I recently built up a bike for road.cc’s editor, a lovely Kinesis Granfondo Ti. Actually it was a bit more complicated than a bike build, it was a bike kit swap. The original frame had proved too big for the rider – try before you buy!
So the task was to remove all the components from the old frame, then replace and resize all the wires and hoses to the new frame. Sounds easy, but with internal cabling it is anything but!
The most fiddly part was the hydraulic hoses (this is an Ultegra Di2 hydraulic groupset). The reason being that the entry and exit points in the frame for the hydraulic hoses are only a couple of millimeters larger than the hose itself! The Di2 gears are a joy to set up, I did a check using a new black box that plugs into the laptop just to make sure all the firmware on the derailleurs and shifters were up to date.
The rear shifter and hydraulic brake calliper needing bleeding, but it was very straightforward with Shiamno’s syringe and bleed cup system. Just like a mountainbike!
The picture was taken with road.cc’s GoPro, which makes a small cramped workshop look remarkably spacious! But it shows off the workspace to good effect. In the backgroud hanging up is a Pinarello that had a faulty rear Di2 derailleur, battery and connections. It was a rare week not to see any commuter hybrid bikes in the shots!
Bike builds are £90 and £30 extra to do a frame swap. Di2 firmware updates from £15, altering shift speed and what each lever button does from £25.
