crumpton, anyone?

[Climb01742]

anyone have a crumpton carbon frame, or know anything about nick crumpton? at the recent handmade bicycle show in houston, somehow :rolleyes: nick squeezed his way in between steel frames from e-richie and sacha white to be given the award for best carbon frame. what's the 411 on crumpton?

http://www.bicycletest.com/absolutenm/anmviewer.asp?a=201&print=yes

[Bruce K]

Climb;

Now listen carefully, put down the wallet, step away from the credit card, and hand over the checkbook to SO Climb. :D

Is this a curiosity thing or are you contemplating another "adoption"?

I belive there was a thread not that long ago discussing Mr. Crumpton. I seem to remember that weisan has some experience with, or knows him.

More snow Friday. I can't wait until the April school break for a week of fun in the sun with my family and my bike.

BK

[Climb01742]

bruce, can't a guy just window shop? (in my case, probably not.) (naw, just passing a slow afternoon at the office.)

[weisan]

Climb-pal, yes, you've got my permission to window shop all you want...heck, you can even order one on the phone today! 512.459.7458

weisan's ulterior motives :rolleyes::
Climb rides the same size bike as me. He will order a tricked out bike from Nick. I will drop by everyday to check on the progress (his shop is just around the corner from my office. I literally waved at him when I am doing lunch rides). Once Nick is done, he will NOT tell climb but tell weisan so he can ride it for a couple of weeks. In the meantime, Nick can tell Climb that there's an unanticipated downtime due to tubing shortages. When weisan is done with the bike, he will call Climb personally to congratulate him that everything is in good order and he just made an excellent choice in picking his next fav ride, better than the Parlee!!!

[weisan]

And by the way, Climb-pal, do follow the advice of Riche-sawa this time around, get a CROSS bike from Nick. I heard he makes a nice off-road rig.

[Bruce K]

Hey James;

Who loves ya? Of course you can window shop. I do it as often as I can.

I was at the LBA today checking up on the TT bike. It will be ready for pick up Friday (weather permitting). I checked out the new Orbea and some cross rigs.

Have fun looking (that's your satory and you're sticking to it).

BK

[1centaur]

The earlier thread claimed he'd built 10 frames, and when I bought mine last summer Nick said I was the first buyer in Massachusetts.

Pictures here:

http://www.bikefanclub.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=177

My first ride review here:

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

To summarize why I bought and what I thought of the experience - I wanted Colnago HT angle and rake, in carbon, a TT of a certain length, and a certain ST angle, as well as a bigger drop than 7cm in the BB. I also had a paint scheme in mind. I could have gone Calfee but I already had one and wanted wider diameter tubes for cosmetic reasons. I could have gone Parlee, but the extra dollars were not inviting, especially after two other high end bikes last year. Crumpton was a risk because of low volume, but after talking to him a while I decided it was worth the risk. He was a pleasure to work with (all phone and e-mail), built the bike exactly as I wanted, and picked the right painter in a crunch when his regular guy had to bail. Construction quality both visual and in feel is right there with Calfee - could not pick between them. Materials used very similar to Parlee and Calfee - as long as you're picking your own geometry the choice comes down to how the tubes are joined, and Nick's smooth transitions appeal to me more than Parlee's lugs while they seem to share a similar philosophy on road feel.

As I said in the earlier thread, if you are willing to take the low frame count risk (and many on this forum presumably can take that risk), then Nick's bikes are worthy of consideration. As I ponder completing the triumverate with a Parlee this year, I wonder if I'd be better off getting a second Crumpton - no regrets thus far. Meanwhile, that Moots should be here soon :)

[musgravecycles]

I spoke with Nick for quite a while at NAHBS. He seemed to be a really nice guy. I don't know how many bikes he's built, or how they ride though. He uses the same supplier as everyone else in the carbon industry, MCM so the quality is good. I also find them pretty visually appealing for carbon...He does a nice job of thining out his lugs. He had a pretty sexy carbon cross bike there... other than that don't know much about him other than he's a nice guy.

[jerk]

they look nice. great review 1 centaur.....the jerk is impressed with your stable.

jerk

[LegendRider]

I had a number of conversations with Nick regarding a carbon road frame. He is friendly, knowledgeable and prompt in returning calls and emails. In short, I was impressed. His frame would have allowed me to get the exact geometry I wanted at a much better price than a C-50 or Parlee. I decided against it for the time being simply for financial reasons. But, when the time comes I will probably get one.

[weisan]

I think Nick would be encouraged to hear so many good things said about him. Every successful framebuilders has to start somewhere. It's consistency and integrity that bring them further than their competitions over time.