28 Feb 2011

I like to think that I’m pretty big on principles. I’ve done my share of CLM’s simply because I wasn’t prepared to ’suck it up’ and be complicit when I knew something was wrong, even though I would get ahead. What can I say, it’s a burden.

One of my top items on my Shit List is Don Walker at NAHBS. It’s pretty public what I think of the way he’s run the show and how it essentially has no principles nor does it care specifically for small business or newcomers - unless it’s a feather in his ego. On the surface everything looks shiny (ha!) but it’s not especially - especially if you’re privy to the undercurrent. It’s funny how ‘the alternative’ can somehow turn out to be like like ‘the non-alternative’ except with beards and Sailor Jerry tattoos. And even more xenophobic and exclusionary.

Another ‘notch in my belt’ as it were in the ‘Wow, just how punk-rock is Thylacine Cycles!?’ crusade, has been the inclusion of Gaulzetti Cicli in NAHBS.

Now, if you don’t know who that is, don’t worry, coz neither did I really until they were Smoked Out on Velocipede Salon. (Still waiting for that phonecall, too) Nothing wrong with that, because nobody knows who I am either. Gaulzetti is run by a colourful character (whose handle is ‘the jerk’ on Velocipede Salon) called Craig Gaulzetti who is clearly an industry stalwart in the US, who just happens to have pretty much the exact same attitude and job description as myself. We both run design focused, custom bike companies, we’ve both chosen to pursue the design and CS side of things and leave the welding up to people better than us. Clearly Craig is also a firm believer in specialisation and is fully aware of that thing that happened a few years ago called ‘The Industrial Revolution’.

There’s a pearler of a quote from Craig via bikerumour.com -

“….the happiest day of Ugo and Ernesto’s lives was probably the day they had enough money to hire some guy to do the actual shit work of building the bikes….so they could focus on the design and the business.”

That’s pretty much my attitude too. It’s only people who have no idea how things are made or have never been terribly exposed to heavy machinery that have a love of it to the point of wide-eyed and dribbling mouthed idolatry. Unless your Italian, then you just love everything. However for me, I’m just not that great with my hands (although I would make a great painter apparently) and I have zero mechanical background so the actual making of bike frames doesn’t really have a gravitas for me. It’s just one piece of a much larger puzzle. Heck, I’ve had some mitred carbon tubes and a squirty pack of adhesive sitting here for 4 months that I don’t even look at.

Turns out that I’m obviously not alone in this weird limbo zone, stuck between the man in a shed, and the man in the cubicle. At least I have a man who’s online persona is named ‘the jerk’ to keep me virtual company.

Of course, the main point of difference here, is that Gaulzetti exhibited at NAHBS, but as far as I know, Thylacine is still banned on the basis of Walker’s email to me - I’ll requote in case your not familiar with his double standards:

“Once you build your frames, in house, with your hands, you’ll be welcome at NAHBS.”

Judging by the fact that Gaulzetti doesn’t make his own frames, and neither does Mickey of Spooky, and that Tom Ritchey exhibited two frames of which the actual production versions will more than likely be made in Japan like the P-Series was, I’m left wondering just how outlaw Jesse James I really am.

Answer? I’m the real deal baby!

Badder than bad, meaner than a Junkyard Dog, and - clearly - bigger than Texas.

(Sailor Jerry tattoos not included.)

(more…)

Posted by warwick @ 10:38 am

20 Feb 2011

There’s been a healthy discussion over at mtbr on the merits or otherwise of Stainless Steel as a frame material.  Aside from an exchange with a humorless self righteous capitalist, it’s been relatively constructive!

It’s really quite difficult to make value judgements when it comes to custom frames. A nice, rationalised, custom-made steel frame is the baseline from which everything else is measured, and taking away all the emotive aspects of buying a custom frame, it’s hard to argue the advantage of buying anything else.  Barring mishap, there’s every chance it will outlive you. Even including mishap, it’s usually not re-mortgaging-ly expensive to fix or replace either, and when it’s outlived it’s usefulness it returns to the Earth as Mother Nature intended.

In the same breath you can argue that Titanium makes little sense. It costs about double that of steel (yet doesn’t command double the price), and despite being one (if not the) most abundant mineral on earth, it’s need to be produced in an Oxygen-free environment makes it incredibly expensive to produce. It has great fatigue properties, but it’s no stronger than 4130, so it’s not technically ’super strong’ like people think it is.  So essentially, you’re paying a fairly large premium for what essentially boils down to weight reduction.

