This entry was posted on February 25, 2010, 8:13 pm and is filed under Apprenticeship, Bikes. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
10 Comments
#1 by Robert Richardson on February 25, 2010 - 9:20 pm
Erik, that is a beautiful peace of art that also happens to have function. You should be proud of your hard work.
I stumbled upon your blog somewhere and have been following for awhile. Again, great work, and the welds are coming along quite nicely as well.
~Robert
Classy creation ~ Nice lines ~ Love the pain scheme ~ can’t wait to take it for a spin over Dollarhide to see if I can rattle those fenders loose! Great work!
So, how was it all accepted? Did you make the wanted/needed connections? Were your peers willing to let you into the “club”?
I saw a little ER influence into one of CS’s display bikes. Maybe Dirt Road bikes will start to rule the non-asphalted regions of the world and we’ll all know where it started. Can’t wait to see the Gallery of NHMBS! Good Show, Dawg!
The wound up fork is a love it or hate it type of thing (thoughts of a device for cooking rotisserie chicken come to mind). I knew that going into the build, and was hesitant to use it.
The reason I chose it over a steel fork is because I thought it fit the theme; a classic looking steel bike with a modern build. SRAM Force doesn’t really strike me as a timeless grouppo and neither does the wound up fork. But I feel that when you take all of the parts, frame design, and paint for this bike, it works.
If I had used a steel fork, it would have been a tig welded unicrown. I think the unicrowns look a little funny with curved blades, so I would have probably gone straight. I personally don’t like a lugged fork on a tig welded frame either (looks out of place)……….so the options were narrowed.
One more thing to consider, was that it needed to clear a fender plus a 28c tire. That throws out every single other carbon fork since Alpha Q is no longer shipping the CS-25, which only clears 25c tires/fenders
In the end, I think a steel curved fork would make the bike look like a throwback to the lug era, which I feel is well covered at NAHBS. That being said, I had the exact thoughts and concerns as you, but just went for the wound up. It’s hard to pick only one bike to display my style, which is why I wish I could have brought more than one. Next year……………..
“The reason I chose it over a steel fork is because I thought it fit the theme; a classic looking steel bike with a modern build. SRAM Force doesn’t really strike me as a timeless grouppo and neither does the wound up fork. But I feel that when you take all of the parts, frame design, and paint for this bike, it works. ”
Bingo. It works so well with the force group, carbon on steel is a great look, and I’m sure it’s functional as well. That bike looks like a lifelong friend.
Yep the Alpha Q CS-25 has its own cosmetic quirks too. That big bulbous crown really only works with the large tube diameter of a Ti bike. It looks like a bike wearing a fork with the skinny steel tubes. The wound up blends in (according to my eyes anyway), plus that polished crown looks good under a silver King headset
Saw this bike at the show, took a card and just checked out the site – and was glad to see the bike! It was a great build – everything is in the right proportion, but nothing is silly (like many show bikes). Excellent!
#1 by Robert Richardson on February 25, 2010 - 9:20 pm
Quote
Erik, that is a beautiful peace of art that also happens to have function. You should be proud of your hard work.
I stumbled upon your blog somewhere and have been following for awhile. Again, great work, and the welds are coming along quite nicely as well.
~Robert
#2 by Duke on February 26, 2010 - 9:00 am
Quote
Damn that looks good!!!
#3 by BC on February 26, 2010 - 4:22 pm
Quote
Classy creation ~ Nice lines ~ Love the pain scheme ~ can’t wait to take it for a spin over Dollarhide to see if I can rattle those fenders loose! Great work!
#4 by cd on March 3, 2010 - 9:16 am
Quote
So, how was it all accepted? Did you make the wanted/needed connections? Were your peers willing to let you into the “club”?
I saw a little ER influence into one of CS’s display bikes. Maybe Dirt Road bikes will start to rule the non-asphalted regions of the world and we’ll all know where it started. Can’t wait to see the Gallery of NHMBS! Good Show, Dawg!
#5 by Erik Rolf on March 3, 2010 - 5:33 pm
Quote
Thanks everyone for the kind words about the bike.
I think the show went well and everybody that came up to the table enjoyed the bike.
I look forward to doing some more painted stuff soon.
#6 by ba on March 5, 2010 - 11:09 am
Quote
Love the frame and fenders, not crazy about the fork. A steel fork with curved blades painted to match would improve things hugely.
#7 by Erik Rolf on March 5, 2010 - 11:28 am
Quote
The wound up fork is a love it or hate it type of thing (thoughts of a device for cooking rotisserie chicken come to mind). I knew that going into the build, and was hesitant to use it.
The reason I chose it over a steel fork is because I thought it fit the theme; a classic looking steel bike with a modern build. SRAM Force doesn’t really strike me as a timeless grouppo and neither does the wound up fork. But I feel that when you take all of the parts, frame design, and paint for this bike, it works.
If I had used a steel fork, it would have been a tig welded unicrown. I think the unicrowns look a little funny with curved blades, so I would have probably gone straight. I personally don’t like a lugged fork on a tig welded frame either (looks out of place)……….so the options were narrowed.
One more thing to consider, was that it needed to clear a fender plus a 28c tire. That throws out every single other carbon fork since Alpha Q is no longer shipping the CS-25, which only clears 25c tires/fenders
In the end, I think a steel curved fork would make the bike look like a throwback to the lug era, which I feel is well covered at NAHBS. That being said, I had the exact thoughts and concerns as you, but just went for the wound up. It’s hard to pick only one bike to display my style, which is why I wish I could have brought more than one. Next year……………..
#8 by DBR on March 5, 2010 - 3:46 pm
Quote
“The reason I chose it over a steel fork is because I thought it fit the theme; a classic looking steel bike with a modern build. SRAM Force doesn’t really strike me as a timeless grouppo and neither does the wound up fork. But I feel that when you take all of the parts, frame design, and paint for this bike, it works. ”
Bingo. It works so well with the force group, carbon on steel is a great look, and I’m sure it’s functional as well. That bike looks like a lifelong friend.
#9 by Erik Rolf on March 5, 2010 - 3:55 pm
Quote
Yep the Alpha Q CS-25 has its own cosmetic quirks too. That big bulbous crown really only works with the large tube diameter of a Ti bike. It looks like a bike wearing a fork with the skinny steel tubes. The wound up blends in (according to my eyes anyway), plus that polished crown looks good under a silver King headset
#10 by BB on March 6, 2010 - 6:29 am
Quote
Saw this bike at the show, took a card and just checked out the site – and was glad to see the bike! It was a great build – everything is in the right proportion, but nothing is silly (like many show bikes). Excellent!