and no.... it's *not* dorky, it's 'interesting'.

fsnl
sparky

true... i also don't like ti, fat tires or hybrids... so all this 29'er crap just flies right off my radar. all i want is a bike that gets me from point a to point b. fast. (and to the 'drome, once i move near one...) :p

Wow, what a tautology in that thread title.

I would love one of those http://www.vanillabicycles.com/. Crazy expensive though.

Love the waterfords too.

I'd debated getting a Kogswell recently then realized by the time I built it up, it'd cost about $500 with parts that I economically budgeted for. I love my bike now, and it's almost a perfect ride (my seat loves me on some days and some others not so much), however, I realized the Kogswell, while a beautiful bike, would be a stopgap.

So instead, I'm going to save up for a Vanilla.

yeah... those are some pretty frames... boggles the mind that the base frame price is like 1500 bux... then you start adding on money for polished lugs and upgraded tubesets. a bit too boutique for the working man.

Yes, it's pricey, but considering it's a custom frame and for me the idea is that it's THE bike, tailored for me, then worth becomes something personal.

That said, it'll be a while before I get one. A long while...

Be glad you didn't get the Kogswell. I was debating it too. But it has some sloppy geometry and a 135 rear spacing (enjoy getting the chainline straight using some mtb triple cranks, which is what they recommend, uagh). Got an IRO Mark V instead which is ruling very much. You can get this fully custom one for $800-900 www.jonnycycles.com/trackpix.html. I talked to the guy and he seems very cool. In the meantime I will be saving too.

Whats your peoples obsession with titanium? Its not as strong, and once you make it as strong its just as heavy as steel.

As far as the dream bike goes, I'm not sure on componets but the frame would be a double top tube track bike.

Yeah, especially since the wait for one is around a year now (or so I heard).

But since you mentioned Vanilla the other day, I looked into their web site, and man oh man, niiiiice bikes.

Yep, screw titanium. Real bikes are made of steel!

the same obsession as with steel. show me a 0.9 kg steel frame and I show you a 2.5 kg
titanium frame ;)
I like titanium because it doesnt need paint and it gives the ride that steel promises. I
havent had a comfortable steel frame yet.

Recently sent in my deposit for a Vanilla, but that will be a road bike, not a track bike. Though I have been having pangs of longing for a Richard Sachs instead... I may change my mind yet. I may also eventually get both -- if I hit the lottery. My dream urban fixie will be arriving later this month: a jet black super-light custom made steel roadster, with track dropouts, tight geometry. But it will have roadster handlebars, a nod to the gentleman (or woman) bike of yesteryear, only much, much lighter and cooler. I'll set it up with my trusty phil wood track wheels and it will be my city flyer.

Cinelli makes a bunch of new wave bikes.

I can't figger out what they do, but they are rad.

Check em out :

http://www.cinelli.it/eng/bici/bicic..._HOY_RATS.html

Dream bike here, but with carbon fibre kickstand. That you no have !!

http://www.classicrendezvous.com/USA...rsuit_bike.htm

I'd go titanium for a fixie/ss townie if the design was right. I have a philosophy when it comes to titanium and it goes like this. Because the stuff is such a nightmare to smelt, ( crucible reacts with titanium, titanium reacts with oxygen, throw half of the sh1t away as a result ) you don't buy it on a whim, and you don't buy the cheap sh1t. You buy Ti, you have it for life.

Don't have a bad thing to say about Sacha of Vanilla fame. Definitely an art bike worth having if it's your thing. Not super urban friendly, as every man and his dog will be out there following you around with a bag full of bic pens.

Speaking of those Cinellis, check this out, I laughed for a solid minute >>> http://www.cinelli.it/bootleg/eng/index.html Classic example of where the marketing doesn't quite match the product. Heck, i could be wrong - all the tough urban messers and commuters in Italy could ride Cinelli ZZ Rats. Sounds like ZZ Tops' official mascot to me though.

She's got LEGZ! 4 legs and some whisssskers!

I echo the sentiments on the Ti - if the design was right, I'd be into it. I haven't seen one yet that is to my liking but Thylacine, maybe you can fix that...

The closest ones I have seen would be Seven's (http://www.sevencycles.com). I got a catalogue from them and I like their lines, design and philosophy. Since they're custom or semi-custom, you can spec what you want as well. So yes - maybe a Ti.

Thing is, I've never ridden a Ti so I have no idea what the ride feels like - what Sohi said was intriguing, about Ti promising the ride that steel apparently doesn't deliver. I'm not opposed to the idea and I respect people who built with Ti, Matt Chester, Thylacine and the like.

What draws me to Vanilla and steel is the lugwork as much as the lsmooth clean lines of Ti's do the same. So I like both (at least aesthetically) and am not saying one or the other, at least until I get to ride a Ti one day.

I'm quite excited to see the finished product for Wk.

Me too. Spectrum is taking FOREVER. Those guys are just too good for their own good, the bastids. Luckily Willy is away this week so he won't notice :)

Ti is similar to steel but it appears to resonate at a lower amplitude/frequency or something. Steel can be very springy and zingy, but a nice ti frame feels slightly less so, so my intuition tells me that it vibrates at a lower frequency than steel, or something along those lines. I don't like to use the word 'dampen' vibrations, because that's plainly a myth as the body is the biggest dampener of vibrations, and materials have no damping characteristics in and of themselves. Each material, each frame design in my opinion has a unique amplitude/frequency in which 'hits' or 'vibration' resonate at and some of these vibrations are resonated at a more pleasing level to the human body, or at a level that the body can more easily dampen.

That's my take on it anyway, I could be completely wrong. I'm just a lowly Industrial Designer afterall. :)

*edit* Actually, the 'duration' of the vibrations could be seen as 'damping'....Hrmm........I really should stop talking out mah butt. *laugh* Yes, I am avoiding doing legitamite work.......actually I was planning on a road century today and avoiding it completely, but then 'overcast and 16' became 'sporadically p!ssing down with rain'.....

Sohi,

I'm sorry if you took it as I was responding to you. I was refering to Thylacine about

his comment "But dude....you're not Japanese.....you don't race Keirin in Japan....and you don't live in Tokyo. Snap out of it!


since he replied after my post. It is all good.

S/F,
CEYA!

HA! You're just jealous because you're a yuppie and you'll never be as cool as us elderly riders of titanium wonderbikes! Mwuhuhuhuhuha! ;)

i'm pretty sure that was directed at me. btw, thanks for the offer, but i'm kinda broke right now, and chances are any frame you'd have would be too big for me...

U never know til you ask!

S/F,
CEYA!

hmmm...

how difficult would it be to design a bicycle with an adjustable headtube angle [like ducatis have]

say 72-76degrees?

fsnl
sparky

Well, if you had a double eccentric in the head tube, you could get a frame with 2 different head angles. Ouch, that makes my brain hurt. Alternatively, two pivots and a telescoping top tube would also do it. Of course, adjusting your head angle is pointless because then you screw up your trail. Its easier just to move the front wheel back and forth a la GT's rigid forks from 1989.

I'd settle for a steel trackbike with no toe overlap and credit card thickness clearances. Pretty much my current trackbike, but 2cm's larger. And Ferrari red with chrome seat and chainstays, with 35mm black aero rims laced to black paul hubs with black bladed spokes. I think I'd also go with those 3ttt bullhorn bars in chrome that I couldn't find anywhere to save my life.

Either that or a tank. This way I could drive over traffic and still blow red lights.

An adjustable headtube can be seen about halfway down this page:

http://www.terracycle.com/adj_geom.htm