I received my Ebisu All-Purpose frameset this Spring (some of you have followed the build-up process) and really enjoyed the bike thus far. The All-Purpose is a sprite bike, even with a front rack, fenders, a brook saddle, and a front bag, but my wife still considers it a little heavy (currently it weighs in at 24.5 with the aforementioned add-ons) for her. Her Serotta 650b is a nice bike, but it wasn't built for 650b, and has horrible interfaces for fenders--for when we want to ride in rainy seasons here in the Bay Area.I was following a thread on an online forum, and saw a member--Frank B.--mentioning his riding preferences--on dirt mostly--and lamenting that some of his nice pavement bikes--including an Ebisu Road model--are not ridden enough--leading him to consider selling the Ebisu. I talked with M. for getting the Ebisu, after some deliberation, she decided to go for it
I contacted Frank and asked about the size and conditions of the frameset. We reached a deal, and even though i was away at the time and couldn't send the payment right the way, Frank graciously sent out the frameset with the headset quickly. When I came back from my trip the box was sitting in my basement. Incidentally, this bike's first owner is Tom T., who lives a few miles away from us, and I have bought several parts from him in the past, and visited him in his house in Oakland.
Part of M.'s decision included selling both of her road bikes and leaving her Trek 620 to continue to serve as a commuter. It was a difficult decision for her, given that her Torelli was her first good road bike and she spent thousand of miles growing as a cyclist on that bike. As for the Serotta, even though she only spent one season on the bike, that's the bike she got married on. But she decided in favor of fiscal prudence and we sold the Torelli and the serotta frameset/650b wheelset fairly quickly.
Most of the parts on the Serotta were transferred to the Ebisu. Here is a parts build-up list:- Ebisu Road 56cm square frame/fork
- Shimano Ultegra 1-inch; headset
- Velo Orange stem adaptor
- Velo Orange 9/8" theadless stem, 17 degree, pointing down; 80mm
- Nitto Randonneur Bar
- Tektro R100A short reach aero brake levers (from Serotta build)
- Deda Elementi chianti red bar tape (from Serotta build)
- VO brass bell (from Serotta build)
- Tektro R538 standard reach brakes
- Shimano Ultegra 27.2 seatpost (from Serotta build)
- Terry Liberator saddle (wife's favorite; from Serotta build)
- Sugino XD500 "old logo"; triple crankset 46/36/26T, 170mm crank arms
- Tange Levin 68x110mm JIS bottom bracket (from Serotta build)
- performance stainless steel water bottle cages (from Serotta build)
- Shimano SPD pedals (from Serotta build)
- Shimano XT 8-speed cassette 11-30T
- Shimano XT rear derailleur, long cage (from Serotta build)
- Shimano Dura Ace front derailleur
- SRAM 890 8-speed chain
- Shimano 8-speed bar-end shifters (from Serotta build)
- Shimano ultegra FH-6500 rear hub, 32h
- Mavic Open Pro CD rim 32h
- Shimano 600 front hub, 32h
- Mavic MA40 rim, 32h
- VO Croissant bag (from Serotta build)
- Rivendell Brand-V "holier than cow"; seat bag
She is in the process of getting back to riding after recovering from over-use injuries as a result of our ambitious Shasta Super Century ride. The bike is light (21 lbs) and so far she likes the handling and the feel. When she gets in better shape she will get fitted on the bike. I am looking forward to riding with her again.
More photos on my flickr page.
