08 June, 2011
More Staff Bikes
You may remember that back in February we posted photos of some of our staff's personal bikes. Here are a few more:
Katie's new Univega commuter.
Nick's Schwinn High Sierra touring bike as ridden from Tacoma to Baja to Central Mexico to New Mexico and so on.
Chris's VO Pass Hunter (prototype). This will probably be production bike eventually.
Annette's Gitane mixte city bike with 7-speed hub.
Christopher's Di Blasi R6 folding bike, purchased and ridden when he was living in Amsterdam.
Annette's custom VO rando.
Christoper's Peugeot all-arounder.
Hi Chris
ReplyDeleteHow many VO Passhunter was build?
I get one brown, build by A Rogers.
Jan-Olov in Sweden
If I ever went to work at a new company and saw a rack there filled with these bikes, I'd know I made the right decision.
ReplyDeleteGreat, I love looking at pictures of bikes that people actually ride, especially utility or transportation bikes that their owners have not changed in a awhile. Why? because I think like me most people change things on new bikes when they first get them, take things off, put other things on, take wheels or tires off bike A and put them on Bike B, Etc. SO, when a bike finally gets to that point where not much changes, it's interesting to see how it ended up! I love new bikes, but an old bike has a charm all it's own as well!!
ReplyDeleteChris, perhaps you could start a photo gallery on the store site or a photo hosting site where people who purchase your parts could post their build pictures. I think the bike porn with VO parts is pretty neat. It also inspires me to not toss some old frames I have.
ReplyDeleteAlso, for those who do snare nice frames, its sometimes hard to connect with others of the same mind set. Case in point is my Fuji Grand Tourer SE. To have a free old frame powdercoated was about 150 bucks. That is really cheap for a decent frame(with enormous trail. Can barely turn the thing!)
A salvaged frame is a sales point for VO parts as far as I can tell. I have redone the Fuji, a Schwinn World Traveler, a Voyager 11.8, a Rivendell for my spouse, and several others. All with VO parts.
Of course the new custom handbuilts are wonderful, I really like Nick's take on the High Sierra, a nice frame for the task.
ReplyDeleteI notice that at least two staff bikes are using the Nashbar/Performance bike style brifters. Is this in fact where they came from or did you source them elsewhere? Are you using these as 9spd or 10? I'm curious how you are finding them after putting some miles on. I put these 9spd levers on my recent build and so far I'm perfectly content with them.
ReplyDeleteTheGuth, Those are Campy Chorus brifters, one 9-speed and one ten-speed.
ReplyDeletehey Anon, that already exists and can be found here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.flickr.com/groups/velo-orange/pool
Wow, some cool looking bikes there! Katie's Univega especially strikes a chord with me for some reason.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure when you wrote that the Pass Hunter "will probably be production bike eventually" you meant to say "will certainly be a production bike soon", right?
Nice bikes!
ReplyDeleteIs the Univega 26"-wheeled? And if so, are those VO 26" fenders?
I ask, because I am looking for 26" fenders that don't look funny with smaller 1.25 to 1.75 inch slicks. Most available fenders dwarf the smaller tires so many commuters are putting on old mountain bikes now, with a fender radius that allows a lot of daylight between tread and fender.
Tom in Novato CA
@Tom I have no idea what fenders are on there, but I was on a quest for similar fenders recently. I wanted 26 in fenders which were as nice as the 700c VO set I had, but weren't 60mm wide. I ended up getting Tanaka alloy 26x45mm and drilling them myself (<1hr to install). But buy some leather washers so they don't rattle apart!
ReplyDeleteWas that Pass Hunter at the NAHBS in Richmond a couple of years ago? If that's the one, the pictures don't do it justice. Beautiful bike, and I think it would fit me.
ReplyDelete--Tom
I Don't remember how many Pass hunters were built, maybe 6 or 7.
ReplyDeleteThe Univega has 26" wheels and VO stainless steel 26" fenders.
The blue rando has 43mm fenders. 43-45mm fenders fit randos nicely.
I love that Schwinn; a very serious piece of iron.
ReplyDeletemw
Well, I stand corrected, I didn't know campy ever made their paddles with those little loops. And TIL that my cheapo 9spd shifters looks like Campy at a glance!
ReplyDeleteI really dig that Schwinn, and actually built up a Schwinn High Plains as my touring bicycle. Old mtb's seem to be a relatively affordable, easy to find resource for building up a solid touring bike. With VO accessories, of course.
ReplyDelete