I finished my Raleigh Competion GS last night. It was 80 degrees and sunny in St. Louis today so I left work and took my first ride on it. My first impression is that I increased my average speed by about 8 mph. Of course there is no computer on the bike, so this is just the impression of riding a new (old) bike on a sunny spring day when I should have been at work.

I liberally used Rivendell intellectual property in the build. Brooks B-17 saddle, Suntour barcons with those cool springy housings, Sugino 48-36-26 crank (although the Sugino XD Pro I chose is much nicer than the Rivendell offering), 28 mm tires, Shimano 400 aero brake levers, Suntour Cyclone long reach brake calipers, and of course the Nitto Technomic stem to get the handlebars up where they belong for a 45 year old recreation/sport/light touring rider. I went with Ultegra/Open Pros, but I haven't made peace with the radial front spokes yet. Rear derailleur is a Deore I got for $19, again a Rivendell recommendation, but I'd like a NOS Long Cage Suntour Cyclone.

Total money spent was about $900 but most of this came from selling my Fuji Finest and other bike stuff I had around. A nice trade-up for me.

The pictures show my bike, that beautiful crankset, and the critical Campy component. I know that the rear brake cable and the two shifter cables need to be shortened but I was eager to go.