First turns of the pedals on my new Platypus

[Tim Bantham]

We had a rare 41 and sunny day here in upstate NY so I decided to take my new Platypus for a quick spin. Here are my observations on the complete in Sergio Green.

Color - The color looks amazing in the sunlight. Nice little gold hue to the green.

Shifters - I thought I would want to swap the trigger shifter out right away. On the contrary. The shifting is nice and crisp on the rear SunRace derailleur. Aesthetically I don't love the way the derailleurs look (especially the front) but it just shifts so well! I might just leave it alone.

Drive train - The 42/30 Silver crankset is perfect. I usually ride a 175 crankarms on all my bikes. I don't even notice that this one is a 173.

Geometry - My first experience riding a mixte. I got to say my initial impression is two thumbs up. Rides great and feels surprisingly zippy. The slack head tube make for a great handling mellow ride.

Wheels - The stock wheelset is pretty darn nice! Alex 21's laced to Novatec hubs. The rear Novetec is dead silent. Folks pay $450 for a Onyx to get that silent drive. These are pretty nice wheels although I'll probably build up some Velocity Quills so I can have a dyno hub.

Bars - Swapping out the Tosco bars for the Billies was the right choice for me. I've had good experience with these bars and they will be great!

Stem - I thought I wanted a 13cm stem to accommodate my long arms. Honestly I don't think I would notice much of a difference going from the 11cm stem that came with it.

I still need to add grips and install my front rack. This bike is pure joy so far!

[Tim Bantham]

[tio ryan]

Looking good! I too was pleasantly surprised how silent the rear hub is. You're making me want a frame pump :) 

[Roberta]

Looks nice.  I also thought the Billies were a perfect bar for the Platy.  I have it on a tall 10cm stem (it doesn't come longer than 10 cm) and found I needed to remove 1cm from the bars to make it perfect.

[Bicycle Belle Ding Ding!]

Another happy Platypus owner. I’m so happy you’re enjoying it; it will be fun to see what customizations you arrive at as you discover how you’d like the setup to be. Starting with new Paul brakes, so I hear!

On Friday, January 12, 2024 at 2:28:40 PM UTC-5 Tim Bantham wrote:

[Doug H.]

That Sergio Green is on par with Lime Olive, maybe better. Wow, that saddle is way up there! The bike looks great already even without grips.

Doug

[Joe Bernard]

That's a nice bike! I totally agree about trigger shifters, they work and I love them. The derailleur my trigger works with on my Clem (SRAM) is also pretty ugly but I can't see it while it's working fabulously on a ride. No problem! 😁

Joe Bernard 

[Steve]

Tim, it looks like your Platypus is coming together nicely. Here's another thumbs up for Billie bars on a a Platypus. Aesthetically, to my eye, they compliment the bike's flowing lines. More importantly though, their ergos suit me.

Spring is on the way!!!   When all that snow starts to melt you just might need some fenders.

Steve -- on a 2022 Mermaid Platypus

[Tim Bantham]

Haha. Yes Doug the saddle is up there. I've got a 93.5 PBH. The saddle height in that photo is 84cm.

Steve, the bike is so new it doesn't feel like my own. I was tinkering with it over the weekend trying to figure out what I wanted to change. I think the first thing I want to do is change the levers and brakes. Thinking Paul motolites and Paul Love Levers. Could I get some opinions on anodizing colors?

I was thinking about purple brakes arms to go with the Sergio Green. I want to keep the levers silver but add the purple anodized adjustment knobs. This might look really cool! Opinions?

[Steve]

Tim, color is such a subjective thing - my thought is go with what you find jazzes your eye.   I've leaned toward 'understated' with my Platy, but I also admire builds I've seen with more eye catching, contrasting colors. I'm eagerly awaiting pics of Leah's Platy with the rose colored Paul brakes.   I may eventually spring for Love Levers and Motolites myself, but they'll probably be black. Here's a pic of mine in its current state of adornment -

[Steven Seelig]

Another vote in favor of trigger shifters.  I know I will take incoming for this but I swapped out my Paul thumbies and Shimano bar-ends using indexing for these and won't look

Photos with and without the fabulous Weather Goods ponies that my local shop Happy-Go Bikes in DC got from Sweden!  Warm as could be.  Along with the fancy colored IRD brake levers that are super matchy.

[Leah Peterson]

Hi Tim!

Are you set on purple? I have thoughts. 

1. Purple is predictable. Every man loves the purple Paul parts and seems to choose THAT PURPLE when looking to add color to a bike. What about a teal? A different shade of green? Or gold? Analog Cycles could supply you with a design board for color, if you like. They offer cerakoting, too, which will give you a more durable product and in some other colors you might like with Sergio Green. Paul can anodize your parts custom if you pay the $65 fee. Maybe you could do some coppery accents or something really regal! I love mismatching things, as well. My brakes are half gold and half green on my mermaid bike and my purple bike will be even weirder when it gets done.

Here’s my mermaid to demonstrate:

Have fun!

Leah

On Jan 15, 2024, at 9:24 AM, Tim Bantham <tba...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Matthew Williams]

I love the name applied to the frame bridge!

How did you do that? Vinyl decal, paint pen, or something else?

[Leah Peterson]

Huh, I forgot about that. A woman in my bike club makes labels for members’ helmets. I had an extra so I stuck it on there!

> On Jan 15, 2024, at 2:25 PM, Matthew Williams <matthewwil...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I love the name applied to the frame bridge!

>
> How did you do that? Vinyl decal, paint pen, or something else?
>

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