Crumpton frames?

[Frustration]

Anyone?

Anything?

Full Custom, all Carbon out of Texas... No Lugs, looks like a Scott CR1

[SoCalSteve]

What are you looking at? He does lugs. They just arent ugly like the Calfee lugs. They are subtle.

I had a nice conversation with Nick about building me an all carbon frame since I sold the Fondriest.

I am waiting to see if I want to sell my Seven Axiom (as I have 2 other Ti bikes) and then use the $$ to buy an all carbon frame.

Its a short list:
Crumpton
Parlee
Steelman
Hampsten

The Parlee and Hampsten are way more $$ than the Steelman and Crumpton (about 1/3 to 1/2 more). The Steelman is the Dedeccia kit and even though they do a nice job, its still a kit.

So, the Crumpton is a very viable option, considering price, custom work and Nick seems like a great guy to deal with.

Steve

PS: I am waiting to see if I win the Serotta carbon bike in the raffle.

[Argos]

PS: I am waiting to see if I win the Serotta carbon bike in the raffle.

Who isn't?!?!

[LegendRider]

If I ever sell my Pegoretti Fina (see classifieds!), I plan to get a Crumpton. I spoke with him a few months ago and was quite impressed. My LBS is a Parlee dealer and as much I like them, I'm not willing to spend that kind of money...

[SoCalSteve]

Parlee charges sooo much more than Crumpton...

Can anyone enlighten us?

As always, thank you all in advance,

Steve

[Needs Help]

http://www.bikefanclub.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1830

http://www.bicycletest.com/absolutenm/templates/bt.asp?articleid=201&zoneid=24

http://forums.bicycling.com/thread.jspa?threadID=104789&tstart=0

[Climb01742]

Parlee charges sooo much more than Crumpton...

Can anyone enlighten us?

As always, thank you all in advance,

Steve

a ride on a parlee will, i think, answer your question as to whether a parlee can be "that good"...it can be...as to why nick charges less...my guess is, as he builds his reputation, he will charge more...nick is a very nice guy...the folks at parlee are very nice...parlee is simply a more established company, which can command a higher price. is it worth the price? maybe. is it an extraordinary bike? IMO, a definitive yes.

[FlaRider]

No to rain on the Parlee parade, but I wasn't particularly overwhelmed with my custom Z1 (built for me). It was way overbuilt and rode too harshly for my tastes (and I'm a racer who's used to taking a beating on stiff alu bikes!). I sold it within months of getting it. Lesson: paying lots of $$$ for a frame from a high-end builder does not guarantee that you will like the bike. That said, I now ride an Ottrott ST and couldn't be happier :banana:

[Climb01742]

therein lies the toughest issue with custom...or with any bike, i suppose...what is heavenly for one rider, sucks for another. and both opinions are "true" for each rider. makes choosing a frame, especially one who can't test ride first, pretty darn hard, eh? :confused:

[1centaur]

While I think the pre-made stay vs. the Parlee method helps reduce the Crumpton cost, I think Climb is right that Nick is working in the context of Parlee's price and Nick's shorter track record. As people find Nick I expect his prices to climb (and as noted in one or two of the Meivici threads, the price umbrella effect may work for Crumpton, Calfee and Parlee).

A related question is why Calfee is so much less than Parlee for custom despite a longer track record and WAY more enthusiatic fans. I agree with Climb that the Parlee is exceptional, but the constant price increases (and their rate) suggest he's selling all he can, not that the bike is that much better than the competition (as noted in my recent comparison in the Bicycling Buyers Forum). If Ivan Basso rides a re-badged Crumpton in the Tour next year (as Hamilton did a Parlee), perhaps his bikes will be over $4k as well.

[Needs Help]

as noted in my recent comparison in the Bicycling Buyers Forum
Do you have a link to that forum? I saw that you mentioned that forum in one of the links I posted, but I've been unable to locate it.

Thanks.

[rnhood]

Try this one.

http://forums.bicycling.com/thread.jspa?threadID=138313&tstart=45

[Climb01742]

nick built me a carbon cross frame (at a very attractive price) which i hope to ride soon. very curious. it's all about how well the frame and rider match. for me, my hampsten/Z1 just seems to match how i ride so well. it may, or may not, match others as well. each rider can only say what works for them.

[Needs Help]

Thanks.

