Your Dream Touring Bike

ABOUTCYLING have this great list on their site

I’ve completed an internet trawl to find some of the nicest, most aesthetically pleasing touring bikes getting about and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with what’s coming up.

Somehow I’ve ended up with the majority of these bikes made in the USA, so either my taste is for North American builders, or perhaps North American builders are better exposed on the internet. I’m keen to get a more international splash of handmade bikes on this page, so please drop a comment with a bike that you think is just as worthy as these. It has to be pretty special, with nice paint and colour-matched parts – good driveside pictures are also essential.

Stats

Out of the 28 bikes on showcase, this is the characteristic breakdown:

• Handlebars: Drop (20), Flat (8).
• Brakes: Disc (14), Cantilever (10), Road (1), hydraulic rim (1), V-brake (2).
• Mudguards: Metal (15), Plastic (6), None (6), Wooden (1).
• Frame Material: Titanium (14), Steel (10), Stainless Steel (4).
• Gears: Derailleur (17), Internally Geared Hub (9), Gearbox (2).
• Shifters: STI (7), Barend (5), Gripshift (10), Downtube (2), Trigger (2), Stem (1), Retroshift (1).
• Country of Origin: USA (19), Australia (3), Switzerland (3), The Netherlands (3).

Hilite

This Swiss company works with titanium to make unique touring bikes for purposes from light touring to expedition. We couldn’t pick one to show you, so we settled for three. Many of their bikes use Rohloff 14s hubs, Pinion 18s gearboxes and Gates Carbon Drive. Integrated racks and seatposts, and matching stems finish the Hilite look.

Van Nicholas

This Dutch builder has specialised in titanium over the years, putting together some mighty fine looking touring bikes. The Pioneer Rohloff 29er is unique compared to most touring bikes, in that it can squeeze in wide 700c tyres. Van Nicholas come with all the top end touring gear, including Gates Carbon Drive and Rohloff 14s hubs. Matching stems, handlebars and seatposts complete the look.

Breadwinner

Breadwinner of Portland (USA) are Ira Ryan and Tony Pereira. These two builders teamed up together “to get more beautiful bikes to more people who ride everyday”. Although I’m not a huge fan of the green, the matching stem and pump look superb, and make sure to check out the headtube badge in Breadwinner’s website – it’s a work of art. The only thing I don’t agree at all with is the use of Shimano Ultegra crankset and derailleurs, as they’re too modern-looking on such a classic bike. If it were mine, it’d be silver Campagnolo components instead.

Ti Cycles

Dave Levy of Ti Cycles has gone all out on this unique ride. In Dave’s Portland (USA) workshop, he has managed to create a titanium frame that looks nothing like the rest on the list, given the hyper extended top tube. The more impressive features include the custom ti racks with integrated mudguard struts, the u-lock holder and the Supernova dynamo light fittings. My only gripes are the use of yellow on the stem and the Shimano road crankset which seems a bit out of place here.

Horse Cycles

Light blue is pretty much my favourite colour, so it is no suprise that this stainless steel Horse by Thomas Callahan in New York (USA) makes the list. It seems a bit more randonneur than most on this list, but given it has custom front and rear racks we’ll consider it a tourer. The colour-matched ‘guards look incredible, as do the racks and fillet-brazed stem. My only gripe is that the crankset does not fit in… at all. A White Industries crankset in silver would make me much happier.

Ahearne

This stainless steel, fillet-brazed beauty is possibly the wackiest ride on this list, and is without doubt the most expensive. Somewhere between a work of art and a very capable tourer, it was built by Joseph Ahearne in Portland, taking six weeks to build, at 10-12 hours a day with no days off. The estimated value is $25,000 USD, which is presumedly made up in labour costs. Interesting features include the high polish finish which exposes immaculate fillet brazing, KVA stainless steel tubing which is much thicker than any other option, Ritchey breakaway parts, additional support tubing for the seatstay/toptube, custom steel racks with a built-in lock holder, a flask holder on the downtube, a super retro Shimano derailleur and a logo panel made of stainless which has been laser cut and left unpolished on the downtube. This Ahearne Flickr album is a must see to understand the level of detail and work that went into this amazing ride!

Chapman Cycles

This touring bike features stainless steel lugs, fenders and fork crown, which looks beautiful against the stealth finish. The fork has a built in dynamo connector, allowing the dynamo wire to run on the inside of the fork leg for a neat look. This wire powers both the lights and the USB plug found on the top of the stem. The Tubus rear rack has been stripped of it’s original paint, and chrome plated, matching the front rack perfectly. Even the saddle has a custom finish on it, the leather replaced and re-stitched to match the yellow cables. More photos on the Chapman website.

Firefly

It’s my opinion that Firefly Bicycles of Boston (USA) make some of the nicest titanium and stainless steel bikes in the world. The upper bike is setup with Shimano electronic gearing which is normally only featured on road bikes, but has been fitted to work with MTB parts in this case. The lower two bikes have splits for Gates Carbon Drive which works seamlessly in combination with the Rohloff 14s hub – we certainly love our drivetrain. The Firefly lettering is sometimes buffed up to a glossy finish on the downtube and can be chemically coated with anything from gold to a rainbow effect. Other nice features include built-in rear racks, internal cabling, custom dynamo light mounts and stunning titanium stem and seatpost combos. James Medeiros and Tyler Evans of Firefly have nailed these modern touring bikes. More @ Firefly’s Flickr.

A-Train

Alex Cook of A-Train Bicycles in Minneapolis (USA) has whipped together an incredibly simple and elegant tourer. The material of choice: stainless steel. This frame uses stainless S&S couplers which bring the packed bike size right down to about half the regular length. The A-train custom racks blend right in to this bike.

Bilenky

I was trying to pick one titanium Bilenky tandem, but just couldn’t do it. These two titanium bikes are probably the nicest touring tandems I’ve ever laid my eyes on. The top tandem, which a bit more of a randonneur, has enough purple to be crazy, but somehow still pulls off a very elegant look (in my humble opinion). The below tandem is long-distance touring ready with a Rohloff hub and some schmick looking racks. The frame is without doubt the most impressive part however, as the curvy, retro style is still very functional and even breaks into three parts so that you can easily get it into an plane. These incredible tandems are manufacturered by Stephen Bilenky and family in Philadelphia (USA).

Independent Fabrication

Indy Fab of Newmarket (USA) have been around longer than most, and as a result, have mastered the frame-building trade. The finish on an Indy Fab is generally 10/10 and these look to be no exception. I also have no doubts that both would be sturdy enough to complete round-the-world trips. Here’s hoping they get ridden regularly! Via Indy Fab.

Hufnagel

Jordan Hufnagel has put together this georgeous classic tourer in bespoke bike central, Portland (USA). The paint-matched stem and racks are pure class and I especially love the wooden panels that are inserted into the racks. More images @ UrbanVelo.

