Back In Black ... Or Something Else!

When the original leather cover on her Terry Butterfly saddle wore out, Marianne decided that it was time to move beyond basic black. Jason Moore at Recovered Saddle helped her pick out this auburn leather to be used for recovering the saddle, and he provided the matching leather bar tape. Jason did a great job restoring this saddle with new padding and finely tailored leather cover.  This custom frame is painted in House of Kolor chameleon green/blue, and this auburn leather also looks good when the bike's blue tone appears.

The opportunity to recycle that favorite, but well-worn, high end saddle is kind of a no-brainer ... why not?  Beyond that, this service from Recovered Saddle opens up a whole new world when it comes to selecting a bike's color scheme.  I've seen too many bikes with poorly matched colors on "not black" saddle and bar covering. I know that this is what happens when one is limited to off-the-shelf tape and saddles, but my eye is drawn to that mismatch, and it kind of detracts from the overall appearance of the bike. For my custom frame customers, selecting the paint typically is a big deal. Now they can extend that color scheme selection to include a complimentary - and matching - color for the saddle and bar cover.

 

 

  

Caramelos de Naranja Mas Hermosa

It was almost 9 pm when the UPS driver finally pulled up at Jose's house. By 11:30 there was an email on my phone ... "holy cow, what a beautiful frame you have created, up close the workmanship is just stunning as is the paint color, really beautiful and the rack is just a piece of art." Now, that's a bedtime story that I like!

Jose is a tall, lean long time cyclist who, at age 50, is experiencing a resurgent interest in riding long distances in any weather. He owns a lovely high-end Italian racing bike, but that machine simply is not designed for the fenders, front rack/bag and the wider tires favored by randonneurs. And, while he finds this race bike to be reasonably comfortable on century rides, I felt certain that we could make an improvement in that department too.

The result is a 63cm (c-t) low-trail Randonneur, as shown below in its mock-up state before being broken down for shipping. Designed for 700cx32 tires, Honjo 43mm fenders, braze-on Mafac Racer brakes and a dynohub powered front light, we covered Jose's wish list. The frame uses a collection of modern "standard" diameter tubes which were selected to mimic the feel of the classic Reynolds 531C tubeset. The fork blades are NOS Reynolds Imperial Oval tubes, set in a modern Grand Bois crown.

Since this frame features a front-loaded steering geometry, the project included one of my signature racks, built using a one-piece deck and backstop. In this configuration, the rack mounts to the braze-on bosses for the Mafac centerpull brake. Jose elected to do without a decaleur for now, but I always can build a stem-mounted unit if he decides otherwise after testing a stout internal stiffening system in his new bag.

Below is a photo of the Mafac Racer brakes mounted on custom-made bosses. This started out as a dingy used brake, but a few days in the vibratory polisher restored that like-new appearance. I also made a set of hand-wound stainless steel springs, which not only look nicer, but also are softer to provide smoother modulation with modern levers and lined cable housing.

And finally, let's talk about the PAINT. Jose was looking through Keith Anderson's photo gallery of painted frames and picked out a gorgeous burnt orange example. It turns out that he was looking at the result of applying an orange candy over a green-tinted base. Keith did that again, and the result is simply stunning ... even under the shop lights where these photos were taken. Out in the sunlight it is truly the Most Beautiful Orange Candy. But some of you already knew that, no?

The Case for Custom

"I love the bike, it's really comfortable, and felt that way instantly. It's nice to finally ride something that fits me!"

That's a perfect ending to a story about a classic case for acquiring a made-to-measure frameset.

Being tall, with proportionately long legs, Vivien is the type of rider that bike shops will put on a small stock frame in order to satisfy the reach requirement. The saddle gets jacked up extra high and, with the short head tube and a threadless steerer which typically has been cut short, little can be done to raise the bar to follow the saddle. (Even those popular, ugly clamp-on extenders have their limits.) That's how she ended up owning a Surly that, with a very large drop from saddle to bar, produced a lot of pain on long rides.

Vivien had other requirements which couldn't be found in a stock frame. She wanted an all-conditions rig with wider tires and fenders, but didn't like the toe overlap that comes with this setup on a bike with a shorter front-center dimension. And she would benefit from the use of lighter-gauge tubes in a frame that is resilient enough to work in harmony with her slender build. And, of course, there were all of those braze-ons for lights and racks that make a complete rando bike.

The solution is a big 61cm (c-t) All Road frame, with a top tube length like you would find on stock frames that are 6-7 cm smaller. The contact points design places the handlebar about 4 cm below the top of the saddle. The 650B wheels and the corresponding low-trail steering geometry help to eliminate toe overlap. The tubeset is a custom seletion of tubes from Kaisei, Dedacciai and True Temper, in light gauges overall, and "standard" diameters in the front triangle. A custom front rack completes the package.


Did I mention that Vivien's favorite color is pink? The assembly-day photo below really doesn't capture the stunning paint job, done in a shade called "Two Lips", but you get the idea.


OK boys, if you're out there on one of those dirt roads that figure into most rides in Vermont, and something pink rips past you, that was a girl. Understand?