[vaxn8r]

.....The Parlee and Hampsten are way more $$ than the Steelman and Crumpton (about 1/3 to 1/2 more). The Steelman is the Dedeccia kit and even though they do a nice job, its still a kit....


Steve, What Hampsten bike are you referring to? You do realize they are kind of an internet shop, with their own ideas about fit, a penchant for finding/corraling some fantastic bikes and marketing them under the Hampsten name. But they don't make anything...yet.

Correct me if I'm wrong Steve H.

No way would I consider a Deda kit bike. I'd get any number of Taiwanese made bikes before that one. Specialized, Giant, Kestrel....and definitely a Trek before I bought a kit bike.

[Brian Smith]

I haven't ridden one, but they looked very nice in person.
Crumpton, a former (and maybe occasional) lugged steel builder tells any lughead, heck anyone working with metal who will listen that soon they will instead be doing what he is doing. Full custom geometry at what really seems to be bargain pricing....seems like he would especially be the man to call if you wanted to try out something unusual in proportion/geometry that another lugged carbon builder can't do...y'know, for when an Ottrot ST or Nove won't do. ;)
Wait, OK, I take that back, if you want a 71 degree head angle an -3cm offset fork with 590mm chainstays, DON'T call Crumpton and say I sent ya, OK? I don't want to give the man a freak magnet.
I take it all back, except that Nick Crumpton seems down to earth, experienced, friendly, and that the bikes of his I've seen look very nice and seem to be a bargain for full carbon in made-to-measure or maybe custom configurations.

[John H.]

Fla,
I was interested in your comments about Parlee. My wife just ordered one to replace her straight guage ti bike that she feels is too flexy in crits.
I wonder if the Parlee will be too stiff for her 125 lb.?
You are right about diving into the unknown when ordering a custom bike that you have not ridden- may like it, may hate it. Funny thing, most people have a hard time admitting that they dislike something that they spent big $ on.
FWIW, I bought an Ottrott ST like yourself. The custom capability down to the tubeset is what sold me.

[Steve Hampsten]

[QUOTE=vaxn8r]Steve, What Hampsten bike are you referring to? You do realize they are kind of an internet shop, with their own ideas about fit, a penchant for finding/corraling some fantastic bikes and marketing them under the Hampsten name. But they don't make anything...yet.

Correct me if I'm wrong Steve H. QUOTE]

I like the word "corralling"...

Last week I hired Nic Schmidt to build welded and lugged frames for us here in our Meadowbrook (Seattle) shop. Nic joins our part-time builder, Martin Tweedy (ex-Match, Dr Palmares (http://www.bikelugs.com/pacentigallery/palmares_gallery/index.html)); Nic will also be building his own bikes under the name Capitol Bicycles (http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=9231). We will do all steel frames for Hampsten and Tournesol, custom steel racks for Tournesol, assembly for both, and repair as needed. We will continue with the usual design and fitting projects: we’re adding a new titanium builder to the stable and we’re thinking about a separate line of city bikes.

Yes, we are an internet shop with an emphasis on fit and design; we are also a framebuilding shop specializing in steel.

We never sleep.

[Climb01742]

steve adds something else, too. my Z1 is a hampsten/parlee. steve and i had a number of long talks about how i wanted the bike to ride. the finished bike has absolutely fufilled all my wishes. as with any custom, communication with the builder/designer is key. i wonder if, with other parlee's like flarider's, somehow the communication went astray? steve clearly heard what i wanted, and he and the folks at parlee delivered totally.

[vaxn8r]

[QUOTE=vaxn8r]Steve, What Hampsten bike are you referring to? You do realize they are kind of an internet shop, with their own ideas about fit, a penchant for finding/corraling some fantastic bikes and marketing them under the Hampsten name. But they don't make anything...yet.

Correct me if I'm wrong Steve H. QUOTE]

I like the word "corralling"...

Last week I hired Nic Schmidt to build welded and lugged frames for us here in our Meadowbrook (Seattle) shop. Nic joins our part-time builder, Martin Tweedy (ex-Match, Dr Palmares (http://www.bikelugs.com/pacentigallery/palmares_gallery/index.html)); Nic will also be building his own bikes under the name Capitol Bicycles (http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=9231). We will do all steel frames for Hampsten and Tournesol, custom steel racks for Tournesol, assembly for both, and repair as needed. We will continue with the usual design and fitting projects: we’re adding a new titanium builder to the stable and we’re thinking about a separate line of city bikes.