Pereira

Tony Pereira, based in Portland (USA), has built this 650b bike up nice and classic. The high top tube, downtube shifters and birch finish give this bike a timeless look. A colour-matched stem, pump and Tubus cargo rack finish the build very well. I can’t help but think the bike would look much better with some brown leather Brooks bartape to match the saddle.

Baum

Darren Baum of Geelong (Australia) is a household name around custom bike enthusiasts. His frames are world class and are always dressed with incredible paint jobs. These two bikes have been put together for two cyclists who completed a charity ride across three continents, documented on the website The Long Road Tour. Check out the Baum Flickr for more.

Pilot

Pilot make their titanium bikes in the Netherlands; the finishing is top quality! On these bikes you’ll find Rohloff 14s hubs, Pinion 18s gearboxes and Gates Carbon Drivetrains. They’re certainly something to drool over.

Clockwork

This custom Clockwork randonneur was too good to keep off the list! Apart from the stunning looks, there are lots of nice design details to be found including a custom mount for downtube shifters located on the top tube. The matching painted rack and leather saddle complete the look.

Kumo

Keith Marshall from Canberra (Australia) is inspired by Japanese metalwork, but really, the Japanese should probably be inspired by him! This stainless steel beauty is again a bit more on the randonneur side of things, but damn, look at it! It features S&S couplers to break the frame down nice and small, internal cable routing for the dynamo lights and beautiful Llewellyn lugs (these lugs are best in the business btw). More @ Kumo Cycles.

Geekhouse

John from the Radavist takes photos of the nicest custom bikes in the world, but also has his fair share of sweet rides! I love the simplicity and colour of his Geekhouse, which is made by Marty Walsh and the team in Boston (USA). John has the colours and tones on this bike right down to the gold bidons – I love the custom racks too! The bike employs a double 50-32 crankset and an 11-36t cassette which gives ample low-end gearing for the type of riding John does. More @ The Radavist.

Vanilla Bikes

Sacha White of Vanilla Bicycles in Portland (USA) had so many pre-ordered frames to build that he no longer takes orders! That’s 5+ years worth, so I hope you’re not lusting for one too badly. This Vanilla is more of a randonneur than a tourer, but given it’s impeccable finish it was too hard to keep it off my list. I particularly love the lugs and the colour matched guards/pump. The stem is a work of art too, check it out on the Vanilla website.

Rivendell

Rivendell are very well known for their touring bikes but this Hunqapillar takes the cake. The diagatube is the most obvious feature on this bike, designed to stiffen the bike up by increasing the triangulation. Wooden guards, a lugged frame construction, retro racks and the Rohloff 14s hub give this bike a distinctive look.

Building a Beautiful Touring Bike

Follow these tips and you can have your very own gorgeous tourer. Remember, it doesn’t have to be custom-made to look incredible!

1. Keep your colours to a minimum. Two colours are enough (not including your black and silver components), three starts to look messy but can be pulled off.

2. Balance your silvers and blacks. Bikes typically look better with a mix of black and silver components. It’s hard to completely avoid black as it’s often found at the lever hood or on the tyres at a minimum. I really like it when silver hubs, silver mudguards and a silver crankset are used with all black components.

3. Match the colour of your seat and bartape/grips. This is the easiest way to make any bike look extra nice.

4. Use metal mudguards. Polished or hammered metal guards are all class. Who cares if they weigh more?

5. Paint your mudguards the same colour as your frame. Colour-matched guards are all class.

6. Paint your stem and racks the same colour as your frame. You’ll notice a number of the bikes featured in this article feature colour matched parts.

7. Use classic-styled cranks on classic-styled builds. There is nothing worse than a modern road crankset on a classic build (see the Horse above). White Industries, Middleburn and Campagnolo make some nice classic cranks.

Dream Bike – English Cycles 5.8kg (13lbs) steel and carbon beauty

from road.cc

Remember the stunning Naked time trial bike from Oregon-based frame builder Rob English last year? Well, Rob is back with an even more striking build, this time the V3.1 built for customer Irvin and dubbed by Rob as the ‘Tron’ bike.

Rob has got a way with frame building that has seen him pick up the much coveted Best of Show award at the 2013 North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS), and that flair for creativity is expressed beautifully in this latest creation. It’s a stunning bike don’t you think?

The frame is a marriage of True Temper steel tubes, including a discontinued S3 aero down tube, and carbon tubes from Enve. The use of carbon has allowed the weight of the complete bike to tip the scales at a shockingly low 5.8kg (13lb). Just the carbon seatstays alone, the first time Rob has used them, saved 40g compared to equivalent steel tubes. The skinny carbon seatstays finish in a neat steel wishbone assembly that flows into the steel top tube.

There’s some lovely details. Just look at that head tube for example. The carbon is on display at the head tube and seat tube, with the integrated seat mast capped with Rob’s own custom seat clamp.  The carbon head tube, seat tube and seatstays are bonded into the steel tubes, with a small titanium pin through each joint. The fork is a 235g THM Scapula painted to match the frame, work which was carried out by Colorworks.

The build is nothing short of top draw either – you couldn’t really deck out such a frame with nothing but the best could you now. A Shimano Dura-Ace 9070 Di2 groupset – the battery concealed inside the seat tube – is complemented by a carbon fibre THM Clavicula M3 chainset with Praxis chainrings and Zero Gravity brake calipers. The crankset, an updated version released earlier this year, a modular design that works with any chainring configuration or bottom bracket standard. The crank arms weigh just 344g and a double spider (there’s a choice of spiders for different chainring combinations) is 39g. In other words, seriously light.

The build is finished with a custom English stem weighing 122g with an integrated mounting boss for the Di2 control box. Wheels are Enve SES 3.4 carbon tubulars.

Check out www.englishcycles.com for more

Sabbath Silk Route – tourer titanium

from road.cc

The Sabbath Silk Route is a load lugging all-rounder that creates its own niche by using a titanium frame. Thoroughly practical but we suspect most buyers would prefer to start with a frame and make their own component choices.

Titanium framed touring bikes are a rarity, probably mainly because they tend to be regarded as a luxury in the relatively traditional world of pedal powered haulage, but also because most of the big name titanium frame builders tend to demand a higher premium for their wares than British company Sabbath. Based on a £1199 frame (some outlets include the fork at that price) this complete Silk Route shows that a titanium-framed tourer can be had for a UK average month’s salary.

The Silk Route is a fairly recent addition to Sabbath’s range, which has been slowly evolving over the past six years. The frame is designed in the UK and built overseas to keep costs low. It’s nicely designed and well finished, with a practical blend of plain gauge tubes biased towards luggage hauling durability rather than minimum weight.

The frame on its own weighs 3.65lb/1.65kg (size dependant), which is fairly hefty for a titanium frame, but the resulting stability in ride feel when loaded front and rear is precisely what’s required on a bike like this. If you’re not looking for a haulage bike you should probably look at one of Sabbath’s lighter, butted-tube models.

All Sabbath’s frames use the well regarded 3Al/2.5V drawn tubes (the figures refer to a 3% aluminium, 2.5% vanadium mix in the titanium alloy). There are six models in the range covering racing, touring, everyday or sportive use and the racy models use lighter butted tubes.

