De Salvo Steel Frame

[slowSSer]

good choice, Maven- desalvo does incredible work. as for the colors, well, I have no clear choice

[singleminded]

Holy F!....Can I have that. I could ride her proud

That is like sooooo sweet

Originally Posted by singleSSpeedster

ohhh, nice choice. mike d. has built me 3 frames...one ti 29er, one steel 29er (below)and a steel crosser.

classic colors will look best. panels look even better. stick to classi tones, you won't get tired of the paint scheme and it will look great with that miche post!!!

here is my 29er fixie;

[ewiccami]

steel is sooooooo sexy... awesome rides guys. definitely post pics of the bike when it's built.

[MTBMaven]

UPDATE After much waiting Mike is starting on my frame!!! We were almost there a few weeks ago but we just ran out of time to nail down the details before I went on vacation. We discussed all the remaining issues (mainly geometry) yesterday. Basically I left the geometry decision up to Mike. I figured who am I, he is the frame builder.

Mike is also building me a matching fork with mid fork eyelets for a Tubus Duo front rack. Other details include a 3rd water bottle mount under the down tube and eyelets for a rear rack as well. I skipped the idea of down tube shifter bosses and headtube mounted cable routing.

Frame should be done in about two weeks and off to paint. My hope is to have it by before August 1st but that is going to be tight.

Below is the geometry to be used.

[Burner]

sweet, can't wait to see it come together.... is it gonna be red?

[MTBMaven]

Originally Posted by Burner

is it gonna be red?

Yeah, blood red.

[reflux]

Originally Posted by MTBMaven

Yeah, blood red.

Unicrown matching fork or lugged/segmented?

[MTBMaven]

Originally Posted by reflux

Unicrown matching fork or lugged/segmented?

You know that is a good questions. Not sure. I guess it will be a surprise.

[bent steel]

Mike's great to work with, and a great builder. His frame's fit perfectly, even though we've never actually met.

I miss the subtelty of my 26er, which is a really dark blue, with ivory knife-edge panels.


Spectrum did this over the top number for my 29er NAHBS bike this year, it isn't exactly subtle:


This bike is nearly impossible to photograph well, but Spectrum acid etched the logos and rose-stem graphics into the brushed ti. It's a trip in person, and a great riding bike:

[Burner]

that's a kick ass stable, beautiful

[MTBMaven]

Yeah hell of a stable there!

[reflux]

Originally Posted by Burner

that's a kick ass stable, beautiful

w3rd. Can we get a complete photo of the roadie? Thanks!

[MTBMaven]

Mike finished welding the frame and fork today!!!! The fork is lugged with curved blades. We discussed a few last minute items to make sure he had everything dialed in, 3rd bottle mounts, no pump peg, Shimano parts. He thinks he can get my cable guides mounted on the headtube like I wanted. He wasn't sure at first but looks like he can.

The frame and fork went off to paint today. They are going to powder coat blood red and bone white panels. I sent along a special font to use for the DeSalvo logo. It's a retro Frigidaire font. Pretty cool. On the driveside top tube will be RoadMaven and on the non-driveside will be Mike's signature. On the seat tube will be a Columbus logo. Mike is pretty jazzed about the design. He said it's a cool mix of modern and retro. It makes me happy that he likes the design we worked out.

As for parts I ordered a Cane Creek S3 headset, Thompson post and stem, Alligator iLink cables, all silver. And from VeloOrange I ordered sew up elk hide bar "tape" in honey and retro looking Salsa cages. I really wanted the Nitto cages but could spend $80 on two cages.

I'm getting really excited. It's going to be cool to be going from carbon everything to steel and leather everything. Hope to have the completed frame and fork August 1st. Mike is pulling out all the stops to meet that goal.

[reflux]

Drool...lugged forks is the isht. Thanks for the update!

[speckledtrout]

those elk leather bar covers are gorgeous! they make brooks leather tape look like poo and they're half the price.

what color are you planning on using? the macchiato?

[roadkillross]

#3 with green!!! sickness

[MTBMaven]

Originally Posted by speckledtrout

what color are you planning on using? the macchiato?

Yeah I went with the macchiato. Almost went with the espresso though.

They arrive yesterday and they are very interesting. Basically just strips of elk leather with some small holes along the edge, some thick thread, and needles. The covers are very old school and look like they are going to be a biatch to install. Assuming I don't crash they look like they will last a long time though and get a great look patina. One negative, they are pretty heavy for bar covers.