Wednesday, September 9, 2009

It's Not British Loafing Green


John Merriam in San Luis Obisbo wanted a race bike.


Extra light dropouts (Black Cat exclusive) with titanium bolt kit.
Deluxe race tube set.
Light but stiff in all the right ways.


Not to mention the Lotus team colors.


Don't git no sweeter.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I like your "race" dropouts with the ti bolts but I have always wondered why you don't machine, polish, and anodize the dropouts to make them a little fancier and lighter? Have you ever had an engineer run an fea on the design to see where it could be made lighter and/or stronger?

blackcatbicycles said...

I have had several folks look at the design with several programs, and the cost benefit analysis (often times the most telling analysis) clearly says: if I want to eat food for the next year, they are plenty light. They are already lighter than any other competitor's dropout and considerably lighter than an ebb.
If i did all the things to the design i wanted to, than I'd be broke, (i am already) or the dropouts would cost twice what they already do, and i have to get these things made in batches ...so if you want to invest ten grand in bike parts you may or may not get your money back on, let me know, i've got a bridge for sale too.

polishing the dropouts makes them slip, too.
it's not all just ad-hoc. it just looks that way.

BillyD said...

Love this race frame. I'm looking for a steel frame to race on. What is the frame weight on a build like this one?

jkeiffer said...

Hey BillyD

BLACKCATBIKES@GMAIL.COM