While the Silk Route is designed for touring, its long wheelbase, easy-riding geometry, Surly steel fork and big tyre clearance make it suitable for steady trail use as well as ideal for rough roads. There’s enough room for 38mm tyres if you feel a need for bigger treads than the 32mm Continental Touring Pluses fitted, and the 36 spoke wheels with Mavic 319 rims and Shimano LX hubs can take a fair bit of punishment.

A Brooks B17 saddle is a nice touch on a bike like this too, and a reminder that Brooks’ saddles, while not light, are still among the most comfy seats around.

There will be riders who’ll baulk at dropping £2199 on a Shimano LX/105 level bike with a workmanlike steel fork, trouser-guard equipped crankset and middle of the range finishing kit, but if you’re attracted to the idea of your new bike being based on a titanium frame you’d be hard pressed to build a rack and mudguard equipped tourer with decent wheels and a Brooks leather saddle at this price.

You can remove that trouser guard if you don’t like the look of it and Surly’s steel fork is fitted because it’s one of the best off the peg touring forks on the market, with threaded eyelets for every rack type and the sort of stability, combined with the thick plain gauge steerer tube, that justifies its relatively high weight.

Handling was rock solid, even riding hands free with front and rear loads. We’re not particularly recommending this but it’s a great way of testing stability on touring bikes and a great way of getting your loads spread properly assuming the basic geometry is fine. Another good front end stability test is being able to brake hard without fork flutter with an outer cable guide mounted on the upper part of the head tube: many bikes with cantilever brakes need the cable guide to be mounted on the fork crown.

The Silk Route could be an ideal starting point for riders who like the idea of owning a utility rather than race focused titanium frame. But we can’t help but think that most of those riders would prefer to make their own parts choices. A few of the parts on the Sabbath just don’t look at ease on a £2000+ bike. But that’s probably missing the point. You could find yourself paying this much for a frame alone from some of the more established titanium frame brands, and you’re still getting a tough maintenance free frame that won’t rust.

All Sabbath framesets can be built with different component parts and custom finishing options so the details on our test bike are not set in stone. Its ‘bright brush’ titanium finish with subtle, almost invisible, sandblasted graphics is practical, and part of the appeal of titanium is that it’ll buff up like new year after year.

Tubing shapes of the Silk Route include curvy rear stays for extra heel clearance, a biaxially ovalised top tube for lateral rigidity plus big weld contact areas at the seat and head tube and an oversized, ovalised down tube.

All the tube profiles are said to be designed to improve stiffness and stability when hauling loads, and our ride experience bears this out. Long chainstays ensure that panniers stay clear of your heels, and Sabbath say it’s built to carry up to 35kg: the test bike rack, a fairly basic Tortec model, is limited to 25kg.

There’s are three sets of bottle cage bosses (one set underneath the down tube) and threaded rack mounts, all welded rather than riveted into the frame, and in keeping with the traditional touring bike approach there’s even a pump peg on the head tube for a frame sized pump.

Our test bike weighed in at almost exactly 28lb/12.6kg without pedals. There is masses of bar/stem height adjustability and in addition to the components we’ve already mentioned the finishing parts included a standard Shimano LX touring crankset (with removable trouser-guard), 105 3 x 10 gear mechs and 105 shifters, Pro seat post, stem and compact handlebar, SKS ‘guards and LX cantilever brakes.

The gear range was more than adequate for the most mountainous terrain, the wheels were well built and the geometry and riding posture emphasised comfort and stable control at both low and high speeds. The head angle on the medium frame is 71.5 degrees, the seat angle is 73.5 and the horizontal top tube length is 56.5cm, with a 54cm (centre to top) seat tube and a 15.5cm head tube.

Don’t expect a sturdy long wheel base bike like this to feel as lively as a steep angled race bred model. Snappy acceleration or sprightly handling will never be highlights, even if you strip the touring gear off and fit skinnier treads.

But there’s something incredibly soothing about a bike like this once you’ve got it up to speed, with big sweeping turns on long descents being a real highlight. That said, slow speed traffic riding is also incredibly confident, with the long front centre meaning no mudguard toe overlap if you make sharp turns. Our month of riding uncovered no unpleasant foibles, loaded or unloaded.

Verdict

A thoroughly practical titanium touring bike, both utilitarian and potentially superior in durability to the traditional steel framed approach and more comfy than most aluminium framed options. Most riders would probably start with a frame alone and equip it to suit their particular needs.

SA bike maker in UK making the best: Pretorious Bike

 

The Pretorius Outeniqua is a new titanium race bike with stylish looks and a sweet ride. It’s available as a frameset for £1,950 (with a full bike fit included) although ours came as a complete bike in a £5,999 build.

Here are six key reasons why you might want to buy it.

1 The frame is strong, lightweight titanium.

It’s 3Al-2.5V titanium, to be precise, which means it’s actually 3% aluminium and 2.5% vanadium. This is the alloy that’s used to make most (but not all) titanium bikes.

Titanium has high strength-to-weight and stiffness-to-weight ratios and an excellent fatigue life. If you’re looking for a bike that’ll still be going strong several years down the line, titanium is a very good choice. It won’t snap if you stack it and will cope fine with the inevitable knocks it’ll pick up during regular use. It won’t corrode when you forget to clean it either.

Don’t get us wrong: we’re not saying that everyone should be riding titanium. Carbon, when done right, can certainly be made into bikes with higher stiffness-to-weight than anything else right now. But titanium certainly has a place still.

2 It’s a well made, tidy frame.

The Pretorius is well put together with classic straight lines and neat welds throughout.

Although the Outeniqua has a fairly traditional air, it boasts some distinctly modern features. The head tube, for example has an internal diameter of 44mm from top to bottom, but it comes with a Chris King 1 1/8in InSet upper bearing and a 1 1/2in external headset cup down below and the fork has a correspondingly tapered steerer to improve rigidity.

The other feature that performance bike manufacturers have increasingly turned to over the past few years for adding stiffness is an oversized bottom bracket. Pretorius have gone with a BB30 design too.

The wall thickness in both the head tube and the bottom bracket is thicker than elsewhere too. It’s a meaty 2mm for extra stiffness rather than 0.9mm of the other tubes.

The tube shaping is subtle. The slightly sloping top tube, for example, tapers from 38mm at the head tube to 34mm at the seat tube and the seatstays slim down 3mm along their length. And while the head tube and the down tube (42mm in diameter) are oversized, they’re not that oversized.

The details are tidily done too. The dropouts are a smart half-moon design and the cable stops are welded into place rather than riveted. And while our test bike comes with mechanical shifting, the Outeniqua is also available in Shimano Di2 options if you want to go down the electronic route. With Dura-Ace Di2 the battery can now go inside the seat post.

The Outeniqua comes with a brushed finish as standard although custom paintjobs are available from £200. You can choose from eight different decal colour options and you can pick the Chris King headset colour to match if you like.

