The frame took longer than the six week build time expected and it wasn’t until early March that Pedal On received the frame to build up. But the wait was worth it. The frame and paint job looked really good! I was a little disappointed to find a brace behind the bottom bracket (which I’d asked Alex not to have on the Solitude) but once the bike was built the BB brace is actually well away from the rear wheel and will not affect mud clearance.

I’d asked for the Rohloff cable routing to be a little different from the Solitude, so I could fit a Crud guard more easily, and I had settled on some different forks from the Maverick SC32’s on the Solly. I chose Manitou Minute Elite Absolute IT with Lockout and a 20mm through axle.

Nick at Pedal On did a superb job in building up the bike, calling me to check on a couple of things before going ahead. So, within a few days of getting the frame I had an email to say it was ready to roll...

The fork travel can be set anywhere from five down to about 1.5 inches. Handy for dropping the front to keep it down on really steep climbs.

I was keen to get a direct replacement for the Solitude but Alex had folded Solitude in order to cycle over the Himalayas on a single speed!!! His frame builder, Lee had moved on to work for the Coventry Cycle Centre (CCC). Fortunately Alex saw a post on Singletrackworld about the theft and contacted me to say he still had the drawings and would pass them on to the CCC.

In early Jan 2008 I put in the order and passed on the cheques from the insurance.

The tubing is thinner than on the Solitude so I guess that’s why the BB brace and disk side reinforcement is there.

The end result is a steel bike that’s light, not too harsh a ride and very fast with nice responsive steering.