So, where does that leave Stainless Steel, and in particular, KVA Stainless?

I’ll leave the technical aspects of the KVA tubing to the spiel on their website, and only deal with the practical everyday benefits for the small custom bike company and it’s potential customers.

1) Raw Cost

One of they key benefits of a KVA tubed bike is that it’s not cost prohibitive like say a 953 or XCR frame is.  Whereas those tubes essentially cost the same as 3-2.5 Titanium, the KVA tubes are half the price but not half the value of those alternatives, so you lower costs with no downsides.

2) Marketable Advantage

Titanium since it was first introduced in recognisable numbers back in the 1980’s has been marketed as some sort of ‘Merlin-esque’ material (pun intended) with magical properties that made it so incredibly difficult to work with that you needed to be a magician or aerospace boffin to even look at the stuff. Of course this is complete rubbish, but it has meant that it’s now almost impossible to sell any other form of bicycle frame as being of equal - especially if it has the baggage of something “big and heavy” like steel. It’s a hard sell, which is why despite the fact that XCR and 953 are much more high-tech materials than 3-2.5 Ti, they haven’t overtaken the marketplace.

KVA on the otherhand is more marketable simply because it’s price point should be in between the high profile Stainless’ and Titanium.  In the eyes of the marketplace, this could pitch the material as being “A Supersteel, but not treading on the King’s toes”, of being “Aspirational, but not cocky”. I think this is an advantage.

3) Availablity

One of the real logistical pains-in-the-proverbial over the past 18 months is the availability of XCR and Titanium. If you order in quantity and in advance it’s not so much an issue, but if you order when you need to like I do, it can be difficult to source sometimes. At one stage, there was no 38mm downtubes in 3-2.5 to be had anywhere, and none of the usual suppliers knew when more was going to be available. The last thing I need is more anxiety, so the ready availability of KVA is a real bonus. It also means (touchwood) no increases to leadtimes so that piece-of-mind is good for everyone.

4) Refinishing

Like Titanium (and all stainless for that matter), there’s the advantage of not needing paint to protect the exterior.  Whilst I’m a huge fan of paint, offroad it really doesn’t take that long for paint to start looking very tired, and the last thing you want then you’re a hard charging Privateer is worrying about your paintjob. For some, obviously ‘patina’ is all part of the deal and that’s fine too, but there is something to be said for the way that a raw finish wears it’s heart on it’s sleeve and is all business.

The unseen benefit of course is the interior protection of the frame. Whereas ‘regular’ steel corrodes on the inside, stainless to varying degrees doesn’t. As I can see where this could be viewed as a ’solution looking for a problem’, I also don’t live in the tropics or by the ocean so I really can’t say I have a good overview of every possible climatic condition that a bike frame has experienced and what the failure rate is. Again, it’s another piece-of-mind issue - one less thing to worry about.

Attached to this is also the maintenance issue.  Like with the guys that race Thylacines on their Arete Ti’s, if you opt for a Scotchbrite finish, at the end of each season you can simply refinish the frame and have it looking good as new. Even if you get the standard Bead Blast finish, you can also have that redone too. As the whole idea behind getting a custom frame is that a custom frame is “not just for Christmas”, this seasonal rejuvenation is well aligned to what I think at least is (or should be) one of the tenants of the custom bike business.

5) Modernity

Although KVA has up until now focused on the retro road scene, their launch of the ø34.9 x .8/.5/.8 tube has signaled their off-road viability, and the launch of the Tephra XK. Joe has been very open to the input from the more modernist and more off-road leaning of us custom guys, and this means the future of more offroad-able tubes are essentially a certainty. This is something that has not happened with XCR, and development from Reynolds in this respect has been painfully slow with the close to 10 year old 953. In fact, tubing design has essentially stagnated from all the major players, with simple things like no out-of-the-box viable ø31.8 seat tube, and no triple butted tubes anywhere on the radar.

So that’s pretty much it, in a nutshell. I’m going to be working hard with KVA to promote the Tephra XK over the next little while, so hopefully we can get people as excited about it as we are. It definitely has a nice niche cut out for itself already, so don’t be too surprised if the material manages over the next 12 months to find it’s way from Cyclocross to many other styles of frames.