The overall result is a frame that looks stylish rather than one that’s trying too hard.

3 A proven geometry.

The Pretorius’ geometry is racy and efficient without being too extreme, although if it doesn’t work for you, you can get a custom version made.

Road bike geometry is rarely all that radical. People have been making road bikes for a long time now and we know what works. Our Outeniqua is a large (58cm) model which comes with a 58cm seat tube, a 57cm effective top tube, and a 17cm head tube – although you need to allow another couple of centimetres of stack height for the external headset cup.

Compared to a 58cm Specialized Tarmac SL4 full-on carbon race bike, for example, the Outeniqua has a 1.2cm shorter top tube while the head tube and seatstays are about the same. The frame angles (73.5° head angle and 73° seat angle) are the same too, so you know what you’re getting here: it’s a well-proven set up.

The standard Outeniqua frameset (see below) is £1,950 but if none of the seven sizes is right for you, an extra £200 gets you one built to a custom geometry.

4 Excellent frameset components.

Buy an Outeniqua frameset and you get an Enve 2.0 fork and Chris King Inset 7 headset as part of the package. Both are excellent.

The Enve 2.0 fork, which retails alone at £390, is full-carbon right down to the dropouts. It comes with a tapered 1 1/8in to 1 1/2in steerer and, despite weighing in at just 350g, it provides loads of stiffness whether you’re pinning it into a fast turn or throwing the bars about on an out-of-the-saddle climb. It also damps road vibration well without leaving you feeling too isolated from the road; a great combination.

The Chris King Inset sealed bearing headset is a winner too. With this one the upper cup sits inside the head tube while the lower one is external. The high-quality bearings should last an age.

5 You can choose you own spec.

Pretorius will build up the Outeniqua however you like. We had a high-end spec comprising a Campagnolo Super Record 11-speed groupset, Reynolds Thirty Two wheels with Schwalbe Ultremo ZX tyres, Enve carbon bars, stem and seatpost, and a Selle Italia SLR saddle. There’s an Arundel carbon bottle cage on there too. You’re looking at £5,999 for that lot.

In this build, the Outeniqua weighs 7.2kg (15.8lb). Spend six grand on a bike and you can get lighter without too much trouble – especially if you go for a carbon frame – but this is certainly a highly respectable weight.

I won’t talk too much about the specific build because it’s not set in stone, but you really can’t go wrong with these components. If you prefer Shimano or SRAM to Campag’s shifting, no problem, go with that instead.

The Reynolds Thirty Two wheels are very light and spin beautifully. We have the clincher version and they weigh in at 1,351g. Reynolds’ Cryo Blue pads provide good braking on the carbon rims in the dry, although the braking is nowhere near as good as you get with aluminium rims in wet conditions. That’s always the way.

Getting your saddle position right on the Enve carbon seat post is really easy and the sub-200g Enve bars come in either standard (144mm drop, 85mm reach) or compact (127mm, 79mm reach) versions.

But I wasn’t going to go on about the spec too much, was I? So I won’t. It’s good though.

6 The high ride quality.

The Pretorius offers a quick, agile ride. Put in the power and it responds with a sharp kick forwards. It doesn’t have the all-out rigidity of some top end carbon bikes when it comes to a sprint but it’s still impressively efficient and it whips up to speed in no time. Of course, that’s partly down to the components as well as the frame and forks. The Reynolds Thirty Two wheels in particular make a big difference here, accelerating beautifully when you ask them to.

The ride position is balanced. It’s certainly low and efficient, which is exactly what you want for a bike of this kind, but it’s not ridiculously aggressive. Most people with reasonable flexibility will be happy getting in the big miles on this setup.

You also get a good compromise between stability and reactive steering. The Outeniqua is manoeuvrable enough for last second line changes when a ride mate decides to swing out for no apparent reason, but it’s not so nervous that you can’t relax when you want to.

The ride-quality is the Outeniqua’s most valuable feature. There are no wrist-shuddering jolts coming up through the Enve fork and you don’t find yourself clinging on for dear life when you hit a patch of jagged road. Quite the opposite, in fact. The Outeniqua keeps everything nice ‘n’ smooth. As well as making life comfortable for you in the saddle, that means the wheels stay firmly in contact with the road even when the road gets rough under fully loaded tyres.

Again, the components help with the comfort; I always get on well with a Selle Italia SLR saddle, for instance. To me, it offers the best combination of lightweight and comfort of any saddle out there, although if you’re not such a fan you could go for something that suits you better.

All in all, the Outeniqua offers a sweet ride. Swift, responsive, comfortable, it’s a great performance option with a big helping of style thrown in.

Verdict

Stylish titanium road bike with a high ride quality; comfortable and it should last you many years.

 

Seven launch their lightest bike ever – titanium carbon love fest

US bespoke brand Seven Cycles are launching a new road bike with a carbon fibre and titanium frame that’s their lightest ever.

The 622 SLX weighs 1kg in a 54cm frame size. It uses rider-specific carbon tubes joined using titanium lugs that are designed to be stiff and durable as well as adding a whole lot of style.

Seven Cycles already make frames that blend carbon fibre and titanium – their Elium SL and Elium SLX road models, for example – but they reckon the 622 sets new standards in that it retains the feel of a metal bike but in a lighter weight.

“We hear a lot of riders who love the road feel of our metal bikes wanting a lighter option, and we hear a lot of the people riding our carbon bikes express an interest in getting more road feel,” said Seven Cycles founder Rob Vandermark. “This bike is really for them. We wanted to maximize the positive characteristics of each material, and we wanted to do something with an almost sculptural aesthetic.”

We have to agree that the 622 is a good looking bike, those beautifully shaped lugs lending a classy air that distinguishes it from the crowd.

The 622 name refers to the materials used, six being the atomic number for carbon and 22 being titanium. It’s available as Seven’s ‘custom kit’ option which is a full bespoke service. You visit an approved retailer and order a bike that is sized specifically for you and comes with features of your choice. You get to choose the degree of drivechain stiffness you get, the amount of vertical compliance, the speed of the handling and so on.

Of course, a bespoke bike like this is never going to be cheap. You’re looking at £4,950 for the frameset. Youch! And then you’re going to have to factor in a lot more cash for the build – you’re not going to want to deck it out in kit from the parts bin.

Pretorious Outeniqua – ti lovely lickable bike

classic lovely ti ….

Road.cc review the new titanium model from Pretorius

You might not have heard of Pretorius before so let’s start by telling you a little about the brand…

Pretorius Bikes is a shop just off Shoreditch High Street in London. It’s been around since 2008. They offer Colnago, Scott and Cinelli bikes, and their own titanium models too. Like the other two options in the lineup – and the majority of ti bikes out there – the Outeniqua road bike is made from 3Al-2.5V titanium (meaning there’s 3% aluminium in the alloy, and 2.5% vanadium) which has excellent fatigue life and resistance to corrosion.

