Road Cycling - Eisentraut frames

I am considering ordering an Eisentraut frame (custom).
Anyone here riding one? Opinions?

thanks,

Great frame builder, have a friend that has one and he was very happy with it. I think Eisentraut was in Oakland Ca. then.

I bought my wife an Eisentraut Limited (a 1969 model) and the frame is
impeccable. The details are superbe, I'd say they rank up there with the best
of the best when it comes to American Frames.
I have some reprints of articles about Eisentraut if you want copies PM me.
I'd say you can't go wrong with a 'Traut, and you won't have a cookie cutter
bike that everyone else does.

Marty

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I have some reprints of articles about Eisentraut if you want copies PM me.
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Marty

Thanks! do you have them scanned? PDF?
I have found some old articles on line here (http://bulgier.net//pics/bike/CoolBikes/Eisentraut/) and as a matter of fact met the Albert last weekend and will meet him again this week to start "talkin' bike" :)

an interesting tidbit... I was talking with Albert Eisentraut about bike materials (you don't want to know what he thinks of Carbon and Aluminum), and he says that Titanium is a good material but there aren't enough variations to choose from..
When he builds a steel bike, he has over 20 different types of tubes with different characteristics to choose from and he can mix and match out of those and make a bike that fits the rider and his riding style better.

I have one of his TIG-welded frames that was built for me in 2000. It's definitely the best road bike I've ever ridden (previous bikes: first generation Cannondale, Peugeot, Gitane TdF, and a creaky old Paramount with Nuovo Record) and a surprisingly fast turnaround of about a month from fitting (I was fitted in his shop) to delivery. High-speed cornering is terrific and I feel more comfortable on descents than on any other bike I've experienced.

This is one I had for a while: not a custom built, but a production bike built to specs for Georgetown Cyclery of Wash DC mid 70s "ALPINE" . The old fellow I got it from purchased the frame & had it built up here in Olympia for his wife who was very petite. She seldom rode it, so it stayed in pretty good shape. It was a 45cm frame & even being a little guy, it was way to small for me. I eventually traded it for my 52cm Specialized Expedition Touring Bike which has similar seat stay treatment. Don

Eisentraut Logo

Seat Stay

Bottom Bracket

Ollo ollo,

Nice bike.
Spent many an afternoon in Georgetown cyclery drooling all over the counters
and fingerprinting the bikes. Forgot about the Alpine/Eisentraut connection
till you posted here.

Marty

I heard the shop went out of business eventually & that Eisentraut only made a few (less than 20) of the Alpine frames. Don

I heard the shop went out of business eventually & that Eisentraut only made a few (less than 20) of the Alpine frames. Don

He still builds frames, but not on the scale he used to. His shop is in Oakland (was there last week) and the bikes he makes look amazing... :) cant wait..

"I heard the shop went out of business eventually " Was speaking of Georgetown Cyclery in D.C. who marketed the "Alpine" Bikes out of their shop. Alpine frames were built by several builders.

I am considering ordering an Eisentraut frame (custom).
Anyone here riding one? Opinions?

thanks,

Just wondering, did you consider any other custom frame builders? There are
a few of them in the Bay Area. Bernie Mikkelsen, Chris Kelly, Sycip Brothers,
Brent Steelman come to mind.

Just wondering, did you consider any other custom frame builders? There are
a few of them in the Bay Area. Bernie Mikkelsen, Chris Kelly, Sycip Brothers,
Brent Steelman come to mind.

I have spoken to a few people who had frames made by him, and some with more then one bike (over the years) and all agree that he is the original, an artist... I spend a few hours with him on Sunday and I like his attitude and thinking.. He gets what I want and has a good idea how to build it for me.
I will be there again on Friday with my current bike and we will go for a short ride together, and do some measurments... I may even get to work with him to build it.. how more cool can it get? :)

... I may even get to work with him to build it.. how more cool can it get? :)

That would be cool. Check out this site where this woman built her own frame... it looks great.
http://www.atnf.csiro.au/people/Suzy.Jackson/bike_frame.html

That would be cool. Check out this site where this woman built her own frame... it looks great.
http://www.atnf.csiro.au/people/Suzy.Jackson/bike_frame.html
Suzy Jackson has been posting and hanging around the frame builders list and Classic Rendezvous
list for a while. She does some nice work.
I'd buy one of her frames just for the novelty of it (and the fact that
I couldn't build a frame if my life depended on ti.

Back to Albert, while he isn't the original (I'd go with Wastyns here) he sure
is the father of modern US builders. most of the other builders listed in this thread
either got their start working with Albert, or emulating him. Not a bad rep.

Marty

I am considering ordering an Eisentraut frame (custom).
Anyone here riding one? Opinions?

thanks,

I've owned 2. The first was a 1989 Rainbow with the track fork crown and the famous seatstay cluster. The bike developed cracks in the headtube and was replaced in the late 90s by Eisentraut. The new frame is a Rainbow, also, but has more generic lugs. It has its own web page and is for sale:

http://home.insightbb.com/~dtresenriter/etraut.html