OK, so I just got a P3C for free. A friend of mine gave it to me. He works at an insurance company and someone put a claim in on it saying it was stolen and it was recovered after the claim was paid out so they had it sitting around the office and his boss wanted to throw it away and he said he would take it since he knew someone who rode bikes (me). OK, now that that is out of the way, lets get to the question at hand. I came to me stripped of the front and rear derailleurs and no wheels. It does however have the Ergomo still intact with the carbon Ergomo crankset still installed. I have read a million reviews about the Ergomo Pro kit and it sounds like a piece of shit so I am thinking about taking it off the bike and getting rid of it. Though I was also contemplating keeping it and having the bottom bracket rebuilt with ceramic bearings so it can flow a little smoother than it does. I am leaning towards doing a Sram Red build with the new R2C shifters up front. Any ideas about what else? Seeing has how it was free I really have no regrets on what I spend for the build so any ideas would be helpful. I already ordered Nokon cable housings Zero Gravity brakes, but that’s as far as I’ve got.
I am still very up in the air about the cranks. I wouldn’t mind keeping the Ergomo’s on there and taking the computer portion off and just replacing the BB with a ceramic one with a square 102 taper. I have never been a big fan of the whole “what’s my wattage” craze so that is no big deal to me if I lose the computer. Having said that, don’t suggest I get and SRM or Powertap because it ain’t going to happen, those things never made anyone faster, training harder did
What about wheelsets? Everyone has Zipp’s and they kinda bore me, I want something a little different. I see Sram has a deep carbon set they put out, anyone have any reviews on those? What about the new HED’s? I will again put ceramics in the hubs so if the set already comes with them it’s just a plus. Any advice will help, thanks guys! Oh, and for the record, I know I am very fortunate and one “lucky bastard” so no need to say it, just help me build the damn thing so I can actually put it to use!
wow!! i wish i knew a friend who had a p3c just lying around.
i would consider hed’s as your wheelset. the sram wheels are upgraded flashpoints. i personally would not buy them because they are kind of heavy and not that much cheaper then hed. at a little over 1700g for the s60 and over 2000g for the s80 wheelset, i would go with some jet 9 c2 wheelset. imo
If your not going to use the ergomo as a powermeter, get a lighter weight crank. Hell at this point it might not even work anymore with all the QA issues that they had with them.
My big problem with the Ergomo is not only the fact that they are no longer in business, but that it makes the bike look like it’s having an ECT done with all the damn wiring it has on it. I want to build this bike so it looks sleek and sexy, not overgrown with gadgets. I think for a computer I will just use a simple wireless speed/cadence/distance system like a Cateye, Sigma, or Polar…something simple. Any objections to the Sram Red decision instead of Dura Ace 7900?
If the Ergomo is still functional, I would take everything (the crank included) and offer it up for sale on the Ergomo Google group. There are lots of folks there who would be willing to buy it from you.
Now then, once you have the proceeds from that, put it towards purchasing yourself a Quarq Cinqo and a Garmin 705 to replace it. Absolutely NO wires whatsoever…and there isn’t even a need for a speed sensor and wheel magnet to get speed That’s what I would do anyway.
Now then, you said you aren’t necessarily interested in having a power meter. Fair enough…your choice (even though it actually helps one to “train harder” (and, more importantly, smarter, when used properly). In that case, I think I’d look into either going for light weight, such as the Lightning crank (http://www.lightningbikes.com/Cranks%20of%20Carbon.htm), or go for something super aero like the FSA NeoPro (http://road.fullspeedahead.com/fly.aspx?taxid=96&layout=product).
Oh yeah…don’t buy into the ceramic bearing hype…especially so for a BB. BB drag is really all about the bearing seal drag, and even that is highly overblown. Even a well sealed BB dissipates less than 1W under power.
For the wheels…I’d go for Hed Jets if you go clincher or Hed Stingers if you insist on tubular.
Anyway, you asked for help, and that’s just my 2 centavos’ worth…Oh yeah, congrats on having such a thoughtful friend
well, to be honest, ceramic is a waste of money. No performance gain, Nikkon cable are also nighmare…not great. And the brake…well, zero gravity are light and brake terribly compare to a good quality shimano brake.
So, i would keep it simple, go with shimano or sram… but dont fall for all the gimmick… many of the product you mention are just bling and no performance. Unless you want a show bike…then, i guess but for performance, better stay away from those components and keep it simple.
I’d go with the new dura ace grouppo and some new nice reynolds sdv66tubular with a wheelcover.
I got these and they are just so smooth and light - DT240 hubs 66m deep and noly 1350g a set, I adore them…
Anyway congrats on a great deal (
A free P3C frameset is a pretty nice deal - congratulations! As for your questions, you’ll get a variety of often contradictory answers; different people have different preferences. So I’ll just choose the simple way out and give you the spec of my P3C. I’ve had the frameset for 3 years now and kept replacing parts until I found the best fit and feel for my target races: TTs and sprint and Oly tris. The frameset has emerged from my tuning frenzy with these components, which I’ve been using for 13 months now and which work flawlessly together - won’t be changing anything anytime soon except maybe for the aerobar, which is a tad bit too flexy for me :
Crankset: Dura-Ace 7800 arms, Stronglight Chrono/Contre La Montre 55/42t rings
BB: FSA ceramic
FD, RD, cassette, shifters: Dura-Ace 7800
Cockpit: HED classic aerobar [FSA Visiontech TriMax Carbon, Easton Delta Force carbon, Profile Design Carbon X1.5)
Wheels: Zipp 900 disc, 808 set, Corima 4- and 3-spokes, Mavic Cosmic Carbone Pros (mix and match according to course profile and weather conditions)
Peds: Look KeO HM Carbon
Calipers: Zero Gravity Ti
Cables: Nokon
I have no experience with power meters except through consumer reviews. From these it seems to me that functionally speaking the best option is SRM, with Quarq being potentially just as good but suffering from two issues, both of which should improve over time: (1) limited compatibility (works with a few select cranksets only) and (2) lack of history (expect some more bugs to emerge).
That’s what I would do anyway.