Why so little love for Calfee?

[charliedid]

Originally Posted by Clean39T

My interest in them is pure fascination. I'm not an engineer - but I do appreciate design. And to me, these are just really neat - so I've wanted to give one a try, get to see it up close, and revel in the oddity of it all.

Ditto

I'll have one some day.

[mhespenheide]

Originally Posted by Clean39T

My interest in them is pure fascination. I'm not an engineer - but I do appreciate design. And to me, these are just really neat - so I've wanted to give one a try, get to see it up close, and revel in the oddity of it all.

Similar here, aided and abetted by the LeMond connection. If I had a bunch of extra money and space, I'd want one with a blue tint and kitted out with 7700.

[EPOJoe]

My Tetra Pro is still a great ride after twenty something odd years. The original Dura-Ace 8 speed group, which is still working perfectly, was cutting edge when I put it on the bike.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Clean39T

Interesting info. From the little I've seen, the work Craig has done in under-served nations and his insistence on moving in the direction of sustainability with materials and manufacturing are more than noble and something it would be nice to see more in the industry doing. But of course a business must maintain viability and deliver its core product, or it can't continue to support those other priorities. Hopefully at this point (I know it's been a few years removed for you now) they've turned things in a better direction with their manufacturing and QC. It appears they have. The new bikes they are turning out are beautiful. It seems they are still doing good business with refinishing and repairing carbon too. Anyway, I'm excited to give this one a whirl and see how it performs for me.

Yup, my problem was with Craig..I saw him at interbike, after I had dropped him for 2 years and asked about 'giving it another try'..send me a couple of frames, that I would have PAID for, and we'll see. He said, "no, I had to BUY 10..'just like all the other dealers in Colorado'...well, there were no other dealers in Colorado..so adios...

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Yup, my problem was with Craig..I saw him at interbike, after I had dropped him for 2 years and asked about 'giving it another try'..send me a couple of frames, that I would have PAID for, and we'll see. He said, "no, I had to BUY 10..'just like all the other dealers in Colorado'...well, there were no other dealers in Colorado..so adios...

What year was that?

I certainly hope I'm not held accountable for every misstep I've made in the last two decades. There have been a few. It's possible even YOU made a few. The horror.

Time to move on.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[texbike]

Any traction on getting that Calfee built and out for a ride? I'm interested to hear your perspective on it!

Texbike

[Dino Suegiù]

A Tetra Pro is one of the very few framesets I wish I had never sold (), and I hold on to bicycles "forever". It was great to ride, beautiful to look at, unique in terms of design...I really liked it.

[oldguy00]

Originally Posted by Dino Suegiù

A Tetra Pro is one of the very few framesets I wish I had never sold (), and I hold on to bicycles "forever". It was great to ride, beautiful to look at, unique in terms of design...I really liked it.

Me too. After a roughly 6 year break from the sport, I got back into cycling in 2001, and I had always wanted a Calfee after seeing Greg on his then 'Carbonframes' bike at the '90 (I think) TDF. I think I sold mine around 2005, wish I hadn't.

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by texbike

Any traction on getting that Calfee built and out for a ride? I'm interested to hear your perspective on it!

Texbike

Working on it! I have it most of the way there - will hopefully get it finished over the weekend (rain coming, so I may have a bit of bike time to devote to it)..

It's a hodge-podge of nice bits I've been acquiring for other projects.

SR11: Shiftys, RD, and Chainset (36/52)
C11: FD
DA9000: 11-25
KMC X11-EL: Gold
PMP Ti Post
King Ti Cages
Spesh Power ARC
Kalloy Uno
Ritchey WCS Evocurve Carbon
Bontrager XXX 4 Tubulars
Vittoria Corsa 25s
Fulcrum Skewers
eeBrakes Gen 3, w Campy Red pads

Tolerances look perfect so far. I think it was assembled and never ridden...not a speck of dust or rub mark to be found.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Clean39T

What year was that?

I certainly hope I'm not held accountable for every misstep I've made in the last two decades. There have been a few. It's possible even YOU made a few. The horror.

