Velo Orange frames
 

Well, they're not exactly vintage but they look like it and are made of good steel! Does anyone have any experience with them? They seem like pretty decent frames for the price if you're looking for something vintage-looking but fits modern parts. Granted, if I scoured yard sales, I'm sure I could find something just as good for much less.

I went looking for the recent thread about a Polyvalent build, found another one as well.

VO Polyvalent build FINISHED!!!!! well..almost

I built a Velo Orange Polyvalent (bike porn inside)

I haven't ridden one personally, but I know a guy who has two of them and seems to like them. One is his rando bike, set up with fenders, dyno lighting, handlebar bag, indexed dt shifters, and 9 speed running gear (I think...could be 10 speed). He has another one with 650b wheels that he uses for commuting. DT friction shifters and 9 speed on that one, also with fenders, racks, and dyno lighting.

Pretty much any decent 80's Japanese bike will fit modern parts with little to no modification and can be had complete for less than just the VO Frame.

Add to that the fact that you have to be willing to accept a sloping top tube and a TIG welded frame...IMHO that frame is ugly.

I'm not knocking VO but the frame is not worth the money. You can get a basic chromo frame pretty cheap and then have a nice fresh powder coat of your choice put on for less than the price of the VO.

I suppose the frame is a good buy but the price is not a steal.

I think that the VO frames actually are a good deal when compared to Surly, Soma, etc...and they offer something pretty neat and unique...but those are by new bike standards. Personally, I'd find an 80s-90s bike, likely Japanese (as advised above) and do whatever work was required.

Maybe we're looking at different frames, but the Polyvalent frame is TIG welded while the Rando frame is lugged. From what I can tell, both of them have a horizontal top tube though.

I'm looking at the polyvalent frame.

This is it.

http://www.velo-orange.com/vopomfr.html
http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-8422422..._2113_10372204


It is TIG welded and has a sloping top tube. The slope isn't drastic but its there and its noticeable. The rando frame may or may not have the same slope to the top tube I don't know...i was just talking about the Polyvalent.

Are my eyes playing tricks on me? It looks straight doesn't it?

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4032/...728fb4f053.jpg

I'm not gonna lie to save face... yeah it does look straight.

I've seen other pics where it looks sloped, I was pretty sure I read it somewhere in VO's literature too but I've been looking and I can't find it. FWIW I found some nice closeup pics of the Welds and as far as TIG goes they aren't that bad.

Well, if it has even a hint of a slope then it's absolutely worthless and horribly ugly. :rolleyes:

"Not worth the money" compared to what? Riv's (Taiwan, IIRC) production line frames are two grand, and Soma, Surly, etc are comparably priced to VO. If you're talking used, that ain't exactly a fair comparison.

SP
Bend, OR

Compared to finding one in the trash, I believe.......

I know you're saying that tongue-in-cheek but I agree.

bike direct/ bike island sells a lot of frames. seem similar yet priced less, am I missing something?

My LBS has a Polyvalent (650B specific frame) right now. He's a VO Imports dealer. The TT is horizontal from all I can tell and I've looked at it a lot.

On first glance they don't look particularly special or "worth the money" when compared to a nice 80s Japanese frame, but you're not going to find a used one with all of the braze-ons, extended head tube and specific geometry that the VO frames offer. These frames were built for a relatively narrow/small market.

That said, I enjoy "re-purposing" older frames and that's why the few bikes I've built up have been about as old as I am.

Riv's Taiwan bikes are $1000 for the frame and fork - the Japanese ones are $2K, and they're getting rid of those due to the high price. YOu can get a completely built Sam Hillborne for $2K.

I also agree. I hate the look of sloping top tubes. FUGLY!

If I were going to buy a new frame that looked vintagey it would be the Soma Stanyan. $670 and comes with a fork

http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-3773699..._2115_12406903

+1...and I think they're cooler than Surly/Soma...certainly more unusual. The VO stuff is really unique IMO. Outside of VO, you'd pretty much have to get a custom to do what they do.

While I like the Stanyan, if I didn't get the VO Rando, I'd probably end up with the Surly Pacer. Then again, if I won the lottery, I'd just bite the bullet and get an A. Homer Hilsen with all the goodie bits...

I've been thinking about a fendered Roadeo - much prettier than a V-O.

I own a Soma. Great bike for the money. Better than the custom built Reynolds 531 Franklin I have. Some of us would like to buy a new frames and build it up in a modern way, but still keep it all steel. Surly, Soma and VO are a cost effective way to do that. Lugs and straight top tubes are over rated.:lol: I absolutley hate Nervex lugs. Deconstructing a bike and reassabling it with modern parts does not always work out. This is just an easier way of keeping the steel feel without all the hassles that com with reconfiguring a bike.

There are also plenty of people out there that just want something new and like steel. On the C&V forum I would say a majority of people enjoy getting cheap old bikes and fixing them up but not everybody knows how or wants to. They just want a sweet vintage looking ride that is shiny and new, and are willing to pay for it.

Just a DIY most of the Riv frames are now made in the US by Waterford. Only the mixte frames are Taiwan now. Some low dollar exchange issues I believe. Makes the Sam Hillbourne even more interesting to me. I'm biased from being a late '80s Bridgestone owner for a long time. I wanna see how the Petersen designs evolved.

Oh and I'd bet the VO frames make good bikes. Never understood the bad rap Taiwanese stuff got. After all millions of Asians ride them day after day.

fyi?

I have no direct experience with V-O frame sets, so I can't attest to their goodness or ride quality, but having converted a few 70s and 80s road bikes to 650B, one big advantage I can see with the Polyvalent is that you don't need to make compromises: You can use canti brakes so no need to search for long-reach calipers; since it's built for 650B, you don't have to fiddle or worry about fender line; the long top tube is intended to compensate for the use of upright city bars, plus as others have pointed out, it has loads of brazeons for fenders, racks, etc. I'd guess that a lot of them will be sold as complete bikes built by V-O dealers, rather than as frame sets. You can go to the bike shop and walk away with a complete 650B city bike for about a grand. If you're in the market for such a thing, that seems like a pretty good deal.

Neal

if you can ride a 59 here is a great looking Rivendale. http://go.bikeforums.net/?id=42X1295...t-II%2Fpage237 only $850 in Boston

http://images.craigslist.org/3p23od3...d766ef1cad.jpg

Thanks BG!

I have a buddy that is looking for one of these, so I'll alert him.

Appreciate it.

I saw a Polyvalent in person. I thought the matte black finish looked cheap and unattractive and not unlike a spraypaint job. I thought they looked nice online, but in person, they turned me off.

for the same price (or less) as a VO Rando, you can buy a Bob Jackson frame. The End-to-End and World Tour have all the provisions one would need. And dare I say the quality of the tubing, alignment, and frame build would be higher.

Yep. Long hot days do that to me. :D