Calfee Dragonfly experience here? I want to love mine but...

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hasbeen
Posts: 531
Joined: Tue Feb 07, 2012 7:17 pm

by hasbeen

My Calfee (which had a great broken Lemond V02 frame story behind it) was the highest end frame that I sold the quickest of all the high end frames I have ever owned.
Casati Vola SLi and Dolan Preffisio
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=108931" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;"
btompkins0112 wrote:
It has the H2 geo......one step racier than a hybrid bike

by Weenie


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michel2
Posts: 1144
Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 10:47 am
Location: somewere floating between here and the other side

by michel2

AJS914 wrote:What do you guys think about trying a comfort seat post? I saw this on on ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/171830865265

I also ran across the Ritchey flexlogic, and a few others. It may not do much for the Calfee as the seat lug extends up showing not much seatpost.



comparing all three bikes your calfee will be the one with the least amount of seatpost showing, the longer the post the more it has a chance to flex, i do realise that the post in the parlee might be slightly bigger in diameter but extends a lot more.

if its a 27.2 post i would see i you can get your hands on a ti campy/moots/lynsky post.
bigger tyres with slightly less pressure will make a big difference to ..

ipenguinking
Posts: 743
Joined: Sun Jan 09, 2005 5:14 pm
Location: Sunny So Cal

by ipenguinking

I got to ride my old Tetro Pro sold to a friend several years back. He lives overseas so I don't get to see him very often. What really surprise me is the Tetro Pro offers much less vertical compliance than my current Crumpton SL.

boots2000
Posts: 1394
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2007 9:28 pm

by boots2000

I had a Tetra custom in 2001.
It was a bike that I did not miss when I sold it.
Just nothing special about it.

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djconnel
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by djconnel

If you look at that dropbox link last page Calfee, despite being a flexible frame, scored last in vertical compliance as well as being the heaviest. "Vertically stiff and laterally compliant." People like them, though.

AJS914
Posts: 5406
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 6:52 pm

by AJS914

I do like the Dragonfly. I want to love it. I've said before that it feels lively which is hard to describe. On a very smooth road it feels like my fastest bike. It feels like it's 2-3 mph faster. I'm sure it's not in reality. It climbs nicely despite being a little heavier than my Parlee. Its worst aspect is that it beats you up on a rough road.

My Calfee's problem is my Parlee. I wasn't planning to buy another bike but the Parlee was a tremendous deal I couldn't pass up.

AJS914
Posts: 5406
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 6:52 pm

by AJS914

With a tiny bit of regret I sold the Calfee today. I gave it one last ride and it's a nice bike. When the road is smooth, it's exceptional. Part of me was re-thinking the decision to go 100% with my Parlee as I was enjoying the Calfee. Oh well, I need to lighten the load and clear space. The Parlee is a great bike in its own right and builds out a few hundred grams lighter. Plus there are always new bikes to try.

DeLuz
Posts: 405
Joined: Fri Dec 04, 2009 2:30 am

by DeLuz

I have owned a Calfee Tetra tandem for about 4 years.
It is probably the highest quality, smoothest riding frame I have ever had.
It is definitely by far the best tandem frame I have in 35 years of riding tandems and IMO the best available today.
Because I like it so much, I considered getting a Calfee tetra road frame but was not able to test ride one and was afraid it would be too flexy not be racey enough. So I am really surprised to hear rough ride and Calfee in the same sentence. Your Drangonfly sounds like the Tarmac SL3 I had which was super stiff and great on smooth roads but beat me up badly on rough roads. Replaced it with a Cannondale EVO and very happy with it.

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