Time to move on.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

What's yer point here? I DID 'move on'..and this is a discussion about Calfee, so I was discussing. He owned a business and made poor business decisions..just ask his manufacturing crew that MUTINIED and started their own company...So YES, I hold the OWNER accountable for his decisions..and I expected to be held accountable for MY business decisions, good or ill. I asked to try his frames again and he gave an unacceptable answer so my business decision was to not sell the...

OBTW-YOUR first post

Maybe I haven’t been paying attention, but Calfees don’t seem to get many props up in here...and I’m just curious what might be the driver there? Is it a lack of Instagram game on their part? People don’t like the lugs? What gives?

MY Take on 'what gives....Craig is still Craig.----->>>IMHO

over

[Elefantino]

Perhaps this thread should be renamed "The irrational desire to ride a Calfee"

[Wakatel_Luum]

If my Merlin Extralight's weren't so good and I was looking for a carbon frame a Calfee would be my first choice...I'd go for the blue coloured dropped top tube same as in 91. I have a Tetra Pro sitting on the shelf requiring a repaint but...

[texbike]

Originally Posted by Clean39T

Working on it! I have it most of the way there - will hopefully get it finished over the weekend (rain coming, so I may have a bit of bike time to devote to it)..

It's a hodge-podge of nice bits I've been acquiring for other projects.

SR11: Shiftys, RD, and Chainset (36/52)
C11: FD
DA9000: 11-25
KMC X11-EL: Gold
PMP Ti Post
King Ti Cages
Spesh Power ARC
Kalloy Uno
Ritchey WCS Evocurve Carbon
Bontrager XXX 4 Tubulars
Vittoria Corsa 25s
Fulcrum Skewers
eeBrakes Gen 3, w Campy Red pads

Tolerances look perfect so far. I think it was assembled and never ridden...not a speck of dust or rub mark to be found.

Sounds like a great build. Can't wait to hear your impressions of its ride. A Tetra Pro has popped up locally in my size. I don't need another bike at the moment, but man, I've REALLY wanted to try one of these. Everyone that I know that's had one has really loved it.

Texbike

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

What's yer point here? I DID 'move on'..and this is a discussion about Calfee, so I was discussing. He owned a business and made poor business decisions..just ask his manufacturing crew that MUTINIED and started their own company...So YES, I hold the OWNER accountable for his decisions..and I expected to be held accountable for MY business decisions, good or ill. I asked to try his frames again and he gave an unacceptable answer so my business decision was to not sell the...

OBTW-YOUR first post


MY Take on 'what gives....Craig is still Craig.----->>>IMHO

over

Sorry Peter, I was maybe a bit harsh -- it just seemed like you were continuing to grind an axe that had been carried around for a long time and it was puzzling me why you kept bringing it up. But I'll leave it at that.

As for the "why don't we see more Calfee's getting the custom-bike adoration" question, it looks like it boils down to:

1. It's regional - you see more of them in NorCal that elsewhere.
2. They have a storied past with dealers and no longer have non-tandem bikes at LBS'
3. There are many happy owners and former owners but they seem to be more of the ride-thousands-of-miles type than the post-thousands-of-pictures type
4. The design is polarizing and not everyone gets the sustainability angle that Calfee is pursuing with lugged construction and more durable tubes
5. The marketing on their newer offerings hasn't been that great - most of the links on their site are broken and it is difficult to find information or reviews on their latest models, which have obviously had some serious thought and engineering put into them

I'm looking forward to giving mine a go here shortly. So far I'm very impressed by the build quality and finish.

[lookout2015]

Originally Posted by Clean39T

4. The design is polarizing and not everyone gets the sustainability angle that Calfee is pursuing with lugged construction and more durable tubes

Or they “get it” but don’t think it actually makes much sense. If the sustainability aspect is really my primary consideration I’m probably getting a titanium or steel bike — metal can be repaired more readily, can be recycled when it reaches its usable life (whether it is or not, of course, is another matter) and arguably is less polluting or no more polluting than carbon to produce initially. At the end of the day, carbon — whether lugged or monocoque — is still carbon, and no one really has much economically viable use yet for recycled carbon fiber from bikes....