The Outeniqua’s frame is pretty classic looking; they’ve not gone over the top with the shaping here. The top tube slopes very slightly downwards towards the seat tube but it’s far from the most compact of compact geometries. The top tube slims down a little along its length too – from 38mm to 34mm – although you have to look pretty closely to spot that.

If you think the head tube looks chunky, that’s because it is. It has a 44mm internal diameter, taking a Chris King 1 1/8in InSet bearing at the top and a 1 1/2in external headset cup at the bottom, the extra width being designed to provide more front end stiffness. The fork is an Enve Road 2.0 which is full moulded carbon fibre, including the dropouts, and it weighs in at just 350g.

The down tube is oversized although, with a 42mm diameter, not excessively so, and the seatstays taper down from 22mm at the bottom bracket shell to 19mm at the dropouts. Speaking of the dropouts, they’re a neat half-moon design while the cable stops and bottle cage mounts are neatly welded in place.

There’s nothing too strange about the Outeniqua’s geometry. We have the large (58cm) model in on test and that comes with 73.5/73° frame angles, a 57cm effective top tube and a 19cm head tube – that’s including the stack height of the headset. It’s certainly a race-centric set-up – your ride position is low and stretched – but you wouldn’t call it extreme.

Our model has a brushed finish so any little scratches are easily buffed away with some wire wool. You can go for a painted finish if you prefer. Custom paint jobs are available and start from £200. You can also choose from a range of eight different decal colour options and select the headset colour.

The Outeniqua is available as a frameset including the Enve fork and Chris King headset. That will set you back £1,950. You can have it built up however you like so we opted for high-end components throughout… well, the guys at Pretorius did offer. We have a Campagnolo Super Record groupset, Reynolds Thirty Two carbon-rimmed wheels and Schwalbe Ultremo ZX tyres.

The handlebar, stem and seatpost (31.6mm diameter) are all carbon offerings from Enve while the saddle is a Selle Italia SLR which is, of course, the best saddle in the world (according to me). Oh, and we have a bottle cage and bar tape from Arundel on there too.

That little lot weighs in at 7.2kg – which is a highly respectable 15.8lb – and retails for £5,999.

Everyone around here reckons it’s a really good-looking bike. Cool, classy… words like that are getting bandied about. But so far we haven’t got a clue how the Pretorius rides so the next item on the agenda is to get out and get the miles in. We’ll let you know how we get on; there’s a full review coming your way shortly. In the meantime, check out the Pretorius Bikes website.

616 Bicycle fabrication

following on from the reblog below look at these 650b beauties …. they also do a 29er for taller bods …. here is their site in full glory

We are all 29er junkies over here, but let’s face it not all size riders belong on a 29″ wheel. Over the years, we have observed many shorter riders grinding through trails on a 29″ wheel. What really caught our eye were the angles of a frame that seemed so whack to have to accommodate for the shorter top tube length but yet still allow for sufficient tow clearance. We decided there had to be a better option, so we turned our sites on the 650b.

Our intentions from the beginning were to create the best riding custom steel 650 to feed this niche. What we discovered is that the 650 is not only the optimal bike for a shorter rider but it is also one of the most fun rides for a rider of any size.

A smaller wheel equals better leverage to the rear tire, plain and simple. In our prototype process, we noticed immediately the quick off the line response especially riding a technical trail with many switchbacks. The front tire seemed to roll over everything and cut through sand just like a 29er. Overall we knew we were on to something. Matched with our custom steel formula we created the fastest xc riding machine on the planet. Frame weight: 3.5 lbs (medium).

• Hand selected tubing per customer ride preference
• 4mm custom poured headbadge
• Laser cut stainless bridge plate with logo
• Custom laser etched ID plate with customer name, serial #, tubing used,  and year it was built
• Decorative lug head tube piece (per customer request)
• Custom paint with painted logo (no decals!)
• Custom geometry per customer request (additional charge may apply)

Maybe Fabian can make it again: TREK Isofix

Well a heavy option would be to use a mountain bike system like the cannondale scalpel to flex away the pave but treks new Domane looks sweet as a honey bees glory ….

RIDE.cc

Back when we were speculating on the sneak peek shots ofTrek’s new Domane underneath Fabian Cancellara at the Strade Bianche, we conjectured (is that a word?) that the seatpost and the main frame were separate. And they are. Spartacus himself has been heavily involved with the design process, and the bike “specifically addresses the challenges of rough road conditions found throughout the spring classics courses with a collection of key innovations unlike any available before today”, according to Trek.

The Domane (That’s Do-MAH-nee, apparently, which is latin for “King’s crown” as well as being an anagram of Madone) features a technology which Trek have christened IsoSpeed. It’s a “functional decoupler that separates the ride-tuned seat mast from the top tube”. So effectively the the seat tube isn’t attached to the top tube and seatstays like you’d normally expect, but instead is held in place by a pivot and some kind of elastomer coupling that acts as a buffer between the seat mast and the top tube. Being an elastomer it will act as a damper which also perhaps opens the possibility of further tuning the ride… not that we’d fancy trying to take it out.

IsoSpeed means lots more compliance, say Trek. Twice the vertical compliance of the nearest competition is their claim. Not only that but they claim that it’s even stiffer laterally than the Madone. A bike that’s got a bit more give should be a boon over long rides and difficult surfaces, with the IsoSpeed coupling allowing more fore-aft movement as well as in the vertical plane.

Cancellara’s certainly happy. “When you work with Trek and the engineers it’s a combination that lets you examine every detail and the details that it takes to win the races that this bike is made for are bigger than any other,” he gushed. “The end result of all that work is the Domane and after competing on this bike, winning on this bike, it’s going to be hard to get me on anything else,” he said, although that didn’t stop him swapping back to the Madone for the smooth tarmac of Milan-San Remo.

In the end it’s a comfort bike. A performance-led one. Trek have always maintained that they didn’t need a comfort bike because the Madone was comfy enough and available in different geometries, but they’ve inevitably lost out in sales against the likes of the Specialized Roubaix, Cannondale Synapse and Giant Defy Advanced, and more and more manufacturers are producing performance-comfort bikes now;BMC’s launch of the cobble-friendly GF01 is next week.

Like the Madone 6 Series the Domane boasts an OCLV carbon frame with a super-wide BB90 bottom bracket and internal cable routing. There’s a new Bontrager RXL fork to go with the frame, too. Trek call the cable routing ‘race-optimised’ and interestingly the cables on the Domane all enter the headtube on the same side (something we noticed when we spotted the bike at the Strade Bianche). We’ll be looking to see if that is an innovation that makes it’s way on to the next generation of the Madone – surely due for launch any time now.

The Domane’s geometry is different from that of the Madone. The head tube is just a little taller than you’ll get on an H2 fit Madone – Trek do three different fits, the H1 being the most aggressive, the H3 being the most relaxed. The Domane’s head tube is 17.5cm compared to 17cm on an H2 fit Madone. The top tube is slightly shorter too. You get a slacker head tube angle, an increased fork offset, longer chainstays, a longer wheelbase and more of a bottom bracket drop on the Domane too, which should translate into a more planted, stable ride which is especially useful on rough roads where hitting something hard and jagged on a standard road bike can knock you completely off-line.

