squirtdad

Hi,
As I have been teasing for a while, I recently had my Kirk Custom delivered and finally got it built and and first rides in.

Ride report first: Amazing, I could feel it just hopping on and riding in the street in front of the house for fit. super responsive and ready to go. my first longer ride confirmed that. It was flat so hills and descents next. I truly was very cognizant of any bias....i.e I paid for a custom frame so it has to be great. No bias, it is great. I rode with a set of the 32mm stampede pass tires with the light casing and they are super smooth (more on wheels and tires later)

Summary:If you are thinking about a bespoke bike.....do it, and if what Dave does aligns with what you want, go for it, put the deposit down (as he has noted he won't do this forever)

first pic as this is wordy, note tubus rack and the eyelets and fender fittings, this a part of a custom, building for what you want, in this case i will commute on this bike and possibly do a light credit card tour so rack and fender capability is needed





The experience:
I have had a custom frame on my grail list for while, seemed more suited to me than say a ferrari. I put some personal/family milestones in place before I would would do this and got them met.
I have been aware of/followed Dave Kirk for a while...not sure what caught my attention initially, but have watched the evolution of his bikes for 10+ years. Also cool was that they are made in Montana, where I grew up (Chinook, home of the Sugarbeeters). I had a chance to talk to Dave about frames and such after Cino in 2021, which finalized my builder decision.

So I put my deposit down, and 5 months later (note this is my experience so don't assume your times will be the same) got an email, I sent an email with what I was looking for and talked to Dave, I then took measurements of me and my bike set up (Fitting | Kirk Frameworks) and answered a set of standard questions, some of which are interesting. Dave then reviewed and noted that my seat height was low for my leg length, did I measure correctly? checked measured right, but put my seat up 2 cm and the ride improved.

Dave then suggested best for me was the JK special, which was a bit of a surprise as it it his "raciest" bike. he explained why he thought this would work and it made sense and at no point was there an upsell. Dave is very direct and will advise very clearly if he thinks something is no advisable (the JK special orgin story also resonated, as my dad built up my first bike from a bike thrown in an irrigation ditch)

Tubing and design, I left to Dave, I don't the the point of using a well known custom builder and then specing tubing and design details. his site says The JK Special bikes are built with a proprietary mix of tubes (chainstays, seat stays, and fork blades) made to my specifications by Reynolds of England as well as Reynolds 953 and 853 Pro, lugs by Llewellyn and his own dropout

key to note is all even if it is a JK special it is custom to me so if you compare my bike with a 1.5 degree top tube slope to pics of JKS on the Kirk site, they have a more sloping top tube.

My choices included chain hanger, fender attachment points, rear rack attachments, BSA BB, 1 inch threaded steerer (allows more future flexibility and is prettier than threadless), lugged construction and room for 32mm tires (28 with fenders), straight seat stays, and rim brakes. comments on that, I wanted a classic look with max flexibility this gave it to me. Disc front fork would have been much heavier, lugged becomes more challenging if you are going for tires bigger that 32, so should go filet brazed for bigger tires.

once the bike gets started it is done in a week or so, then off to Joe Bell. Joe Bell wait was longer (he is not taking new work) and while Dave is an artisan, Joe is an artist so time planning is not as precise. Joe was super to work with, I had suggested some really challenging colors and we worked out what ended be very close for the green and way better for the pink/purple color. Joe asked if I was OK with giving him some artistic license and I gave the go, detail like the bands of color on the seat tube came from that. and the overall results make be glad I said go for it.

Build list (of which many question were asked in C*V over the last couple of years)
Ultegra R8000 mechanical group (last mechanical ultegra) (considered a rene herse crank, but did seem blend well)
Velo orange grand cru long reach brakes to handle the 32mm
Chris king headset
Nitto s83 seatpost
nitto noodle 46 handle bar
nitto dynamic stem 26mm (got a 25.4 pearl also that will be up for sale)
Berthoud saddle
Fizik bar tape
Silca tatto pump
Silca Matone seat bag
Tubus rear rack
Ortlieb sport roller hi vis bags
spur cycle bell
H+Son Archetype 32h rim, on White industries T11 hubs, with Rene Herse Stampede pass tires and schwalbe light tube
Ambrosio nemeis 32 h rim on Hope rs4 hubs with FMB 29mm cobble stone (being built)

suppliers, Kirk Frame works, Joe Bell, Velomine, Rene Herse, Rivendell, REI, Velo Orange, Universal Cycles, Mikes Bikes, Bike Tires Direct, King Cage, Silca, Cicli corsa, Bike24, Competitive cyclist, Berthoud france

also this is not a weight focused build, but without the rack it came in at about 20 lbs

Grand Cru brakes





gotta have a matching bell and note the berthoud rear view mirrot


paint details as so fun



details


Love the headbadge by Jen Green non funtional, but totally required for class (IMHO)



part of the fun of a custom is seeing pics like this coming in from the build

nlerner

That's gorgeous, Jim! Here's to many happy miles!

steelbikeguy

Glad that it was such a great bike and great experience!
Love the Joe Bell paint! He is legendary, and it makes sense to defer to his tastes.

