Puget Pounder

Picked up some of the following stuff because they were cheap and looked cool. I think I may have stumbled upon another project... The seatpost and stem aren't the most elegantly lugged pieces, but they sure are shiny and unique. They also weigh a ton.

ColonelJLloyd 

Nice. So you're on the lookout for just the right fillet brazed frame, huh?

cyclotoine

are they on sale somewhere? do tell...

Puget Pounder

Hardy-har. As much as I would love a fillet brazed frame I never come across them in my tiny size. I have been in talks with my friend who has been building lugged frames for fun over the past few years, so I might have him build me a frame. I recently acquired a True Temper OX Plat tubeset from an ex builder for cheap. He said he would use those tubes and build me a frame at cost.

Just some craigslist finds. The cheapest I've seen these pieces is about $80-$120 each online.

ColonelJLloyd 

Then start saving your pennies, brother! Do it!

Puget Pounder

I'm thinking disc brakes with sport-touring geo. I have to figure out what bike from my stable to get rid of though. Trying really hard to cap it at 4...

thirdgenbird

Ive been wanting to suble across one of those stems. Subscribed.

zandoval 

Very nice - I have two parts boxes one almost ready for assembly...

Its nice when you feed the parts box long enough to produce a ride...

RobbieTunes

Would be nice to have a Tange Prestige frame to match those pieces, though....

gomango

Dave Anderson has you covered.

Catnap 

that tange seatpost is gorgeous, i've never seen one with that lugged look before. i'm going to go search for one to buy now!

*edit* cool, i see they are easy to find. next question - how hard would it be to remove the Tange logo without damaging the finish of the seatpost?

Puget Pounder

Holy crap, that is hot.

On the post, pretty easy. They look like decals so maybe a heat gun will do the trick.

The stem, however, looks like it's painted and cleared.

Just to reiterate, these are PORKY and I'm not even a weight weenie!

thirdgenbird

That is a hot frame.The stem/post are so nice looking weight is irrelevant.

Puget Pounder

Update:

My friend who builds frames for fun has offered to build me a frame at cost + whatever I want to gift him. It will be a lugged disc all-arounder with a sloping top-tube. It will be my rain bike, commuter, maybe even an occasional cross bike. I got a pro bike fit and sized on a calfee sizer by my physical therapist. Insurance even covered me on it! It takes a lot of guess work out of the frame design.

Proposed build:
tange stem and seatpost as shown above
Soma highway one
Dura-Ace 9s DT, shifters, FD
Some silvery compact crank
Wheels? TBD - thinking about going with XT discs laced to A23s or maybe something with an annodized brake track

Stay tuned!

cuda2k

Veloce CT (PowerTorque) cranks are priced right and would work with your 9sp stuff. Take a little alum polish you could take the campy logos off if you didn't want the mix of campy and shimano names. Just put one on my Space Horse build, and aside from needing a huge hex wrench for installation I like it so far.



Also, I've got a set of the A23's on this bike too that you're looking at. Haven't ridden them yet, but hope to real soon. If they are half as nice as the HED C2's on the Kirk, they're a keeper.

Puget Pounder

I was watching your build over at Paceline. Looks like a blast! Haven't spent too much time on these forums nowadays, but gotta tie up loose threads like this. The A23s are the beez kneez. Not as nice as the C2s, but a lot of people I know think the differences are negligible. I have the A23s laced to Daytona hubs on another bike and wide rims really do a lot for the ride.

cyclotoine

Jon, were did you buy your Veloce cranks? I found 105 5700 series for under $150 shipped. I like the look of campy better though, and it would require me to get another tool, not that that is all that bad of a requirement.

cuda2k

Got mine through ProBikeKit.com along with the shifters and FD. They were on sale a bit cheaper, currently $143, but you may be able to find some discount codes out there. The NDS crank arm bolt is something like 12mm? The removal is the real **********?? part of it though, needs a pulley puller or something.

I agree on the wide rims, match those up with a Kirk Frameworks and you have a comfortable missile of a ride. Thing accelerates like there's no tomorrow but does so without ever feeling harsh. Paid the extra for the C2's for the Kirk because at the time I'd heard some issues about the seam joint not being perfectly smooth on some of the A23's, and didn't want to deal with that on the bike. Got the wheels above from VeloMine.com, $200 for the pair, laced to 105 hubs with 2.0 wheelsmith spokes.

ColonelJLloyd 

Can we do a slight thread derail and talk about the installation/removal of the Power Torque cranks? I'm looking to buy a Veloce compact (from Ribble) and would like to know what I'm getting into and what tools I may need.

Congrats, PugetPounder! Can't wait to see the custom frame.

cuda2k

Installation was fairly straight forward, installed cups (greased threads liberally), same wrench that I've used for various Ultra-Torque cranks. Added extra grease to the inside of the drive side cup, pushed the drive side crank in place (first attempt it didn't seat all the way, added more grease, slid into place). Non drive side has a little seal, a compression spring and the NDS crank arm. Locating the right size tool for the crank bolt was by far the most time consuming part. I'll double check (or read up elsewhere) but think it was 12mm that I needed, ended up at AutoZone finding a 3-pack of ratchet attachments with the size I need. I recommend ordering from Amazon for far better prices and diving around town.

Now, the removal, there are several forum/blog entries I've found discussing various pulley pullers that can be used, aluminum cranks have far more options than the carbon versions. I recall one site linking again to an Amazon seller that had one that would work for us U.S. buyers. I'm guessing that I'll be looking into one here before too long, the bike is meant to be a gravel / light touring bike so assuming I'm going to be needing to clean and service it eventually.

Oh, and PugetPounder, you'd best post photos of your new frame soon or we'll end up talking about Campagnolo EPS or something in your thread in C&V.