What Frame To Use

[BobCochran]

@vvill 152961 wrote:

Open U.P. https://opencycle.com/up/ (a review is pending on Bicycle Quarterly, I believe)

Were you the one who noticed the photo of that bicycle on Jan Heine’s blog and made a comment about it? I think Heine must have leaked it as a teaser.

[vvill]

@BobCochran 153095 wrote:

Were you the one who noticed the photo of that bicycle on Jan Heine’s blog and made a comment about it? I think Heine must have leaked it as a teaser.

nope http://www.instagram.com/p/BPXvBZ7B9zu/

[Harry Meatmotor]

Bob, I may have missed it, but what’s your budget?

And like a few others have commented, IMHO you’re probably going to get best results picking up a telephone and chatting with V/O and building out a complete bike with Chris’ input.

[BobCochran]

@Harry Meatmotor 153112 wrote:

Bob, I may have missed it, but what’s your budget?

And like a few others have commented, IMHO you’re probably going to get best results picking up a telephone and chatting with V/O and building out a complete bike with Chris’ input.

Hi Harry, well the budget is really up for debate in my house at this time.

I don’t have much experience with different bicycle components. I recently discovered the joy of wide tires. Previously, I thought narrow tires were all I ever needed. Now I want wide ones. Inexperience has bitten me. So I have this urge to try different parts. My Jamis bike is never going to take tires wider than 35mm. Experimenting with drop bars sounds expensive because of the brakes. think I can get a Nitto rack on it, and I want a generator hub. The Jamis seems to suffer from limitations. I’d like to get experience with parts and then go to Chris Bishop with a pretty good idea of what I want…naturally with his input.

And yes, I do understand custom bicycles cost an arm and a leg. Maybe both arms and legs.

Being deaf, it is not easy for me to pick up the phone and call around. Luckily, there is email and the Internet.

Thanks a ton

Bob

[anomad]

Something else to think about is the tire profile on different rims. A 32c or 35c tire on a wide rim feels and looks a lot bigger than when its mounted on a 19mm road rim. 35c on a wide rim is close to what we ran moutain biking in yesteryear. It makes a luxurious commuting/touring profile.

If flats are a problem then think about adding 2 ounces of Stan’s to your tubes or even going tubeless. Out west I had a terrible problem with flats on my commuter. I ended up with a 35c tire with puncture belt, a secondary tube protector, and sealant in the tubes! Puncture vine (goatheads or sand burs) being the biggest cullprit. Heavy, but it worked for thousands of miles.

[Harry Meatmotor]

@BobCochran 153115 wrote:

Hi Harry, well the budget is really up for debate in my house at this time.

I don’t have much experience with different bicycle components. I recently discovered the joy of wide tires. Previously, I thought narrow tires were all I ever needed. Now I want wide ones. Inexperience has bitten me. So I have this urge to try different parts. My Jamis bike is never going to take tires wider than 35mm. Experimenting with drop bars sounds expensive because of the brakes. think I can get a Nitto rack on it, and I want a generator hub. The Jamis seems to suffer from limitations. I’d like to get experience with parts and then go to Chris Bishop with a pretty good idea of what I want…naturally with his input.

And yes, I do understand custom bicycles cost an arm and a leg. Maybe both arms and legs.

Being deaf, it is not easy for me to pick up the phone and call around. Luckily, there is email and the Internet.

Thanks a ton

Bob

I think you could build out a perfect touring bike using mostly V/O components with all the touring trimmings (i.e., racks, fenders, bags, dynamo hub, lights) for just north of $2k. I’d also recommend going tall head tube and riser stem plus drop bars with a good amount of flare. You can pretty easily get your stack and reach on one of the V/O touring bikes to match or be very similar to your current bike.

[dkel]

The VO Piolet checks all your boxes, I think. Can take huge tires with fenders. Can take 650b wheels (and 700c wheels), even on larger frame sizes. Has disc brakes. Has front and rear rack mounts and a crapload of eyelets for other things. It ain’t cheap, though.

[EasyRider]

@Harry Meatmotor 153171 wrote:

I think you could build out a perfect touring bike using mostly V/O components with all the touring trimmings (i.e., racks, fenders, bags, dynamo hub, lights) for just north of $2k. I’d also recommend going tall head tube and riser stem plus drop bars with a good amount of flare. You can pretty easily get your stack and reach on one of the V/O touring bikes to match or be very similar to your current bike.

Yes, I’d hold out for the latest version of the VO Polyvalent, if you’re a BQ fan. It’s 650b, designed for drop bars, has disc brakes, threaded low-trail fork, 47mm tires with fenders, rackable, etc. Prob same price as their other frames. The Polyvalent is like a classic French randonneur bike with disc brakes.

