Kirk Frameworks

[roguedog]

Man, so purty. It looks so nice. I just want to reach out and touch it.

Is it just the light or is the downtube shaped?

[cassette]

that 753 from '90 is insane...

[David Kirk]

Originally Posted by roguedog

Man, so purty. It looks so nice. I just want to reach out and touch it.

Is it just the light or is the downtube shaped?

I can see why you'd ask about the down tube....but no....it's round Reynolds 953.

dave

[David Kirk]

The short days and cool temps of course mean that fall has come to Montana and without fail fall makes me think of this JK Cross I built a few years back. The full on fall theme applied by Joe Bell also happens to be a play on the owner’s name. It makes me think of crunching leaves and mud and cold hands.

dave

[LJohnny]

Wow, just wow!!! Dave this is truly outstanding! Congrats to the prospective owner of this beauty! And I’ve thought about this many times before, and since I while I am writing in here let me say thanks for keeping this thread to showcase your work.

[David Kirk]

I follow-up to the photos I posted a few weeks back of an Reynolds 753 bike I built for myself 30 years ago but never painted or rode.....

I've built it up with vintage Mavic components to use on Eroica rides next season and have taken it for a few rides thus far. It is super plush and will be a wonderful bike to spend long days in the saddle on riding gravel and eating wonderful food.

It's still missing a few small things - proper toe clip pedals (sitting here but waiting for my new-to-me vintage Adidas EM shoes to arrive!), proper bottle cages and seat bag and of course paint by Joe Bell. Right now I'm leaning toward a "coffee with lots of milk" color and think that would look tasty next to the polished stainless lugs. We'll see....I have all winter to decide on color.

A huge thanks to the Paceliners that helped this project come together. I found the majority of the parts used in the build right here on the Paceline forum. You all kick butt.

dave

[sparky33]

This is terrific.
The frameset, the build kit, the story.

Where was this hiding for 30 years? Pictures of your shop show a curated set of essentials and little more (which is awesome). Is there a secret hook somewhere?

Who could have foreseen that Eroica would again make this bike perfect.

[David Kirk]

Originally Posted by sparky33

This is terrific.
The frameset, the build kit, the story.

Where was this hiding for 30 years? Pictures of your shop show a curated set of essentials and little more (which is awesome). Is there a secret hook somewhere?

Who could have foreseen that Eroica would again make this bike perfect.

Thank you....the bike hung in my R&D room at Serotta for years and then when I left it moved with me in various boxes and storage rooms. For the past 20ish years it's been in my basement here in Bozeman. Lots of one-offs and prototypes hanging down there and this 753 bike will be the only one to hit the road again.

dave

[Clean39T]

The adjustment mechanism on those Mavic brakes is awesome. It's great that you could eke out that bit of extra clearance with the minor brake-placement adjustments you mentioned on FB too. This is going to be a fun one to see finished out, and to hear what you think of the ride.

You've of course piqued our interest with mention of a basement full of prototypes.........

[sparky33]

Originally Posted by David Kirk

The short days and cool temps of course mean that fall has come to Montana and without fail fall makes me think of this JK Cross I built a few years back. The full on fall theme applied by Joe Bell also happens to be a play on the owner’s name. It makes me think of crunching leaves and mud and cold hands.

^probably one of my favorite Kirks on this forum, in part for the original artwork, but also for the various repairs and updates on the paint too...consistent with a well-used bicycle.

[tylercheung]

Just in time for Thursday!

[David Kirk]

Here's a JK Special that is going out the door today and starting its long trip to Taipei. I look forward to seeing it all built up and on the roads near its new home.

dave

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by David Kirk

Here's a JK Special that is going out the door today and starting its long trip to Taipei. I look forward to seeing it all built up and on the roads near its new home.

dave

Great classic color choices by the new owner - should build into a really beautiful setup - congrats!

[soulspinner]

Awesome

[David Kirk]

When I was a young man I worked at a shop in New Hartford, NY called Dick Sonnes Ski, Hike and Bike. We had a shop race team and the shop gave me a used Raleigh International to race on. We got fancy and had all our bikes painted the same color and we chose super bright Signal Green. This was about 1982 or so so really bright colors like Signal Green were not the norm whatsoever. I even drew up a Sonne logo to have put on the bikes. They looked awesome and we felt like a real team.

Just recently I got this bike back from Joe Bell and it is the same color we had the team bikes painted back in the day - Signal Green. I still love this color and it made me think that some things change a lot over time - others not so much.

This JK Special is headed to Jakarta, Indonesia and I'll bet it will make people smile there the same way this color has made me smile for decades.

Dave