Making a (Under) Statement

Branding. That word used to describe what ranchers did to identify their cattle. These days, the word has been adopted by the marketing guys to describe an intense competition to get their company name in front of the consuming public. Bicycle manufacturers, with a long tradition of including names and logos on frames, have embraced this new branding ethic in a big way. Walk around most modern bikes and you'll be able to read the company name from almost any angle. Does a bike frame really need to have 8 to 10 decals that all display the same word?

My own sense of style says that the frame's metalwork and paint should define the look, and that look should be an understated elegance. I have no desire (or need) to plaster my advertising on your bike.

All creative works, bicycle frames included, deserve to be signed by the artist. To that end, my frames carry a single, small copy of my builder's "signature" on the top tube. In the full-frame photos on this site, you'll have to look hard to spot this small graphic.

My frames are painted by Keith Anderson, whom I consider to be a valued partner in this enterprise. Keith places his own artist's signature in an out of the way location on the left chainstay.

From the beginning, I have adhered to this understated styling, not worrying if it might turn off potential customers. Recently, to my delight, I am being contacted by customers specifically because of this styling. They've never met me, and likely don't know anybody who owns one of my frames, but they've been searching for a builder who will hold off on the decals. Through the power of the internet, they've found one!

Cherry Cherry

Chris has been dreaming of a custom frame since the 80’s, when he fell for the classic steel frames of that era. His body type (long legs/short torso) doesn’t work well with production frames, and he told a familiar story of riding for “too many years on stuff that didn’t fit right”. It finally was time, he said, to obtain a made-to-measure frame, with a classic sport touring geometry.

Chris is tall, so working out a suitable geometry was pretty straightforward, without the interference issues that can crop up with short-torso’d short people. Built using the Columbus Spirit for Lugs (SFL) tube set, the resulting 62cm frame incorporates the geometry and features to support the style of recreational riding and light touring that Chris envisions. The frame and fork are dimensioned for Tektro R538 standard (47-57mm) reach caliper brakes at full-slot, and there is a full compliment of fender and rack mounts.
Beyond form and function, the dream included a vision of the styling and paint scheme. After I set out lug samples on the workbench, Chris selected the Nuovo Richie set. For paint, he selected a beautiful Cherry Red pearl for the base, with contrasts in a metallic Black Cherry. In these photos, the contrasts appear as black, but, in real life, bright sunlight turns on the imbedded sparkly bits and really brings out the dark cherry translucence. The result is a classic look, with a contemporary twist.

Ah ... Spring

It was quite a winter, with a record-setting snowfall, but the “good” bikes with beautiful paint are out on salt-free roads again, competing with the early flowers for a place on the color palette. Soon to be among the brightest is Leslie’s new All-Rounder.

From the start, Leslie was sure about wanting a yellow bike. As usual, there were lots of yellows to choose from, and the selection turned into a group effort as the chip charts appeared at skiers’ social gatherings. In the end, we nudged Leslie towards a finish composed of House of Kolor "Lime Gold Kandy" over a "Lemon Yellow" base, then crossed our fingers that it would look as good as that tiny little chip did. Wow, does it ever! In yet another masterful job by painter Keith Anderson, this finish is stunning. In the sunshine, the candy coat’s gold effect explodes atop the screaming-bright lemon yellow. In the shadows, your eye picks up the faintest hint of the candy coat’s subtle lime hue, but your brain still says “yellow bike”.

This frame needed a generous stand-over clearance, and had to accommodate getting the bars up there with a classic quill stem. I also prefer a minimum head tube length of 120mm with lugged construction. All of this was accomplished easily by designing a 6.3 degree upslope on the top tube, and using the new Mini 6 lugset, which was developed by Darrell McCulloch for just this sort of configuration. The lugs were carved a bit to achieve the style that I wanted for this frame.

Designed primarily for all-surface recreational riding, but with capabilities for light touring, this frame is built from a medium-weight selection of Dedacciai and True Temper tubing. Shown here with 700C x 28 tires, but the standard (57mm) reach calipers will accommodate 32mm tires with fenders, or 35-38mm tires without fenders.

And, being custom, Leslie got her wish for a kickstand mounting plate. This is becoming a trend.

Fall Colors

That's what she liked the best, the Meteor Maroon Pearl that she had selected after spending a few weeks with the House of Kolor chip charts. Nice, but not a color that really jumped out and grabbed me like others do. But that was when the forest still was green.

By the time that this Low-Trail All-Rounder frame returned from the painter, the light here in northern New Hampshire had undergone the seasonal shift from green to golden. When I carried the frame outside to view it in natural light, I was stunned by how elegant the color appeared in the Fall colors.

Standing there, staring at that lustrous Maroon, I was conflicted …. Should I build it up as promised for the next day’s inaugural ride, or should I just keep it as a centerpiece for the Thanksgiving table? Better judgement always seems to prevail, and I realized that our dining table isn’t large enough to hold both frame and food. What a shame.

The next morning dawned clear and cold, and Jackie arrived early for the first ride on her new dream bike. We picked a route to exercise this bike's great versatility, starting with mixed-surface backroads, then later heading for Crawford Notch as the day warmed. Watching her spinning along in the Fall colors made me realize that Meteor Maroon is one of those colors which looks so much better in real life.