Principia rs6

[biggs682]

Picked this rather nice looking but small Principia up earlier in the week initially i was tempted to strip it for parts as it has some rather nice bits on it . I thinks it dates from somewhere between 2002 and 2006 .

Its a mix of dura ace with a Tiagra fr mech and the chainset is a mix of a Stronglight superlight spider with 53/39 zircal rings and a shimano non driveside arm . Sti's are Dura ace flightdeck units 2 x 9 gearing ,brakes are very good dura ace units .

The forks are full carbon and it tips my cheap baggage scales at 8.5 kg so fairly light . And according to size chart its a 51cm frame made with 7020 grade alloy .Wheels are made up with some frm hubs with ritchey aero pro rims .

lifted the saddle a couple of inches to suit me and then after taking these pics i flipped the stem and gained about an inch so its not low for me ,

looking at this link gives some details
http://web.archive.org/web/20061210031103/http://www.principiabikes.com/pdf/Principia_bikes.pdf

 

[PeteXXX]

Nice!

 

[DCLane]

Ride it. Seriously.

There's reasons why I've got two Principia's; both the commuter RSLe and the TT bike are 51cm frames.

 

[biggs682]

Ride it. Seriously.

There's reasons why I've got two Principia's; both the commuter RSLe and the TT bike are 51cm frames.

@DCLane even after flipping the bars they are still a bit low for me and the reach is about 1.5 cm shorter than ideal but going to give it a few rides this week weather permitting .

The will see i might even have a longer stem in the stores but unsure if the current cables will allow it

 

[MichaelW2]

Peak Alumium bike frame.

 

[biggs682]

A quick look in parts box and hey presto one 100 stem all fitted gives me a better fit for sure will see when i get to ride it .

Might need to play with bar rotation but it seems ok in the garage

 

[mikeymustard]

Those cables are quite tight now! Must've been proper top end in its day

 

[Spiderweb]

A very nice looking machine, the old welded stem was an ugly looking thing, the new one is a big improvement.

 

[ChrisEyles]

I love the shape of those forks! Looks very nice indeed to me.

 

[biggs682]

Those cables are quite tight now! Must've been proper top end in its day

yeah the front has no outer cable slack now

A very nice looking machine, the old welded stem was an ugly looking thing, the new one is a big improvement.

.

i thought the same

 

[DCLane]

@mikeymustard - they were. My RSLe, the one after the RS6, is a crit-racing bike from 2009. They turn on a pin which makes them good for commuting.

 

[biggs682]

Second day of commuting on this one today, yesterday was a mixed day on it but mainly down to a stupid dog.

Another cc er said jokingly this wasn't old enough to be in this section.

 

[User32269]

Looks really nice. I've never ridden an alloy frame that I like, always found them harsh and jittery. Do the carbon forks help?

 

[biggs682]

Looks really nice. I've never ridden an alloy frame that I like, always found them harsh and jittery. Do the carbon forks help?

well so far i find it very comfy and not at all harsh , once i have done a few more local miles i will venture further afield on it and get a better idea of comfort etc etc .

And with the longer stem and raised saddle its not far off from my ideal set up that i use .

 

[mikeymustard]

Looks really nice. I've never ridden an alloy frame that I like, always found them harsh and jittery. Do the carbon forks help?

I have many alloy frames - most of them a mixture of steel, manganese, molybdenum or chromium
I do though have two aluminium-framed bikes: a modern Claud Butler with a steel fork which is indeed harsh, jittery and generally rubbish; and a Genesis Volant which is reasonably refined for such a short wheelbase.
It still doesn't have that kind of silkiness that a well-sorted, racy steel frame does though!