A lot of you have been e-mailing asking for a large sized mixte frame. The problem is that such frames lack stiffness. I tried to think outside the box and find away to make such a frame and still keep it reasonably light. After contacting many frame builders we think we found a solution. We'll have the new VO carbon step-through frames next month in sizes up to 68cm.
I have always been a bit disappointed that VO missed the whole hipster fixie trend, you know, white saddles, pink anodized rims with matching tires. But now that we've see that sort of bike in almost every booth at the Taipei show, it's clear that the hipster fixie thing has gone mainstream. It is clearly past its peak. Of course predicting the next bike trend is tough, but we're betting on a combination of extreme-retro and modern materials being the next fad. So here is the new VO fixie:
01 April, 2009
Two New Frames
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51 comments:
Do you have a penny farthing frame with disc brake mounts?
>>Do you have a penny farthing frame with disc brake mounts?
What about a front shock?
Post mount disc tabs will be stock. A long travel suspension version will be available too.
Could you have that mixte made with a Chatea Lea threaded bb?
Hey...I'd really ride a mini penny farthing :)
Yo,
Chris K, that P-far is a sick whip.
awg.
Beautiful frames! This is why Chris and VO are so successful and will continue to be so. VO is a steward of the best from the past and bellwether of the best from the present and future. When the two are combined, as these frames illustrate, the results are astounding. Good work.
Hrmph, the mixte doesn't have BB30.
Excellent work. Very much in the ShelBroCo tradition!
That mixte will plane. The p-far mini - I'm not sure.
I see Sheldon Brown's torch has been passed. The tradition lives on!
Chris,
I think you're familiar with Ed Braley - a great source of inspiration for someone who's doing the whole retro-modern combination which you allude to in this post.
And, yeah, the penny farthing disc brake is the next wave :-)
Kathryn
Eugene
Cool...I never knew that I always wanted a carbon mixte.
Will the fixie take a front rack and fenders?
What's most disturbing is that neither of these photos looks photoshopped.
How about a mixte penny farthing with disc brakes? Make it from carbon fiber, but use faux chrome lugs to join it together. Disc brakes, of course. And a carbide headlight: Who needs LEDs or halogen?
Dear Chris:
good thinking outside the box! can you figure out how to 24K gold plate a QuickClip (tm) carbon fiber coffee mug holder for both of these frames? Otherwise I am afraid they are worthless to me.
best,
michael white
Will the larger sized mixte frames use 900c wheels?
http://harriscyclery.net/page.cfm?pageId=2165&contentType=1
man, huffy's back on top!
I know you are poking fun, but are you not really just satirizing your own customers. They are a finicky lot
HOw about a full carbon true mixte, swiss thread BB and integrated HS, 126mm wide dropouts? Think of all the huffing and righteous indignation when the owner would take that rig into his (and we know it would be a guy) LBS and they wouldn't have the parts in stock....
M Burdge
Make it a recumbent mixte penny farthing with disc wheels and disc brakes.
I see the cables are routed on the outside of the frame for that retro look.
What is today's date?
I'm so glad that someone will finally make a mixte that will allow me to blend in and have something in common with the racers at my local club! V-O rules!
What size front wheel is that? It looks small (for a highwheeler).
I love those bikes, could you do something in a cottered crank ?
Dearest VO,
I am Jan's fraternal sister, Uli. I'm 6'11 and I would like to purchase 15 carbon mixtes 66cm to demoralize racer boys and make them cry. Please equip with new Campy Super Record 11.
Danke,
Uli Ullrich
Fulberg, Germany
can you do do something like this please :
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3250/2615077109_2f75b3a3a2.jpg?v=0
I think this is a great April Fool's joke! Best one all day. How else could anyone believe that VO would ever stoop to market a carbon frame?
i wish today was not the first of april!
i could have gone for a 69cm carbon mixte frame!!!
Carbon? Bah! Aluminum rules.
the best part is that neither example was originally conceived as a joke...
I would definitely be interested in the Fixie bike - but I'm concerned that I will not be able to get the handlebars up high enough for a Rivendell-inspired bike fit.
Will there also be a VO hammered aluminum fender set for my future bike ? I would like to see them with the most complicated fender braces known to mankind and no instructions, thank you very much.
And finally - will there be an issue with toe-clip overlap when I install the fenders with seventeen eye-bolts like the French constructeurs used to do for the famous post-war Testical Trials competitions like Jan Heine writes about in VBQ ?
No kidding, how do we get our hands on that Penny Farthing?
It's April 2nd so no longer jesting. I actually _like_ the carbon mixte. With a nice internal gearset, you could leave it outdoors more or less indefinitely. I would probably opt for it to be painted rather than clearcoated, but it would probably make for a pretty damned good urban bike.
To those of you who actually want one of these frames. When I took the photos I didn't bother to note the company's name; sorry. Now I don't remember who created them, but I would be surprised if either frame actually makes it into production. On the other hand, racing style mixtes once enjoyed a small popularity in Europe.
What, no unicycle?
And I wouldn't buy the p-far until it uses a Lefty fork.
This will definitely have no toe-clip-overlap issues!
That particular model might not make it into production, but mini-ordinaries (ha'penny farthings?) are available, for example (the same company also makes full size ordinaries). I've seen other models online which look more "modern", like the one you pictured.
Greetings,
I enjoy a good April fools day joke as well as the next guy. The idea that you can present "any" new item in a "the next big thing" manner" isn't new, but what's disturbing is the fact that so many respond with "I just gotta have that!" You seem to have a loyal following that will buy anything you choose to sell.
Best regards
Kilroy, I wish I had a company that could sell anything we offered! Wouldn't that be cool? But we have dropped many products that I thought would be popular, but turned out to be unloved.
As to why some folks like these two frames, I'm as mystified as you are.
I want a dual-suspension penny farthing track bike with a white saddle, neon pink rims and chain and a platinum-plated carbon-fiber bottle cage.
And, as much as I love VO, I want it to be made by Lambert-Viscount. Sorry, Chris!
What sort of aerodynamic skirt would you wear over your spandex whilst riding a carbon mixte?
I want a mini p-farth with full Campy 11 speed and the disk brake and a 650b front wheel size and, btw, a front rack for an ostrich bag, full lighting, and I am ready to P-B-P it. Send to VBQ for review prior to delivery to me. Oh, and I need a rear saddle bag to carry my duck pin bowling ball and shoes with room for a 6 pack for Tom.
OK.
Mixte - top tube/s continue all the way from head tube to rear dropouts.
Step-Through - top tube ends at seat tube.
It's really not that hard.
So is it okay to refer to a Mixte as a Step Through? Is it like Squares and Rectangles? The only thing worse than encountering heretical nomenclature perpetrated by the ignorant is finding oneself guilty of it!
By the way, when is VO going to give up this folly of low-spoke-count wheels? Anything with fewer than 40 spokes, especially in the rear, is just poor engineering!
I'm so glad you've finally come to your senses and joined the real world, Chris. Steel is just so passe, and carbon, even if it might suddenly fail and fling you into the ditch, is so much more, well, ego gratifying. And just think, you can still paint it some retro color, if you must, and you can enjoy the sight of your shellaced cloth tape bars as you sail over them!
Kathryn in Eugene
@ Guy
Your point being exactly what?Calling that carbon frame a mixte is clearly incorrect. Calling a mixte a step-through may be philosophically correct on some level but pointless since there is a better name for it - mixte.
Between snobbism and reverse snobbism I prefer the former. Not that it is even relevant in this case.
Huh?
I want one!! where can I buy it?
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