00:00It's the start of a new year, and for me, that means a new bike.
00:03Say hello to my new Trekkerbonder.
00:14After months of painstakingly playing with spreadsheets and agonising over specifications,
00:19to then pulling all of the parts together, my new bike is finally here.
00:25First off, I think it best we run through the specification.
00:28So, starting with the biggest piece of the puzzle, I decided to go for the Trekkerbonder ALR frameset.
00:34It was launched in the middle of last year, and I have to say, it's been playing on my mind
00:39ever since it came out.
00:41And for a really long time, I was trying to just work out how I would actually build one of
00:45these framesets up.
00:47As you can see, I decided to go for the Shimano Ultegra R8100 groupset.
00:52In my opinion, it's the groupset that best balances price against performance.
00:57I went for a 52-36 chainset with 170mm cranks, and then I paired that with an 11-30 tooth
01:04cassette.
01:05For me, these are ratios that do just work. I may switch that inner 36 tooth ring to a 38
01:11in the future,
01:12if I get any fitter, but at the moment, I'm really happy with the range that I have.
01:17The ethos of balancing performance and price can also be seen on the wheels, because these are the Hunt Aerodynamicist
01:2332s.
01:24They come in at acclaimed 1,213 grams, thanks in large part to the super lightweight carbon spokes.
01:32What this results in are some wheels which accelerate incredibly quickly and feel super snappy.
01:38But let's just hope that I don't actually snap them.
01:41I've paired these wheels with the new specialised S-Works Mondo tyres.
01:45They're made up of the same rubber compound as used on the S-Works Turbo tyres,
01:50but have a much stronger casing, which makes them better for all-weather riding.
01:54And yes, I have set them up tubeless with some silker sealant.
01:59I've opted for the valves that came with the Hunt wheels, and so far they have worked very well.
02:04But in time, I may swap these out, but we'll see.
02:08Onto the finishing kit, and at the helm of the bike, I've opted for the Bontrager Aeolus RSL VRC Integrated
02:16Cockpit.
02:16I know, it's a very catchy name.
02:19The reason why I went for this cockpit over many, many others
02:22is because I really like how the bars deal with the brake hoses.
02:26On these ones, there's actually an external channel that runs on the outside of the bars
02:31for the hoses to sit in, and then it's held in place with a little cover.
02:34You get the benefit of a clean, integrated look, but without the faff of needing to have everything on the
02:40inside.
02:41I've opted for a 38cm width bar with a 90mm stem, which is perfect for me.
02:48The bars also make use of Trek's Blender computer mount, which means that my Garmin integrates really cleanly
02:54and sits perfectly flush with the top of the bars.
02:58I went for the SuperCas Super Sticky Kush Bar Tate because it's my favourite, and I've used it for years
03:03now.
03:04The other reason why I chose these bars is because they work really easily with a normal steerer tube,
03:09which means that I can play around with the height of the bars and then work out what suits me
03:13best.
03:14Granted, it is a little bit tricky moving them about as there's not a huge amount of give on the
03:18hoses,
03:19but with a bit of gentle manoeuvring, you can move them up and down much more easily
03:23compared to a much more integrated setup.
03:27Onto the seat post, and I've gone for the Trek RSL inline carbon seat post,
03:31to which I've mounted the Fizik Vento Argo 00 saddle, which is one that I swear by and absolutely love.
03:39But it's when you look a little bit closer that you'll see that I've bought a 3D printed rear light
03:44mount,
03:45which plays host to my exposure tracer. I absolutely love this mount because it attaches to the saddle
03:51rails and then holds the light really nice and high up, and it just looks so clean.
03:56I also really enjoy the fact that because the light won't be attached to the seat post itself,
04:01it won't be scuffing up and chewing up the carbon, meaning that the seat post should stay looking good
04:06for quite a long while. The pedals that I'm using are my Lut Keo blades, the same ones that I've
04:12been
04:12running for about eight years now, but I did give them a service recently and changed the retention
04:17clips and the carbon blades, and quite frankly, they're my trusty pedals.
04:23That's it for the full specification. As many of you know, I'm a really big fan of premium alloy bikes,
04:29and as bike prices continue to climb, I believe that top-end custom aluminium builds like this
04:35will start to make more and more sense. If you're looking for something which has a lot of the
04:41high-end touch points, then something like this could perform really well for you.
04:45When I was speccing this bike up, one of the big things that I was keeping an eye on was
04:49what the
04:50bike would end up weighing. And I can reveal to you now that for my 52cm frame in a full
04:57build with
04:58pedals, computer mount and bottle cage, it comes in at exactly 7.8 kilos. I think that's a very good
05:08weight, especially considering that come summer next year, when I fit some summer tires, I'm
05:13expecting that weight to drop by another 150 grams. Pair that with some other changes that I'm planning
05:19on making, and I believe that this bike in summer will be weighing sub 7.5 kilos, which would be
05:25absolutely fantastic. For something with a second-tier groupset and an aluminium frame,
05:30I think that's really very good. Everything I'm saying now is all very
05:35complimentary of what I've created, but that's not to say that I don't have a few concerns,
05:40and those concerns mainly surround the wheels. This is the first time that on my personal bike,
05:45I'll be running a hookless tubeless setup with carbon spokes. Bikes I've tested in the past have had this
05:52same technology, but there's something about adopting the tech for yourself which adds in
05:57another layer of jeopardy. I'm going to be interested to see what my experience is like
06:01with that over the next 12 months. In reality, there's probably a very good chance that it will
06:06be flawless, and I was concerned over nothing. What I am very excited about though is taking this
06:11bike out onto my local rides, where I think it will work really well. I have a lot of rolling
06:16hills and
06:17some steep inclines, and I believe that this bike will tackle that parkour fantastically.
06:22But, of course, only time will tell. It's certainly a great bike for winter,
06:27but I'll be keen to see if it leaves me hollow come summer.
06:31The final point to touch upon is price. How much does it cost to bring a bike like this
06:35into the world? Well, I've broken down the entire specification down in the description,
06:41and I've hunted for all of the best prices, and as of the 19th of December,
06:45which is when we're filming this video, it would cost £4,695.57 to build.
06:53In the US, that's a rough conversion of about $5,937, but prices for parts in the US will vary
07:01compared to what they are here in the UK. To be clear though, that price does not include the
07:07pedals, the bottle cage, the Garmin, or the rear light, and it doesn't include any labour to have
07:13the bike built up. I'm really happy with the value that this bike represents. Yes, it is a lot of
07:19money, and you can buy a fully built carbon bike for the same money. For comparison, Canyon makes the
07:25Ultimate CF SL8 Aero, which comes in at a very similar price point. A very similar claimed weight,
07:32but that one has a power meter. However, for a bike nerd like me, I've had the joy of choosing
07:38the
07:38perfect components in the perfect size to create something which I know balances price and
07:43performance while still being unique and perfectly tailored to the type of riding that I do.
07:49I'm really keen to hear what you all think of my new bike down in the comments below.
07:53Is there anything that you would have done differently? If you enjoyed the video,
07:56then please do drop it a like, subscribe to the channel for more content, and I'll see you again very
08:00soon.
08:02It's the start of a new year, and for me, that means a new bike. Say hello to my new
08:07Trek-O-M-O-M-O-N-D-R.
08:12That did not go to plan. Let's try that again.
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