spare_wheel

absolutely correct. ~70% of braking force comes from the front (and the 785 is one of the best brakes money can buy).


ignore the silly "utility/city bike" zealots and post more pics after you get it set up.. my custom "A" commuter weighs 18.5 lbs and is the most functional bike i've ever commuted on.


PS: it's trivial for most skilled shops to braze on water bottle holder screws (convenient for a travel mug).

spare_wheel

wow. i guess i'm a right proper n0oB because because i've rarely agreed with your vision of what a commuting bike should look like.

PS: despite the fact that conformist dutch people ride the same style of bike that conformist dutch people road in the 1920s...there is no such thing as a perfect city bike.

tjspiel

First my thoughts on Di2: No shift cables means more flexible routing and the potential for multiple shifting points without all the complexity you see in today's mechanical shifters. No more worries about kinks but a short or break will ruin your day.

I'd like to see how it works in freezing temps with water and slush being splashed on the components. I'd also like to see how it works in bitter cold. There's definitely room for improvement over mechanical shifting.

As far as the bike itself goes: Cripes, I'd love to try one. What is wrong with the rest of you?

It may not be the most practical thing in the world but it just might be kind of fun. There are some people who throw away their money and waste their time on things will little real value, but how many people lying on their death bed are thinking, "If only I had been more practical".

Would any of you refuse to ride a beach cruiser on flat terrain because it just has a single coaster brake? And while most of us expect to be able to mount a water bottle to the frame, it's not uncommon for people who drink a lot while riding to put a couple behind the saddle or one on the handlebars.

I have one fairly practical bike for commuting (by this forum's standards) and two that are significantly less so. I put far more commuting miles on the latter two than I do the practical one.

RubeRad

Don't sweat it dude; on the internets you gotta learn to ignore the haters. I also happen to think your bike has incorporated a lot of very bad ideas, but it does at least look interesting, and I am glad I saw some pictures of it.

RoadTire 

There that settles it.

prathmann

In a hard stop under good conditions where braking is limited by the rider going over the bars essentially all of the braking force comes from the front wheel. But that changes drastically when the front brake cable snaps or there's some other mechanical issue. I've found it very handy to have a second brake available in such circumstances.

prathmann

Sure, but where would you put them on that frame? I'd think the best way to carry water bottles on that bike would be with one of the behind-the-seat cages - no brazing needed.

GriddleCakes

What gets me is the designer's assumption that no one wants or needs mirrors or lights, or rear brakes for that matter. The bike is so minimalist that it minimizes what you can do with it. Bikes are awesome partially because of the many applications that they can be made suited for. This bike is like a multi-tool with everything removed except for a T10 driver and a bottle opener.

I'm still skeptical about the fenders, this bike is way freakier than a Pinarello Dogma.

It's a pretty common tactic in debate, and in this particular case was employed to drive home that fact in addition to lacking these basic features, it doesn't even have grips! To me it's like riding a bike without a saddle: doable, but why would you choose to (trials riders notwithstanding)? A moot point, though, since the bike is only ridden in fair weather.

Also, my beard is nowhere near as long or white as that emoticon's, and while I do sometimes employ a cane, it's because I'm superfly mutha****a, straight up righteous bad***, yaknowwhaimsayin' son.

spare_wheel

the likelihood of a cable snapping on this bike is zero. the likelihood of two cables snapping is almost certainly higher than the likelihood of an xt 785 failure (especially after a no bleed install).

wolfchild

It doesn't matter how good the front brake is...It's still a dumb idea to have only one brake on the front and no rear brake on a bike with freewheeling rear.

rpcleary

Not my first choice for commuting, ever, but would not mind taking out for a spin. Ever consider trying an ebike conversion? This has a ton of space to work with. How does it compare with your other bikes in terms of ride endurance?

spare_wheel

We can spend all day calling each others choices dumb but I doubt anyone is going to budge one inch on their preferences.

tjspiel

I see no reason why you couldn't mount lights or a bell if you really wanted to but the designer is definitely taking a minimalist approach. You may want it to be a multi-tool, but they don't and there are plenty of multi-tools already out there.

To be fair to the designer though, they don't assume you don't want rear brakes. In fact, the bike on their website looks to be set up as a fixed gear, - without a front brake. The OP said it was a custom build so maybe they put a disc tab on the fork for him. There's nothing stopping you from choosing a drivetrain with a drum, roller, or coaster brake if you want rear brakes. And while I don't know if a rear disc tab could ever be put on that frame, I am certain that canti-studs or a brake bridge could be provided in a custom build.

I'm also not sure why people are so focused on the top-tube and stand-over height. It looks a little deceiving but I see no reason why it would be any different than a typical diamond frame bike as long as it's sized correctly. The handle bars are level with the top tube. On performance road bikes the drops are often lower than the top tube.

jeffpoulin

Sounds about right to me. 5kg is for just the frame. By comparison, a Surly Long Haul Trucker frame and fork* weighs 3.4kg or about 7.5 pounds.

* Note: The LHT is a heavy frameset and still this frameset weighs 50% more.

andyprough

Yup, you're right. Wonder what the weight is fully loaded. Pretty strange setup.

tjspiel

Remember the handlebars and stem are built in, so some weight would be saved there. Not 4.5 pounds though.

acidfast7

i love that you guys are remarking about the weight of a bike from a custom frame builder that's a certified artist.



it's cool, in it's own unique manner

tjspiel

How does one go about becoming a certified artist ?

To me they look kind of like one of those artistic bike racks come to life.



I'm not sure how nice it would be to ride but it will definitely turn heads. It'll also be a conversation piece at the office. There can be real world advantages (and downsides) to owning something like that.

I have an unusual sailboat (for North America) that rarely fails to attract attention. People will stop to ask me about it all the time. Like the OP's bike, it tends to be dismissed by traditional boat owners as more of a toy than a real boat, but it gives me a chance to talk to non-sailors about sailing.

acidfast7

That EU grant usually has an "artistic" component. That's what I meant.

AndreyT

It is not about whether it is possible and what you use most. It is solely about the redundancy: to have two independent brakes in case one of them fails.

acidfast7

my feet work as well. do you really like it's an issue if I ditch the bike?

i'm more worried about this ... but such is life sometimes

andyprough

He did call it his new "commuter bike". I'm wondering if it is too heavy for my 15 mile commute through the Texas hillside? I found a review website that called it a 22 pound bike, so maybe that answers my question about how much it weighs once it's ready to ride. Sounds plenty light enough.

Now I just need to scrape together the $10,000-$20,000 for an artist to make me a special bike...

tjspiel

I see the value in redundancy and personally I'd prefer to have braking at each wheel. However, as I mentioned before there are other adult bikes (beach cruisers) that only have rear brakes.

There's an article about the Viks where they talk about how it came to be and other stuff. It's actually intended to be used as a fixed gear or with a coaster brake and no front brake. Since it's a custom frame apparently they'll put disc tabs on the fork if you want. In other words, if you really want two brakes I'm sure you can get two brakes.

spare_wheel

but you have *two* feet. redundancy!

cruiserhead

You can make a lighter bike of equal strength to cromo by using stainless.
Stainless is hard to work with, which is why it's not commonly used. It's starting to get more popular, especially with high end racing custom builders.