Tifosi CK7 - first impressions

[Pete Biggs]

......Bloody brilliant!

Only done 10 miles on it so far but even this is enough to convice me that
you don't need a steel, titanium or carbon frame to get a comfortable ride.
The build quality and weight of the frame is so good for the price that you
should forget your worries about aluminium frames being "harsh".

This was a DIY job with parts ordered online from multiple sources, with a
Campag triple 10sp mixture, Tifosi forks, Open Pro rims, 25mm Pasela tyres,
SKS mudguards, Tortec Ultralite rack, etc.

Taking my time paid off. The only adjustment needed was to raise the
saddle a bit. Everything else worked and felt great straight away - though
I'm sure some things will be tweaked after some proper rides to increase the
comfort/performance even more.

What I hoped for was something half way between my not-very-practical road
bike with no mudguards or rack, and my practical but slow & heavy old
tourer. It seems even better than that. It seems to give me nearly the
speed and lightness of the racer with nearly all the practicality of the
tourer.

Of course this is ridiculously early days to be raving about it, but it's
such a massive contrast to every other first-time experience of any new bike
I've ridden - where, to be honest, they all felt **** until I'd done a /lot/
of tweaking and a /lot/ of getting-used-to rides.

If you're thinking of building you rown bike, go for it. The satisfaction
of knowing everything down to the last nut and bolt is the way you like it
can't be beaten with an off-the-shelf machine. Needn't be more expensive
either if you can spare a few hours on the net shopping around, especially
if you include a few second-hand bits.

~PB

 

[Brian G]

Pete Biggs wrote:
> .....Bloody brilliant!

<Snip>

>
> If you're thinking of building you rown bike, go for it. The satisfaction
> of knowing everything down to the last nut and bolt is the way you like it
> can't be beaten with an off-the-shelf machine. Needn't be more expensive
> either if you can spare a few hours on the net shopping around, especially
> if you include a few second-hand bits.

I've toyed with the idea quite a lot, but I can't do the headset. Did
you buy the frame bare, or with the forks in place?

Also, how did you ensure getting the best fit frame size?

Glad you're so pleased with the result, BTW.

--
Brian G

 

[Pete Biggs]

Brian G wrote:
> Pete Biggs wrote:
>> .....Bloody brilliant!
>
> <Snip>
>>
>> If you're thinking of building you rown bike, go for it. The
>> satisfaction of knowing everything down to the last nut and bolt is
>> the way you like it can't be beaten with an off-the-shelf machine.
>> Needn't be more expensive either if you can spare a few hours on the
>> net shopping around, especially if you include a few second-hand
>> bits.
>
> I've toyed with the idea quite a lot, but I can't do the headset. Did
> you buy the frame bare, or with the forks in place?

Bare frame. I already had a Cyclus headset press which makes it hilariously
easy to fit head cups, and the frame seemed to be prepared for it (no facing
or reaming necessary). Forks was easy too thanks to TA's split race which
fits on by hand.

You could take a frame to a bike shop, though. Not all that inconvenient
via car, foot or bus

> Also, how did you ensure getting the best fit frame size?

The dimensions are online, including the "virtual" top tube length (CK7 is a
compact frame). I compared these to my bike that I'm happy sizewise with,
and erred on the side of a slightly smaller rather than larger size.

With that bike though (also a self-build) I did initially get a frame that
was too big for me and only realised once built up and ridden. So I took it
apart, eBayed the frame and got the next size down. Some time and fifty
quid was wasted but still I don't regret it because I ended up with a great
bike -- one not available in the shops.

> Glad you're so pleased with the result, BTW.

Cheers

~PB

 

[Pete Biggs]

I scribbled:

> You could take a frame to a bike shop, though. Not all that
> inconvenient via car, foot or bus

Or cycle!

~PB

 

[[email protected]]

Pete Biggs wrote:
> .....Bloody brilliant!
>
> Only done 10 miles on it so far but even this is enough to convice me that
> you don't need a steel, titanium or carbon frame to get a comfortable ride.
> The build quality and weight of the frame is so good for the price that you
> should forget your worries about aluminium frames being "harsh".
>
Another owner's story here:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/terry.duckmanton/tifosi.htm

Great that you are happy with it

 

[Terry Duckmanton]

[email protected] wrote:
<snip nice Tifosi stuff>
>
> Another owner's story here:
> http://homepage.ntlworld.com/terry.duckmanton/tifosi.htm
>
> Great that you are happy with it
>

Since I was that owner I feel I should now bring the story up to date. I
was more than happy with my CK7 for something like two years and was
looking forward to spending a few more years together before one of us
(probably me) got too old and knackered to continue the relationship.
Unfortunately for us both a jealous motorist, unable to contain her
passion, decided that if she couldn't have the Tifosi for herself then
neither of us could. So on a cold February morning she drove her
Vauxhall Zafira (A bloody Vauxhall for Pete's sake!) into Tiffany
(Surely everybody gives their bike a name?) with sufficient violence to
bend the frame and quite a few vital organs. Tiffany was pronounced well
and truly dead a few days later.

I toyed with the idea of getting another Tifosi, but the local Tifosi
agent has now gone out of business. Since I'm still not certain about
the lasting qualities of aluminium alloy frames I have gone back to steel.

