Look (production bikes)

[AntLockyer]

femurs and feet are like noses, we all got em, they're all reasonably the same... but one dude's can be twice as long as another's and still make sense.

]I'm starting to think that femurs and noses are linked in some way. mione are both long.

[lavi]

Race bike!
You know bikes are like bj's, never had a bad one.

Amen!

[justinf]

Race bike!
You know bikes are like bj's, never had a bad one.

Livin' the dream.

[lavi]

and even just after a quick two hours today... if i only had vagens to ride the rest of my life... i'd never want for any production bike.
same goes with gaulzetti, crumpton, erichie, zank, goodrich, hampco, parlee, even another all ti seven or moots, pegoretti, zullo, in the geo i like, etc....

i wanted to see if i was missing something by not riding a protour bike... in terms of cutting edge materials or whatnot.. and the answer is.. no, not at all.

I had a 595 for a short period of time. I really enjoyed it. I totally agree with Swoops statement. As nice as it was, I wasn't missing anything. I also recently tried a friends Trek. Boring. Couldn't wait to get off of it.

[swoop]

i think carbon fiber is an amazing material to make a bike frame out of. it makes me wonder what a Crumpton or Parlee feels like.. because the Look rides great, its really really stiff, and it feels good.

the paint job makes my unformed vagina hurt just looking at it. i mean, i can't take it.
so much so that i'm either gonna attack it with sandpaper, or sell it.

the thing has to live in my apartment with me... and its just too barbie for me.

you ride a small? brand new? saddle at 71.5 with room to to go higher or lower.

or.. do you paint bikes?

[rosss]

my girlfriend has a custom crumpton and a parlee z4. While the parlee isnt the custom z1, which could have something to do with it, she thinks the crumpton is stiffer, and prefers to race it. the parlee is much lighter though.

[swoop]

that matte finish on the crumptons is rad. there's a guy out here.. henry hung (bad name, sweet guy) that has one (not matte).. pictures don't do justice. i can only imagine mrlee's in real life.
in another economy there'd be no teeth gnashing... it would be a done.

[rosss]

i hear ya. Once I graduate nursing school I will be able to afford pretty much what I want when I want it,for the most part. Im lookin foward to it.

[swoop]

Me on my 585. A size 'L' with extra long seatpost and 130 stem.

hey, you and the bike look good. keep the photos coming.

[boots2000]

Swoop,
I agree with you wholeheartedly. My main ride is a production 1000 gram frame that does everything well.
My fav. bike is my aluminum Rock Lobster.- It may weight 200 or so grams more, but it does everything (including fits) perfectly. Small differences- carbon bike has higher bb, needs 1cm spacer and a 13cm stem. Lobster is 1cm longer so I ride it with a 12cm- needs no spacers, lower bb makes it track so nice.
My opinion is that you apply some of the newer innovations to a custom bike. Integrated post, or bb30 if that is your thing, newer tubeset, etc. Much like a Gaulzetti, Crumptom, or Parlee.
I think I am going to order up another lobster with an edge fork and possibly bb30-

production bikes are lovely these days. that being said.. if not for the moment, the friend that owed me a favor, and the timing... i can't imagine a better production bike.. only as good...
i'd still prefer a handmade bike in any material.

and even just after a quick two hours today... if i only had vagens to ride the rest of my life... i'd never want for any production bike.
same goes with gaulzetti, crumpton, erichie, zank, goodrich, hampco, parlee, even another all ti seven or moots, pegoretti, zullo, in the geo i like, etc....

i wanted to see if i was missing something by not riding a protour bike... in terms of cutting edge materials or whatnot.. and the answer is.. no, not at all.

not to take anything away from the look. i think look and time are tops at what they do. but what they do isn't more advanced than what the nahbs guy do. seriously.

[swoop]

man, i really am a small dude on a small bike in a big world. the thing stabs into corners.
i think that's a measure of the stiffness of the headtube/downtube and the beefy fork.

its fun. its also vulgar and tacky.

[Auk]

its fun. its also vulgar and tacky.

As are most things that are enjoyable in life.

Know what you mean on the cornering. I get the same sensations on my 585 and the Time VXSR. Makes going through a corner one-handed seem like a relaxed motion.

[cs124]

... its also vulgar and tacky.

it's that freakin' paintjob! looks like it's wearing the fork off another bike.

otherwise, badass... and only 90 seconds with a hacksaw away from fitting me perfectly.

[swoop]

the reality is.. i look at some of these tubeshapes and flared bits... and i feel an idiot. if there could be a graphic on the bike that says, i'm riding it but i don't believe in this stuff.
i keep wanting to take sandpaper and a knife to it and cut off the costume and just reveal a simple round tubed bike.
because anything on it other than that doesn't have any real life function.

i see little kids dressed up as fairy-ballerina-superheros sometimes. just randomly... spiderman kid in cowboy boots. its like that.

but in spite of it... and how plasticky it actually looks... it feels aligned... maybe a micromillimeter off.. and its really stiff, it weighs more or less what the vagen does....
and it handles well, and it feels remarkably like stiff ti.

i just don't think it needs all the 'engineering' to achieve that.
but maybe i'm wrong. maybe it is in the square ovals and thick nanotubes.

its fun. but it isn't better than the vagen or the seven.... in any metric... except that its somehow less precious to me. and that's a nice feeling to feel absolved of... because i tend to worry for the sake of it.

a stoned kid in a truck pulled me over on old topanga to tell me how cool it was.
it built up sans any drama or work. its fun.

