I have had my eye on the All-City lineup for a while now. When the road oriented Mr. Pink and Spacehorse bikes dropped I knew I would own one of them. After careful deliberation I choose the Mr. Pink. Having always been a fan of the classic steel roadies of yesteryear, it just made sense. Once I chose the frameset, I had the not so easy task of deciding just exactly how the build was going to come together. In the end, the frame’s specs helped direct the build. Thanks to the large amount of tire clearance, and a somewhat relaxed road geometry, the build turned into a go anywhere project for road, commuting, and even some cyclocross riding.
Roll on past the page break for the full build list and images…
Frameset:
While its good looks may resemble a classic steel racer, this bike is anything but. The Mr. Pink has a few modern tricks up its sleeve (tubes?). The frameset is constructed of quality Columbus Zona steel. It ditches the more traditional 28.6 diameter downtube for something of the oversized variety. Internal cable routing is used for the rear brake. An internal ED coating is done for rust prevention. And with another leap into modern “standards” the frame has a BB30 bottom bracket shell. Lugged dropouts, a 27.2 seatpost, and integrated seat tube binder keep the classic feel alive.
For those, like myself, that plan on riding their bike in the wet, hidden fender mounts are present. In an effort to get this bike on as many roads as possible, tire clearance is listed at 32mm (28mm with fenders). That said, I have run a tire that measured out to 34.7mm wide with no issues, and even set the bike up with tires measuring 30mm with fenders and had room to spare. To accommodate tires of that size, the frame and fork are built around mid reach brakes.
Speaking of the fork, it is a 1-1/8th inch lugged 4130 ChroMoly beauty with a lovely radius curve and 43mm rake. Up top is a flat, lugged crown, low rider style mounts for fenders are present, and it has lugged dropouts.
The frame weight for my 58cm comes in at a respectable 4lbs 12oz. The fork runs 2lbs 5oz. Retail for the frameset is $799.
Holding the frame and fork together is the FSA Orbit X headset. This is a traditional 1-1/8th external headset made from forged and CNC’d 6061/T6 alloy, and it uses angular contact bearings. It has a claimed weight of 95g.
Drivetrain:
I had initially considered a full SRAM Rival build. That idea was quickly scrapped after a short hands-on with Retroshift. Adam at Retroshift was kind enough to supply a set of their CX2 levers which I then paired with my own Ultegra 6700 front and rear derailleurs, chain, and 12-27 cassette. The CX2’s come in at a svelte 389g (actual), which is about 50 grams lighter than Ultegra 6700 STI levers. Cost ($189) is a fair bit less than their Ultegra counterparts as well. Sure it’s a bit old-school, and you can’t shift from the drops, but for this build, I have no complaints about the set up.
The rest of the drive train is rounded out by an FSA SL-K carbon compact crankset outfitted with 52 / 36 semi-compact chainrings from Praxis Works. And to connect my feet to the bike, a set of Crankbrothers Candy 1’s were used.
Brakes, Cables, and Housings:
To slow things down, a pair of Paul Components Racer Mediums were sourced. These “standard” reach brakes have a reach of 47mm to 57mm and have a claimed weight of 154g each. Kool Stop Thin Line pads are supplied. To get these canti-style brakes working on the frame, a Surly cable hanger was used on the rear seat clamp, and a head set spacer ‘cross style cable hanger was placed up front.
Both brake and shift cables are Delta’s Aztech Duracote Teflon cables running inside white Jagwire L3 housing.
Cockpit:
Along with the crankset, FSA was kind enough to send over their SL-K cockpit. Up front is the SL-K bar (227g actual) and SL-K stem (110mm, 160g actual). See Marc’s take on the stem here, and stay tuned for my opinion later down the road. Holding up the saddle was the SL-K zero offset carbon post. However, due to its open top design, it was tossed into the parts bin and replaced with my personal Thompson Masterpiece seatpost for now. More on that here and here. Once the closed top version is in production, FSA has promised they will set us up with one for further testing, and we will post a full review along with the rest of the cockpit.
The saddle on this bike comes in the form of a Fizik Antares Vs. saddle. To accommodate those customers looking for a saddle with a center relief zone, Fizik launched their Vs. line a while back. The Antares is a flat saddle that measures 142mm wide and is 274mm long. It has a wider nose that starts out at 45mm and widens to 50mm before the dramatic flare at the rear. Weight comes in at 206g (actual).
Wheels and Tires:
Given the nature of this do-all build, I knew I would need a wheel set that could withstand a bit of punishment, but wouldn’t be a boat anchor on faster road rides. The final parts selection ended up being rock solid. H Plus Son supplied their popular Archtype rims, Paul Components sent over their FHUB and new geared RHUB, and I purchased Sapim CX-Ray spokes and brass nipples to tie it all together.
The RHUB is the real story here, as it is Paul’s first foray into a geared road hub. It features a hub shell designed and machined in house, that is then fitted with internals from Industry Nine. This means it’s loud. Very, very loud. Not that it’s a bad thing. It also means it has instant engagement thanks to 6 pawls and 60 teeth, which has proven very nice off road.
The hubs are laced to the revised H Plus Son Archetype rims. These rims are 25mm high, 23mm wide, and have a claimed weight of 470g. That is up from the original version, as H Plus Son has added some extra material to the rim bed. The braking surface is machined, then anodized black.
The spokes and nipples come from Sapim. CX-Rays keep things stiff and light. Brass nipples should allow for longevity and better durability. And the rim is tapped up with some CaffeLatex tape we had in the parts bin.
These wheels started off wrapped in Continental CycloXKing 32’s, over the winter. The measured out to 30mm wide. They were later swapped out for the less aggressive Continental Cyclocross Race 35’s (measured to 34.7mm) for a short period of time. And now the wheels are ready for summer commuting / road riding with some supple Schwalbe Kojak 35’s (running 33.5mm)
Weight for the set is 1810g with rim strips, but without QR’s.
The complete bike with the current Kojak tires, sans any add on’s like cages or light mounts, but with pedals, comes in at 21 lbs, 15 oz (9.95 kg).
Now that the bike is built and fine tuned (thanks to the labor of fellow contributor Mitch Lomacz), it’s time to put the miles in and report back. Stay tuned for individual parts reviews over the next few weeks.