Posted by brett @ 9:29 am

12 Feb 2011

Once the welding is completed, it’s on to the brazing side of the equation, followed by the surface table for all the various checks and balances. Erik’s QC has done it’s thing and given the first Tephra XK the green light. From here it’s off to Spectrum to get a fine media blast and a decal etch.

At this stage probably the next pretty pictures everyone will get to see of this frame will be at NAHBS, so it’s gunna be a long few weeks. In the meantime I’ll be indulging in that other pastime us cycling aficionados like to indulge in - the Dream Parts Wishlist.

I think after 20 years of Shimano it might be time for Campy.

One other interesting thing, is that just as a bit of fun, I’ve refined my frame weight calculator so that when used with the tubing weight calculator, I should be able to get pretty close to the actual weight of finished frames. I say ‘fun’ because the last thing I want is to be held to ransom over what something should or shouldn’t weigh, but according to my calculations, this 62cm (equivalent) frame should weigh in the vicinity of 1623g. That’s not really earth shatteringly light in a global scheme of things, but when you consider that my daily road bike which has the same diameter tubing and is made from True Temper OX Platinum weighs just this side of 1900g, you can see how lots of little bits of steel certainly do add up. Almost by pure chance, the butts on the front triangle for this size frame are pretty much optimal, and when you combine that with the lightest steel dropouts on the planet and svelte Paragon braze-ons, that’s what you end up with.

We’re off and racing.

Posted by warwick @ 12:03 am

09 Feb 2011

Now that the main tubes are welded, it’s time for the fiddly welds. As this is pretty much a ‘pure’ Cross bike (I don’t actually know what that means) aside from Cantilever brake mounts, the only braze-ons are a single set of waterbottle mounts and a mount for the front derailleur pulley. I’m using the large flanged Bidon bosses from Paragon, so technically they might be able to be welded on too, but I think Erik will braze them on as it’s the tried and true method.

I’ve also finalised the base drawing as well as the AU and International costings for this new model, so if you’re interested, drop me an email. As standard, the Tephra XK will come in a fine media blast finish with an etched downtube ‘THYLACINE’ and your choice of either the traditional Pewter headbadge or the new Machine Plaque style badge. Due to the fact these sorts of frames get carried a fair bit, there is no top tube decal. Pricing pretty much sits right inbetween the Tephra SL and Tephra Ti (or XCR), so it’s a nice addition to the line-up.

Posted by warwick @ 4:53 am

08 Feb 2011

So as if by magic, work has begun on hopefully the first of many Tephra XK Cyclocross frames. The first cab off the rank, is - of course - for me. Mostly because I can, but also because clearly I’m the most Test Dummy-ish of everyone I know. If it all goes wrong you can thank me later.

The XK is named so because the ‘X’ stands for ‘Cross’, and the ‘K’ as in it’s made from KVA Stainless steel. As I envisage most of these frame will go out the door with a raw finish much like the Titanium ones, they will all be adorned by the finest dropouts and braze ons from Paragon Machine Works.

This particular frame has been somewhat commissioned by KVA themselves so you’ll be able to check it out at the NAHBS show at the end of the month. As mentioned earlier, due to the fact that NAHBS has an incredibly stupid rule where subcontractors can’t show their handiwork they do for other companies, this frame will be with our builder Erik Rolf of Alliance Bicycles albeit with KVA decals on it. Yes it’s confusing and moronic to the point of ridiculousness, but what can you do? I have a penchant for wanting to help out newcomers and smaller suppliers and I’m a believer in Stainless Steel, so I’d be betraying myself not to give it a red hot go - despite the fact that I’ll essentially be getting zero publicity from it (initially at least).

Okay, so on with the build. According to Eric the tubes were nice right out of the box but “No XCR”, which is absolutely fine by me considering that XCR is not only in limited supply, but also just under twice the price of KVA. Although a seamed tube, there was some evidence of the seam at the end of the tube but nowhere else. You can see from KVA’s own photos how homogeneous the tube becomes after their proprietary processing:

You can see from this next image of welding the front triangle, that Stainless steel requires Argon backpurging just like Titanium, which makes for a cleaner and better quality weld. For these frames of course we are also using a Stainless Steel welding rod, and all fixtures and fitting are silver brazed on. This goes somewhat to explain why Stainless Steel frames will never be as cheap as ‘regular’ Steel frames as the processes and attention to detail are in some ways closer to Titanium production than Steel. Plus you can’t cover any boo-boos with powdercoat!

