This bike (I would imagine like every one us guys have) does have a story. I was poking around on BMX sites and had to rub my eyes when I saw the frame for ?230. Less than half price.
That was the day it arrived. Oh what a fine day
If you have not seen one in the flesh? it's a wonderful frame. Not a GT boy myself, but It tell you this thing is a work of art. It's hydro formed, so they basically put fat thick tubes into a mould and then inject them with uber high pressure water. That way there is no heat involved. But the details are just staggering.
When you look up close? it's not as plain as it looks. These decals wrap the whole front end, but are very subtle.
Almost like some sort of tribe art.
I originally built it on the cheap. Cheap Alex rims, non sealed hubs, a pair of LG I got for ?45 on Ebay etc.
Those are Sunday Saker cranks I took from a parts bike I bought. The Crupi snowflake, at that time, was the most expensive single part on the bike
I wanted it done, and I rode the crap out of it that summer.
Vocal Neptune bars (very very heavy) and a cheap GT stem.
Those two years (17 and 18) I was riding that up and down the 5 mile path every day, then doing Southsea at the weekends with a mate. Then I took two bad slams and retired again. But I just wanted this bike to be killer, and not with the cheap crap. Which turned out to be a mistake, because it was a ton of aggro. I'm not a light guy (I usually hover around 15 stone) and I didn't want those skinny race wheels. I wanted a street set of rims, with a freewheel on the back. That turned out to be extremely difficult to do, as no one makes a freewheel hub for 36h. By chance I found the sealed hub on Ebay for something stupid like ?15 and jumped on it. The Runaway rim was on sale for about ?15 also. Then I took it to Chi and got it laced.
Nice body, but totally not for a BMX. So I had to take it apart, get out the vernier and adapt and convert it to work on a BMX. Meaning cutting the spacers, flipping the axle around and so on.
And then one beautiful and very hot summer day...
Down at ESP in Chichester.... I was sat at a coffee bar across the way. Two hours later, and...
And that was where I became obsessed with every minor detail. The bars went.
Those are so bloody light. Beautiful chrome too.
And three nearly four years later it is as you see it now. The specs.
GT Speed Series 2016 frame.
Bombshell F1 carbon fork
SNAFU Scotty Cranmer butted bars
SNAFU CNC bar ends
Crupi "I Beam" stem
Odyssey purple trans grips
Hope tapered adapter
Hope headset
Front wheel - Stranger Orbis rim laced to Spotlight Superstar hub
Rear wheel - Alienation Runaway laced to sealed freewheel hub
Cranks - FSA Superlight hollow carbon
BB - Shimano Octalink
44t chainring (retro style) with machined alu guard
Superstar Nano X pedals
Tioga stolen staggered tyres
RXL carbon seat post with RXL full carbon seat
Carbon quick release clamp
TRP Donnie Robinson V brake with carbon lever and stiffener
SNAFU Astroglide cable
Yeah, I totally got carried away. Do I regret it? sort of. I regret getting that involved. Not because of the money, because it really wasn't too bad. I got everything cut price, or as part of bundles etc. It was just the time it takes to wait for the parts to come up. It took me 9 months to find those Bombshell forks. There were a few around for ?100 or so, but they were all battered. Patience pays off, because I paid ?45 for those and they are almost flawless.
But I do miss riding it. A lot.
