Originally Posted by cmdr
That would be overdoing it - when did you see orange fenders on a touring machine back in the '70s? One would be more likely to see orange fenders on a '50s Jack Taylor or other English touring bike.
Originally Posted by pinnah
The figures I was quoting were from the published specs....
First, there's often a variance between specs and production with most manufacturers. So, the variance you're seeing could be from that. Monday's brazing versus Tuesdays... Also, different folks measure cs length differently. Clearly what you are seeing doesn't line up with the specs at all. Another possibility for the spec/production problem could be typos in the specs. Given the history of 44.5 stays, was really surprised to see 43.5 in teh '81 specs. I immediately wondered if it was correct.
Well, considering the 1cm+ difference between what I measured and that of the specs, I'd guess that the Trek catalogues probably calculate the chainstay length from tubing end to tubing end.
Originally Posted by pinnah
Oh, I think the sport tourer died off long before the current fixie craze.
Actually, I was critisizing the fixie craze for being part of the reason why current builders persist building their frames with steep front ends with forks to match.
I haven't followed the current builders too closely, but I did note that Kogswell (and Velo Orange) does seem to be leaning towards slacker front ends. That is all well and good, but I have a hard time accepting the appearance of their framesets - or their use of 650b wheels. Smaller diameter wheelsets = rougher ride. The 700C option is certainly welcome news, along with the news of smaller diameter tubing.
-Kurt