Eric,
At the pace I will be
Eric,
At the pace I will be building it; the plan is to take tons of photos and potentially create a detailed build thread so all of you can tell me what I am doing wrong, and maybe help the next person to come along. The existing build threads for the Vendetta and Silvio, helped me a ton, but I still have not found the details my brain craves for the Silvio. I also wound up in a unique place with final component selections which others might find interesting. Example: I went with the newest Red Yawning FD to ensure the best possible shifting on our very short, but sudden and steep hills (will it live up to the advertising?), but I matted that with a much more cost reasonable Rival Crankset. To that I added rings at 52/36 on a Compact 110 BCD and a Wifli 11-32 back to better align the gearing for the hills. That gives me overlapping GI from 44-80 a low of 30 and a high of 126. We will see what happens when the math meets the road.
I have repaired my bikes for decades, yet this will be the first complete build and I have a lot to learn, not to mention out-of-date knowledge to augment. (Next up: learning about current thoughts on grease).
I will have the local bike shop face and chase the BB for me since I do not have a tool for that. But the rest I am currently planning to do on my own; I always wind up fixing the bike shop work for weeks after delivery so why not just do it myself. There is a small chance we might build it at the LBS. The manager is intrigued by the bike; and might give me winter shop access so he can observe, learn and help. If he likes it he might want to get involved in this "MBB thing" as he called it... (come on in kid the water is fine)....
As for the neck this should be as optimal as I can go. In the end I went with the Silvio to combat the neck injury. We already know that the seat angle is really good for me on the Catrike 700; while the regionally lousy chip seal roads should be nicely dulled by the Silvio's suspension. Ultimately I did not go for a Vendetta out of the gate because the 700 can be a big rough at times and I suspect the Vendetta might as well. They do seem determined to ruin all the roads around here. I also scored some wonderfully nice 2013 Bontrager XL Race Lite Tubeless wheels on ebay that should further smooth out the ride and improve traction. I will definitely inquire about the those Air Pouches John was testing with the Vendettas
Sadly the first 2-3 months while we are buried in snow will likely be about tuning the components on the trainer and removing ounces from the engine to save on component costs. So the neck findings will have to wait; however I will supply plenty of component/build porn in the meantime once everything gets here.