Kirk Frameworks

[NHAero]

I had a stainless frameset built by Dave Anderson (what is it about amazing bike craft and the name Dave? Add Wages to the group). I live on Martha's Vineyard and found that tiny rust spots appeared on the ends of the main tubes near the lugs. I wondered if the added heat of brazing somehow slightly lowered corrosion resistance. There were no spots on the stays. FWIW, the main tubes are KVA stainless.

I learned that minimal maintenance would keep the spots at bay, but eventually opted to have Dave (who did his own painting) re-finish the frame so that only the stays and lugs are bare stainless. I actually think the frame was even more beautiful with more paint.

[Gwerziou]

Originally Posted by jcs7282

These Onesto photos are so beautiful!

I know from trading emails with Dave a while back, there's no "written in stone" rule in terms of what level of proximity to the ocean is too close for comfort (in terms of upsetting the natural metal finish/color over time) but I am looking to hear from any owners on here about their experience in this regard.

Anyone with direct, hands-on/ownership experience of "how close is too close"?

For example, I would guess living within a mile of the ocean would probably be too close...but what about 10 miles away? 15? Where's the boundary, fully realizing that boundary is subject to moving in/out based on local climates...prevailing winds and such I would imagine can make a huge difference...

Any feedback/discussion on this is of interest...as a guy that dreams of one of these bikes!

I have this question as well. I live in Seattle, WA. I almost never see the sea on my bike, and my riding never takes me anywhere where I can 'smell the sea air' or such. It sure does rain here a lot during much of the year, however.

[David Kirk]

Just wrapping up this lugged Onesto MRB today. Rim brakes and room for 35's. It's about to head up to JB's to get some frosty beer glass bead blasting and painted accents.

Next up is a fillet Onesto...my hands get tired just thinking about it!

dave

[lavi]

So nice!

Which is more strenuous (for your hands) to make: a lugged or fillet brazed Onesto? If brazed, it it because of the all extra work to have the pipes fit with tight tolerances as opposed to maybe a little more wiggle room with lugs? Is it a massive difference in terms of effort? We cannot have your hands wearing about anytime soon! They are a national (and worldwide) treasure.

Also, and not that it's super important, what would you say the weight diff is b/t a lugged and brazed Onesto?

I'm thinking I prefer the lugged look. It just speaks to me.

[David Kirk]

Fillets are always harder on the hands than lugs. The mitering standard is the same but frankly it's more important with lugs than it is fillets. Back in the Serotta days we'd joke that as long at the two tubes were in the same room they could be filleted together!

No...it's the post fillet brazing finish work that is hard on the hands. With lugs much of the prep can be done with a dynafile (small hand held belt sander) or abrasive wheels but with fillets nearly everything is done by hand.

And like it or not my hands are tired. 30+ years at the bench takes a toll any way you cut it. I won't be doing this forever and there's many more years behind me now as there are in front of me.

There is very little difference in weight between lugs and fillets. For the most part I use the same tubes for each but lugged bikes have the weight of the lugs and the fillet bikes have the weight of the filler used to make the fillets. The fillet BB is a few grams heavier than the lugged shell. But in the end I think of them as the same as there is so very little difference as to not add up to anything.


dave

Originally Posted by lavi

So nice!

Which is more strenuous (for your hands) to make: a lugged or fillet brazed Onesto? If brazed, it it because of the all extra work to have the pipes fit with tight tolerances as opposed to maybe a little more wiggle room with lugs? Is it a massive difference in terms of effort? We cannot have your hands wearing about anytime soon! They are a national (and worldwide) treasure.

Also, and not that it's super important, what would you say the weight diff is b/t a lugged and brazed Onesto?

I'm thinking I prefer the lugged look. It just speaks to me.

[monkeybanana86]

So beautiful....

[Kirk007]

Originally Posted by Gwerziou

I have this question as well. I live in Seattle, WA. I almost never see the sea on my bike, and my riding never takes me anywhere where I can 'smell the sea air' or such. It sure does rain here a lot during much of the year, however.

I'm on Bainbridge Island. I bought Dave's old Onesto gravel that was unpainted and after 9 months of no visible corrosion I got in line for one built for me, which is waiting for me to get out and about on it. I keep it inside in a heated area but I've had good luck so far. No fenders so won't intentionally take it out for rainy day rides.

[XXtwindad]

Originally Posted by David Kirk

Just wrapping up this lugged Onesto MRB today. Rim brakes and room for 35's. It's about to head up to JB's to get some frosty beer glass bead blasting and painted accents.

Next up is a fillet Onesto...my hands get tired just thinking about it!

dave

That’s very elegant.

[David Kirk]

I've been building bikes under my own name just shy of 20 years here in Bozeman and I've sold a grand total of three bikes here. For better or worse most of the cycling community in Bozeman has no idea I'm even here.

Years ago I was out on a ride and I caught up to a local club ride and I'm rolling along and talking with one of the club riders and he sees my bike and says something like "I heard the guy that makes those bikes lives in the area" and I confirmed that he indeed does...and then the guy asks if I've ever met the framebuilder guy "what'shisname?" I fess up and tell the guy that I'm the guy...I'm the framebuilder who he's heard about and I'm the guy who built the bike I'm riding right now. The gentleman looks me right in the eye and says "stop pulling my leg" and then drops back to talk with someone else.

Good times.

This bike pictured is for a friend and fellow Bozemanite who runs the PR company that built my website for me ( https://www.massive.net/ ) and he's a really fun guy to ride with. We've ridden the Cino event together a few times and there is much rejoicing and laughter.

Here's what the head tube looks like as it goes from being mitered/dry fit to brazed and still hot, to having the flux cleaned off and finally to it being shaped and buffed out. This frame is all stainless with silver fillets so it won't need a drop of paint to protect it. It will get buffed out a bit more and then it will be ready to ride. Next week the frame will get wrapped up just in time for it to be -25° here. It might not get used right away.

dave

[Peter P.]

What a great story!

I'm always amazed at how clean your frames look just prior to shipping to paint.

[David Kirk]

Originally Posted by Peter P.

What a great story!

I'm always amazed at how clean your frames look just prior to shipping to paint.

Thank you - this one is stainless and silver fillets so there will be zero paint. It will get buffed to a more uniform overall appearance and that will be it.

dave

[FierteTi52]

Amazing work as always, no need for paint with your skills! After close to 20 years what frame number are you currently building? I’m still loving Kirk #74, you built for me around 2006!

[David Kirk]

Originally Posted by FierteTi52

Amazing work as always, no need for paint with your skills! After close to 20 years what frame number are you currently building? I’m still loving Kirk #74, you built for me around 2006!

I have no clue how many Kirks I've built. For the first few years I had a photo gallery where the bikes had a number that could be referred to if need be but that number did not directly correlate to the number of bikes built...or even the exact order in which they were built.

The overall number is in the hundreds for sure but I'd have to sit with the numbers for some time to figure it out. For now at least I'd rather work on the orders I have in front of me instead of counting those of the past. At some point when I retire I may have time to do such a thing...but I hope I'm too busy riding, racing my car or snowboarding to make it happen!

It's good to hear the 2006 bike is still serving you well. These machines have but one simple job and that is to make the owner smile...so if that's the case I'm happy.

Enjoy.

dave

[basilic]

Originally Posted by David Kirk

These machines have but one simple job and that is to make the owner smile...

They sure do!
you built me a frameset in 2011, it's busy as ever, closing on 90'000 km (and I have other bikes).
Thank you so much Dave.

[AngryScientist]

Wow-eee

90k kms and still looking primo!

Personally I love seeing this stuff the most. Bravo to builder and rider!