Yes, we are an internet shop with an emphasis on fit and design; we are also a framebuilding shop specializing in steel.

We never sleep.

Interesting. Can I come see your operation when I'm up there in November?

[FlaRider]

John,

I'm really not sure what went astray with Parlee. I deliberately chose to purchase directly from Parlee so that nothing would be lost in "translation." The only explanation I can come up with is that Parlee, at the time, either did not pay attention to what I wanted or was not as capable as Serotta and other custom builders in "fine-tuning" the ride characteristics of their bikes. Lesson learned! :crap: If your wife wants a Parlee, perhaps you should go through Steve Hampsten? Steve has tons of experience dealing with Parlee and Climb raves about his Hampsten/Parlee. In hindsight, I should have gone through Steve myself.

As much as people here extol the virtues of custom bikes (I have owned several dozen such bikes myself!), I have learned that it's often a _much_ safer bet to purchase high-quality "stock" bikes with proven design philosophies/geos (assuming they fit) in order to eliminate problems like the one I had with my Parlee. I recently bought a stock Pinarello Dogma (deeply discounted) which fits perfectly and handles superbly. Ditto for a Time VXRS which I bought recently.

[quattro]

I ordered my custom Z1 directly from Bob Parlee and worked with Jon and Doug and quite simply, my Parlee is the finest bicycle I have ever ridden and owned. I can't say enough about the quality of the build the ride and the overall final product being exactly what I wanted in every respect. I'm not sure why some people can have a good experience with a custom build and others a bad experience, it seems to me that every build is handled seperately and each person has a specific ride quality they are looking for. As for Parlee, I have to say I am quite pleased with their ability to capture the ride I was looking for in my frame.

[Steve Hampsten]

[QUOTE=Steve Hampsten]

Interesting. Can I come see your operation when I'm up there in November?

Absolutely: while we may never sleep, we do like to work 9-5 like many other people. Weekends are flexible.

SH

[Ti-Boy]

But for my Parlee being a Z1x, my experience is identical to quattro's. Same players- same results.

[The Spider]

Last weekend I hopped off my Parlee at the cafe and kissed the top tube and called her "bellissimo", my Parlee is that magnificant. Jonathan is a joy to work with. As Climbo can now attest, I give ALOT of information to the builder from "emotional" comments, to the straight up measurements of current rides and specs of the componentry.

The bike is so good it makes me want to be a better rider just so I can exploit the frame!

[Climb01742]

i think one of the wild cards with custom frames is language. we use the same words, but do we each take away the same meaning? what is "stiff" to two different riders? "comfortable"? what's "a little flex"? trying to accurately connect words to sensations we feel while riding is really hard. in that respect i think flarider may be on to something about stock frames. you test ride one and that is what it is. customs can sure surprise you when they arrive. i've been pleasantly surprised and not so pleasantly. the difference has been, usually, the quality of communication. and the subjectivity of language plays a big part, i think.

[bike_it]

After reading many of the comments above I have some thoughts. First and formost the Parlee Z1 is a totally custom frame. This includes geometry, tube types and hand laid up lugs. When one orders a bike from Parlee, or other custom builders discussing ride characteristics wanted and your weight are paramount issues.

I have ridden many carbon frames, perhaps not alot of miles, but enough to get a sense of their feel and handling. I weigh 160 lbs and my Z1 works! I attribute this to careful research and planning. Going forward with a prior fit and body measure to assure a suitable and complimentary geometry made a big difference on the end result. A 100 mile ride is as comfortable as it can be on my Z1.

Parlee offers demo bikes thru their dealers. Which is a great way to check out their product. I have to ask however, did the person who disliked his Z1 discuss his concerns with Parlee? I can assure you they would be interested. Parlee goes to great length when it comes to customer service. Parlee's Z1 price is no more than a Colnago C50, both include forks Parlee adds the headset though.

Crumpton frames are beautiful works of craftsmanship. He uses a wishbone seatstay which helps reduce costs, but not quality! This too would be a excellent choice.

Parlee, Crumpton, Calfee or.....have the technical expertise to build our bikes, it is up to us to convey are needs to that builder. Thanks for reading.