KVA stainless steel Form Revel

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CaptainP
Posts: 336
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2012 11:02 am
Location: Danmark
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by CaptainP

Any news about the '12 Red group. This is such a great bike!

Geoff
Posts: 5395
Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2003 2:25 am
Location: Canada

by Geoff

Ok, thats nice. The fork is perfect (less the logos, maybe).

by Weenie


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DamoRider
Posts: 154
Joined: Sun Jan 16, 2011 6:27 pm
Location: Dallas, TX

by DamoRider

Your frame would look even better if you bought the AX Lightness or THM fork I saw in the for sale forum awhile ago. One of those would do th eframe justice the current Enve looks cluncky...

Wingnut
Posts: 2196
Joined: Sat Jun 23, 2007 12:41 am

by Wingnut

Really nice...I love the steel bikes coming out atm...

Pantani
Posts: 853
Joined: Tue Jan 11, 2005 11:40 pm
Location: Eire

by Pantani

Lovely bike - the 2012 Red will make it even better.
Not everything that counts can be counted. Not everything that can be counted counts.

LeePaton
Posts: 220
Joined: Sat Jan 21, 2012 6:34 pm

by LeePaton

Tan sidewalls and it will be up there with my favourite bikes on here.

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dwaharvey
Posts: 470
Joined: Thu Oct 26, 2006 8:54 pm
Location: USA

by dwaharvey

That's a beautiful bike. I have a Form Prevail 29er that Daryl & co built that I love.
Its being picky of course, but I agree about the fork logos: its sad that on a bike this nice that the thing that catches your eye is a fork sticker. My impression is that you've de-logo-ed the 3TTT stem, I feel like the fork could use the same treatment. Unfortunately the logo is under the fork clear-coat, so it's a bit of work to do... if you're not up for it maybe you could call Enve though and get an equivalent decal in stealthy black and just put that on top to cover the white?
The other thing that I don't love is the seatpost / seat clamp transition: I feel like a black clamp would look a lot better and I'd get rid of the dumb Fizik silicone washer as well. Right now I feel like they break up the lines of the bike.

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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

Did u had a chance to weigh the frame before you built it up ?
Looks very nice, love the headtube, very nice work

Peter_E
Posts: 451
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2007 1:39 pm

by Peter_E

Great bike. Right amount of seatpost showing and slope for my taste.

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Miller76
Posts: 198
Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2011 5:08 am

by Miller76

@abuck55ru

Stunning, reallt looks great!! I do think a set of Hollowgram cranks would finish it off pefrectly.

How does it ride? Would love to read your ride report?

CippoForLife
Shop Owner
Posts: 1357
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Location: Toronto, Canada
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by CippoForLife

Awesome ride...I dig the painted look and tapered front end compared to my more traditional design (http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=110792).
For those asking, I'd say the KVA stainless is definitely stiffer than XCR, though not quite as smooth riding, however a direct apples to apples test is indeed tough, since the tube shaping and geometry indeed varies somewhat bike to bike.
Not sure about 953 - I've heard great things but it is pricey and a bit harder to source these days.

Happy new year!
Mike aka Cip

abuck55ru
Posts: 47
Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2010 2:38 am
Location: Virginia

by abuck55ru

Thank you for the comments, I am in the process of updating some things and will post some pics soon. First I have changed the saddle to a black fizik condor team edition with matching black and pink wrap. I like the look, but might not be for everyone.

I agree with the fork decal and am in the process of getting a covering decal from enve. I am currently building 2 wheel sets for the bike. The first is a retro styled set using h plus son tb14 hard ano, 32 hole front and rear,with silver white industries T11 hubs and Spain spokes. It should come in around 1600 g. I will be running grand bois Cerf blue (26 mm). These will be my gravel grinder goto wheels. The second set is a 58 mm deep carbon tubies using older zipp 404 rims, white industries rear T 11 hub and American classic micro 58 front hub. Will be placing some training vittoria rally 25 mm tubies on for now, plan on getting veloflex roubaix as the season gets under way.

I will be updating to the '12 red as summer hits, as I need to raise the funds. As my rings wear out I will be replacing the with some praxis rings.

As far as ride quality goes I love the feel of this bike. It soaks up much of the road with out being lifeless. I notice a very springy feel to the bike while out of the saddle either accelerating or climbing. While no true weight weenie bike, the bike climbs great, the frame material almost induces and perpetuates a climbing rhythm when the road turns up. Daryl tweaked the geometry to allow the bike to ride a little softer by decreasing the slope of the top tube, giving the frame a less " compact" shape. The bike has also been built to accommodate 28 mm tires. I hopped on my old crit bike yesterday, an aluminum hellafaster by van dessel, which I turned into a single speed town/bar bike and there could not be more of a stark difference in the ride. My KVA bike in one word is "refined"

Please stay tuned for photos

abuck55ru
Posts: 47
Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2010 2:38 am
Location: Virginia

by abuck55ru

Sorry for the Iphone photo quality, my wife seemed to have "misplaced" our camara. This is just a photo update, as I recently removed the fork decals. I will be picking up my custom gloss black decals tomorrow and will repost another photo. I also have completed my winter training wheel set. My 58 mm carbon wheel set is done, just waiting for tan wall tub tires, which should be here shortly. enjoy

Image


Image

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michel2
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Location: somewere floating between here and the other side

by michel2

am loving the pink !!
i had some pink accents on a fondriest once it was heaps of fun, everybody got upset about it !

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prendrefeu
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by prendrefeu

Oh, that's just delicious. :thumbup:
Exp001 || Other projects in the works.

by Weenie


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