It's been a day of meetings and I'm totally knackered, so this will be short.
I had a very long meeting with Tetsyu-san, President of Toyo. Our production VO rando frames should be here late next May. VO city bikes in both men's and mixte configuration are on the way, well the samples are.
We may soon have VO long reach caliper brakes. I have samples in my briefcase. We will have VO canti brakes soon.
The VO water bottle cage samples look a bit rough to my eye, but everyone else loves them. Prototype VO gloves and handlebar bags are still not finished, but will be soon.
We may have found a manufacturer for Rene Herse-style stems. He says he'll try and his company makes some amazing products.
I bought some Strida folding bikes.
Gotta run now; it's time to rest up for dinner with the Japanese contingent. Hope there's no karaoke. I sing like a wounded moose.
Posts
16 comments:
Some of those gran bois 28mm tires would be nice....
please seriously consider for the VO production frames to include a full range of sizes for less then average people (in the style of rivendale with sizes going upto 68cm). It is very hard for other then average people to find sub custom priced bikes that actually fit them.
Good luck singing if you have karoke. My wife says I sound like a mix of Bob Dylan and Elvis.
Some 1.25"-1.5" touring tires with gum walls for us 26" riders would be a real treat.
Antonius
I'm 6'0" and envious of my 5'3" wife and her amazing early 80's Centurion mixte. I'd LOVE to have a mixte frame that fit me properly - are you planning on having any mixte frames made in larger sizes?
nv
Is maxway doing the city bikes?
Will the VO cantilever brakes be adjustable for toe in?
28mm x 700c tires would be the first model if thing work out.
We are going to stick with the most common frame sizes to start. There is a lot of extra design work in very small and very large sizes. So I want to start with the easier sizes, but on the next production run we might expand the range.
We might do a larger mixte size.
The manufacturer is a secret, but what's cool is that production will be overseen by one of the most respected Japanese framebuilders who will visit the factory regularly and also by an outside QC expert who works in Taiwan for a major Japanese component manufacturer. We are not fooling around with quality on this project.
The first version of the VO canti is a reproduction of an old French design.
"Will the VO cantilever brakes be adjustable for toe in?"
Every cantilever brake is adjustable for toe-in. You just have to know how to do it. Far Mafac and Mafac clones it's a brutal but simple procedure: wrap a rag around the brake and oh so carefully bend it with a large wrench. Yes, this works. Yes, you need to be really careful. You definitely want to make sure the mounting bolts are long enough to go all the way to the back of the canti post so you don't bend the post.
"The first version of the VO canti is a reproduction of an old French design."
Just please make one concession to modern design: use pads that feature cartridge pads for easy replacement! I know you already sell them, just hoping you spec the brakes with them.
"We might do a larger mixte size. "
Please do! I've come across almost no larger vintage mixtes and the only current one available is the Riv Glorius - which is way too fancy (and too expensive) for my tastes...
I really think there is a market for larger, reasonably priced mixtes.
Thanks Chris!
nv
Not to be contrarian, but why does the world need more canti brakes? From $20 to $200, you can get good cantis in every conceivable mechanical advantage profile, including ones that look pretty darn French.
And didn't most of the constructeurs dump their own brake designs (including some truly weird cantis) once Mafac Racers became available?
On the other hand, if you can do a crochet-back leather clove withminimal padding that last longer than the ones Riv and many others sell and costs less than the Raphas, you'll have done the world a service.
Garneau makes a great knit back glove. Mine have held up great and the price was very reasonable.
"Not to be contrarian, but why does the world need more canti brakes?"
then...
"On the other hand, if you can do a crochet-back leather clove withminimal padding that last longer than the ones Riv and many others sell and costs less than the Raphas, you'll have done the world a service."
I'd rather see another canti brake than a glove.
So what is an approximate pricepoint for a Taiwanese made VO city bike frameset? Are these bikes lugged? Is the mixte lugged?
Thanks!
Bruce
Bruce,
The city bike is a Tig welded version of our Gentleman and Madame models. We couldn't find a factory to fillet braze them and there are simply no lugs made that will work for this design.
The bike is set up for internally geared hubs or single speed only. The tubing is very high quality and all the usual VO braze-ons are included. It will be black powder coated. An inexpensive metal chain guard will available.
I'm still not certain about the brakes. Either VO cantis or Tektro R556, or the new VO calipers that probably won't be ready in time.
I would like the frame and fork to sell for around $400-$500.
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