Falco Bike Design Diary -- jersey and bibs out...

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elviento
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by elviento

OK, gentlemen, good news -- a friend who is a designer by profession will give me a hand on the graphics. I am attaching a bike he painted for himself, which is good in my eyes. So hopefully something nice on the way.

Image

Just to answer a few questions:

* titanium frames are in production... The first run is just a smaller number of frames for myself and a few friends, being made alongside some European and American branded models (you know the story). It will be reasonably priced (for ti). Full custom option available as well.

* Re internal cable routing, the question has been asked many times: sleeve or no sleeve? The former will have less friction, and the latter is a PITA to thread. I have seen both on major brands. My design, though, is more about saving some weight cleverly. Attached is a pic showing the comparison. Pure high school geometry. 100mm-150mm less cable.

* I also cross cables on my C50. Here you can't do that. So, something you give up when going internal. And again, it applies to all internally routed frames.

* Prend -- nice video. It's always good to learn new areas of knowledge.
Attachments
Falco Cable JPG.JPG
Fast falcons: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3mTPEuFcWk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
www.falcobike.com
Facebook: falcobikeglobal

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
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Illuminate
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by Illuminate

Hi, just wondering whether you were able to post up some close-up pics of the welds on the to? Both bikes look superb- well done!

bones
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by bones

elviento wrote:OK, gentlemen, good news -- a friend who is a designer by profession will give me a hand on the graphics. I am attaching a bike he painted for himself, which is good in my eyes. So hopefully something nice on the way.

Image

Just to answer a few questions:

* titanium frames are in production... The first run is just a smaller number of frames for myself and a few friends, being made alongside some European and American branded models (you know the story). It will be reasonably priced (for ti). Full custom option available as well.

* Re internal cable routing, the question has been asked many times: sleeve or no sleeve? The former will have less friction, and the latter is a PITA to thread. I have seen both on major brands. My design, though, is more about saving some weight cleverly. Attached is a pic showing the comparison. Pure high school geometry. 100mm-150mm less cable.

* I also cross cables on my C50. Here you can't do that. So, something you give up when going internal. And again, it applies to all internally routed frames.

* Prend -- nice video. It's always good to learn new areas of knowledge.




I like your idea for cross cabling for less cable friction. Yes, it isn't standard. However, if you are gonna run full housing, cross cabling internally would really improve the shifting. I think you should go with your gut initial thought an do the internal cross cabling and not just do the standard cabling because that is what is on most bikes.

Its time for a new thread devoted solely to the Falco Ti. There are tons of pages here about the Falco carbon and it's very hard to find just Ti stuff. I mean, we are already at 15 pages, and I think it would be better to have a new thread to get the attention of newer forum users instead of the only same old people, like me, that are involved in this discussion.

Overalls, great progress.

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Tinea Pedis
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by Tinea Pedis

I'm in if you need a racer/tester in the Southern hemisphere. Look great!

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elviento
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by elviento

Bones -- I have played with similar ideas. The issue with crossing is that the Falco has two "nostrils" next to the beak, so they will be used for rear braking and rear shifting. If I cross the shifting cable, then I can't cross the braking. Maybe it's better to cross the shifting?

Unless I put the two nostrils on one side, of course.

Tinea -- thanks for the offer, let's work on that.

Here are a few larger pics someone managed to post somewhere (old graphics, so some of you will just have to keep cringing;-().

Image
Image
Image
Fast falcons: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3mTPEuFcWk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
www.falcobike.com
Facebook: falcobikeglobal

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elviento
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by elviento

Having received a lot of feedback on graphics and font, I am attaching below some of the fonts I am playing with, and as always I'd appreciate any input and suggestions.
Attachments
Falco Fonts OptionsA.JPG
Falco Fonts OptionsB.JPG
Fast falcons: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3mTPEuFcWk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
www.falcobike.com
Facebook: falcobikeglobal

JN2Wheels
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by JN2Wheels

My vote to 1 or 4. All Caps. While some of the others are interesting, to put your logo at the mercy of a font choice is a bit of avoidance. Design a logo from scratch now and use it to develop your own typeset, or go with a more basic font (like 1 and 4) that won't completely dictate your eventual logo.

Just my 2 cents. Glad you're still having fun!

HarryS
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by HarryS

If it was my company, I wouldnt pick any of those fonts. Then again Id probably go a little against the grain and use something classic like Futura. Minimal but strong without any gimmicks.

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elviento
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by elviento

I have definitely thought about those types of fonts. They are simple and elegant, and will surely get votes on ww, but ww's overall taste is not necessarily representative of the overall cycling population. The thought behind the more "sci-fi" type font is to try to fit slightly larger fonts on narrow tubes to gain a bit more visibility, and also the idea of fast moving objects. That said, I'd love to see some examples of such fonts on bikes. If you have some pics, pls do share.

HarryS wrote:If it was my company, I wouldnt pick any of those fonts. Then again Id probably go a little against the grain and use something classic like Futura. Minimal but strong without any gimmicks.
Fast falcons: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3mTPEuFcWk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
www.falcobike.com
Facebook: falcobikeglobal

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prendrefeu
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by prendrefeu

A few thoughts (from someone currently working on three different logos/identities for clients at the moment) -

1. Work with one (or two) persons on this specifically. Crowd sourcing and "design by committee" are not good paths to take. By working with people specifically, they can ascertain from you what your brand is about, the motifs and what needs to be conveyed both in the product and in what you want the company to be going forward. From there the designer(s) will select the appropriate fonts, global colours, and other items for your brand and work with you in developing them to perfection.

2. Logo vs. Logotype vs. Icon - three different things. Company font would be included within those three things, but also carry over to other items, not just the bike itself.

....

Of the fonts you attached in that previous post, I'm not quite sure what you want out of the brand. That would be the first thing... what do you want it to convey? What kind of emotions? How do you envision your 'typical' customer (in detail) (no, really, a very detailed description)?

Off hand, 11 is the only one that's really usable. The others are limited or connote somethings that may (or may not?) be completely unrelated to cycling and performance.

....

Also check for licensing issues since you're moving onto a commercial product.

:beerchug:
Exp001 || Other projects in the works.

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eurperg
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by eurperg

I think the frame deserves better than just changing the brand name to some another freeware font.

It's not design, just typesetting.

Equivalent case in engineering would be selecting the product from readymade generic "OEM" frames, versus designning your own frame and lay-up from ground up...

billspreston
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by billspreston

Image

bicicleta
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by bicicleta

I really like what you did there Bill :thumbup:

cmdr199212
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by cmdr199212

+1, thats very good looking!

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

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elviento
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by elviento

Thanks Bill. That's a nice rendition indeed.

Here is the graphics for the jersey and bibs. Had to take some risks from the typical jersey setup.

(the second attachment is something for a very talented designer/craftsman who will be giving me some help with a custom component. Others are free to ignore.)
Attachments
FALCO JERSY SM.JPG
FALCO ISP.JPG
Fast falcons: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3mTPEuFcWk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
www.falcobike.com
Facebook: falcobikeglobal

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