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I'm going to try to play it cool if anyone asks me what it is at the lights, but odds-on I'll fail spectacularly.

The missus' bike is coming along nicely. Front triangle is all set, but the chain stays took some thinking about. They need to be bent to work with the relatively narrow Alfine chainset while giving heel clearance and lining up for the relatively wide rear spacing.

Initially I tried cold-forming them, but I couldn't shift them at all, so in the end I annealed them (I watched the first one being done, then did the second).

You heat the tubes to the point where they become ductile (which is roughly when the steel glows a dull orange), then you can gently bend them without deforming them. Hold them still as they cool a bit, then you let them go completely cold before putting the next bend in. You can see the heating zones in the photos.

You have to be very careful, as if you get them too hot you'll mess up the alloy and weaken it, but Zona is pretty tolerant of this kind of handling. I did a dry assembly to check the rear and it's looking good. Not that you can tell from the wonky photo, mind you.

Well done. This has definitely been one of my favourite CP threads.

Out of curiosity is there anything you're not happy with or would do differently? Also how did you decide the geometry?

How have you found the fork? It suits the build very well. Do you think it could safely take 28mm on a wide rim plus the 'guards? Or is 25mm a safer bet?

Cheers Hugo :)

I feel like I've built it to the best of my current ability, but looking back now then there are a couple of things I could have done better.

Being picky, I would have put the brake bridge a smidge higher - the fit is fine, but I would have had more room to play with with 2-4mm more space. Same with the mudguard bridge, for the same reasons.

The fillets needed more filing than I'd like, but that's more a question of labour time and technique than anything. The golden rule is not to put a file on the tubes when shaping the fillets, certainly not with any pressure.

Abrasive paper will shape the brazing material without taking material off the tubes, but a few wrong strokes with a file could do proper damage. Better technique means you lay the right amount of braze, but better a bit too much than too little.

The geometry was taken from a bike fit I had on existing current road bike, most critically the effective top tube length, head tube length (matched with the fork) seat and head tube angles. BikeCAD gives you a good starting point if you can accurately measure up the rider too.

The fork is really nice, I must say. About 400g including the bung, tracks well, absorbs road buzz (although tyres/pressure obviously play a significant role there too) and looks appropriate too.

I'm not convinced 28mm would be an easy fit. They'd go in, and it depends a bit on the actual make, but having measured the space around my 25 you'd only end up with a couple of mm free space on either side. It's not the guards that are the issue, it's the spacing between the fork legs.

It's going to be a friends and family thing for a good while, working one day a week means my output is low. So my 2014 order book is pretty full. All four bikes of it!

Also, there's the question of liability insurance too - if you're building for someone else on a commercial basis then you have to make sure you're covered.

I've been out on the bike for a couple of hours, and I'm very, very happy.

The bike glides over the tarmac, which I think is a combination of the 25mm tyres, the CF fork and the tube set. The handling is responsive without being twitchy, and it fits me well.

Had a whizz around town, a quick circuit of Regent's Park, then up to Highgate via Swains Lane, and it climbs fine too.

Thanks to everyone who's commented in the thread, and I've really enjoyed documenting the process. Here are a couple of shots to wrap things up.

Hopefully I'll get to meet some of you at Bespoked in April. I'm going to be in the New Builders section, exhibiting as Munin Bikeworks, and this bike should be there.

Cheers!

I took it for a short shakedown spin today, and first impressions are really good. The ride is smooth, accelerates well, and it the handlng feels balanced. It passed the "ride it no handed" test with flying colours.

Here are a couple of pics of the build in close up. They give a better impression of the colour. I'll try to take a nice side-on shot tomorrow in the (alleged) sunshine, while I'm out having a proper ride.

out of interest... why not a level toptube?

It's primarily an aesthetic choice.

I tend to run my bikes with about 8cm of drop between the saddle and bar centre, so on a horizontal TT I wouldn't have much seat post exposed. And using a branded post I'd probably have "Ritch.." or "Thomps..." showing, which would drive me round the twist.

There are claimed comfort benefits from a sloping TT because if you have a lot of seat post showing, especially a CF one, as it'll flex a bit.

One of the advantages of fillet or TIG is the freedom to set the angles as you want.

Finished the build this evening, couldn't really take very good shots due to the lighting, but will try to get some decent ones tomorrow when I go for a ride.

Fitting the mudguards was a bit of a fiddle, but they look properly incorporated into the build, which is what I wanted.

Back from the painters, all checked out fine. Just treated it with Frame Saver, and pressed the headset cups in.

Build is underway!

It's gone for paint this morning. RAL 2009, Traffic Orange.

Hard to judge the shade online, but basically, it's this.

MTB only, or are you allowed to use CX bikes?

Howard, what are these 4 hour races you do? Are they short laps, long courses, point to point?

Spare wheels is a good idea.

Also, liking the look of the Transition Rapture. Steel CX frame that can be converted from SS to geared by switching out the drop outs.

I know Planet X tried that a while back too, but they don't seem to make much of that anymore.

London League rounds have a pit area.

Not seen any mid-race jet washers yet, but there are people with multiple bikes. Claire Beaumont, for one. But as she works for Condor, it'd be rude not to have a least a pair, really.

