Castellano Silk-ti 650b gravel bike

[wynne]

I'm rubbish at those teaser threads. I'm just not the person to spend 18 years acquiring and then polishing things and nicely photographing the process. Not that I don't admire the work and dedication that goes into these things.

Anyway, here is my Castellano, bought earlier this week off @kaydee of this here site. I'd been staring at his frame for months trying to rustle up sufficient funds. Long story short it arrived on Thursday, beautifully packaged and just as described. I threw it together this morning and just took it for a spin.
Every bike I own ends up being some sort of 1x off road capable drop bar bike. And this is no exception.

I was tired and it was windy and cold, but the bike felt great. The additional grip on climbs is noticeable as is the smoothing effect on very rutted ground. I think I'm going to enjoy this.

Thanks @kaydee.

 

[highlandsflyer]

Brilliant someone here got it. A great thing, and seeing it out and about will be cool. @fennec peaked my interest in this maker.

 

[wynne]

Thanks. I really tried hard not to buy it, but totally caved - and I'm delighted I did!
Think it needs a wider bar - for control at the silly speeds this thing is capable of.

 

[kaydee]

Well that didn’t take you long mate,I have to say that is a beautiful build ,I am very very impressed and it was a pleasure handing it over to someone who will get the best out of it.
Well done
Kaydee

 

[ferrus]

What a cool, purposeful bike. I like the combo’ of rigid front with a bit of rear squish; esoteric and practical!

 

[tangent]

Thanks. I really tried hard not to buy it, but totally caved - and I'm delighted I did!
Think it needs a wider bar - for control at the silly speeds this thing is capable of.

I kept looking at this too … ride a moots YBB , so curious to know how this compares.

Love that triangulated extra tube on tt - makes me think Jones H-Bars would look cool & cope with the speeds…enjoy!

What front hub are you running?

 

[wynne]

What a cool, purposeful bike. I like the combo’ of rigid front with a bit of rear squish; esoteric and practical!

Thank you. I've also got 20mm of squish in the redshift stem, so it's technically full suspension - or as close as I get.

 

[wynne]

I kept looking at this too … ride a moots YBB , so curious to know how this compares.

Love that triangulated extra tube on tt - makes me think Jones H-Bars would look cool & cope with the speeds…enjoy!

What front hub are you running?

Not ridden a Moots, but from what I read about them this has the same feeling - a subtle but definite effect. I cleaned a climb on it yesterday that has so far eluded me this year - it might just be that it's dried out enough, but I do also think this thing maintains traction where hardtails lose it.

I've been looking at H-Bars too. Think I'm going to go for a drop that has a bit of an aero forward extension. The hubs are old Onyx Racing centrelock ones. I'm not convinced by them, but I love that they're pink.

 

[kaydee]

The moots is a lovely bike but those flat plate chainstays give way more movement than the moots,you’ll get 2 inches of travel on it.I use a USE suspension seatpost on my Castellano which ups the total to around 4 inches of rear movement and the bike swallows bumps like a true short travel full suspension bike but without the weight or pivots.
All the best guys

 

[wynne]

A few mods. Wider deeper bar feels better - and obviously more pink! And a favourite old bonty saddle added.
Think I'm going to try some wider shallower rims that I built up a while back with some lighter gravel tyres now the slop looks like it's dried up (cue monsoon for rest of the year).