Kuota Kross

So i figured: I have to go to work every day of the week and my new place (actually the old place: airport Frankfurt) is just 20km away. Why not use the commute as a base building exercise. I had done the stretch on my way to a short 55km round I do sometimes (See here), however its not too comfortable with a road bike. Some dirt stretches and a lot of zig-zagging for decent roads. The plan was / is to build up a cross bike to make the rides around Frankfurt (a lot of woods with trails but no asphalt) more enjoyable. Getting the parts was a nightmare and the guy who built it up the first time is a total goof - he may know his bikes but his accuracy and punctuality are a pain in the ass. I scoured the net for decent cross bikes, and part of the plan was to spend some of last year's bonus as a thank you to myself ;-) So finally after trying some Ridleys (too short) and Scott (not stiff enough) models, I tried a Kuota. Wow. Nice frame, super movement but stiff as my Colnago alloy! This is what it looked like, when I picked it up in December:

Where do I start? The guy didn't have the saddle I wanted, the wheels, the crankset, ... I was soooo frustrated. Still, I have to say, he at least put on the spare parts he had... see how there's a Shimano crankset (dorky), the wheels were supposed to be the CX version - he gave me an old set of roadies. The Deda Zero bar is mounted the wrong way around... So, slowly getting there:

I added the sleek Look carbon holder, I'm still stuck with the Shimano crankset, but I got this beautiful fizik Arione CX today. (and yes, I still need to change the back tire before I head out tomorrow).

So, tell me what you think and I'll keep y'all posted on the progress!