Sunday, June 21, 2015

Client Build: Pinarello Dogma 65.1 Hydro


Following up with that frame teaser from the previous post, here's the full build.

Client is in his late 60's.  Puts in some decent miles, upwards of 400/month in California during the Alaskan winters.  Wanted a new steed for the rough Alaskan roads up here.  Was currently riding a Specialized Tarmac, circa 2004.  He was in for quite the change...

One challenge when fitting a top tier race frame to folks with not as much flexibility nor tolerance for twitchy frames is getting them comfortable on said machines.  The same clients understand and appreciate pedaling and power transfer efficiency, which most "comfort fit" frames lack with longer chainstays and slack angles.

I've built a Pinarello KOBH previous to this (it'll be featured in a later post) for a friend of his to ride in California.  Being Italian, it was only a matter of time for this client.

Being Italian, everything needed to match up with his lineage.  The only things I sourced from different countries were the wheels and bar tape.  Cinelli or Deda tape would have been nice, but this client has a bad right hand so more cushion was needed, hence the choice.  Neither Campagnolo nor Fulcrum offer disc road wheels at this point, DT Swiss rivals Campagnolo in hub construction.  Gold standard.


Campagnolo is doing away with the Athena EPS gruppo, he has it on another bike down south, keep things familiar for this machine.  Additionally it helped curb costs, but only slightly.









Cockpit is FSA, their shallow K-Force carbon bar is lightweight, and with short reach, ideal for customers lacking flexibility.  The stem was kept brief, 90mm, installed for high rise.

Coming from racing and obsessing over all things PRO and "euro" it can be challenging to the eye to install and build a bike without a 120mm+ stem slammed to the headtube.  Ego is quickly overcome by the excitement of others over their respective machines.  My internal strife, as superficial and misplaced as it was, dissapaited quickly by the enthusiasm and level of stoke this client had during delivery.  My plans to ride that day were thrown out the window and I chose to stay after the bike fit, and accompany him on the inagural ride.

Proving to be a good choice was staying and a multi-tool.  There are always little quirks that can pop up during the initial outing of any whale, let alone one of this caliber.  I found myself lacking proper torque of some components for fear of damage.  My torque wrench is on permanent loan so procurement of that crucial tool is neccessary.

Needless to say, despite sporadic retorque and adjustments, he was thrilled and the bike seemed to exceed expectations, always a good outcome.

Thank you for reading, thank you for your support.

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