I’ve had my Claude Butler hybrid for something like 12 or 13 years. I love it. Sadly I’m not getting any younger and getting up some hills is becoming quite a slog. Time for a new bike. Somehow though going in bike shops I almost feel like I’m being unfaithful to my dear old bike. So after seeing a friends in the basement at work and asking him about it I’m going to embark on building one.

I want it to be a full carbon frame, racing wheels, straight handle bar and 8-speed only. A lovely combination of speed, city traffic visibility and minimalism. Below is the scribble of my plan, in the coming weeks I’ll document and photograph the whole process along with pragmatic cheats and costs.