Sunday, January 2, 2011

Last frame of 2010


2010 ended with a tig steel road frame with a couple of nods to the past: # 1, I used some small collars on the head tube that resembled the style on a lot of bikes in the early '90's. # 2, there's a Tange wishbone seatstay casting , much like mid to late '80's road bikes. I have about 70 of these castings left over from when Bontrager in Santa Cruz got shut down. I think I have only used about three of these in the last 12 years.

The tubeset is a mixture of Columbus Nivacrom stays and True Temper S-3 main tubes. The whole thing weighs in at 3 bl. 11 oz. pretty light for a frame this size, the equivalent of a 57 cm.

3 comments:

Dave said...

Beautiful work Paul, I can't wait to ride it!

laffeaux said...

Paul,

What advantages do you see (if any) going with a mono-stay rear end?

Back in the day I owned a Bontrager Road Lite that likely used that exact piece. As a rider, I had nothing positive or negative to say about it. It looked kind of cool, but I don't think that it affected the ride that I could tell.

As a builder, does that stay configuration offer any advantages?

swiggco world said...

I think its all about the look. It might ride a little harsher but truthfully , I think the tire pressure makes far more difference.It's more difficult to build , even though it involves less steps than conventional stays.