Cancellara doesn’t ride with electronic gears; if he did you’d have seen the battery mounted at the bottom of the down tube, basically in the middle of the bottom bracket. For a bike that’s designed to be ridden over the rough stuff that seems like an odd placing to us, being a bit more vulnerable to debris kicking up from the front wheel than the current favourite position of underneath the chainstay.

Other pave-beating touches include super skinny seatstays and an integrated chain catcher; some of the RadioShack Nissan Trek boys would undoubtedly find that useful on the Madone too. Hopefully then the new integrated chain catcher on SRAM Red is detachable – how many chain catchers does a boy really need? Actually, we’re guessing that the one on the Damone is detatchable for those who can change gear without dropping the chain.

The new Domane is available right now in two versions (there’s three on the UCI list), and in another break from the usual the Custom version is cheaper than the Team Edition. quite a bit cheaper as it turns out. You can have a Custom Domane 6 for a mere £3,700 (although you can pay more if you want) while the Domane 6 Series Team Edition can be yours for £8,290. There must be some Unobtanium knocking about in that one. Well, do you want to beat the cobbles or not?

That’s it for now. But if that isn’t enough, we’ve got a man in the area: VecchioJo is currently hot-footing his way across the low countries to ride the Flanders sportive, and he’s even now diverting to Kortijk (picture one of those Union Jack arrows from the start of Dad’s Army) where Trek are currently showcasing the new machine. He should be able to swing a leg over it too, so stay tuned for a first ride soon… if he doesn’t get lost.

crossbar thoughts

rested and waiting

You’ll spend a lot of time sitting on the top tube waiting for friends to get the the bottom of the hill. Never had a frame do me so right on descents. I always know what’s happening through my hands and the bottom of my feet and its just so easy to lean it over when you need to. I know it’s all subjective and all that…. but  it’s a thrill to ride down hill. I climb just to come down.

more Ti goodness from Genesis

Broken by road.cc

Genesis have been busy. He had a whole rack of prototype bikes on display at Icebike, most of which will be hitting these shores in the summer. A bunch of them had knobbly tyres so we didn’t spend too much time ogling them (even the 700C ones – sorry, ’29er’) but that still left us with new Equilibrium Ti.

If you’re not familiar with the Equilibrium, well it’s something of a modern classic. Steel bikes with carbon forks are twenty to the dozen nowadays, but roll the clock back a few years and your steel options were a lot more limited. The Equilibrium was one of the pivotal bikes in bringing steel back to the mainstream, the reason being that they really nailed it, first time. The original Reynolds 520 framed Equilibrium remains one of the best bikes we’ve tested, and it’s my bike of choice for long-distance adventures such as the 360km-in-a-day Bath to Colchester epic last year.

 

The current Equlibrium has gone up a step on the tubing ladder and it’s now made from Reynolds 725, but there has been plenty of demand, Dom told us, for something a bit more high end but sharing the same geometry and ride characteristics of the steel machine. And so the Equilibrium Ti was born.

It doesn’t look a great deal like the steel bike. At first glance it seems more compact and racy, but that’s down to the fact that it uses a much larger tubeset for the main triangle: in fact the geometry is exactly the same as the Reynolds-tubed bikes. Dom’s philosophy for the bike was that is should be stiff at the front end and compliant at the rear, something the steel bike manages very well in spite of only using standard tube profiles. The Ti bike is beefed up considrably; the XX44 head tube has enough room for a tapered steerer fork and the down tube is based on Genesis’ Latitude Ti MTB, albeit with thinner walls. That should make for pin-sharp tracking on the descents…

 

At the back end Dom has put a lot of work into the tube profiles to make sure that the bike has a similar compliant feel to the steel Equilibrium. The chainstays are flattened and the seatstays ovalised to work some laterally-stiff-yet-vertically-compliant magic.

It’s good to see that the Equilibrium Ti carries on the all-seasons philosophy of its commoner sibling; there’s mudguards eyelets at the rear and Genesis have sought out a tapered steerer fork with eyelets too, so you can fit full mudguards for winter excursions.

The frame and fork (with headset and seat clamp) will retail for about £1,500 and there’ll be a Shimano 105-equipped full bike available too for about £2,200. That’s similar money to the Kinesis GF-Ti that was third overall in our 2011 Bike of the Year round-up, and it’s a similar steed; it’ll be interesting to see how the two compare when we can get our sticky mitts on one. And, of course, how the Titanium bike compares to the steel one.

Another Ti Bride (potential) Kinesis Gran Fondo Ti

this looks very tasty

Racelight Gran Fondo Ti – Highlights

Ti 3AL/2.5V: The GF Ti is constructed from an aerospace grade Titanium alloy: 94% titanium, 3% aluminum and 2.5% vanadium. This is one of the strongest alloys of titanium available in a seamless tube form.

CWSR: ‘Cold Worked Stress Relieved’ tubing. The tubing is shaped cold and then goes through a process to remove the stresses built up within the tube during forming.

HEADSET: Integrated 11/8″, 36º/45º for a 45mm OD head tube. The headset drops into a tapered seat in the head tube and is tensioned using a headset tensioner within the fork steerer. Tensioning the headset centres it on the taper and prevents any play.

FORK: DC21. Carbon bladed with alloy crown and steerer. Eyeletted for mudguards. 520g.

R2000 Stays: Seat stays have a 2m radius curve. We tried ‘hourglass’ bend and various different curves and found a 2m radius was best for both comfort and performance over distance, which is what this frame is all about.

SEAT POST: 31.6mm. SEAT CLAMP: 34.9mm. FRONT MECH: 34.9mm. BB: 68mm. British.

” The overall finish of the frame is a work of art with tidy welds throughout including double passes on the higher stressed areas…It is one of the most sorted frames I’ve ever ridden and for everything except for out and out racing it will provide everything you need” – Road.cc

At Epic Cycles we pride ourselves on providing bikes to suit your own individual needs. The following specification is intended only to provide an example of what we have fitted to our test bikes – every single component can be selected to suit you personally and we can also supply the Gran Fondo Ti as a frameset only option.

Kinesis Racelight Gran Fondo Ti 105 – £2170

Racelight Gran Fondo Ti 3AL/2.5V Frame
Racelight DC21 GF Carbon 1 1/8″ fork
Shimano 105 5700 Compact 10sp Groupset
Mavic Aksium WTS 2012 wheelset
Mavic Aksion tyres
Pro PLT stem and handlebars
Kinesis GF carbon seatpost
Ritchey Streem saddle

Other sample builds include:

Same bike with Shimano Tiagra 10sp 2012 groupset – £1995
Same bike with Campagnolo Veloce 2012 groupset – £2045Same bike with Shimano Ultegra 2012 groupset – £2295

Masi Prestige Reynolds 753 eBay NICE

Masi Prestige in rare Reynolds 753 tubing – restored by Alberto Masi

1977 Masi Prestige. 1977 first version in rare Reynolds 753 tubing. Campagnolo Super Record.

Very nice Masi Prestige from November 1977. The bike has been recently repainted by Masi and completely checked and reassembled. The color is the original Coppi-Carpano grey (the color of the bikes from the Carpano team). The Masi decals are the original ones from the ’70s, not replicas.The code “0” punched on the bottom bracket shell (please see picture) indicates that this bicycle has been built using Reynolds 753 tubing. Masi built very few bicycles using this material and this bike is a rare example. The tubing is lighter than regular 531. The chainstays are thicker and more rigid.

