[Closed] WTF .. starting a new bike build

SS Pub Cruiser!

I like it. The monster cross version on their site looks great.

More like 1x6 geared bike packer 🙂

I think I like it but I'm not sure 😕

I like that, haven't got a clue what it is though.

... a very versatile 29er frame.. geared, singlespeed, belt drive, dropped bar, flat bar .... 🙂

Love it. Want.

not for me thanks

Nice and camoflaged for bike packing i see looking good though , hoofing tire clearance in the back there !

Small block eights, some shiny silver bits, maybe hub gear..
and swept back cruiser bars.

Kinda reminds me of the old crossbow frames

a singlespeed frame with chainstay/chainring clearance is curious...

belt drive

with a hacksaw...

Did you get it sent over direct from those guys, looks a cool frame?

Go super pimp?

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I love it, especially in that shade of GREEN!

I agree with the pub bike idea, it would look fantastic propped up against a wooden picnic table near a pint of Old Scrott's Thrumble Ale.

^ that carratec is frekkin awesome!

Frame came from UK Import.. Bearded Man .. apparently he has a few in stock.

It has a gear hanger too just not fitted in pic and there is a split in seat stay just before dropout to allow belt drive .. its a real swiss army knife bike 🙂

Just waiting on wheels etc ... gonna go all black with everything else to tone it down a little.

You sure? I think gold hubs, stem and skewers would set that off nicely!

Gold on green is way too bold a statement for me but I see where you are coming from.

Both those bikes look like kids bikes!

You need old skool gold on black hope brakes to top it off nicely 🙂

Perfect!

Hopefully gonna be dirt drops so mechanical brakes for me 🙂

That's ace. Weird, but ace.

NIIIIICE.A little weighty though?You stuck it on some scales yet?
Gotta monstercross it...it'd be rude not too.

.....nice, plenty of gonad room then. 😉

I did look at the weight as per stated weights on Van Dessel site .. most of the weight is in the forks though so going with a carbon front fork with a zero stack headset to keep the geometry good as standard fork is non suspension corrected.

Not weighed frame alone but not too concerned over weight 🙂

It will definitely be monster cross inspired when build starts

Nearly forgot...How much?Where from?

£450 frame and fork at the moment ...

.. email info@beardedman.co.uk for information about the Van Dessel brand in the UK.

I know there are more frames in stock in UK.

Does it take both drops and flat bars?

Adjustable top tube?

Does it take both drops and flat bars?

Adjustable top tube?

Frame can be built as a 29er, cross or monster cross..

No adjustable top tube but figure leaving some stack height on fork steerer will allow options when switching from carnegies and drop bars.

Only briefly rode on dirt drops but I could see a use for them on a long distance bike packing set up

450 seems good value to me.

Love to build one up, thinking drops, Campag, 3T, big tyres. Sod the weight just build something fun, solid, and capable of riding just about everything all day long.

Very nice. Keep us updated

paul78 - Member
Frame can be built as a 29er, cross or monster cross..

No adjustable top tube but figure leaving some stack height on fork steerer will allow options when switching from carnegies and drop bars.

oooohhhhh...I like that...always had a soft spot for those cruiser-looking bikes

Paul - you got this built yet?

I'm very tempted by one for a tourer/winter roadie/getting demolished in a cross race.

Is there a third set of bottle bosses under the downtube?

Drip it with gold components.

Question for the OP - you mention belt drive? How do you split the frame for that?

honourablegeorge - it's got a split drive side seatstay you should be able to see the bolt just above teh dropout plate on this one [url= http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4002/4681473555_8111401678_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4002/4681473555_8111401678_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/47502306@N06/4681473555/ ]WTF: Single speed build[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/47502306@N06/ ]VanDesselSports[/url], on Flickr

I shouldn't really admit this, but there's something about that frame I really like....

I know Druidh, the head says kaffenbak (if they would ever turn up!) and the heart is torn between this (I'm thinking the yellow Ortlieb panniers for the subtle touring look) and the Singular Peregrine...

It's a hard life! 😀

Gonna bump this until I get a response from Paul!

I did see a Peregrine in the flesh in Rond last night and it does look very lovely, pity Sam is soooo tall or I could have got a test ride 🙁

We have 1 x 53cm / 1 x 56cm / 1 x 59cm WTF frames remaining from our first shipment. Also got a 59cm ss mtb full build available. Next stock is only due in early next year! If you are interested drop me an email info@beardedman.co.uk

http://blog.beardedman.co.uk/?p=512

This is proving the longest bike build ever .. partly as I was undecided what direction to take the build then after decision was made I had to wait for parts to come along... spec is still not 100% decided but wanna get it finished a few miles done then refine...

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I will preempt a few comments .. I have turned the front tyre the right way round .. the spacers are to set up the dirt drops high enough to work as they should 🙂

love your bike paul78.cannot go wrong with a fluro paint job 😉 (have a skinny tubed fluro green duster)

It's looking good! Top rim and tyre combo.

If only they made skin wall 29er tyres 🙂

i love it.it looks fantastic!

As you went with black components a black chainring and rims would tie it all together. Nice now it's built up 🙂

The rims I got a great deal on.. kind of like the chrome on black .. chainring I will change to black when it wears and needs changing 🙂

I think you should go as follows;

3x10 Full ! Deore Groupset / Brakes
Mavic 717 rims on Deore Hubs
Easton EA30 finishing kit

😆

Regretably the build will have to be as cool as the frame!

Funky colour.

But..... Can someone tell me why the frame is super versatile? A Singular Swift looks more versatile.

