This one has a threaded steerer and is made from their Ruby Weave which is no longer available.  It's really a beautiful bike.

I bought the frame from a shop in New York and found good deals on high-end parts on the Internet.  I call myself a mechanic, so I assembled it myself.

 

Here is a shot of the frame and fork.

Close-up shots of the Ruby Weave.

               Kestrel 200 SCi - Homebuilt
Component List:

wt kg

wt lbs

Wheels:

ZIPP Wheels

My racing wheelset is the ZIPP 404 rear and the Zipp 303 front wheels from ZIPP Speed Weaponery.  This wheelset has deep dish aerodynamic rims with the front wheel having a small enough profile (40mm) not to get blown around by the spring and fall Kentucky winds.  The rear rim is somewhat deeper at 58mm.  This is one light wheelset weighing in at an actual weight of 1564 grams.

The hubs are ZIPP manufactured and have sealed bearings rather than the standard cone/bearings type.  Having sealed, cartridge bearings does away with the need of heavy steel bearings and races.  The entire hub, shell and axle  is made of heat treated, anodized aluminum which makes this hubset one of the lightest in the industry.  The spokes are ovalized to cut down on wind resistance.

The tolerances of ZIPP's hubs are second to none.  There was no tweaking or adjustment needed.

Ultegra / Mavic Open Pro

For my training wheelset, I went for quality, durability and low cost rather than focusing solely on weight. This wheelset was built by Performance Bicycle and is ideal for normal training.  The Ultegra is a nice, tough hub and since the wheels are laced with 32 spokes they hold their shape do not have any truing problems.  The Mavic Open Pro rim is a favorite among racers and is reliable and durable.

As I do with all new standard freehubs, I pulled the bearings out of the rear hub in order to flush out the thin freehub lube (as if there is even any in there) and put some real protection in.  I used my Morningstar Freehub Buddy to make this job easier.  This thing fits into the end of the freehub and seals off the shaft hole to allow you to squirt solvent only into the freehub mechanism.  I flushed the freehub with Casey's Gun Scrub while gently turning (not spinning) the freehub.  After the solvent dried, I used the Freehub Buddy again to fill the freehub with 75W-90 synthetic outboard marine oil.

Of course, the bearings could have used more grease anyway so after I got the rear bearings reinstalled, regreased and adjusted, I went in and added more grease to the front.  Getting the cone adjustments just right takes a little work but I get better every time I do this.  These axles are now silky smooth.

Note: If you do your own wheel maintenance, you need a Freehub Buddy.  As far as I know, they also sell the only reusable, replacement right-side freehub bearing dust cover.  There are a few sizes so email them your hub mfg and year.  Here's the address: http://www.morningstartools.com/

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