[lavi]

Don't be ashamed of that thing. It's shit hot! Yeah, it's a little graphicy, but fuck it. It's the evil/methed out twin to your other bikes. I think the white stem really ties the room together too.

You wanted to give a production bike a try. You've seen that you haven't missed out on the hype, but you're having fun on it. Ride that pig hard! I think it's great, it makes me miss mine, only people that can kick your ass can talk trash on it.

Sometimes all the snobbery has to take a back seat.

That thing is like a scooter...fun until your friends see you on it. But you had fun until they say you!!!

Ok, enough cheer leading. It really is nice. I have a Vagen too and it told me I could say all this. It's ok.

[1centaur]

the reality is.. i look at some of these tubeshapes and flared bits... and i feel an idiot. if there could be a graphic on the bike that says, i'm riding it but i don't believe in this stuff.
i keep wanting to take sandpaper and a knife to it and cut off the costume and just reveal a simple round tubed bike.
because anything on it other than that doesn't have any real life function.

The guys designing these things with their fancy computer programs might disagree with that. The dispute would revolve around the term, "real life," since they are probably modeling physical/property differences vs. round tubes but a real life rider might not feel the differences or be able to use them to win races. To my way of thinking, it seems incredibly unlikely that in the (still-being-written) history of bicycling design the first tube shape turns out to be the best tube shape in all ways.

[ty-ro]

production bikes are lovely these days. that being said.. if not for the moment, the friend that owed me a favor, and the timing... i can't imagine a better production bike.. only as good...
i'd still prefer a handmade bike in any material.

and even just after a quick two hours today... if i only had vagens to ride the rest of my life... i'd never want for any production bike.
same goes with gaulzetti, crumpton, erichie, zank, goodrich, hampco, parlee, even another all ti seven or moots, pegoretti, zullo, in the geo i like, etc....

i wanted to see if i was missing something by not riding a protour bike... in terms of cutting edge materials or whatnot.. and the answer is.. no, not at all.

not to take anything away from the look. i think look and time are tops at what they do. but what they do isn't more advanced than what the nahbs guy do. seriously.

Just curious...when you say you still prefer custom over stock, what aspects of the bike are superior in the customs? I'm not disagreeing with you as all of my bikes are custom, but I am thinking of going to the darkside (read: stock bike, carbon specifically). What would you tell me to talk me out of it?

[swoop]

nothing but supporting a small, family, or local business, or tweaking things if you don't fall in the mean median and mode of body types. or just liking a more personal relationship to the object you're spending so much time on.

i'm not trying to be cool with the 130 stem on this bike... but its a small, and i'm on a 130 and the saddle is north on the clamp. so if i went custom i'd probably ask for a little less setback, a little taller headtube, and less black and red.


its the little things. the custom bikes i'd opt for now are just chosen out of some sort of feeling of belief, identification with, or the desire to participate in what the builder is up to.....


as for the Look... the ride is great. it really does stab at turns. the aesthetics were more pleasing to me when it was someone else's bike. i like how it feels stiff. i'm enamored of that feeling of rigidity and smoothness mixed together.

but i like a more personal set of choices and love to see what guys do when they build. i feel like that excites me to ride the thing and that kind of motivation gets me out of bed...

the look feels fast!

[GrantM]

nothing but supporting a small, family, or local business, or tweaking things if you don't fall in the mean median and mode of body types. or just liking a more personal relationship to the object you're spending so much time on.

i'm not trying to be cool with the 130 stem on this bike... but its a small, and i'm on a 130 and the saddle is north on the clamp. so if i went custom i'd probably ask for a little less setback, a little taller headtube, and less black and red.


its the little things. the custom bikes i'd opt for now are just chosen out of some sort of feeling of belief, identification with, or the desire to participate in what the builder is up to.....


as for the Look... the ride is great. it really does stab at turns. the aesthetics were more pleasing to me when it was someone else's bike. i like how it feels stiff. i'm enamored of that feeling of rigidity and smoothness mixed together.

but i like a more personal set of choices and love to see what guys do when they build. i feel like that excites me to ride the thing and that kind of motivation gets me out of bed...

the look feels fast!

well said.... i couldn't agree more!

[ty-ro]

nothing but supporting a small, family, or local business, or tweaking things if you don't fall in the mean median and mode of body types. or just liking a more personal relationship to the object you're spending so much time on.

i'm not trying to be cool with the 130 stem on this bike... but its a small, and i'm on a 130 and the saddle is north on the clamp. so if i went custom i'd probably ask for a little less setback, a little taller headtube, and less black and red.


its the little things. the custom bikes i'd opt for now are just chosen out of some sort of feeling of belief, identification with, or the desire to participate in what the builder is up to.....


as for the Look... the ride is great. it really does stab at turns. the aesthetics were more pleasing to me when it was someone else's bike. i like how it feels stiff. i'm enamored of that feeling of rigidity and smoothness mixed together.

but i like a more personal set of choices and love to see what guys do when they build. i feel like that excites me to ride the thing and that kind of motivation gets me out of bed...

the look feels fast!

Thanks for the eloquent response. You list many of the reasons I have chosen custom too. The Look sounds like a fun bike. I agree that they are a bit garish, but they are French. Honestly, the graphics have been one of the main reasons that I have resisted. Did you compare the regular to the Ultra before you bought it?