This whole deal began last fall, when I started talking to Glen Copus about how I wasn't all that happy with my Specialized Tricross and about how maybe could I take the components and have him build me a new bike that works better? Glen has this bike resume that is just freakin amazing and he builds Elephants. Talk led to more talk and I got all jacked up and the maybe turned into definitely when I wrote him a check in December.
I'm still in the way early stages of learning about frame geomety and what all the angles and dangles do for you and so I pretty much told him how I wanted to use the bike and he took it from there. This is not like all NASA-exact, but for all intents and purposes, here's the geometry of my new bike:
And here are the pics of the finished product . . .
Glen is also an authorized S&S Coupling dealer/installer. They pretty much allow you to break your bike in half so that you can travel all compact. I decided that I needed couplings on this bike. I'm not sure why at this 5 minutes, but I'm confident that I'll evantually embrace the decision.
I had Glen braze eyelets everywhere so that I can hang racks all the hell over it. But not for a while.
Tire clearance? Check. With room for fenders, although I don't care to think about fenders right now. But when I do wanna think about fenders, I'll be happy there's room for 'em.
Brazing details . . .
Signature Elephant wishbone seatstays:
And matching fork crown. It's worth noting that most Elephants of late have been going out the door with carbon forks. But I wanted steel, so Glen tooled up and got back in the fork-building business. I'm sure I was a PITA, but I'll betcha anything he's glad to be equipped to be building steel forks again.
I was gonna go with a King headset, but Glen mentioned this FSA with integrated cable stop and I thought it was pretty cool, so it happened.
The bike had a 30T small ring and he swapped that out for a 26. National forest-driven modification. Hugely significant to me.
What it weighs:
Shot of the killer logo:
I was gonna do a ride report, but this post is way too long and you've probably already dozed off, or maybe that's me, so I'll save it for next time. I'll just tell ya though, that we did a bunch of dirt and pavement this weekend and the bike is rocking me.
8 comments:
That is one sweet looking machine.
Perdy bicycle!
Sweet ride! How much money did it cost?
That's impolite to ask on cost. It's like asking a farmer how many acres he owns, or a woman's bust size. You gotta be sneaky:
If someone bought an Elephant and a bicycle-shaped bottle opener, what would be the ratio in cost between the most expensive of those two items and the least expensive?
See? That's not nosy.
Also, does Elephant make a bottle opener?
Anon 1: You are obviously single or newly married. Please see Anon 2 comments below and make note for your own well-being and self-preservation.
Anon 2: You have obviously been married a long time. And to your credit, I suspect that your relationship has not merely survived, but flourished, because at this moment, I can't wait to tell you how much my bike cost. Holy hell, you probably know what your wife weighs to the tenth of a pound. Anyway, if the bottle opener costs $7.25, then the ratio of Glen's basic frame-to-opener is approximately 120:1. With couplers, the ratio increases to approximately 170:1.
I am curious about 2 things. Why canti brakes as opposed to direct pull, and why route cables under the BB rather than along the top tube?
Looks like a joy to ride!
Andrew, the brakes came off the Tricross - I wanted to re-use as many of the components as possible to keep the cost down. That said, I've already switched over to a little different style canti that open wider so it's easier to get fat tires in and out. Direct pull really isn't an option because they won't work with the levers I have.
As far as the cable routing, Glen and I never even discussed options. I just let him make the call. But if we had, I still think I'd have asked him to route them under the BB, just to to keep the look cleaner.
Another Smart post from you Admin :)
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