By Chris
The Piolet frames are finished and painted. Unfortunately decals are still being printed and need to be applied. Since Piolets use a larger down tube than other VO frames our regular decals wouldn't look quite right, and I didn't think of that as soon as I might have. We still expect them to be available mid to late June. I can't wait since I want one to ride to remote fly fishing streams. Mine will use 650b x 3" tires; the outer diameter will be close to the 700c x 2.5" tires that the frame was designed around, so handling should be as we intended.
You may have noticed that we've been out of long setback seat posts. That's because we'll have a new version in a few weeks. It will be easier to adjust and stronger. There will still be over 30mm of setback. I've been kicking around the idea of a 45mm setback post, but maybe that's just silly?
We'll soon have these cool Grand Cru constructeur-style stem caps. And, yes, we are planning to offer a custom engraving option. That was something Constructeurs did to personalize the bikes they built.
In other retro news we hope to soon stock real gum rubber hoods for old Campy brake levers; they also fit other similar shape levers. We'll also have full-hoods and half-hoods for Mafac-style brake levers.
The E3 light brackets now come in silver as well as black in both
the large and
the small versions.
The classic
Grand Cru Course bars will soon be available in Noir and the super popular
Dajia Shallow Drop bars will soon be available in 46cm size.
As one who scans ebay and other such places for old SR MTE-100 mega-setback posts from the 80s I would love to see a 45mm setback seatpost!
ReplyDeleteDan
I love the looks of that new seat post and that stem cap is pretty sweet too!
ReplyDeleteIf you need so much seat setback, and so much seat post extension, could that be a sigh you should be on a larger frame?
ReplyDeleteAny chance that the fork for the new frame will be sold separately? I don't see anyone else selling a mass-produced, non-suspension adjusted 700C fork with the 3-boss bidon mounts at the mo'.
ReplyDeleteMark, I agree; needing too much seat post setback may mean you should be on a larger frame. That's why I'm hesitant to make a 45mm setback post.
ReplyDeleteDave, Nope; we won't sell the fork separately. It's designed to work with our geometry.
Piolet looks great! Are those VO wheels? Also, any chance you'll be putting together a build group for the frame?
ReplyDeleteMost modern bikes (ones that aren't made by Velo Orange, at least) have seat tube angles that are too steep, even on larger-sized frames. I already have the Grand Cru seatpost and would appreciate additional setback.
ReplyDeleteSpecialized currently offers a 35mm setback post called Alias alloy seatpost at a reasonable price. It only comes in black. Nitto makes a steel lugged post with a huge setback, but the price is quite high for that item. Personally I think the velo orange posts are among the best looking available on the market currently. I am waiting for the new model to become available for purchase.
ReplyDeleteThe prospect of old Campy-style gum rubber hoods is what has me all excited (well, within reason). Still the "we hope" and "soon" leaves me a bit up in the air.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, bring on the Mafac half hoods! ETA??
ReplyDeleteMost of the gum stuff should arrive in mid-late June. The half hoods might come a couple of weeks after the other stuff--still perfecting fit on those.
ReplyDelete+1 please bring in the real gun rubber hoods. That would be a great addition.
ReplyDeleteHow much is the Piolet Frame and Fork going to sell for?? It looks amazing! I believe this is going to be my next project!
ReplyDeleteWe haven't set the price for the Piolet yet, but it'll be reasonable, as are our other frames.
ReplyDeleteHow about a grand cru seatpost with around 14mm of setback? I'm building a fixed right now with VO polished silver stem and headset and would love to top it off with a matching seatpost of regular setback
ReplyDeleteThanks Robert