linked above by @kjlem).
However, there are two little plastic dowels sticking up on the upper face, and these don't fit into the bar/stem combo (pic 3).
I've emailed SPCycle; will be interesting to see whether they offer help! But I am thinking I probably need to amputate the two culprits, so the stem then sits flat against the upper spacer. Anyone else seen/solved anything similar? I have no idea what the two dowel things are for...

Cheers, @kjlem, @Yemble - I'm liking the colour too. Coppery-red pretty much sums it up, yeah. I had wild ideas about respraying it in a pseudo-reflective style, but it seems silly to butcher a nice paint job. I'll find some other ways to make the bike (and me) more visible during the night.
@kjlem - weight isn't really important (especially given my shape!), I agree, but if anyone else is interested in one of these frames, maybe this helps? The other thing; with the internal routing through the headset, I don't expect to ever have the bare frame like this, so this is the only chance to weigh.
I think comfort/fit/position is the most important factor when I'm on the bike for 8 hours plus. If I can find a comfortable aero position that I can hold for 80% of my time, I'll be very happy.

I've unwrapped the frame, and I am pretty pleased with how it looks. I'm not very good with pics; they are functional rather than snazzy, but here you go.

The bare frame weight is 1,080g
Fork 378g
Bars/stem 377g
Seatpost 216g
Rear dropout/threaded bit 19g
Front through axle 26g
And the rear 37g
Seatpost clamp bits 24g
Headset essentials 176g
Headset spacers 32g
Bottle cage bolts 11g
Front mech braze on 12g

I guess the build up from here is going to be 2 steps forward, one back as I trial-fit the forks and bars, then take it apart ready for hose threading. I have some BH90 Shimano hoses on order, plus some foam sleeve, and a Lifeline gear cable set ready for next week.

First up, many apologies for not updating earlier; I can only blame the excesses of the festive season and a particularly vicious bug that had me coughing up green for too long...

The frame has arrived!
I took it out of the battered piece of cardboard that was loosely draped around it yesterday. Although everything looks OK, the first job, once its unwrapped, is to check that the frame is undamaged. I've had a quick look and it seems OK, but I won't post proper pics until I've looked at it carefully.

I'll give these a try - I am sick and tired of wet feet, will try anything!

Merlin CR Works frame and fork in size large, including Chris King headset. £600, and I will deliver it to London/Leeds/Manchester (or if you are quick, Edinburgh)

Effective top tube 575mm, seat tube 530mm, head tube 160mm, head angle 74, seat angle 73
Reach 411mm, stack 571mm (by my measurements)

It takes a 25mm GP4000 pretty comfortably, but with a 28mm GP4000, there's barely 2mm at the fork crown and rear caliper. I think the GP5000 now come up slightly smaller in size, so that might be enough to run a pair of 28s.

This has been my best summer bike for a few years. Its been comfortable for 200k, but I now have a new project long-distance bike, and sadly this has to go to make space.

I had it built up with 10 speed Dura Ace 7800 and Ultegra sti, Hope/TokyoWheels and it came in at 7.5kg. The frame itself is 1,410g, the fork 390g. I'm posting a pic of it built up just to illustrate, although most of the build kit is available with the frame if interested?