Strawberry! [photos]
 

I'd been riding the Peugeot UO-8 around for a while and I decided I wanted something a little nicer. I began a search for a nice frame with beat-up paint (I live in NYC, the paint gets destroyed as it is, and having a shiny bike is a greater theft target). I found this on eBay in my size - after a lot of back and forth, I decided to go for it. Almost lost at the last minute, and cranked my bid up to $300. Won the frame and fork for a little less than that, but got an email from the seller - apparently there was a ding on the top tube. I decided that since I'd probably be adding several more in the future, it wasn't an issue, but he was super nice and knocked $90 off the price anyway. Hooray! The tubing is Columbus SLX, hand-made in Oregon. Frame and fork weigh about 5lb. It really is beautiful, and the crappy rattle-can paint job is kind of growing on me. Seller believed the fork is the original color.

I had found a Trek in the trash that was too big for me - I stripped all the parts off and donated the frame to the local bike co-op. Most of those parts came to the Strawberry. After a couple of nights at the co-op last November I had built myself my first fixed gear, and the first nice bike I've owned. I eventually upgraded the cranks to some Ofmega track cranks and had to have a shop help me with the BB since I had no idea what length or taper was necessary.

From what I can gather, Strawberry patented the integrated binder bolt into the top tube, as I haven't seen it anywhere else. Not many others used the wishbone stay on road bikes either. Lugs are filed super flat.

The bike may end up back as a road bike in the future, but I'm certainly not letting go of it (there's no way I'm grinding/cutting anything off this bike). It fits me about perfectly and it rides beautifully. Kind of a mish-mash of parts, but there's a lot of love (and blood, those lugs are sharp) in it.

Frame/fork: Strawberry, serial# SRC139
Bars: 3TTT road drops
Stem: no-name road stem
Headset: Oldschool Dura-Ace
Wheels: Formula/CXP22 combo
Tires: Rubino Pro
BB: Miche adjustable
Cranks: Ofmega 'Super Competizione' with matching ring, 52t
Cog: EAI 18t
Seatpost: generic Sakae
Brake: 105
Saddle: Specialized BG
Pedals: MKS GR-9
Clips: MKS
Straps: EAI

Pictures!
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1205/...25aa7cf0_o.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1340/...1e069849_o.jpg

Looove that frame. ANd, all due respect to Andy Newlands, that paint job may be an improvement over the original.

That's one sexy seatstay. Nice build. I know one thing - if I were a bike thief in NYC, I'd steal the bikes with art in the rear spokes. Haven't the thieves become hip to the stealth fixies?

Well, technically this IS a variation, but Legnano was famous for their seatcluster with pinchbolt that looked like this:
http://www.wooljersey.com/gallery/v/..._2179.jpg.html
and were doing that in the '50s, if not earlier. Anyhow, it certainly doesn't detract from the quality of your Strawberry (NICE!)...is he still building? I seem to recall seeing Strawberrys at the NAHBS in San Jose, or was I halucinating?

Well, it gets a NYC Krypto U around the front/frame/pole and another U around the rear/frame and a rare earth magnet in the seat binder bolt. It'd definitely be possible to steal, but in the end there's really only about $6-700 in the whole bike - most of the parts are pretty generic.

Andy still has bikes for sale, and it looks like he's still building: http://www.strawberrybicycle.com/

Strawberry enjoys a very good reputation in these parts and they've been around for quite awhile. Unfortunately, they tend to be overshadowed here by that other ice cream flavor - Vanilla.

Good find.

55/Rad

The info I found (CR ARchives) indicates the patent is lapsed. Zunow, Mondonico, Gianni Motta, come to mind as others to have used wishbone stays. I like the look, some do not.

Can somebody please explain spoke cards to me? I just don't get it.

By the way, I like that frame!

I'm not sure how it is where you live, but in NYC a lot of people who have bikes (particularly fixed gear) use them as their primary mode of transportation - so you see them out being ridden, and you see them locked up all over the place. Spokecards are issued at alleycat races when you enter, and one reason to have them is showing 'i was in this race'. I'm part of another bike forum and I made us a spokecard to identify other forumgoers who may not know each other in real life. Both of these end up being good conversation starters, I ran into a guy with a Bike Fetish spokecard and I ended up being 'oh, wasn't that a great race, do you know so-and-so' and things like that. I also have a couple of stupid ones with drawings my friends did, and I did a spokekcard exchange here on BF. Sort of like bumper stickers, I guess.

Thank you for that! I still don't get it, but I'm probably about 40 years too old to get it.

It's not anything like that here. I've never seen a fixed gear bike here, but I've seen them in San Francisco.

I am new to the forum and love looking at the fixies and road and vintage and... Yeah! Anyways my question what is the rare earth magnet in the seat binder bolt for? Does it just make it harder to remove it? I live in the sticks at the moment but am applying to medschools all over the place and will soon be living in a city and want to keep my bikes safe so always looking for new ideas. Thanks!

..... i would think there would be alot of noise while riding , from the cards in the spokes ?

Cheers T

Just for grins, here's one that Brian Bayliss did, looks to have both the thru-top-tube binder and a wishbone rear:
http://www.wooljersey.com/gallery/v/...is_33.jpg.html

its a beautiful bike, with a wonderful, checkered past. Just don't get the hacksaw out and take anything away from it...those top tube cable guides are too cool~!

i am about as jealous as can be... I have been looking for a frame with a monostay for soooo long.

if you ever get rid of it i am first in line..hahaha.

sweet ride.