Firefly Bicycles

[Tyler Evans]

Originally Posted by 54ny77

what's the silvery headtube attachments/thingies on that frame #2?

A dummy headset for pictures.

[billspreston]

Just love these bikes. Thanks for keeping the thread up to date.

Have you toyed with painting any road forks to match the titanium 'color' of a frame? Always been a big fan of this look (if done well) as the frameset blends together visually. Realizing, of course, that there will always subtle differences between paint and bare metal and a perfect match is not possible.

[Tyler Evans]

Originally Posted by billspreston

Just love these bikes. Thanks for keeping the thread up to date.

Have you toyed with painting any road forks to match the titanium 'color' of a frame? Always been a big fan of this look (if done well) as the frameset blends together visually. Realizing, of course, that there will always subtle differences between paint and bare metal and a perfect match is not possible.

A road fork painted as you described is at our painters now, should have pics by the end of next week.

As an example of what the paint looks like vs. blasted titanium, we painted this steel fork to match:

[billspreston]

That looks awesome, thanks!

[Tyler Evans]

Case study on this build from December:

Click on the pic:

[jblande]

did you build the fork?

do you make ti forks?

[Tyler Evans]

Engin made the fork. It is steel. Although we have made thousands of forks in our careers, we do not currently make forks.

[William]

This is exactly what the Showcase section is for....for builders to work it and show the potential customers, and admirers what they can do. Keep working it Tyler, we're eating it up!!






William

[pitonpat]

Originally Posted by tuscanyswe

Good looking bikes all of them but the last one with a regular headtube stands out visually. For me thats just so much better looking. Infact it looks amazing.

Great work! Who knows, some day!

+1 on this remark. The scale & proportion of the big headtube is not pleasing; especially the headtube - steerer tube interface. Aside from this, I find these bikes very exciting. Congratulations! Oh yeah, and a pale gray background would be beneficial for the photos.

[Tyler Evans]

Originally Posted by pitonpat

+1 on this remark. The scale & proportion of the big headtube is not pleasing; especially the headtube - steerer tube interface. Aside from this, I find these bikes very exciting. Congratulations! Oh yeah, and a pale gray background would be beneficial for the photos.

Sometimes there is a reason for the big headtube that goes beyond aesthetics. But I hear what you're saying... aesthetically. It's a delicate balance, but performance and fit always win, aesthetics only [helps to] make it look it's best.

[Tyler Evans]

Some fun bikes coming up:

E.P.U.C.:



Ti 29'er:





XCr Stainless disc cross:

[Mikej]

Originally Posted by pitonpat

+1 on this remark. The scale & proportion of the big headtube is not pleasing; especially the headtube - steerer tube interface. Aside from this, I find these bikes very exciting. Congratulations! Oh yeah, and a pale gray background would be beneficial for the photos.

For me the 44mm head tube / stem junction is what makes it unappealing. It seems like as soon as everybody has a taper, they will make straight 1.5", then the stem will look ok. Great work tho, not a put down by any means, I really like that you guys are willing to venture outside the lines.

[billspreston]

Agree about the aesthetics of the stem/head tube junction when using a straight 44mm headtube, particularly on road bikes.

Tyler, would it be possible to shape or source a 'true' 1 1/8' to 1 1/4' tapered head tube out of ti? True meaning taper shaped like /\ as opposed to a straight tube | |.

More like this?

[Jamie Medeiros]

would it be possible to shape or source a 'true' 1 1/8' to 1 1/4' tapered head tube out of ti? True meaning taper shaped like /\ as opposed to a straight tube | |.

The easiest way to make custom length tapered head tubes in titanium would be to machine them out of solid stock (currently not easy for us). It would also be outrageously expensive.

As a side note, the reason we went with the 44mm head tube on this mountain bike shown was to enable us to keep the front end as low as possible for this rider. The 44mm Inset head sets have a small lower stack height and it lowers the front end by around 10mm. 29" wheeled mountain bikes can sometimes be a little high in the front on smaller bicycles and every little bit helps.

[Jack Brunk]

I received my ISP'd 29er frame yesterday and by now have examined every weld joint. I've not held in my hands to date a better welded frame with the most uniformed beads that melt into the frame. Every detail of the frame is perfect. If it performs half as well as it looks then we've both hit a home run. Waiting on the project321 adapter otherwise it should be built up next week. Thanks guys!