Fatal Swan
Senior Retro Guru
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A sad day, but time to part with my beloved Principia Ellipse SX P5 frame. The garage is too full, and this has largely been on turbo trainer duty for the past 2 winters. A new (bike) arrival has just pushed it further down the pecking order and deeper into the garage! It's the bike that got me into road bikes, I've done lots of brilliant miles on it. One of the last ones was the 130-mile coast to coast route in a day. It's a fast, comfortable and lovely ride, one of the finest aluminium frames you're likely to find, and for my money still better than a lot of the cheaper carbon stuff that's around. It's a much more forgiving ride than you'd expect from an aluminium frame. Apparently this frame was £1149 when new in around 2005, see details at https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/pri ... prod107265.
Condition-wise it's really excellent for its age. The anodised finish has proven to be really tough and there are no really noticeable scratches or scrapes. The decals aren't great quality and some of the smaller ones, like around the chainstay, are peeling a bit. When I bought the frame, I had an issue with the thread that the derailleur hanger screws into, where one of the original tiny bolts wouldn't engage properly in the thread - it didn't seem to be long enough. I resolved this by fitting a slightly longer bolt which engaged the thread properly, although it protrudes just a fraction out of the other side. But since then the hanger has been absolutely secure and never needed retightening.
My build thread is here, viewtopic.php?f=23&t=317602. As you can see, I got the full build quite comfortably in at 6.85kg inc. pedals. Awesome and tough black anodized finish (the frame is 7020 aluminium), and the actual frame weight is around 1300g. It's size Medium, 54cm centre of BB to top of seat tube, 554mm effective top tube. As pictured in the final full build photos it's set up for me at a fraction under 6' tall, with a 110mm stem.
I'll sell it as pictured in the last two photos below: with a fitted Shimano Dura Ace BB (quite recent), a seat clamp, an old Bontrager seatpost (31.6) in case it's any use, Scott CR1 full carbon forks (straight 1&1/8" steerer) and some carbon spacers. The Scott forks are not a good match for the frame to be honest, but they are at least i) very light and ii) have a super-long steerer, which is why I bought them so I could have a much more upright position on the turbo trainer. I have a brand new black alloy seatpost if you prefer it to the Bontrager one, nothing special but looks a bit tidier. Paddling pool not included (I'll endeavour to take some better photos...)!
I would really like this to be collected in person so I'm resigned to selling it a lower price than I think I'd get for posting. I'd like £100 collected, from near Winchester, Hampshire. I can look into posting if necessary, I can probably box it up, and if you're elsewhere or want to meet up from not too far away I'll see what I can do.
NOW SOLD
Condition-wise it's really excellent for its age. The anodised finish has proven to be really tough and there are no really noticeable scratches or scrapes. The decals aren't great quality and some of the smaller ones, like around the chainstay, are peeling a bit. When I bought the frame, I had an issue with the thread that the derailleur hanger screws into, where one of the original tiny bolts wouldn't engage properly in the thread - it didn't seem to be long enough. I resolved this by fitting a slightly longer bolt which engaged the thread properly, although it protrudes just a fraction out of the other side. But since then the hanger has been absolutely secure and never needed retightening.
My build thread is here, viewtopic.php?f=23&t=317602. As you can see, I got the full build quite comfortably in at 6.85kg inc. pedals. Awesome and tough black anodized finish (the frame is 7020 aluminium), and the actual frame weight is around 1300g. It's size Medium, 54cm centre of BB to top of seat tube, 554mm effective top tube. As pictured in the final full build photos it's set up for me at a fraction under 6' tall, with a 110mm stem.
I'll sell it as pictured in the last two photos below: with a fitted Shimano Dura Ace BB (quite recent), a seat clamp, an old Bontrager seatpost (31.6) in case it's any use, Scott CR1 full carbon forks (straight 1&1/8" steerer) and some carbon spacers. The Scott forks are not a good match for the frame to be honest, but they are at least i) very light and ii) have a super-long steerer, which is why I bought them so I could have a much more upright position on the turbo trainer. I have a brand new black alloy seatpost if you prefer it to the Bontrager one, nothing special but looks a bit tidier. Paddling pool not included (I'll endeavour to take some better photos...)!
I would really like this to be collected in person so I'm resigned to selling it a lower price than I think I'd get for posting. I'd like £100 collected, from near Winchester, Hampshire. I can look into posting if necessary, I can probably box it up, and if you're elsewhere or want to meet up from not too far away I'll see what I can do.
NOW SOLD
