Pressfit BB30 welded to Feathertec tubing
In a jig at Davidson Handbuilt Bicycles is our latest project bike. Davidson’s frame shop is just north of Pike Place Market; that place where they throw fish and buskers play street music. The bike is called the D-Plus because of all the +1s the build has. We’ll get into the plusses later, after the Seattle Bike Expo, the first rides, and into the 12 Cross season.
Is that a gigantic head tube or is this bike just happy to see you?
For now, the most interesting details include
- Press-fit Ti BB30 – available for about a year, this is the first Davidson built with BB30
- FeatherTec tubing – custom profiles, OS tubes
- Headtube for King Inset 7 – 44M for tapered steerers
- Paragon SS dropouts with a derailed hanger – swappable from SS, fixed, to geared.
A bong-sized BB, massive John Holmes head tube, and over-sized, thin-walled Ti tubing means a bike so stiff, it’s gonna hurt. Also with the ride qualities expected from Ti and carbon weights too.
The bike is tacked together now and next week, Max Kullaway will weld it. His welds are the best I’ve ever seen.
An evolution of the Modal concept to Cross
Seattle’s best welder
The story of a Bike
We’re sharing the build on G+ with feature follow-ups here by Mark V, who developed and designed the concept with Bill D, a master builder.
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People who use the letter S when referring to the Pike Place Market make the baby Jesus (who made Seattle under pressure) cry.
Same people who spell Capitol Hill with an a.
So, the D++ will be Stiff and Light. But will it be too stiff for a cross bike?
I presume we’ll get to read about it when cross season starts!
(I claim my bigish tube Ti copy of a Stiletto is D+, this is even bigger, so D++ it is.)
Disk brakes? (I want other people to debug them before me…)
@bryanwi nice you figured what’s going on with this bike!—The creative direction on it after months of talking with both Mark V and Bill was a Stiletto for the dirt and mud. Also with what we learned from the Hotspur, a OS ti with carbon rear end.
I also said I wanted this bike to hurt. The best Cross bike I’ve raced was the Parlee and it was stiff as @#$!@. That’s what you want—no Fondos on it.
Ti is a very relevant material for Cross and these guys with WIll in the shop too are building the best bike they can. On discs, they’re not needed or desired for Cross. As you said, I’ve got no interest in beta testing them. When the industry offers a better system, sure, but not now. We’re not racing jungle cross—fast, dirt crits.