Okay Fixie freaks, I've just worked out a deal with a sub-contractor and can now offer lugged construction as an option. YAY!

I pretty much just worked though this because I've had a few enquiries from riders wanting lugged fixies, and being a lug lover myself, it's kinda nice to be able to offer them as an option now, so I'm pretty stoked.

I have a preference for Pacenti Slant 6 lugs and Pauls or Paragon dropouts, but theoretically any style of lugs would be okay.

Only downside, is that now that I know more about lug construction, I can see what a pain in the ass it is, and how tricky it is to do it well. This is why all good lugged frames aren't cheap - there's a heap of grunt work in getting a lug to the angles you need, and a lot of pazazz required to keep the thing straight during construction.

why the preference for the slant 6's? imho, a lugged track bike should have a horizontal top tube and old school sized tubing, both of which aren't easily achieved with the slant 6's.

I agree, on the TT issue if not necessarily the tubing sizes. Either can be made with Kalavinka lugs and dropouts, he sells both sizes to other framebuilders!

https://homepage3.nifty.com/kalavinka/materials.htm

See where I say "....but theoretically any style of lugs would be okay."?



Thoses Kalavinka lugs look quite nice from what I can see, so I'll see if I can find more info on them. I have a preference for the Slant 6 because 1) Modern tubing diameters are stiffer and ride nicer 2) Sloping top tubes make the bigger sizes look less dorky 3) I like to support people involved with progress, and I think the Slant 6 has been a long time coming.

Sloping which direction? Sloping down in front is cool. Sloping down in back is Langsterish.

Yeah, I use the Langster as inspiration daily

Fred Parr just might disagree with you there. Remember the admonitions from his classic steel tutorial for tubing selection based on rider size, weight and strength? Choose one or the other?

That said I like the slant-six myself. It gives one more option to the custom steel builder who might now be encountering potential customers who got their start on 2nd O/S alu or CF reverse sloping bikes and who find the traditional diamond "old-timey".

How many here have seen a slant-6 frame under construction? Because here's pics of what Dazza has been up to. https://www.llewellynbikes.com/thegallery/album44

As much as Fred Parr has done to further the "art" and ministry of riding and building with steel, he could just as easily be the head of the UCI and the keep with tradition thinking that they employ. Old Curmuggeon is one term....

I think the slant-six lugs and bikes themselves are great looking. It is not a huge slope as we have come to think with the term "compact", rather a nice gentle 6 degree slope.

Aw look, I take what old school builders say with a huge dose of respect and a small grain of salt. I love lugs and I love old school frames, but to be frank, the 531 lugged frame is not the ultimate expression of a bicycle frame. Nice? Sure. The ultimate expression of steel construction? Nope.

From my perspective, anything that takes lugs to the next level is worth investing in, and I think the Slant 6 fits the bill there.

I haven't ridden a traditional lugged frame since the 80's, so it would be fun to try one out and compare it to my sloping top tubed TIG'd OX Platinum Tephra. Great, another project to add to the list!