Kirk Frameworks

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by David Kirk

Good question.

You are correct - I don’t recommend stainless bikes to those that live close to the ocean and salt air. The issue is that the salt makes it too time consuming for most owners to keep the finish looking good. Under normal (non salt air) conditions keeping a stainless bike looking good is pretty darn simple. I’ve been using my personal lugged stainless bike for a good 4 years now and have done nothing more than blasting it with the hose and it looks like new. On the other hand if you live right on the ocean it would need proper cleaning all the time to keep it looking good.

Lugged stainless bikes are made of two materials - stainless and silver brazing filler - and both react to salt air. It will sound sarcastic to say that they call the material “stain-less” and not “stain-proof” for a reason. It can stain. Unlike the stainless flatware we eat with every day the stainless used in bike tubes has some iron in it to help make it super strong. This iron can cause surface staining when exposed to salt. Note that it does not rust like an old Buick where the structure is compromised but instead is simply staining on the surface….and this can be removed with common cleaners. How often this needs to be done depends on how close the bike lives to the ocean.

The second material is the silver alloy used to hold the tubes together. To make this alloy flow properly and be super strong it has trace amounts of tin in it….this tin, like the tin cans from decades ago, corrodes and looks like crap. Since there is typically only 2% tin in the silver the stuff doesn’t rust in a way that compromises the structure of the bike but it does look bad. The lugs lines get speckled brownish red and this too can be cleaned off without a lot of work… but if you live on the ocean it will require cleaning much more often to keep looking good.

And yes things like sports drinks with their high salt level can stain the tubes. And yes XCR and 953 and KVA all see the same issues with salt air.

Many like to think that stainless is like Ti (requiring vey little work to keep looking good) and it can be if you live away from the coast. But it you live near the ocean I recommend a painted steel or stainless bike or if you want a completely carefree finish near the ocean go for a Ti bike.

I hope that makes sense - I haven't finished my morning coffee so all bets are off!

dave

One more reason to be thankful I moved to the dry side of the state..

When I'm ready, it'll be a bare Onesto for me.

[NHAero]

I live on an island and my stainless steel Anderson had some surface spotting on the tubes where they entered the lugs. None on the main body of the tubes, or on the lugs themselves, or on the stays. Both Daves (Anderson and Kirk) told me how to clean it off, but in the end I didn't want the maintenance requirement and I sent it back to Dave to paint the main tubes. It looks great, although I do regret covering up some of his superb craftsmanship with paint.

[jkbrwn]

Oh boy... I'm in the queue. This thread is bad for one's lust

[David Kirk]

A bit of a Flashback Friday if that’s a thing. This goes back to 2015 and a very limited edition model I made to honor my hometown and birthplace of Rome NY. It’s a small town in central New York State with a very Italian tradition and way of life and some of the best riding roads I’ve ever have the pleasure to spend time on.

The Roma model was made to have a classic look but with modern steel performance and was available in either Gios blue or Colnago red.

It’s been a very long time since I’ve had the chance to ride the wonderful roads north of Rome where I grew up. I’d very much like to ride them again.

Have a great weekend and stay healthy.

[bob heinatz]

One of my favorites.

[Ryun]

Originally Posted by jkbrwn

Oh boy... I'm in the queue. This thread is bad for one's lust

Congrats. Great call on getting a Kirk

[David Kirk]

This JK Special is headed out to Portland tomorrow and I'm excited to see it built up and on the road.

This one is built around medium reach brakes to give room for some fatroad rubber and of course it's painted my new favorite color Legnano Green.

Stay safe out there wherever you are.

dave

[donevwil]

Wow, I think I've found my new favorite color too.

Dave,

What's the max tire that will fit such a medium reach frameset, disregarding fenders? Does anything limit tire size more than brake clearance assuming one wanted a fattest tire mid-reach road-only frameset (road cranks, short'ish chainstays, etc.)?

Thanks

[Keith A]

Originally Posted by donevwil

Wow, I think I've found my new favorite color too.

Dave,

What's the max tire that will fit such a medium reach frameset, disregarding fenders? Does anything limit tire size more than brake clearance assuming one wanted a fattest tire mid-reach road-only frameset (road cranks, short'ish chainstays, etc.)?

Thanks

I agree...that's a great color!!!

[David Kirk]

Originally Posted by donevwil

Wow, I think I've found my new favorite color too.

Dave,

What's the max tire that will fit such a medium reach frameset, disregarding fenders? Does anything limit tire size more than brake clearance assuming one wanted a fattest tire mid-reach road-only frameset (road cranks, short'ish chainstays, etc.)?

Thanks

Good question - the tire size constraint is usually the size of the caliper itself. Most will fit a 32 and some will stretch up to a 35.

One issue can be the fact that some brakes don't open all that far with the QR open so it can be hard to get the wheel in/out even though it fits fine once in place. One way to cheat this a bit it to use a wide rim - with a wide rim the pads start farther apart and will usually give more room when opened from there.

Make sense?

dave

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by David Kirk

This JK Special is headed out to Portland tomorrow and I'm excited to see it built up and on the road.

This one is built around medium reach brakes to give room for some fatroad rubber and of course it's painted my new favorite color Legnano Green.

Stay safe out there wherever you are.

dave

If this isn't someone's here, I hope they come join the club and share some pics of it fully built..

Dave, I think you need to have the mods print you up some Paceline postcards to throw in the box with each frame that goes out

Also, it adds a little happiness to know that Dario did a couple Legnano-inspired Luigino's back in the day, and that to some extent this represents a keeping of that flame.

In any event, beautiful work and great touches on the accents.

[David Kirk]

Originally Posted by Clean39T

If this isn't someone's here, I hope they come join the club and share some pics of it fully built..

Dave, I think you need to have the mods print you up some Paceline postcards to throw in the box with each frame that goes out

Also, it adds a little happiness to know that Dario did a couple Legnano-inspired Luigino's back in the day, and that to some extent this represents a keeping of that flame.

In any event, beautiful work and great touches on the accents.

That is an awesome idea - hey mods can we make that happen?

dave

[donevwil]

Originally Posted by David Kirk

....Make sense?

dave

Yes, I think I'll discuss this with you further when I'm in a place to get my deposit in (and travel to Bozeman). Primarily curious if what I want is possible, or how it could be achieved (rim brake, light'ish (for me) road only, clearance for Rene Herse 44s, no rack/fender braze-ons, not a montercross).

[osbk67]

Originally Posted by donevwil

Wow, I think I've found my new favorite color too.

Dave,

What's the max tire that will fit such a medium reach frameset, disregarding fenders? Does anything limit tire size more than brake clearance assuming one wanted a fattest tire mid-reach road-only frameset (road cranks, short'ish chainstays, etc.)?

Thanks

Fantastic-looking frame.

Great to see subtle/not so subtle references to the great makers of old such as Legnano. When Findriest won the 1988 Worlds after Criquelion (RIP) and Bauer tangled I thought his bike had one of the best colour schemes ever, and my opinion hasn't moved on much.

On the subject of tyre clearance, I've dropped a couple of photos of a Black Mountain Road/Pasela 38mm/TRP 957/DT R460 combination into this thread for indirect reference...

https://forums.thepaceline.net/showt...=1#post2831854

[Big Dan]

Great looking frame.
Contrary to rumors on the interweb rims brakes are not dead.