Bike porn

They've been replaced by armchair experts in framebuilding.

Shall we ask hippy to rename this "The tedious argument" thread?

edit: all those ^^^^ bikes are horrible.. parts/frames are nice but the builds? Ugh

Not pure porn perhaps, but here seems as good a place as any.

Seems it's built by some new start up in London: http://explorateur.cc/

This is all I could find on it:

This is an EXPLORATEUR.
We’re a small London based custom frame building company.
We only build these frames to order.
Tom Ritchey himself has given us his blessing and official licence to use the Brake-Away system. We slightly customise the seat tube lug and run internal cabling – but the essence of this simple and light system is the same.
This particular bike is a prototype that Rapha used for their 2011 fall/winter photo shoot in Oslo.
It’s a mix of Columbus Spirit and Kaisei tubing – with internal gear and disc brake cabling. Horizontal dropouts and a road/cross geometry.
Fillet brazed with stainless steel dropouts and facing reinforcement rings on head tube, seat tube and bottom bracket.
Custom fillet brazed Columbus Spirit disc forks with internal cabling and SS dropouts.
The build is a mix of Campag Record, custom painted Thomson seatpost and stem, custom 28 hole C20 BrobyCarbon full-carbon clincher rims (Sold at Tokyo Fixed Gear and Condor Cycles. – We also use the BrobyCarbon C40, C50 and C60 super strong carbon clincher rims for cross. Top kit at very reasonable prices!), Tune custom Campag disc hubs, Fizik saddle, Lizard Skins bar tape, Ritchey WCS bars, Conti tyres, Elite SS cages, Chris King headset, FSA/TA chainset and a full Token alu build kit.
This bike is set to do all the Rapha Cyclo-Cross races this winter + the Paris-Roubaix Challenge next year with Rapha and Rouleur.
We build with both Reynolds, Columbus and Kaisei tubing – and potentially also the new KVA stainless tubing in the near future.

I'm pretty interested in that Ritchey seat tube/splitter lug thing. The head tube all looks solid, so I'm assuming there is another splitter at the BB shell?

Rapha alert

has it got an ergo stem too?! Paaahhhahaha.. ergo stem with risers... LOL

I'm pretty interested in that Ritchey seat tube/splitter lug thing. The head tube all looks solid, so I'm assuming there is another splitter at the BB shell?

Yup. (Note cable couplers as well.)

So we have a guy with 4Oyrs frame building experience, who isn't afraid to try new techniques and ideas to try and squeeze out some extra advantages over regular frame designs, who's frames are then involved in records being broken, lots of records, regardless how insignificant certain people find them, comes on here to defend his ideas against people who most probably have exactly 4Oyrs LESS frame building experience than him, but think they know everything there is to know about cycling, trying to tell him all about frame building and design, and belittling his achievements.

People have been trying all kinds of little tricks and tweaks over the years, to frames, components, positions, to try and gain any advantage, no matter how small.
This guy has done the same, and people have then gone on to break records using his frames and ideas.
I don't think he really has to explain or defend himself to the LFGSS experts any further.

Everyone has to explain themselves to Scoble.

When not working at Evans, Ed works on the door at St Peters gate... "I am sorry my sons, your saddle to bar drop are too much, come back with sloping geometries"

It is easier for a man on a brown bike, with mudguards, racks, panniers and a big saddle to pass through the gates than for a man on a carbon fibre sleek race machine.

So we have a guy with 4Oyrs frame building experience [...]against people who most probably have exactly 4Oyrs LESS frame building experience than him

The faster an industry moves, the less value experience has. I graduated two years ago and know more about some of the programming tech we use here than some of the 20+ years experienced contractors.

I'm not saying there definitely is no benefit to what he's done but what I am saying is

• I've seen no evidence for his claims.
  
• I think his ideas make changes too subtle for any useful benefit
  
• If his bikes have won so many records, big bike firms with R&D departments will have investigated and tested the ideas and we'd have seen similar concepts by now if they were any good.
  

My Colander does 25 miles in 35 minutes, where as my saucepan struggles to get under 40.

Fact, holes make things faster.

"mdcc_tester is neither a computer model or a machine. He will tell you whatever the hell he wants and you won't be able to prove him wrong because he uses science. Accept this fact and you might enjoy your stay on this forum. Try to fight it and you will lose, no matter how right you may be."

Menacing^

So we have a guy with 4Oyrs frame building experience who makes claims that he can't back up with actual proof, against the creme de la creme of the bicycle industry who have millions of dorrahs at their disposal for research and development.

ftfy

This page = forum at it's worst

This ^

Apart from Scott's post, which is a little piece of sanity in an ocean of idiocy.

wonders if andy has me on ignore

Its at this point that I always feel that the picture of a MTB on a London fixie forum will cheer everyone up.

ftfy

You're pretty naive to think that the million dollar bicycle industry cares more about pure performance than making money.

I'm not, and I'm guessing Dave Porter isn't either, trying to claim that his drillium frame design will suddenly allow all of the 'I've bought a fixie so I'm a cycling expert' , or 'I've bought a brazing torch and have 12hrs frame building experience bodging my polo bike' forum members to break records....but if there is any advantage from the design, then it's still an advantage.
The size of the advantage it offers compared to the cost and complexity of mass production dictates the attention it receives from the majors.

However, for somebody in the market for a unique custom frame, who perhaps wants to gain any advantage from their frame has the option to buy from small builders like Dave who are willing to try different ideas to other builders.

If people have broken records while using his frames, then I would say that's worth more than any forum members 'I think this' or 'I assume that' theories, who have far less to back up their 'theories' than Dave Porter does to back up his.

Now why not get back to bitching about grammar or the type of font used on Lightweight's wheels, which lets face it, most of you web designers and glorified secretaries are more qualified to discuss than you are to be discussing bicycle frame design and the theories of air flow.
Have a nice day! lol, rofl, etc
X

^ Quality post.

^^^ 'glorified secretaries' is the best thing on this page

I have read back on this so, I dont mean to stick my oar in. But Ripley uses slits in there fork legs and seat stays to effect the way the air flows over the wheels. R-flow they call it. So there is obviously a point to it.
As always, I with anyone willing to take the time and effort to have a good tinker.

I wish Lightweight would move to a Comic Sans font. This place would implode.

Now why not get back to bitching about grammar or the type of font used on Lightweight's wheels, which lets face it, most of you web designers and glorified secretaries are more qualified to discuss than you are to be discussing bicycle frame design and the theories of air flow.
Have a nice day! lol, rofl, etc
X

Quoted for posterity. BRP for president of the internetz.