Originally Posted by
doctor j
You'll probably get a speeding ticket on that thing!
Sadly, like the rest of my bikes, it will be saddled with a tired old motor.
Originally Posted by
NOS88
How closely does the new frame match the one with which you'll be sharing parts?
Frighteningly close. The numbers are all the same, and holding the bottom brackets together, one shadows the other. They're both of mid-to-late-90s vintage, so I could even swap forks if I wanted to. For that matter, Yellow Bike's Wound Up fork is also 1" (albeit carbon threadless). I could swap that (and the headsets) around to learn about the different forks too.
Originally Posted by
BluesDawg
I'm curious about one thing. Why a quill to 1-1/8" stem adapter instead of a quill stem?
Perhaps the final build with be a quill stem. For now, since Blue Steel has a quill adapter, I'll get one for the Litespeed too in order to make changeovers easier. I intend to swap the parts back and forth a few times before winter.
Originally Posted by
cyclinfool
My riding buddy switched from steel to ti - he still likes the feel of steel but like the responsiveness of his moots Ti even better.
That's what I'm hoping to discern. Interestingly, Blue Steel rides just as nice as the Portland, which is a high-quality aluminum frame. I know it's heresy to say an AL bike rides as nice as a steel one. They feel different--no doubt--but I can't say one rides any better than the other.
There's another school of thought that says it's not so much the material as the build--geometry, tubing thickness, diameters and butting--that makes the difference.
Since ultimately, all this leads to at least one, perhaps more, custom frames, I want to learn for myself--though my own experience--what's what WRT materials and builds before I commission a custom frame. Meanwhile, I already have my eye on a carbon frame that's very similar geometry to these two.