Weight Weenies

shimmeD wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 30, 2018 9:06 pm

Filing back welds just doesn't seem to be done much (too hard or weaken joints? I don't know).
You could braze/fill in and over the welds with brass.

Rourke do that as an option I believe, TIG and then fillet over. I'm sure they're not the only one.

Is there a reason to both TIG and Braze beyond aesthetics? Is a TIG weld inherently stronger than a brazed joint?

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Not really. It’s mainly an aesthetic decision. I went with fillet brazed because I’ve always loved the smoothness.

Skilled builders can do either (and lugged). Ricky Feather can most certainly be counted amongst the most skilled. To suggest he can’t TIG because a customer specified fillet is wide of the mark.

I received my Stinner Gibraltar-D and I can say that the paint job is insane. I can't wait to try it outdoor.

My other favorite builders for now that don't rip you off like speedvagen, are Saffron frameworks and English cycleworks (rob english).

The only problem with English cycles, is that the waiting list goes up to July 2019..

I think you can also contact Firefly bikes, normaly they only make titanium bikes, but I've seen a few steel bikes ont their instagram, so maybe it's something you can do.

Matthew at Saffron is doing some gorgeous work. He trained Jake (Rusby) and they shared a workshop when I had mine built.

Are Rusby still going? Not seen much activity for a while.

Broady wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 30, 2018 11:40 pm

Are Rusby still going? Not seen much activity for a while.

He’s low volume for sure. Still going but I believe he’s had some other stuff going on outside of cycling.

Have you considered Casati? I bought a stunning Inox RS through RaceScene last year and both the ride and quality of craftsmanship are excellent. Every frame can be made custom at no extra cost, and the help I got from both RaceScene and Casati directly was excellent.

Rude at Casati is an ex pro and was able to help sort out the geometry to ensure it had the handling characteristics and aesthetics I was looking for, and the turnaround time was less than three months.

Thoroughly recommend having a look at their work, and also contacting RaceScene if you’re UK based.

My choice of builder narrowed as I developed/decided what I prefer (lugs, braze or TIG). I settled on brazed and I like 'different' (with customization eg tube manipulation) as well as my own ideas being listened to, so English got my money.
One option is buy a Ritchey whilst you're on Rob's wait-list.
Hmmm, Pegoretti doesn't get much mention nowadays.

got an english and it is amazing. Rob is awesome to work with too and knows how to build a very fast bike

I guess the answer to the OP is: The world's your oyster.

There's some beautiful bikes listed here, and that so many feel confident in their recommendation of various builders is a good thing.

At the end of the day, my shortlist is dictated by a number of variables (build quality, ride quality and fit obviously being highest in priority), but dictated partly by secondary things like time to completion and lesser things like tube proportion and logo fonts. Is that silly? I don't think so. Which is why it's so great we have such a variety of choices.

Anyone else care to share their preferences?

Best,

853guy

Have you looked at stelbel? They make the Antenore in stainless XCR in custom geo with discs. Looks lovely

I can second the Stelbel. XCr is one of the really nice stainelss steels for TIG welding. The hybrid cable routing they offer is a nice touch if you are undecided between mechanical or Di2.

Independent Fabrication.
http://ifbikes.com/Bikes/ssr/

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Enigma!