At first, I was going to say that the colors remind me a bit of some Brian Baylis schemes that I've seen... mostly because the color choices aren't typical. After looking at my photos of Baylis bikes, I will say that Brian's choice in a green/blue scheme is novel, but a different style than your green/purple(lavender?).

Here's the Baylis scheme I'm thinking of:


Looking forward to seeing pics of your bike for 20 or 30 years of rides, at least!

Steve in Peoria

jnbrown

You could not do better than Dave and Joe on a custom frame.
I have been to Joe’s shop a few times and marveled at the paint jobs.
can I ask what the white bar tape is?
is possible to keep it clean?

jamesdak 

That is just sooooo cool!! Glad you love the ride. I'm with you in that his bikes really do ride well. Can't wait to hear more about your rides on this!

rccardr 

Looks great, bet it rides very, very well. A terrific partner for many happy miles!

52telecaster

Beautiful and congratulations!

ascherer 

Stunning frame and great build, Jim. Wish you many happy miles!

Germany_chris

I'll just say the RH cranks are pretty great, they're light, shift great, and have a ton of chainring options.

northbend 

Now that's a lovely bike. I bet those colors really glow in the sun. Congratulations Jim!

squirtdad

it is fizik https://www.fizik.com/us_en/tempo-mi...h-classic.html

as to keeping it clean, we will see but the white grip and cables were required for the look

jamesdak 

^ DIrty white bar tape is a badge of honor in my book. It means the bike is being used, as it should be!!

twolve

Wow, that is awesome. Lovely colors and details throughout! Have fun riding that all the time!

georges1

congrats on a beautiful build enjoy your bike

Bad Lag

It's terrific, congratulations.

Did you consider black bar tape and blackwall tires, to go with the brake hoods, crank and saddle?

squirtdad

color scheme came about lke this, I wanted a bright kandy apple green and found a house of kolor example on a hot rod, then I was thinking about adding a red candy to the head tube as a big of an homage to my dad (he was not allowed to by bright red bike with money he earned as his sisters did not have bikes...I corrected that with a bright red 3 wheeler when he was in his 80's )

I looked at a Kandy red and it did not work but came up with a kandy magenta, so that that was where we started.....

Joe spent time and could not figure how the hot rod got it look and proposed the pearlescent green on the bike as an option and he suggestd the "dusky pink" kandy the I ended up with. from there I said I like pin lining and then he said he had some ideas like seat tube colors from classic engligh bikes and would I be good to let him be creative with this baseline. I said yes and this is what I got. Can't be happier

of course I then had to try to get a matching jersery, was lookiing for a Joker but did not find one in good quality jersey, so did a semi custom with with voler, not exact match but not bad

first ride and celebratory beer

52telecaster

Looking fabulous!

Bad Lag

LOL! Yeah, that jersey is just about perfect.

If you don't mind my poking some fun,...

I couldn't help but notice that after all this time and all the money and careful choices, your second photo is of the bell! A BELL!,... and it isn't even color-matched.

The bike looks awesome. Enjoy it!

squirtdad

all is good for poking here fun on C&V.....

the bell is color matched as best I could. this bike a rider which means commutes and mups so a bell is handy. and it was probably most silly cost wise for size part on the bike https://www.spurcycle.com/products/s...42808808374450

merziac

When you just gots to have it.

You have to go all in on this, POA is going to be eye watering no matter what and if you compromise or skimp on any detail it falls short.

The Kool-Aid factor has to be maximized to get all the way there on these IMO.

Very cool, so glad you got there.

Bad Lag

DOH! My brain did not register the green dot, just the black.

I ride on a beach bike path and the surrounding streets. All are crowded with people, all the time, so I understand having one. I'm sure your bell will get used. I know I use, "On your left", a LOT. I use my brakes even more.

There are some places I ride where, "Cuidado" is more appropriate, if you need to be understood. I betcha a bell is universal.