Its not suspension corrected (very short looking forks) so if you put a sus fork on it will bugger the handling, so 29er is out of the window.
It's got an ebb, so have lots of other 29ers.
You can put drops or risers on, you can do this on any bike and as Cyni-al states one will be a compromise in geometry terms.
Belt drive capable - well that's 0.0001% of niche riders accounted for.

Not knocking the bike as I like the curves (although not the singlespeed) but versatile - no not really.

Rik, I see where you are coming from but to compare the Swift to the WTF isn't quite right .. the WTF is designed for drop bars primarily hence the long head tube so better to put it side by side with the Singular Gryphon and Salsa Fargo...

Versatility could be viewed simply as the bike can run gears, ss or belt drive ... neither the Gryphon or the Fargo can do this... I agree belt drive is such a tiny portion of the bike set up world but nice to see it being offered on a non custom build frame.

Is it a 29er ?? In reality no ... no reason why you can't stick a non suspension corrected 26" rigid fork on there lift the front end and slacken the already pretty steep head angle and give yourself a 29er .. seen a few guys in the US doing this with really good results but I think it is better viewed as either a monstercross set up with road drops or a dirt drop set up..

I am going to use it for bike packing ... asides from the crazy look it really is a practical bike for this application with a bombproof ebb set up and extra down tube bottle mounts plus extra long headtube allowing a dirt drop set up which I really wanted to trial for long distances.

May I ask - what type of trails do you envisage riding?

A fully loaded bike for biving - singlespeed on proper trails. Doubt that would be much fun in the Peak/Lakes?

Like the idea as a more versatile cross bike but not singlespeed.

I have to say it's sounding less and less versatile and more and more compromised.

Whatever floats your boat.

Finally finished but run out of weekend to try it ...

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Rik, I will use this bike for mainly long bike packing trips... Off road c2c in a couple of weeks, Bearbones 200 event in October, longer multi day trips next year ... fireroad, tarmac, technical singletrack I aim to ride it all.

I guess its just down to what you prefer to ride.. for a number of years now I have always ridden fully rigid singlespeed bikes for all forms of racing or riding .. not to be different or 'niche' just because it works all the time with the least amount of money being needed leaving more in the pot for travelling to new places to ride .... times I have added suspension or gone back to gears I just didn't like it or it broke.

Cynic-al, I don't see compromises with this bike for me just possible options... like I said in the original post its a love or hate machine.. not everyone gets it.

Stunning bike!! As an avid singlespeed fully rigid rider for pretty much the same reasons as you, it certainly floats my boat!!!

I don't love it or hate it...it'snot my cup of tea, but I just don't see how it's so versatile.

weeds in patio and grass needs cutting, nothing more to say really..................

.....................oh the bike looks great

Tut, tut, poor choice of bar tape. Other than that, not nearly as bad as I had originally thought.

Paul, A truly stunning bespoke bike. Looks kind of useable in many ways too. Well done.

I apologise for the weeds ( no one noticed the present my dog had left in the background ) ..

.. bar tape was just the cheapest they had in the shop unfortunately .. I may double wrap so will go over the top of itin plain black..

Only thing I am really regretting is not getting a Brooks saddle but they were just too much money

I've an antique (it at least looks like it) Brooks you can have it you want it Paul ... sat in the workshop doing nowt.

Ooh Free Brooks .. sounds good to me ... mail me as I have something for you 🙂

Great looking bike there, I always like the double top tube look.

First ride report...

... can confirm its alot of fun .. dirt drops definately promote a differing style of riding.. not great for everything.. noticed the lack of pull on some steep inclines but on the whole they realy worked through singletrack.

.. wish I had bought Luxy bars and not midges as midges seem very short in the drop ... may change them.

What a nice bike,maybe some wood chippers would help.

Are woodchippers a dirt drop or a cx bar ???

That's ace.

How much was the frame and where did you get it from?

Get a belt-drive on it!

What's the length like? any issue with toe-overlap?

It came from here...

http://blog.beardedman.co.uk/?p=512
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I have been looking at belt drives ... just wanted to get it up and running first.

It looks really long but doesn't ride like that and tons of standover ... rode some tight singletrack last night and had no issue with overlap..

Some great build suggestions were offered up to me on MTBR thread..

http://forums.mtbr.com/29er-bikes/wtf-uk-729310.html

few things that spoil it for me:

SLX cranks - surely you want something a bit more sculptured and retro-ish?

Silver rims with slx cranks, black post, black stem and black bars. I would like to see what it looks like with all silver parts as think the black doesnt go with the curvy frame, silver rims and bright frame colour.

Sorry 🙁

Cool.
what's the weight like? Did you get frame weight before you built it?

Like the finished item.

I love the continuous curve from headtube to dropouts. But, I hate the split toptube - I'd want it to be a single tube splitting into separate stays.

Very nice, suits you to a tee. Try not to break this one! 😉

Ed

All comments welcome..

SLX cranks are just what I had ... planning to get them completely polished..

Chrome rims I got for 10 euros for the pair ... I was planning on all black parts but couldn't pass up the opportunty.

Will go chrome bars when I find some second hand luxy bars 🙂

Unfortunately didn't weigh frame .. bike weight is reasonable but not light .. bordering heavy 🙂

Never actually broke I bike I owned .. only other peoples 🙁

I've just got back from posting your Brooks saddle ... it's a 30 mile round trip to the post office 😉

thanks fella 🙂

Pro's and Con's of living in such a good spot I guess 🙂