Managed to do the brazing this morning. Sanded off the powder coat with 80 grit, quick buff with 120 and then silver brazed the extra cable attachment points in place.

All ready for the powder coaters. Orange seems the popular choice.

What do you reckon you'll be using this bike for mostly? Other than the 3 day of course. I've been thinking about converting an old MTB and im wondering wether theyre decent as a runabout bike on road? probably the wrong thread i know

Mostly I plan on using it for a bit of bikepacking and just general off-road meandering. This is the 2011 KM, so it's bossed for a rear rack.

MTBs can make good runabouts, the longer top tube means that you have to be careful if you start doing things like running drop bars as you'll be very stretched. Having said that, I find this bike with a stem 30mm shorter than I normally use plus the woodchipper bars is comfy.

Oh, and this is the 18" model, so a medium by most people's reckoning.

Orange was definitely an option, the other colours under consideration are a shade of Violet, possibly metallic, and Snot Green.

The last one was suggested by the missus, who's normally the Spirit of Subtlety when it comes to colours.

The bosses are two-part jobs, and can actually be unscrewed from the frame. I may take them off, but I won't debraze the mounts they screw into.

I was going to do that initially, but there's a bit of a problem when you combine Alfine hub and the seat stay routing on the KM.

To get the chain line right you have to flip the sprocket (which is dished to allow for adjustment), pushing the chain line outwards. What that means is that the chain runs very close to the cable and the shifter stop. The slightly ghetto solution is to bend the problematic part of the hub attachment, but I don't like that.

I could just zip tie the cable run to the chain stay and DT, but as it's getting repainted it's an opportunity to do it neatly.

I love the idea of the KM, a bike you can build up any which way. I bought this as a bit of the spur of the moment thing late last year, off someone I know (a bit).

It was a good price, and came with both flat bars & brakes and Salsa Woodchipper drops.

It was described as being in good condition, but with a loose front hub. Well, the last bit was true, as far as it went! Pretty much everything needed taking apart and servicing, the paint is ratty and worn through in places, etc etc etc. And what is it about the transfer of ownership of a bike that makes the BB and headset disintegrate?

I've enjoyed knocking about on it as a single-speed. Then I decided for a laugh I'd enter an event called The Crossing, which is a three-day race (in that each day is timed) across the UK this summer. I ride road and cross mostly, although I used to MTB a fair bit.

The objective is to build a reliable, low hassle & capable cross-country bike. Imagine if a CX bike had a fumble with a Monster Truck. That.

I'm collecting the parts at the moment. The central bits of the spec are an Alfine 8 speed hub, a Jtek bar-end shifter, and a RockShox 30 Gold TK fork.

The one oversight on the frame is that there are no cable bosses on the chainstay and DT, which feels like the natural routing for the shift cable.

Brazing some extra bosses on is the first step in the overhaul. After 10 minutes of controlled violence it now looks like this:

I'll try to get into the workshop to braze the additional cable bosses on this weekend, then it'll be off for powder coating. I don't want it grey, I quite fancy something brighter.

Thanks everyone for being so positive. Really pleased people like the head badge.

There might be a slight pause before I get it built.

I had just put frame saver into the first tube, flipped the frame upside down to make sure it coated the inside only to see that the powder coaters have missed a bit under the seat stays. Whoops.So it'll be going back first thing in the morning for them to do it again.

However, if that's the only thing that goes wrong then I'll be happy. I laughed when I saw it, and went to get some fish and chips and a pint. What can you do?

Headbadge was polished by Armourtex for the princely sum of £10, so I'm not sure!

The STI adjusters are made up of two elements on Ceeway's "what's new page"

The barrels are Brass Deluxe STI Adjuster Screws with Stainless Spring

And the brazed on threads are

R2 Gear Boss STI/Ergo M5. Cast.

I'm building a bike for the missus at the moment, and then I have a mate who wants a frame doing. Given the speed I go that'll probably push me towards the summer. A couple of other friends have expressed interest as well. I'm hoping to get a few done in different styles this year. Might even do a kid's bike for a mate.

where can you get JP frame saver in London?

I ordered a can from Ceeway mail order, not sure if anyone would keep it as a stock item.

And it's back from the powder coaters. Wanted a nice, simple, durable finish. The fillets look pretty trim under the finish, if I do say so myself. Gives me a sense of what's required to make them flow from tube to tube.

Going to to treat it with a bit of frame saver this evening, and then I'll start the build up tomorrow.

If there's one last race then at least I'll get to blood my new Grifos, and try out my anti-clogging cable hack.

Have you chosen your mudguards yet? and what size tyre+guards do you think you'll get in the Columbus Hiver fork?

I'm using SKS narrows with a 25c tyre. I've done a test fit and that all looks OK. I suspect you'd get a 28mm in there without too much bother. In fact I've got one knocking about, so I'll do a test fit tonight and report back.

The Hiver is definitely a road fork that takes guards, rather than a gravel grinder or CX fork. It pinches in quite a lot towards the crown.

I'm not sure yet, to be honest.

I've asked Columbus for a recommendation, but I've also specced the geometry to run with a 390mm fork length. That means I could fit a Surly Disc Trucker 700c fork if I felt that was a better approach.