I was searching for a large tire all road-type road bike and connected with a friend of a friend back in Philadelphia who was selling his custom Bilenky. This is somewhere between 5-7 years old. Tubeset is described as a "framebuilder's special" - a mix of Reynolds and Tange chromoly steel, TIG welded. The bike was designed to have typical road race geometry and quick handling, yet clear larger tires. I run slick tires that measure 29c and could have room for fenders. I've also ran 32c cyclocross tires but have to deflate them to clear the brake pads. That setup barely clears the mildly-dimpled chainstays. 55.5 top tube.
Frame:
Bilenky custom - wet paint and wet painted script, metal headbadge, chain peg, fender mounts, rear rack mount.
Fork/Headset:
Bilenky custom, Chris King
Crankset/Bottom Bracket:
Sram Red 10 172.5 / Red Blackbox Ceramic GXP
Pedals:
XTR
Drivetrain/Cog/Chainring/Chain:
52-36 x 11-28 Sram Red / PC-1051
Derailleurs/Shifters:
Sram Red 10
Saddle/Seatpost:
Specialized Romin Ti 143 / Campagnolo Record carbon
Brakes:
Shimano Ultegra Long Reach 57mm (BR-R650)
Front Wheel/Hub/Tire:
White Industries H2 32h 3x to H+Son TB14 / S-Works 26c
Rear Wheel/Hub/Tire:
White Industries H3 32h 3x to H+Son TB14 / Panaracer Gravelking 26c
Accessories:
Elite Ciussi bottle cages, Zefal HPX frame pump, Yanco / Tracko saddle bag, Brooks leather bar tape, Honjo Aluminum fenders 35mm
Bike History
Click a link below to see past stages of this bike.
Added by _rd. Last updated about 6 years ago.
16 Comments
This is so awesome. There's nothing better than a no bs steel frame.
Posted over 9 years ago
Such a wonderful build, though part of me wishes the stem was silver, just to match with the seatpost.
Posted over 9 years ago
Thank you! I'm aware of that 'rule' and debated a silver stem and HS spacers. In the end I like a darker aesthetic to the bike. And justified it with a stem that matches the frame and fork in color, while still having a classic looking silver seatpost.
Posted over 9 years ago
Photos
Tags
56cm, all-road, apex, bilenky, chris-king, fat-tire, made-in-usa, philadelphia, reynolds, rival, road-bike, sram, steel, tange, tig, white-industries
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_rd's Other Bikes
qwixoticle says:
Any updates on this guy?
Posted 8 days ago
_rd says:
Still sitting on the same build, though I sold the WI wheelset and am now running Chris King to Mavic Open Pro CD (ceramic braking surface, dark grey). Should get some new photos though.
Posted 8 days ago
qwixoticle says:
Very nice - there's something about SRAM 10 speed. I have a hybrid 10s Rival build on my MKE, and it just works. I also feel like a bike reaches its ultimate form after a couple of years of riding and switching things out. But that takes patience and many miles. How are you keeping the breaking surface on the OPs from scratching? Look forward to the pics!
Posted 8 days ago
_rd says:
I put 10k miles on an Apex 10 group.. it does indeed just work! Final form to me would be Chorus or Record 10, with some alloy Ritchey WCS cranks (have all of this in a bin, not a prioritized project). The rims will wear as they do.. entropy.
Posted 7 days ago