OPAAT Gravel Grinder

What do you get when you decide to build up a single-speed bike out of the spare parts bin and a little aggressive sniping on eBay to fill in the blanks? An OPAAT bike.  (One Piece At A Time).
It's a mutt, but it's turned out to be my favorite bike to ride - on the road, gravel, to work - whatever.  A lot of it has to do with the more comfortable sized tires (28-35mm) that fit it so well, but also a good geometry - around 71/72, and 'longish' stays.  Your basic budget 'crosser.
I wanted a 1x1 mostly to equalize my riding with the rest of my friends on our Sunday outings.  We typically ride 40-55 miles, average around 13mph for the day, and find all sorts of hills around the River Falls, WI area.  Two 'truths' I've learned riding the hills and valleys over there:
1) You are always in the right gear, so you never miss a shift
2) Be prepared to suffer a little on steeper hills
Outside of that, and occasionally getting spun out on long downwind runs, it's been as close to an 'all around' ride as anything I've ever had.  I swap tires to match what I'm doing - the Challenge Almanzos are 'race tires' reserved for mostly gravel days.  For commuting and general riding, I use Conti Gatorskins - pretty much impervious to routine damage, and the feel is OK (but not nearly as good as the Almanzos!).  The C2 rims make such a difference in the feel of the bike, and if I am reasonably careful I can run pressure down around 50-55psi on the Almanzos and a bit lower than that with 35mm tires.  Makes for a very comfy ride!

So what's on the bike?  FSA Gossamer cranks, HED Bastonge C2 wheels, Salsa Bell Lap bars (double wrapped on the tops), Tektro levers and 720 cantis, and a Wound Up fork.  Weight with pedals and without mud - 18.5lb.  The brakes are 'reversed' cyclocross style.  OK, I know it's an affectation, but I actually did ride 'cross for a couple of seasons, and I do occasionally come flying in to something that requires a quick dismount.  Gearing is 38x16 - which seems pretty reasonable for my needs.  As with most things, YMMV.

For comfort, I used my favorite Fizik tape over leftover Cinelli cork, and a Selle Italia classic Flite saddle.  Yeah, it's a little hard but my butt prefers that to most of the new saddles I've tried. And with a few thousand miles on this bike, I'm pretty OK with it.  I use a Banjo Brothers frame bag, and seat bag in various combinations depending on how much junk I have to haul.

One note - this has been my RAGBRAI bike 3 of the last 4 years.  The off year, I rode my Ridley Noah. It's about the opposite of everything this bike is - fast, a little twitchy, fast, tight, and you feel every. single. bump. crack. and. pebble. I whined a lot that year!

All in all, sort of a Subaru Outback of bikes. Not too big, not too small, a little underpowered at times, but gets the job done and will go anywhere.