Just the basics ... no racks, no fenders, no lights. And a customer who was clear about this being a tool, not a piece of art, so no fancy lugs. Not exactly my normal type of project, but there were fit issues to make things interesting.John is a strong, 40-something rider trying to balance family, career, and a love for racing on a bike. In our first telephone conversation, he described his body type as "hockey player", like many of his fellow Canadians. And then he mentioned his short legs.
With my encouragement, John went in for a session with a local fitter, had his current bike adjusted by a bit, and rode enough to conclude that he liked the new arrangement. Using that model for the rider's contact point dimensions, I designed the frame shown above.
The 49.5cm (c-t) seat tube provides the amount of standover clearance which John requested, and the 6 degree upslope on the top tube places the top of the head tube up high enough to keep the stem spacer stack reasonable. The longer stem works with a good amount of saddle setback to balance the rider over a 98.3cm wheelbase, creating this agile little racing machine. The frame was built with the Columbus Spirit for Lugs tubeset, which is manufactured with the longer butted ends that are essential for fabaricating such a small frame. The styling is kept simple with the Llewellyn Mini-6 lug set and the new Pacenti Mitsugi fork crown.
The paint is a high "sparkle" content metallic silver, which is very reflective. With this base, the clearcoat tends to pick up and emit a faint hint of nearby bright colors, which is a pretty cool effect.Update ..... John sent this photo of the bike, built up old-school style with toe clip pedals, DT friction shifters operating a 2x7 drive train, and a Modolo master pro brakeset. Quality parts throughout, including the Campy Ti seatpost and the beautiful leather Berthoud Ti race saddle. Nice job, John!
