Tech feature - March 8, 2006

North American Handmade Bicycle Show 2006, part 3

Another relative newcomer Photo ©: James Huang In a bold protest to logic and reason, Photo ©: James Huang
Independent Fabrications has worked closely Photo ©: James Huang Crumpton Cycles may be pretty new Photo ©: James Huang
Parlee Cycles showed off Photo ©: James Huang Not sure Photo ©: James Huang
One of the rare installations Photo ©: James Huang Roark Titanium’s Multisport Aero Coupler Photo ©: James Huang
One of the more unique alternative Photo ©: James Huang Ruegamer also offer Photo ©: James Huang
Not one to make things boring, Photo ©: James Huang True Temper displayed Photo ©: James Huang
Full-suspension frames Photo ©: James Huang Is there a weld there? Photo ©: James Huang
Old Man Mountain Photo ©: James Huang Bill Rider was another builder Photo ©: James Huang

Handmade meets high tech

With part 1 and part 2 of our coverage of the North American Handmade Bicycle Show concentrating on all things pure in construction, James Huang looks at the performance angle when it comes to traditional materials

The handmade crowd has long been at somewhat of a disadvantage when it comes to performance. The forgiving nature of steel, both in its fabrication and during its use, along with its arguably superior ride quality, has made it the perennial material of choice for many builders in this segment of the industry. However, without truly high-performance options in tubesets, many of these frames simply could not compete well with the newly developed aluminum, titanium, and carbon frames out in the marketplace. Even just a few years ago, it was not unheard of for a reasonably high-end steel road frame to weigh in the neighborhood of nearly 4lbs while some mass-produced carbon fiber ones were coming in at nearly half of that. Ride quality and artistry notwithstanding, that's a big chunk of avoirdupois to overcome.

These days, however, steel purists, as well as the bicycle industry in general, have much reason to rejoice. The steel bicycle tubing industry is enjoying a self-generated renaissance of sorts much as the aluminum tubing business did back in the early '90s. While some were expecting the demise of high-end steel as a viable alternative, steel manufacturers have rolled up their collective sleeves to develop several new tubesets that can truly rival the alternative materials in terms of overall performance, such as Columbus' Spirit, True Temper's S3, and most recently, Reynolds' 953. Frames built with these top-end ferrous materials can easily come in at well under 3 lbs.

In spite of its deeply traditional roots, the handmade crowd here at NAHBS certainly hasn't completely shunned non-ferrous alternatives when it comes to frame materials. Well-established alternative frame material big-hitters such as Spectrum, Parlee, and Calfee were well-received in San Jose, and newcomers such as Ruëgamer and Crumpton Cycles were in attendance as well. In fact, out of the 64 builders who displayed at the show, no fewer than 15 of them offered frames in titanium, carbon, or some combination thereof, and a number of traditionally steel-intensive builders such as Independent Fabrication and Vicious Cycles were seen integrating titanium and carbon into their lineups.

Does titanium and carbon belong in the 'handmade' category? Some might scoff at the idea since those frames don't necessarily fit into the traditional handmade mould, but these frames are still built in the requisite fashion, one at a time by human hands, and often encompass just as much attention to detail. Are you likely to find intricate lugwork or heaps of chrome on a titanium or carbon rig? Well, no, but as the saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Photography

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by James Huang/Cyclingnews.com

• Time will tell how well these joints will hold up, but Bill Rider’s ‘internal-external’ fillet brazing method of construction makes for a nearly invisible joint.
• Bill Rider was another builder using the new Super Strength Steel tubes but joined in a unique fashion that he terms ‘internal-external fillet brazing’.
• Another relative newcomer to the custom carbon scene is Crumpton Cycles out of Lance Armstrong’s backyard in Austin, TX.
• Crumpton Cycles may be pretty new to the business of carbon construction, but the cleanliness of this joint certainly doesn’t suggest as such. Keeping a joint like this bare is a good indication of Nick Crumpton’s confidence in the quality of his work.
• In a bold protest to logic and reason, DeSalvo displayed a full titanium fixed gear road bike complete with titanium S&S couplings for when you just have to take your fixie on the road with you on your journey.
• Is there a weld there? Guess there’s no coffee machine on the premises at IF judging by this impossibly small and clean weld bead on the head tube of this 953 prototype road frame.
• Independent Fabrications has worked closely with Reynolds in developing their new 953 steel tubeset as seen in this stunning prototype frame. In addition to its amazing strength and fatigue properties, 953 is also a bona fide stainless alloy and doesn’t require paint.
• Mint Cycles was one of several builders to use True Temper’s new S3 steel tubeset, as seen in this outstanding ‘townie’ bike. Anyone need me to run to the store for anything?
• Old Man Mountain has made the jump from top-notch front and rear racks into the world of full-suspension mountain bike frames with this cleanly-built single-pivot aluminum rig dubbed 'the Boomerang'.
• Not sure if this would actually make it into production, but the OMM Boomerang’s rear disc mount is awfully clean.
• According to Parlee, using unidirectional carbon fibre in the lugs shaves a bit of weight (about 15g per frame) but adds an appreciable amount of strength to the joint. Moreover, Parlee claims it’s an absolute pain to work with!
• Parlee Cycles showed off their new unidirectional ‘lugs’ on their flagship Z1 frame.
• Roark Titanium’s Multisport Aero Coupler is allegedly the only aero-tubed titanium TT/Tri frame equipped with the handy S&S coupling system. Travelling triathletes should take note: airline fees be gone!
• One of the rare installations of a Chris King Perdido integrated headset that I’ve seen, as used in this Ruegamer Zen Master frameset.
• Ruegamer also offer the custom carbon treatment in a full TT configuration and also offer a full-featured paint facility.
• Brent Ruegamer is a newcomer when it comes to offering frames under his own label, but his lengthy experience in building carbon frames at another well-established carbon frame shop shows through in this unique custom carbon frame which features a titanium top tube and down tube.
• Spectrum have put together a package that would do well against any other Ti offering, but with a 'small brand' touch
• Fillet-brazed joints in this Rex Cycles steel and carbon wonder are almost too beautiful to cover up with paint.
• One of the more unique alternative material offerings was this steel and carbon frameset by Steve Rex. The concept isn’t a new one, but this may be one of the cleanest executions that I’ve seen.
• Not one to make things boring, the Sycip brothers even add a touch of class to this steel upper rocker pivot mount on their FS frame.
• Full-suspension frames were rare at NAHBS, but still present, as evident in this Sycip Double Dribble frame complete with a Ventana rear end.
• True Temper displayed a bare fillet-brazed S3 frameset, demonstrating just one of the ways in which this superlight and ultrastrong steel tubeset can be joined.
• Wound-Up has a new full carbon disc-specific tandem fork as seen on the front of this Co-Motion Robusto road tandem. According to Co-Motion, the new fork is lighter and stiffer than the aluminum-crowned version.