In truth, this journey began not with a frame, but with a ride two years ago on an Independent Fabrication bike with a Campy Record grupo. That supple, snappy bike with its effortless light shifting behavior grabbed my attention big time, and my fantasy world entered the realm of the $5,000 custom-frame bicycle. Then fantasy collided with financial reality as the lure of carbon took hold, and I entered the zone of serious cognitive dissonance.

So I started fishing about for a responsible way to get into my $5K bike which, of course, had morphed to an $8K bike in my head. A year ago Ebay offered up a Chorus/Record drive train – you’ll see this later – and I was off to the races. That drive train sat in my garage, burning in its box on the shelf, until the daily news that I wasn’t getting any younger drove to me find something to hang it on.

Back to Ebay, and to the Madone frame offered by an excellent seller, Sarah Hansing, master wrench with deep Trek connections, offering guidance and necessary wisdom for this carbon-baby who didn’t quite appreciate the depth of the project he was beginning.

So I bring you today’s progress:

headset installed, complete with new Madone 6.9 fork with its 1 1/8″ top and 1 1/2″ bottom Cane Creek headset bearings, Bontrager Race XXX Lite carbon stem, and FSA K-Force carbon bar. Yummy.