[drevil]

@anomad 153145 wrote:

If flats are a problem then think about adding 2 ounces of Stan’s to your tubes or even going tubeless. Out west I had a terrible problem with flats on my commuter. I ended up with a 35c tire with puncture belt, a secondary tube protector, and sealant in the tubes! Puncture vine (goatheads or sand burs) being the biggest cullprit. Heavy, but it worked for thousands of miles.

I’ll state right now that I’ve never tried it, but I thought that putting Stans into a tube (instead of a tire) isn’t very effective because a tube is more stretchy than a tire, and Stans is too thin/liquidy (compared to something like Slime, which does work fine in a tube), so that the magic fibers in Stans don’t have a chance to settle into/below a stiffer hole of a tire. Hope that makes sense

What size tire and pressures did this work successfully for you? Also, how did you get the Stans into the tube (removable valve tubes or cut/inject/patch)? And more importantly, how did you get the Stans boogers out?

EDIT: I overlooked that you said it was 35c tires. What pressures though?

The reason I’m asking this is because I have multiple mountain bikes that I can’t run tubeless, and I thought that Stans in a tube was not effective…

[Harry Meatmotor]

@EasyRider 153187 wrote:

Yes, I’d hold out for the latest version of the VO Polyvalent, if you’re a BQ fan. It’s 650b, designed for drop bars, has disc brakes, threaded low-trail fork, 47mm tires with fenders, rackable, etc. Prob same price as their other frames. The Polyvalent is like a classic French randonneur bike with disc brakes.

If my name was Bob, this is what I’d do.

[Mario20136]

@Harry Meatmotor 153216 wrote:

If my name was Bob, this is what I’d do.

I recently upgraded my 25 year Lotus Supreme Columbus SL/Frame and had it powder coated with Orange. I love the retro color and it sure does attract a lot of attention when commuting. On top of it, I recently replaced my aging Campagnolo Super Record with Dura 7800 Ten Speed drive train to include the shifters, brakes, crank set with bottom bracket, front and rear derailleurs. I also had my rear stays cold forge to accept 130mm rear hubs. It rides and shifts like a dream!

Overall, it cost me a lot less than purchasing a new bike. However, the current setup is limited to 700x28c tires which are ideal for my daily commute to work.

Of course, my dream bike is to own one of those “OPEN” complete bicycle. It’s too bad the complete bike is over priced for a whopping $6K plus tax. I can’t justify purchasing this toy especially if my bike is worth more than my car but seriously, it’s really a nice, light, and flexible bike capable of taking 700c and 29” tires. The closest bike that I can think of at this time is a Specialized Diverge or Crux. The specs don’t come close to Open specifications, but IMHO these bikes work as well.

Happy Riding!

[BobCochran]

@Harry Meatmotor 153216 wrote:

If my name was Bob, this is what I’d do.

Ha ha! I will see what I can negotiate. I’m not so much a Bicycle Quarterly fan as I am an grey-haired innocent with little sophistication in bicycle tech. I look at the cyclists around me and realize they all have more experience in the field. So I stumble, bumble, and learn. Like, ha ha, it took me some Googling to figure out the references in this forum to “V/O” or “VO” mean “Velo Orange”. Now I get it.

I don’t get how a Firefly or Moots product can cost over $8000. I figure that that amount must be 75% profit to the manufacturer. Just like cars prices: inflated because people are willing to pay what is being asked.

With all that said…I don’t want my bicycle to be an advertisement for Velo Orange, Moots, or other brands. I want it to have a lovely paint job in colors I select and no manufacturer branding.

[EasyRider]

@BobCochran 153219 wrote:

.I don’t want my bicycle to be an advertisement for Velo Orange, Moots, or other brands. I want it to have a lovely paint job in colors I select and no manufacturer branding.

Sounds tasteful … and tasteful will cost ya!

[vvill]

@BobCochran 153219 wrote:

I don’t get how a Firefly or Moots product can cost over $8000. I figure that that amount must be 75% profit to the manufacturer. Just like cars prices: inflated because people are willing to pay what is being asked.

Titanium is really hard to work with in terms of doing welds, etc. correctly. Also, they’re not large companies and they probably don’t get that much in bulk discounts, and nice off-the-shelf bike components are expensive. Probably mostly made in US too, although I’m not sure.

[trailrunner]

@BobCochran 153219 wrote:

I don’t get how a Firefly or Moots product can cost over $8000. I figure that that amount must be 75% profit to the manufacturer. Just like cars prices: inflated because people are willing to pay what is being asked.

I don’t know much about Firefly, but I doubt that Moots has a 75 percent profit margin.

[Author]

Posts