Please note the “heart-shaped” motives on the seat lugs, under the seat pin lock, and on the cable routers on top of the bottom bracket shell. These are all signs of a custom preparation.

The collar of the front derailleur has been drilled personally by Alberto Masi in the ’70s and the original retaining screw has been upgraded to a stainless steel one (also in the ’70s).

The groupset is a complete Campagnolo Super Record. The crankset is from 1978 and the crank arms are 170mm long.

The rear derailleur has been upgraded in 1981 and the freewheel is a NOS Regina Extra.

 

A set of NOS Clément Criterium Servizio Corse tubular tires have just been installed. These are extremely hard to find. They haven’t been glued to the rim.

 

The bike comes with the original Silca Impero air pump, engraved Masi. The pump has an original Campagnolo metallic valve.

 

The original Alfredo Binda pedal straps have not been replaced, because they are still perfectly fine to use. An extra set of Alfredo Binda straps will be included. These are NOS and they are the hard to find buffalo skin version.

 

Two original NOS Masi Gran Criterium water bottles will be included. A yellow and a white one.
The bicycle size is 54cm top tube center to center and 54cm seat tube center to center.
The winner of the auction will receive a printed certificate of originality from Mr.Alberto Masi

Cotic Steel Roadie – but only in 2013

from road.cc

This bike looks great.

We had that nice Cy from Cotic in the office today, and he brought along this rather fetching road bike prototype in Duck Egg Blue for us to cast our envious eyes over. It’s still in the prototyping stage right now but looks like it’ll be a goer for 2013. I can’t believe we’re talking about 2013 already.

 

Anyway, the bike. This frame has been put together using True Temper S3 tubing but the actual production bikes will most likely be Columbus Spirit. The tube profiles will be similar, although the teardrop section top tube (with the point runnning along the base of the tube) will be swapped out for an oval section one. The down tube is a biaxial oval profile, tall at the head tube for steering stiffness and wide at the bottom bracket for better power transfer. The seat tube is a 34.9mm tube (to fit a 31.6mm seatpost) so it’s pretty beefy, and the stays are fairly chunky too, ending in cowled dropouts. All in all, it looks very purposeful. We didn’t get to have a go on it but it had the look of a stiff, fast steel bike rather than a wispy, soft riding one.

 

Geometry wise it’s a pretty traditional shape, with the 58cm frame we saw getting 73° seat and head tube angles and a 58cm effective top tube. The head tube is long but not massively so, giving a fairly classic sportive position that should be good for most road riding. The steel frame is mated with a Carbon/Aluminium fork for now and the prototype bike (Cy’s own) was sporting a mix of 105 and XT gear; Cy runs a mountain bike chainset because his knees don’t like narrow road cranks.

 

It’s still a work in progress. Currently the bike’s not set up to accept mudguards; there’s no eyelets and the bottom bracket features side lugs to increase stiffness rather than a chainstay bridge. Cy’s warming to the idea of mudguard eyelets though, possibly hidden on the inside of the seat stays a la Cannondale CAAD 8. Certainly it’s the kind of bike you could imagine being pressed into all-year-round service. Currently the frame will take a 28mm tyre, so it’s entirely possible that later versions will have room for 25s and a full-length mudguard. I guess we’ll see.

And the name? Ai is just the prototype sticker that all the Cotic development bikes get. What it will actually be called is anyone’s guess. “The naming usually happens when the factory calls me up to say the bikes will be delayed if we leave it any longer”, says Cy. Production is probably a year down the line, as there’s prototyping in the production material to do yet, as well as a bunch of testing. We’re looking forward to it already though.

www.cotic.co.uk

 

History of Cycling on eBay: Moser’s Bike

1984 Francesco MOSER (Italy) “TT 51.151 HOUR RECORD ROAD” professional time trial bike. On sale / Auction HERE

 

SOLD for $3850 / £2440Medium/large sized with center-bb-to-top-of-saddle about 74cm.

Campagnolo Super Record, Ambrosio 700/650 disc, 3ttt, Regina, Vetta, etc.

Presented like handed over in good condition.

*************************************************************************************

Shipping ECONOMY (10-30+ days, full insured)*: USA US$ 116.00 – Japan US$ 138.00 – Europe US$ 89.00
Ship PRIORITY (5-15 days, insured)*: USA US$ 143 – Japan US$ 199 – Europe US$ 108 – Australia US$ 513

*************************************************************************************

Vintage time trial bike from Francesco Moser (Italy), type “TT 51.151 hour record road”.

Probably made in 1984.

Special aero designed Columbus framework.

Shiny paintwork in light blue/medium blue.

Equipped with 1984 Campagnolo Super Record,
3ttt bar/stem, Ambrosio disc wheels, Regina Freewheel/chain, etc.

Many pantographed parts.

Good to very good condition (presented like handed over).

Very good technic.

—

 

Medium/large sized with actual about 74cm from center bb to top of saddle.

(A special bent seat post for some extra height can be added if wished).

Seat tube (c-c) about 56cm (c-t 66cm), top tube about (c-c) 52cm, weight like presented 9.8kg, handlebar (c-c) 40cm, stem (c-c) 110mm.

Good ‘audax’ to you sir – Singular Osprey

New Osprey from Singular cycles looks darn fine … a steel roadie for putting the miles in.

£530 for frame and about £1300-1400 for similar build to road.cc

 

Lovely slim steel tubes, beautiful lugs, classic geometry, classic looks and a classic ride.

Singular have been through a few rounds of prototypes with these, the last of which you see here. There are a few further tweaks for the production run which is now underway. Final specifications are;

• – Full lugged construction with double butted 4130 cro-mo steel
• – Clearance for 28mm tyres with mudguards
• – Braze ons for mudguard and rack mounting
• – Internally routed brake cable
• – Choice of 1″ threaded or threadless fork

geometry on the 54

This from Road.CC

We were all ooohs and aaahs when we first saw the Singular Osprey at the London Bike Show in January of this year. Sam at Singular has been carving out a niche making interesting bikes, starting with the Swift 29er MTB and the Peregrine monster-cross-cum-tourer and Gryphon drop-barred 29er followed. The Osprey is Singular’s take on the classic road machine: gate framed, lugged and skinny tubed, it’s a real beauty.

The bike we’ve got to try out is the same one that you’ll see pictured on thewebsite, which is a pre-production sample but basically the finished production frame. The only difference with the production model is that you get rack as well as mudguard bosses. The frame is built from lugged, double-butted 4130 Cromoly, and will take a 28mm tyre with a mudguard. The rear brake cable is routed internally along the top tube to keep the bike looking nice and clean.

