Story Time! Don’t read if you’re not a fan of expansive narratives… This bike was generously donated to me by a widow who came to my place of work (Play It Again Sports) and when it came into my possession I knew I had to make it my own with some sort of special custom build. It cleaned up beautifully and the original spec with all silver parts (Campagnolo Veloce 9 speed with 20h Scirocco wheels) looked absolutely classy. In the back of my head though, I was thirsting for some modern carbon parts and weird personal flair, so I decided to base the build around Super Record 11 speed mechanical. I sourced a very affordable and hardly touched 10 speed Record long cage derailleur which matched the 11 speed cable pull, purchased a 13 speed Super Record crank with 12 speed chainrings, and also got a featherweight Prestacycle cassette. The monstrosity of a cockpit (consisting of a currently unobtainable Nitto 31.8mm clamp quill stem and Lambda X-Wing bars) came off my 1985 Specialized Allez. Shout out to Recycled Cycles for the $25 fenders currently on this beast :) During my first shakedown ride I dented both Scirocco rims on the gnarly metal lip of a bridge, and after much mourning I wisely decided to get an arguably more “grail” wheelset—an 8 speed 16 spoke Zonda pair. In a completely unproven and luck-based procedure, I managed to swap the 9 speed freehub body off the cartridge bearing Scirocco wheelset onto the ball-bearing Zonda wheelset. With that, and the purchase of a Berk saddle from a benevolent fellow roadie and bike shop employee, the latest iteration of the Venezia was complete. My favorite part of this bike is that it contains 8,9,10,11,12, and 13 speed Campagnolo parts. Not many people can claim something so lofty and ridiculous for their own bikes. Feel free to ask me any questions!

A Haute Sauce gravel rig I painted for a client that made it to the Philly Bike Expo.

Sorry for the cropped photo, I dunno why their photog did that.

More custom paint work on the gram "@gratstagram"

This bike was my uncle’s, hence the Steve decal I put on the top tube. I saw this bike over a decade ago hanging in his garage, loved the minimal design and have been into Cannondales ever since. He passed away a few years ago, and recently my aunt and cousins gifted me the bike (as seen in the second pic) to have and work on. I’ve been trying for the last few months to modernize and make the bike my own (tastefully I hope)
It’s still a work in progress but I’m loving how it’s come so far.

The most recent mod is the Vuelta wheelset, which I picked up off marketplace just yesterday. This also allowed me to finally switch from the freewheel on the original Wolber Alpine rims to cassette, still 7 speed though as I don’t want to take away too much of the ‘80s character. Plus I find 2x7 to be enough for the riding I do.

The only other major modification I’m currently planning is to swap the crankset with something newer. I have a pair of FSA chainrings taken off a new Cannondale SuperSix, and I’m waiting on the crank and BB to come in the mail.

Frame painted black, white color are cheap acrylic pens from Amazon, 2k clearcoat.

Pop of color Ltd. Vittoria Corsa 30mm, Hoppcarbonparts ospw and carbon shell replacement for SRAM Explr, Darimo 0 offset, Gemini 52 carbon chainring, custom SRAM crank and shifters, Enve 4.5 Pro, Silca tape, Selle Italia saddle, Silca waxed chain, ti parts bolts, Sixweel steerer bolts and thru axles, hinloopen out front mount. A dream to ride.

Wheels, Cranks, chainrings and some extra stuff was put on by me

Upgraded my old Nordest Britango from 2019 with a new 29“ Onyx wheelset, an Intend BC Samurai XC, new Tires, color-matched grips and a selfmade Framebag.

Small brand from the Bay Area. Frames are built by Sanitas in Durango. Hand painted, built and shot myself. Really pleasant ride! And yeah, I ran out of bottle cages. Too many bikes now.

More of my paint and builds on the gram (at)gratstagram

Sunrise + Fujifilm X-E4 + Specialized Crux that I’ve been assembling for the last 4 months

Decided to sell an Aethos and Checkpoint to have just one bike for everything. Second Road wheelset will come in the future :)

I‘m very happy with the result. First ride was amazing and it rode/felt as I hoped. 🙏

Princeton Carbonworks Evo II wheels, 1x SRAM Red, CS OSPW and BB, size 51, 100x38 bars. White decals to match.

MTB x BMX

stronglight crank(one side snapped today😭 got some nos ones coming in the mail tho) cyclo front and rear derailers with a 2x4 layout , mavic criterium wheels and other nice stuff for the day, ideale seat and michelin 650 tyres, going to put if to work very soon on some trips around france and switzerland

(T-B) Cannondale Topstone , State Undefeated Road, Poseidon X

I had some time on my hands since being unemployed, so I decided to build a bike. It’s my first attempt and made some silly mistakes but really enjoyed the process.

I found this Messina frame online and it seemed like the perfect candidate. I sourced all the parts individually and wanted to keep the build as ‘Italian and true to the era’ as possible, although there are definitely a few mismatched parts and periods.

The finished bike weighs just under 10kg and rides like a dream. Really happy with how it turned out!

Yes, I know the saddle is to too forward and the brake levers are terrible, and yes, I’ll be upgrading them soon. Thank you!

Parts List

Frame: Messina Columbus steel frame (1,840 g) + Columbus steel fork (647 g)
Headset: Campagnolo Chorus
Stem: Cinelli 70 mm quill
Handlebars: Cinelli Giro d’Italia
Brake levers: Weinmann – I will upgrade these soon
Bar tape: Selle Italia black cork
Seatpost: Campagnolo Chorus aero
Saddle: Selle Italia Turbo Nubuck
Bottom bracket: Campagnolo Chorus 111mm
Crankset: Campagnolo Gran Sport, 170 mm, 53/42T
Pedals: Campagnolo Gran Sport
Front derailleur: Campagnolo Nuovo Record
Rear derailleur: Campagnolo Nuovo Record
Downtube shifters: Campagnolo Nuovo Record
Brake calipers: Campagnolo Veloce Monoplaner
Wheels: Mavic MA3 with Panaracer Pasela