P/R 64 report

Just after Thanksgiving I had a chance to build up a 64cm P/R and ride it a bit.

I used a set of 700C wheels that I had been using on an elderly Model F. They are low-end Shimano hubs and Sun CR-18 rims, both 32H.

I use a compact double crank and a single cassette cog w/ spacers in the rear that give me a 50/24 drive that turns into a mid-50s gear which works pretty well hilly Berkeley where this bike lives.

The wheels are shod with 32mm Bontrager Kevlar tires. I tend towards heavy duty tires because I don't have the time to fix flats. The performance suffers a bit but I see it as training for those days when I can get on to lighter tires.

The rest of the build is pretty standard city bike: mountain bars and V-brakes.

Like I said this is my usual setup so it's easy for me to compare apples to apples.

The first thing I noticed was that the uphill performance was not as good as the Model F. I attribute that to the 28.6mm down tube. Then, coming down hill, I looked for wobble.

The wheels have never been trued and when they were on my Model F, I felt a bit of wobble. So I guessed that on the 64 the wobble would be amplified by the light down tube. And it was. So I stopped the bike, rotated the front wheel about its axle 180 degrees and resumed testing. The downhill wobble was attenuated and the ride improved greatly.

When I get back to Berkeley I'm going to have the wheels trued and replace the front rack with a Wald basket (my usual karrier). Then I'll ride it some more and decide if it's a keeper.

We're still waiting on the proper 64s with the 31.8 down tube to arrive. But I don't think I'll use one. The 64 hits me a little to hard in the crotch and I think I'll go back to my ugly, but oh-so-comfortable 59cm 26" P/R.

This 64 is fun to ride on the flats. The extended head tube means that only a 10mm spacer was needed to get my bars where I wanted them to be. I think for folks who wear 34" (and taller) jeans, this will be a very nice bike. I personally would rather see it as a 650B bike but that seems to be a minority view.

Now let's hear from the rest of the kurrent 64cm riders. What do you all think?

-Matthew

Low Trail P

David Duquette just sent photos of his newly reformed P. Here's what he had to say:

Got the low-trail fork rigged up on my P62. Ride is definitely improved. I put a few little tabs on the starboard fork blade to hold the generator wire; the tubing was plenty thick enough to make a couple of tiny threads in it.

Anyhow, here’s the bike, all cleaned up.

David did a nice job.

The High Spark Of Low Trail Boys

I just got done making some modifications to an elderly Model M.

I replaced the fork with a 30mm trail model meant for a 26" P/R. Then shod it with 1.75" Paselas and added a new Wald basket. I bolted the basket stays to the low-rider mounts on the fork. It seems to work OK and it's pretty clean.

But the big news is how the ride has improved. I just can't get over how much I like the feeling that comes from adding a bit of fork offset. The bike seems to steer itself.

Onward to my next project: my own 64 S/L.

Quality Control

Mass collaboration isn't limited to humans. At Kogswell we celebrate the capacity of other species to help in the process of turning out a great product.

Here you see one of the packaging inspectors looking over the quality of the poly bags used in the latest shipment.

What do you think, Rex?

Rack update

We just got photos of the latest batch of rack samples.

Looking good.

The guys at the shop made me laugh. They were very concerned about the fact that the fender did not fit all the way up to the fork crown.

When I tried to explain that the gap was intentional you could hear the collective huh? all the way from Taiwan.

I'm going to paint my set red.

Vaughn Aldredge's handlebars

We get a lot of questions about the handlebars on the home page of our web site.

That bike belongs to Vaughn Aldredge and he had this to say about the bars:

We pulled those bars off of some Jamis city-bike that was in a state of disrepair at my LBS. I had originally bought the Nitto mustache bars, but the end handles weren't long enough to hold the cork grips, rotary shifter, and brakes before curving around. I spent a day searching online for a replacement - and really hadn't found anything that had enough space on the end bars for everything - but that also swept forward like a classic mustache bar. Before I found anything, my LBS called up and told me about the used Jamis bars. I'm not sure if they still make those bars, but I do need another pair (for a similar build - my wife's version of my bike) so I'm planning on calling Jamis at some point to see if I can score another pair.

frame art

One of the best frame builders of our time is Peter Johnson.

Here are some photos of one of his recent creations.

If you wonder what perfection in this discipline looks like, focus on the fork crown.

Bergamont Track frame

The good folks at Bergamont in Germany have a pretty new frame on the market.

http://www.bergamont.de/cms/

They showed it at Eurobike last week.

It's made in the same shop that would make Kogswell lugged frames if we made lugged frame (which we don't).

And it's painted in the same shop that powder coats our stuff.

The paint is a special mix and I like the color a lot. I asked the shop to see if they can make powder that color. Who's tired of black?

The one thing that I'd change on this frame (and many other track frames from Taiwan) is the wacky rear dropout/stay attachment. They use those bent out tabs. I'd make the rear dropouts more traditional.

Rack Progress

Good news on the rack front.

We got three sample racks and they not only fit well, they're also light, strong and well made.

So if all goes well we'll have racks and matching forks in time for Christmas, if not before.

I am so happy. This has been such a long time coming.

