These frames do look very good. The blue is a lovely colour too. They have shaped tubes, more like the elan than the all round tubes steel Audax frames - a benefit of later introduction I presume. The 47-57mm brakes also mean that you really can get mudguards in - though if you want them with 28s my experience is that the tyres need to be true to size and not big.
That's an interesting point. I had assumed it was just an audax frame with different drop-outs welded in. As you say, the main tubes are shaped rather than perfectly round.
I measured the Schwalbe One's with verniers and they are exactly 28mm at my preferred pressures on the Kinlin rims. I went along a mucky lane this morning and there is still enough clearance that normal road detritus doesn't get stuck betwixt tyre and guard.
So the big question is how does it ride? I’ve got a 1959 Ron Cooper built Gillott that is built up as a single speed and used to have a Peugeot Aravis that I built up fixed/ss. Both are fun to ride.
It is great fun to ride. I am new to fixed, so I keep finding random situations where my muscle memory is to stop pedalling: This creates moments of unplanned excitement
I couldn't ride fixed all the time - there is nothing more blissful than a gentle downhill with good sight lines and no need to brake. This furious flurry of legs is more like hammy the hamster on an amphetamines rampage dancing along to Riverdance at 10x playback speed. I half expect one of my legs to fly off on a long enough hill...
I love my Elan, but I would be the first to agree it isn't a beautiful bike: When I look at it, I yearn to go for a long bike ride not because it looks like a beautiful Italian carbon race bike. But because it brings back memories of all the wonderful places I have been on it, and the promise of more wonderful places to visit in future.
The mono is evocative in another way - it is svelte, functional art. I know it's a cliche - but it meets my image of a simple bicycle. A diamond truss frame with slender tubes. Big, skinny wheels. Drop bars and a saddle. The fixed wheel then adds an interesting spice. Something that feels very normal at cruise, can become a complete liability if you 'forget' to keep pedalling!