The fork features a lugged crown and it too is 4130 Cromoly. There’s an option of Chromed chainstays and fork dropouts; our test bike has the shiny bits and if you want them you’ll need to add £180 to the basic price of £530 for the frame and fork. The frameset is available with a threaded or threadless fork, both of which are 1″ diameter.

In terms of geometry the Osprey sticks to the classical rule book, with 73/73 angles in the larger frames, steepening up the seat tube and slackening off the fork a bit in the smaller sizes. The top tube is, of course, as flat as the Norwegian after-party at the World Champs road race.

The Osprey is finished in cream and blue-grey and ours is built up with a mish-mash of silver componentry, Brooks saddle and bar tape and classic dimpled mudguards. It looks very fine indeed, and has already drawn plenty of admiring glances. The proof of this particular pudding is in the riding though, so we’ll report back when we’ve thrashed it round the lanes a bit more…

Chris Chance on Cycle EXIF

WHAT A BEAUTY

Chris Chance is a bastion of the American old guard of custom frame building. He started building road frames in 1977, and his mountain bike frame, The Fat Chance, in 1982. Pre-MTB road frames are highly desirable to collectors of American rolling steel, and Mac Spikes is one such enthusiast. So far his collection consists of a 1987 Fat Chance Tandem, a 1985 Fat Chance kicker MTB, a rare pista frame and several Chris Chance road bikes, including this one, a custom frame from 1997.

With a paint job colorful enough to rival Italian steeds of the era, it’s a singular example of Chris Chance’s enigmatic work. Mac has built it up with a Campagnolo Athena gruppo, and while the limited edition ‘Contador’ LOOK Keo pedals aren’t period correct, the yellow is a perfect match. Sometimes that’s just as important. Check out Mac’s collection on his flickr.

 

Read more: http://www.cycleexif.com/chris-chance-cycles#ixzz1Yn6ZeOsr

Beautiful Colnago for sale on eBay

So tempted to pull the trigger but I cant justify it

See auction here

COLNAGO ALTAIN CRMO STEEL FRAME BIKE 54CM 10 SPEED – MANY EXTRAS

CAMPAG RECORD 10SP CARBON SHIFTERS AND FRONT MECH

CAMPAG CHORUS REAR MECH / CHAIN SET / CASSETTE AND BRAKES

COLNAGO SEAT / HEADSET AND HEAD TUBE

CARBON SEATUBE. ITM HANDLEBARS AND MILLENIUM CARBON FORKS

WHEELS – TWO SETS (1 TUBULAR, 1 CLINCHER) – BOTH WITH CAMPAG RECORD HUBS (THESE HUBS ALONE COST ABOUT £300 A PAIR)

TUBULAR –   REAR MAVIC MACH 2 RIM WITH VITTORIA COMP.RALLY TUB

                    FRONT MAVIC REFLEX RIM WITH VITTORIA COMP.RALLY TUB

CLINCHER – FRONT AND REAR MAVIC OPEN PRO RIMS WITH SCHWABE STELVIO LIGHT TYRES

ALL WHEELS WERE HAND BUILT BY ALASTAIR GOW OF CLACHAN OF CAMPSIE (HE BUILT SOME OF OBREE’S WHEELS !).

I BOUGHT THE FRAME FROM THE USA FROM A MOUNTAIN BIKER WHO HAD IT MADE UP BUT DIDN’T TAKE TO ROAD BIKING AND BUILT IT UP MYSELF WITH THE BEST PARTS I COULD AFFORD AT THE TIME. IT HAS NOT SEEN ANY RAIN AND THERE LIES THE PROBLEM. LIVING IN THE WEST OF SCOTLAND I HAVE ONLY MANAGED TO RIDE IT TWO OR THREE TIMES IN THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS AND IT IS IN PRETTY GOOD NICK.I RECKON IT HAS ONLY DONE A COUPLE OF HUNDED MILES MAX. ALSO AT 54CM CENTER HUB TO TOP OF SEAT TUBE IT IS PERHAPS A LITTLE BIG FOR ME AT 5FOOT 7 INCHES.

 

 

ALSO INCLUDED ARE SPARE COLNAGO 50th CENTENARY FRONT RINGS BUT PEDALS NOT INCLUDED.

SO ONE BIKE WITH TWO SETS OF WHEELS AND SPARE CHAINRINGS. CAN BE COLLECTED

 

A pashley for 6 grand

you have to be having a giraffe – a steel roadie for 6 grand – makes the steel Condor bikes and even a custom Italian Pegoretti or 3Rensho seem like pocketmoney territory ….

from ROAD.cc

Pashley are making a splash at this year’s Eurobike with the prototype of their new super-high end all steel Sprinter race bike, the Stratford on Avon company is also reviving the GB component brand and the new sprinter features GB bars, stem and seatpost.

Made from Columbus XCR tubing built up using hand made lugs with classic road bike geometry – parallel 74° the frame weighs a claimed 1.7Kg, in all its polished glory. Oh yeah, and it’s got a solid silver headbadge.

Noises from Pashley are that Sprinter will be available as a complete bike built up with Campagnolo Super Record and it’s likely to cost around £6,000. That sounds a lot but then talking to Paul Vincent, ex-Cycling Plus tech ed and the co-designer of the Sprinter it becomes clear that an awful lot of development time and man hours, have gone in to both the bike and the components it’s built up with.

The GB bars (GB stands for Gerry Burgess) are made from aluminium but the stem is milled from a solid billet of ultra-hard bespoke Reynolds stainless steel tubing as are the frame lugs. That Reynolds tubing is so hard that it is very difficult to polish.

There will be more GB products on the way including track nuts, toe clips and a seatpost made in the same way as that stem.

Pashley are marketing GB componenets as a joint venture with Jeremy Burgess son of the late Gerry Burgess and they will be making the components available to other manufacturers… but only if they manufacture in the UK.

Built in U Lock on bike – great idea

I have just seen this now – was done in 2009 but what a great idea – Tony Pereira of Pereira Cycles in Portland, Oregon, has put together this super-customized bike as an entry into the “Oregon Manifest Constructor’s Design Challenge.” The bike has several rather nice mods, including a hand-made taillight and a color-matched frame-pump, but what caught our eye is the integrated U-lock pictured above.

The lock is from Kryptonite and the actual Kryptonite locking core is now inside the steerer tube. The other end slots into a hole in the top-tube, thankfully surrounded by steel and not paint to keep you from chipping things.

Bringing new meaning to the advantages of shopping locally, the bike is made to lock easily to the “Portland Staple” bike rack, and sits in a slot in the included handlebar-mounted bag when you ride. No, the lock doesn’t protect either of your wheels but it looks ideal for a quick in-and-out of the store trip.

More tables on bike steel

older reynolds tubing chart

Columbus Steel

oria Steel

tange steel

true temper steel

Vitus Steel