Click on the photo of the black rack for a close-up.

Michael Terraferma - get in line while you can

There comes a time in every great framebuilder's career when experience reaches critical mass and recognition takes a quantum leap.

That time is now for Michael Terraferma.

Mike runs a one-man frame shop in Miami.

The interesting thing about Mike is what his day gig has been up to now: jet engine welder. I can't put my finger on it, but somehow whatever it takes to repair jet engines translates very well into what it takes to make bicycle frames. I'm thinking that it's a mixture of care and thought.

In a table published in a recent issue of Bicycle Quarterly, one of Michael's frames was the lightest frame tested to date. And if memory serves me, Jan described its ride quality as "...lovely."

And while weight is not all that import, light frames expose their flaws more readily than do heavier frames.

I called Michael today to ask if he could build a fork for a friend of mine and as we talked I learned that his waiting list has grown six-fold in the last year.

I'm ready for Mike to make me a fillet-brazed super frame and I see that I had better get my order in now if I want it to be finished any time soon.

But don't take my word for it. Call Michael and chat him up and see if you get the same sure-handed, no-nonsense feeling that I get when I talk to him.

Terraferma Cycles Inc
208 Ponce De Leon Blvd
Coral Gables, FL 33134
(305) 444-4174

Want to paint your bike?

There's a magical little shop in New Jersey called The Color Factory.

It's run by a man named Bruce and he provides much of the magic.

For over thirty years Bruce has specialized in painting bicycle frames. And today he does it with the ease and professionalism that only comes from decades of practice.

The thing I like most about Bruce is that no matter what I ask for, his answer is always "Yes".

Today I asked him if he could: 1) mix up a batch of Kustard colored Imron, 2) paint my bike Dark Concord Blue Metallic and 3) paint a helmet Barbie Pink for me.

Yes, yes and yes, he answered.

And he knew the code number for DCBM off the top of his head.

If you want your bike painted, Bruce is your man.

Color Factory
23 Main St
Waretown, NJ 08758

Get Directions

(609) 242-0665

Leave a message. I did and he called right back.

Frustration

There's progress at the rack shop.

They're getting closer. And I don't know if that makes me happy or not. Overall I'm happy with how well they're turning out. But it's frustrating to have them be so close and at the same time to know that there's at least another month of communication and sample production time that needs to happen.

I take comfort in Lysander's words:

'...the course of true love never did run smooth.'

Group Buy

About a month ago we announced that we are offering a special price on a batch of 59cm 650B P/R frame sets.

Those frame arrive in LA today so we're taking orders now and we will start shipping them on the 12th of September.

The reason for the special price is that they were not built to spec: the down and top tubes are 31.8 instead of 28.6. Which means that these frames are a bit stiffer than the current model.

We're offering them in a couple of packages:

Frame, 30mm fork and seat clamp - this is the minimal package for $339 plus $50 shipping to addresses in the USA - options include fenders for $44, a seatpost for $19, a headset for $9 and a front cable hanger for $6



The complete package of all the items listed above PLUS shipping for $449 - this compares to the $650 that we charge for -normal- sets and shipping



To order a set please call us at 952-288-6165

And if you need wheels, please contact Anthony at Longleaf Bicycles - he specializes in 650B wheels including dyno-hub fronts and internal-gear rears:

click here to see Anthony's 650B wheel page

64cm P/R update

I got word last night that the 64s are done. This means that they will be here in about a month. But there's a hitch. Because the racks have not been totally debugged, the -new- forks (with the tabs for the lower rack attachment) have not been produced. So, if you want a -new- fork with your 64, you'll have to wait a couple months.

Once the frames go on the boat, we'll take orders.

And click on the blueprint if you want to see a larger version.

What Matthew rides

For a bike frame junkie nothing compares to the feeling that comes from slinging your leg over a frame that you've designed and had built. So for the last seven years I've been blissed out as I test each prototype Kogswell frame and fork that comes along.

Of all the framesets that we've produced , one of the sweetest ride belongs to the 559 (26") wheeled P/R shown here.

It's an ugly thing. The top tubes slopes way too much. And I think the chain stays are a little short. But I forget all that stuff when I'm in the saddle.

The tires on this bike are from Cheng Shen, the Chinese super power of bicycle rubber. They're 1.9" slicks with only tiny sipping channels. And when they're inflated just right, they float over every little road anomaly and only send up hints of what they've encountered.

The P/R geometry seems to be applicable to lots of different wheel sizes. I just spent three weeks on an older Model F which I fitted with a low-trail replacement fork. The new fork instantly improved that bike's handling and it became the best F that I'd been on.

And the other remarkable thing about the 559 P/R is that it shows what can be done if you combine the right geometry with a 559 tire. There are very few examples of good 559 road bikes, a couple of the XOs and to some extent the Atlantis.

I know that the world wants bigger wheels. But I'm going to continue to make a 559 P/R in my size and keep a couple of them around just because they're wonderful.

• the wheels on this bike were built by Jim at Hiawatha Cyclery in Minneapolis - if you need anything cycling, call Jim or Kevin, they really know their stuff (612-727-2565)
• the photos in this posting are Copyright(C), 2008, Kogswell Cycles