Terry Duckmanton

 

[Pete Biggs]

Terry Duckmanton wrote:
> [email protected] wrote:
> <snip nice Tifosi stuff>
>>
>> Another owner's story here:
>> http://homepage.ntlworld.com/terry.duckmanton/tifosi.htm
>>
>> Great that you are happy with it


> Since I was that owner I feel I should now bring the story up to
> date. I was more than happy with my CK7 for something like two years
> and was looking forward to spending a few more years together before
> one of us (probably me) got too old and knackered to continue the
> relationship. Unfortunately for us both a jealous motorist, unable to
> contain her passion, decided that if she couldn't have the Tifosi for
> herself then neither of us could. So on a cold February morning she
> drove her Vauxhall Zafira (A bloody Vauxhall for Pete's sake!) into
> Tiffany
> (Surely everybody gives their bike a name?)

Yyyyy...no

> with sufficient violence
> to bend the frame and quite a few vital organs. Tiffany was
> pronounced well and truly dead a few days later.

Hi Terry, I saw your webpage before I bought the frame and it's one of the
things that made me think it'd probably be a good buy. So thanks for that,
and thanks for the update too.

> I toyed with the idea of getting another Tifosi, but the local Tifosi
> agent has now gone out of business. Since I'm still not certain about
> the lasting qualities of aluminium alloy frames I have gone back to
> steel.

The tubing seems quite chunky and isn't crazy-light, so hopefully it'll last
me ages unless a vehicle runs into it. I know what that feels like by the
way. My (steel) Dawes Giro 500 had all three main tubes smashed in when a
scooter ran into the side of me.

More thoughts on the CK7 (with CKF8 forks) after another couple of rides:

The bike is still feeling very nice. Actually the steering is rather slow
due to the trail. Not so good for suddenly dodging potholes and plonkers,
but this makes it beautifully stable - quite different from my racer, and
even my old tourer. No-hands is easy, and cruising along is relaxed, yet
this is not a slow bike. Normal cornering is almost too easy: I hope I
don't start leaning too much.

Couple of negative but small points:
The ability to take 1 1/8" forks would be better as the choice of 1"
forks and headsets gets smaller every day. Tifosi should make a new
version, IMO. Mudguard vertical clearance is only just adequate for my
liking with 700x25 tyres, Tektro dual-pivot deep-drop brakes and SKS narrow
guards.

Dotbike are selling frame for £159 with free delivery. Bargin!

~PB

 

[Pete Biggs]

Another brief update after some more rides: Not quite as fast as I first
thought (according to average speeds) but nevermind that, it's still very
good to ride.

Having virtually the same controls, bars & saddle on all three bikes is
weird in a way. It stops the bikes feeling blatently different all the
time, but highlights the real differences that there are sometimes,
including when it comes to acceleration and steering.

This was especially weird on the very first ride. The new bike basically
felt the same, but when I stopped to think about it....Hey, this was just a
pile of bits in jiffy bags the other day, now it's a bike - that works!
It's not like when you get a totally different bike with lots of new things
to distract you from the essence of the fantastic thing you're doing:
traveling miles along the road at a good speed for little effort by human
power alone.

Some kitchen pics without the kitchen:

http://s85.photobucket.com/albums/k59/iceblinker/My_Bikes

The propstand was just for the pics. Well, I was thinking of leaving it on
really, but it isn't very good and taking it off is a cheap way to lighten
the bike

~PB

 

[Not Responding]

On Nov 13, 9:00 am, "Pete Biggs"
<[email protected]> wrote:
> Another brief update after some more rides: Not quite as fast as I first
> thought (according to average speeds) but nevermind that, it's still very
> good to ride.

I too have a CK7 - also inspired by Terry's pages a couple of years
back.

It's my first and only road bike (unless you include the drop
handlebarred thing with an SA 3 speed that I owned, aged 12) so I've
never been able to offer much in the way of reviews.

However, it serves its primary purpose (20 miles a day of all weather
commuting) admirably. I've also done a couple of Audaxes and the round
the Island ride on it.

I think it makes an ideal all rounder bike and at a price and spec
point happily below carbon (which I don't trust!) and custom steel
(that I can't justify risking leaving when I pop in to shops and so on).

 

[Chris Slade]

Pete Biggs wrote:

> Some kitchen pics without the kitchen:
>
> http://s85.photobucket.com/albums/k59/iceblinker/My_Bikes
>
> The propstand was just for the pics. Well, I was thinking of leaving it
> on really, but it isn't very good and taking it off is a cheap way to
> lighten the bike

Were they taken up at Alexandra Palace?

Nice bike(s) BTW.
--
Chris

 

[Pete Biggs]

Chris Slade wrote:

>> Some kitchen pics without the kitchen:
>>
>> http://s85.photobucket.com/albums/k59/iceblinker/My_Bikes

> Were they taken up at Alexandra Palace?
>
> Nice bike(s) BTW.

Thanks.

Yes, Alexandra Palace. The side-on photos taken from the other side of the
road with a telephoto lens to blur the background a bit. I had my cleat
covers on ready to chase after anyone nicking the bike

~PB