Spectrum Cycles

[corko]

Sounds like a great fresh start for 2011....so congrats & cheers!

[Jason Musgrave]

Where do those incredible paint jobs get done?

TK is one of the best painters in the biz!!

[54ny77]

woops,i just spent about 5 minutes perusing your "smoked out" section, and answered my own questions...

i've been a fan of yours since i first laid eyes on a buddy's two custom spectrums in the mid-late 90's, painted in a chromalusion (or similar) paint scheme.

am also trying hard to remember if i ever rode a spectrum tandem back when i was a junior. how long have you been making 'em?

[Saab2000]

A Spectrum Ti is the only Ti bike I am actually really interested in.

[ThasFACE]

Can I use this change to the process as an excuse to get another Ti Super made up?

[Tom Kellogg]

Can I use this change to the process as an excuse to get another Ti Super made up?

You need an excuse?

[SteveP]

well done tom.
nice to reconnect i am sure.

[Martin T]

Perhaps this question would be more appropriate in another thread, but what will become of the Merlin name? Will it be sold or will they bring it back in a couple of years?
Martin

[GSmith]

Congrats TK. Rob V is a class act and your ti is in good hands.

[Too Tall]

Great read Tom. Sounds like a match made in the heavens. I'm sure you have in your own way downplayed the huge amt. of work to make this happen. Congratulations, good things DO happen for good people :)

[Tom Kellogg]

Perhaps this question would be more appropriate in another thread, but what will become of the Merlin name? Will it be sold or will they bring it back in a couple of years?
Martin

I'd love to see Merlin come back if and when it makes business sense to do so. I have a real and long lasting attachment to the marque. In part, it was my baby. So this is tough for me. I surely do understand from ABG's point of view that it did not make financial sense to keep the company active. It really is as simple as a numbers thing. The titanium market has shrunk to a fraction of where it was ten years ago. There just isn't room for a whole bunch of Ti companies making high end frames. Could ABG have just concentrated on Merlin and let Litespeed go? No. They would have been starting from a much smaller base with Merlin than they have with Litespeed. Of course their Litespeed composite line is doing just fine anyway, so why dump that?

I have taken a clear eyed approach to a somewhat emotional issue. Not so easy for me. The end result for us is actually all good, but it is sad as well. I have made so many friends over the years working with Merlin, some of whom I still work with, but Merlin has been a pretty important and long standing part of my life. The relationship has taught me so much of what I know about materials and manufacturing. The people I have worked with have all be so generous with their time, knowledge and energies ... and their love of bicycles ... my people. Now it is something that I was involved in "back in the day."

I'd love to see ABG bring Merlin back some day as an uber high end line of race only frames. But think about it ... could that really work as a business model? I doubt it.

[syntax22]

Too bad about Merlin

[Tom Kellogg]

This link is from a FNL comments thread and I though I'd post it here since the question that brought about this reply was a good one and my answers may have some value to more than just the original questioner.
http://www.velocipedesalon.com/forum...tml#post259703

For the original pictures that the post refers to, see below;

[blue boy]

Curved seat stays on steel frames is also new for Spectrum, is it not?

[gggross]

This link is from a FNL comments thread and I though I'd post it here since the question that brought about this reply was a good one and my answers may have some value to more than just the original questioner.
http://www.velocipedesalon.com/forum...tml#post259703

For the original pictures that the post refers to, see below;

That's a slick looking frame. Love the curved seat stays.

[Tom Kellogg]

Curved seat stays on steel frames is also new for Spectrum, is it not?

In fact it is. We had tossed the idea around for a few years but let it go since we tend to be old farts around here. When "Bob" proposed this project for his new steel race frame, he asked if we could so some sort of seat stay treatment like we do on our titanium frames. It worked out better than we first thought it would, but most of the trick to it is that Merlin does the forming of the stays for us. Their stay die is to die for. When I designed the original Ti stays for Merlin way back, I specified a 36" radius bend which is impractical to do with a typical tube bender simply because the bender has to be so big. In theory you could do it on a roll bender, but getting a consistent arc would have been almost impossible with titanium. So Merlin made a two piece press die. The thing is a bit of a monster and for steel stays it is way overkill. But when I asked Brad to press us a few pairs, he was all for it.

Note though that we did not add the 6" radius upper bends. The reason is simple, the seat stay top caps would have looked like crap if we had. This way, it keeps thinks looking slim and sleek. So, are we going to do more of them? I think so. It won't be a standard thing since it does cost more for us, but it looks as though we will be offering it.

Thanks for noticing. Now I'm waiting for someone to notice the final very subtle difference in this frame from our others up to this point. Hint; it's not with the fork.

[Too Tall]

*Admin note. Beginning with post #99 T.K. asked to merge a forum thread into his S.O.

[Mike T.]

I'm waiting for someone to notice the final very subtle difference in this frame from our others up to this point.

Braze-on front derailer tab?

[Tom Kellogg]

Braze-on front derailer tab?

Mike:

Sorry, we've used them a lot in the past. We don't use them on our Ti frames or when folks are planning on different crank setups (like switching between standard doubles, compacts and triples). So no prize for you.

Hey, the first person to get it will get some of my coffee. How about that! Let's make it a contest.

[Mike T.]

Mike:
Sorry, we've used them a lot in the past. We don't use them on our Ti frames or when folks are planning on different crank setups (like switching between standard doubles, compacts and triples). So no prize for you.
Hey, the first person to get it will get some of my coffee. How about that! Let's make it a contest.

Awww I tried hard. I looked at the bikes on your site and didn't see any FD tabs. I was hoping to win a Ti frame. Coffee I've got Ok. This brings up a question as I might be in the market for a Ti road frame. Will your Seven Cycles collaboration frames be in your style or Seven's? I've had a Seven Sola mtb frame for 11 years. Can I get a ballpark cost on a Spectrum Ti with no fork, paint or doo-dads? A plain-jane frame like a Potts. PM me or eee-me if you like.