As today was build day number one, there will be more updates to follow, so stay tuned.

Posted by warwick @ 7:26 am

05 Feb 2011

I don’t like Rapha. Aside from their ludicrous pricing, I find their co-opting with framebuilders a bit nauseating, as well as counter productive. I can see where some people would see collaborations as being a good thing because by aligning yourself with other high profile companies, you mutually reinforce your position in the eyes of consumers : 1+1=3, and all that. Making yourself seem bigger and more hipster than you really are, despite your 200 dollar capri pants.

An example of this ‘counter-productivity’ is the current round of Rapha’s co-opts, and the one that especially caught my eye is the badge engineering (or badgeneering as I prefer) of the Cinelli XCR Critereum racer. Behold.

If you can look past the downward sloping top tube ugliness, the way too short chainstays, too steep seattube, and the faux black painted seatstays so they look vagely carbon, there comes the issue of value and quality, as if the former weren’t enough. A frame and fork package for this XCR frame will set you back €3750, or wait for it - AUD5000. That’s 20% more expensive than us in local prices, and substantially more in terms of US prices.

Then there’s the apparent attention to detail.  Contrast and compare:

You won’t find any file marks on our dropouts - just lovingly hand Scotchbrited for years of low maintenance service.

Also to consider, is that your five grand doesn’t get you full custom fit and geometry. The ‘Made-to-measure’ doesn’t actually involve any real ‘measure’, although in their defense, the bike can be ordered in one centimeter increments, in classically horrific Italian geometry (no deviations!) -

So let’s see…..perusing the table to find my size….

I normally ride a frame with HTA 73º, STA 72 to 71.5º, top tube of 600-610ish, with 420mm chainstays and a 200-220mm head tube length, for reference.

You’ll notice that even someone who would order a frame with a 64cm(!) traditionally sized frame is lumped with a 585mm top tube - a bike where even I would have to run a 150mm stem and the worlds biggest layback seatpost to get even vaguely in the right position. Well, at least the head tubes are a decent length. This begs the question - if Columbus doesn’t make downtubes long enough for these frame, why even bother offering them, and also, if you’re the mighty Cinelli, and -

“In an adjacent factory, Columbus Steel is a close compatriot to Cinelli….For this collaboration, the seamless Columbus XCR stainless steel tube-sets are literally passing across the factory floor to Cinelli to make the Rapha Criterium Racer.”

Do you think they could ask Columbus to actually make the proper tubes?  This is a five grand frame remember, and it’s not even fully custom in the way us custom framebuilders define as custom. That’s a lot of cash for bad geometry, white paint and a Rapha sticker.

Normally I’m not the one to bag out on other bike companies - at least not in public anyway - but this sort of badgeneering anti-design I find really quite ‘displeasurable’. I think those with an open mind and the ability to rationalise and see past the fluff can and will (and probably don’t need my help), but sometimes I think when the emperor has no clothes, someone has to stand up and go “Dude, you’re frikken naked”.

Look out of the new Thylacine XCR with special Icebreaker edition geometry coming soon to a showroom near you.

Baa!

Posted by warwick @ 10:41 pm

02 Feb 2011

I originally wrote a long diatribe on why NAHBS is so crappy and has so many deep flaws in so many ways it’s not even funny, but then I realised that we’re going to have a frame at NAHBS so it’s well on it’s way to becoming something truly great. Yes, that was sarcasm - it will still be shit even if we were there.

Today I did a deal with KVA Stainless Steel where we get to have a play with one of their tubesets and turn it into a Cyclocross frame, and in return we promote it at NAHBS and then wherever else we feel is a venue/direction to promote it.

Of course if you have a look at the lovingly stupid NAHBS rules, you’ll notice that companies like Thylacine Cycles that use American framebuilders and sell hand made custom bicycle frames can’t actually exhibit at NAHBS, so it will be on one of our favourite contractors’ booths with a big shiny KVA sticker on it.

What a great ‘Where’s Wally’ opportunity for attendees!

I swear, sometimes I’m so punk rock, I wonder where all my Sailor Jerry tattoos have gone.

But it’s all okay because aside from abiding by the rules for once, I actually get to ride one of the first Tephra XK frames as my own personal steed.

Giddy-up.

Posted by thylacine @ 4:09 am