barryj75225

I have looked and not found very much info on this bike. I couldnt find




a year much less a price

TugaDude

Custom Road Bicycles Handcrafted in the USA

This is a good article...

https://pezcyclingnews.com/technspec...-family-joule/

TugaDude

This entry from bicycle blue book is interesting. If the MSRP is accurate, that's an expensive brand. I don't usually put much stock in the BBB pricing. In my opinion the prices seem low, helpful for the buyer more than the seller.

https://www.bicyclebluebook.com/valu...Ultegra%20STI/

barryj75225

Thanks. BBB does rate the bikes lower than I find theyre worth. I saw this this links model is a 2004 w/ no specs. BBB doesnt have the exact bike I have. I can see it on the Elite website but no value.I would assume the frames go for $1999 and will be under 3 pounds? Still wondering what year mine is. The latest bike I see from Elite is 2011?
Thanks again,
B^).

barryj75225

Thanks this BBB model is the same as the Pez article which is a 2004 Aluminum model. I will keep searching for a year and retail price on this carbon model. 2K for Al frame. Carbon should be more? Looking at the Campy Groupset seeing between $1K and $3K Guessing the condition makes the difference?
Thanks again
B^).

Fairlane63

You sure thats the Elite model?

Maxey

If only there was some obvious way to ID it.

crmartin9

I just stumbled across this thread. As a former Elite-sponsored athlete whose household has five Elite bicycles in it, I occasionally google Elite to see if I can still find any old frames for sale. This post and the pretty pictures caught my eye.


Elite Bicycles was a boutique triathlon frame and bike manufacturer based out of Philadelphia. The owner was David Greenfield and sadly he closed up shop and moved to Thailand about ten years ago. I never got formal confirmation, but I suspect the frames were assembled by Frank the Welder in Vermont.


A lot of us triathletes wanted road bikes in our stables for training, so David eventually released the Joule road bikes. The Joule was the model with stock sizing, the Joule Pro was an all custom rig. I have a Joule and my wife has a Joule Pro. Both bikes had Easton EC90 carbon seat stays, but the Joule Pro also had Easton carbon chain stays as well. I believe the Joule Pro also used upgraded Easton scandium tubing instead of the Easton Al in the Joule.


The bike that is pictured is unusual in the sense that the original owner also upgraded for carbon tubes in the front triangle that are connected together with Al lugs. That was not the normal configuration for the Joule Pro. I know David experimented with this technique on a few custom builds, but this never made it into a stock product.


The philosophy of mixing carbon and Al was to give the best of both worlds - ultimate stiffness in the front of the frame for responsiveness and power transfer and compliance in the rear from the carbon. None of the Elite triathlon bikes introduced carbon in the rear triangle like this since the rider's center of mass is positioned further forward on the aerobars on a proper triathlon or time trial bike.


Given the condition and the uniqueness of that build, that bike is a real gem. I'd be curious to know the dimensions on that bike since it was a full custom. I wonder if the original rider was freak with disproportionate sizes or someone who could have fit on a stock Joule but had the cash to burn on a custom, spec'ed out ride. (Besides being a great bike designer, David was probably one of the top 5 bike fitters in the US back in the day. Back in the days when the US Pro Cycling championships were held in Philadelphia every June, it wasn't unusual for agents to sneak in their clients into David's shop in the middle of the night to get refit to their team bikes behind their sponsor's backs.)

SoCaled 

^^^^^ way to come through with the history!

What am I looking at next to the rear brake on the stay? Is that a crack or just lighting/pic

barryj75225

Reflection of something nearby. Its really shiny.

What am I looking at next to the rear brake on the stay? Is that a crack or just lighting/pic
[/QUOTE]

barryj75225

Thanks so much for the info. I wouldve posted pics of my measurements but my laptop isnt finding my card with pics right now when I plug it in. And my phone wont send any pics I can open after sending.
It looks like the top tube is from the center of head tube to front of seat post tube is 20 inches. Center of spindle to top of seat post tube 20.5 inches. From ctr of spindle to head tube 22.5 inches to downtube weld. Seat stay Ctr of rear axle to ctr of seat tube 19". Fork length Ctr of front axle to top of fork crown15.5 inches. Standover is 29.5 inches. It has a bent derailleur hanger Ive found easily because its a Easton Carbon Triangle. I got the paint off the hanger to see the screws that attach it but have tried to twist any bolts yet.
What would you estimate the bikes value at and what do you estimate it cost new?
Barry

crmartin9

One correction to my earlier post. The Joule used Reynolds carbon seat stays while the Joule Pro used Easton rear triangles (or two thirds of a triangle anyway). At least up until Reynolds exited the bike fork and component business to focus solely on rims and wheels circa 2009.

One good way to try to date this bike is to figure out the manufacturer of the fork (if you're willing to chip away at the paint). Until Reynolds exited the fork business, all Elite bikes (except the entry level Magnus tri bike) used Reynolds Ouzo forks. 2010 and after, Elite had to switch to Easton carbon forks.

If you want to proactively reach out to the one person that might know the most about the bike, call Max Hamalainen, the owner of Philadelphia Bikesmith. Back when this bike was built, Max was getting his feet wet in the industry as a mechanic for Elite. Chances are pretty high that Max was the person that assembled this bike for the original client. When Elite folded, Max inherited a lot of the original files and paperwork from Elite.

I'm not even to wager any guesses on what the original owner paid or current value. (By definition, the value of something is whatever the biggest sucker on the market is willing to pay for it.) If you're thinking of selling it, you'll probably not get as much as you hope given the population of folks who know what this is pretty small and niche, and how this won't accommodate modern components like disc brakes and tires wider than 25 mm.

BTW, dollars to donuts that those wheels are rebadged Zipp 404s. Elite partnered up with Zipp for a number of years and got lots of color matched decals printed up with the Elite logos to sell with the bikes.