anyone here tasted vanilla?

[Climb01742]

slow day at the office. wandering the web. vanilla cycles. lord, thems is pardy. anyone here own one, ride one? what does vanilla taste like?

[IXXI]

Sacha told me my SS frame was built and going over to paint last week. Almost a year to the day I plopped down my deposit for one... and until now, I don't think I really knew how long a year could feel!

Soon, very soon, I shall have Vanilla in my life!

[Needs Help]

Some of the images on Vanilla's site are bikes commissioned by Serotta forum members(e.g the avocado green bike with the front leather bag), and dbrk mentioned he had one in the works:

http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=1133&highlight=vanilla

(in fact, you posted to that thread)

[flydhest]

yep, I gots one.

[csb]

and he got ripped-off 'cause it came with only one gear

[Climb01742]

fly--care to elaborate? how do you like it?

[bostondrunk]

slow day at the office. wandering the web. vanilla cycles. lord, thems is pardy. anyone here own one, ride one? what does vanilla taste like?


Climbo,
I see you gave up on the footer "stop me before I buy again"...
I think they must have a support group for bicycle shopoholics... ;)

[flydhest]

climb,

csb nailed it. There I was thinking I was going to get a fixed gear and it was broken. I can't shift and they seem to have hidden the derailleur.

Apart from that, the bike is beautiful. It is lugged and the lugs looks great. I went for subtle classic ones--I don't do fancy von schmancy intricate baroque lugs. The track tips (rear dropouts) are polished stainless steel with a V (vanilla logo) cut into them. Perhaps my favorite aspect. Moreover, although the bike looks old school, the seat stays are hourglass, so it's a mix of modern and retro that looks wonderful to my nerd-like aesthetic. I'm not sure if I'd call myself an aesthete because it sounds too much like a nipple on a buttock. I told Sacha what I wanted and he picked everything from the geometry to the tubing. It rides wonderfully. Springy steel sprinting sensation. Alliteration brings a $50 fine in some jurisdictions, if the people deciding guilt or innocences can pronounce the locale clearly, but, again, that's a question of the jury's diction. In any event, I'm quite enamored of it. I use it a lot for commuting, training, and going around town trying to look cooler than I actually am. As surprising as it may seem, it's very easy for me to look cooler than I am, not because I'm good at deception, but few would believe what a geek I really am.

Hope that helps.

[MallyG]

Just checked out Vanilla website (fast morning/slower afternoon!) Hmmm... these look pretty. I love the way that you guys in the States seem to have retained some small, individual, passionate-about-design bike manufacturers. We just don't seem to have them over here. Keep 'em coming though, I love to window-shop (is there a 'web-version' of window-shopping - guess it's Microsoft Windows-shopping, unless you're using a Mac. Which I am)
Hey, I told you it was a slow afternoon....

[pale scotsman]

I love the way that you guys in the States seem to have retained some small, individual, passionate-about-design bike manufacturers. We just don't seem to have them over here.
Hey, I told you it was a slow afternoon....

Have you checked out http://www.robinmathercycles.co.uk/ ? Nice stuff and another chance to whittle the afternoon away, I dare say.

[Smiley]

Thanks to Flyman recommendation to Sasha I have been fortunate enough to fit 5 Vanilla clients for bikes within the last year and a half. Each one has seen me with the intent of purchasing a fixed gear bike that they intend to ride NOT on the track but as an all arounder. I think Sasha is now over 9 months out on delivery . I hope someday to get him to make me a touring frame , his prices have gone up with his increased popularity too .

[Climb01742]

bostondrunk--this time it is truly window shopping. i admit, keeping it to window shopping is hard for me, but i'm practicing. ;)

[bostondrunk]

don't feel bad. last night I completely lost control and bought every flavor of snapple the grocery store had!!! i'm ashamed... :crap:

[Climb01742]

if only bikes, like snapple, cost less than two bucks each!

[Tom Byrnes]

Climb,

I'm belatedly joining this thread. I am the proud owner of the beautiful green touring bike featured on the Vanilla website. The bike is wonderful. Every detail on the bike was well thought out and executed. Sacha was very easy to work with. I have seen dbrk's numerous Rivendells and Sachs, and the paint job on my Vanilla is on par with those exquisite Joe Bell-painted bikes.

I want another Vanilla, but need to wait for the completion of our garage remodel.

See you soon at TdFL.

Tom

[Ken Robb]

"garage remodel" or expansion?? Raising the roof to hang more bikes??

[Tom Byrnes]

"garage remodel" or expansion?? Raising the roof to hang more bikes??

Ken - The garage is indeed being expanded so that we can store more "things". It's good thing that Debbie doesn't read Serotta Message Board because I don't want her to think that just because we have more space to store "things", that there will be more bikes, . . . but, there will be.

Douglas Brooks, after viewing my living room with five bikes resting against the furniture, apologized to Debbie for his unintentional contributions to my bike acquisition "illness". She will see for herself in few days where that illness can lead when we visit dbrk's museum at TdFL.

Next year, I expect your (and other West Coast SerotttaPals') attendance.

Hope all is well with you and yours.

:) :)

Tom

[stackie]

I, too, have a Vanilla. My second Vanilla is at paint as we speak. You really can't get a better recommendation than that, can you?

I was not as laissez-faire as Tom and Fly, I had to have my input into every little detail on my Vanilla. Sacha can attest to this, we must have had about a thousand emails! I initially went with him because I was looking for an economical Serotta alternative for a lugged frame. I came across his site and was impressed with the pics. So, I contacted him and he was very genuine and helpful. I actually made a trip to Portland to have him fit me in his shop. Very cool guy. He hunted down the last threaded Ouzo comp in existence (he called Reynolds, who told him that they were just sitting around looking at this last threaded fork wondering what to do with it) , also scored a difficult to find stainless tubeset so that I could have a stainless chainstay. BTW, the Reynolds fork was a waste of money, since Sacha's steel fork is so much better. But, I did want to have the comparison.

I love my Vanilla. It rides like a dream, fits me like a glove. Oh, and I get compliments on it everywhere I go.

My second is a fixie. I let Sacha have more say in this one, because he has a pretty awesome sense of style. I gave him the general color and decal direction and left more details up to his sense of style. I'm getting very anxious to see this baby on my doorstep.

If any of you are thinking of a Vanilla, I wouild recommend that you contact him and get your deposit in ASAP. The wait is only going to get longer and the price higher. I told Sacha that I think I have the early work of a great master-he will have the reputation of Sachs one day. He is a guy who truly loves building bikes!

Jon

[shinomaster]

I'm getting a Vanilla this week!!

A Vanilla tee shirt that is..