[Closed] Be warned - what has been seen cannot be unseen - fugly awful bike

It's not my cup of tea but I wouldn't say it's ugly

I have seen worse...

Not sure about the copper but otherwise I like it.

[img] [/img]

posted that a while ago - there was a sale of his headphones as well recently but I can't see it now - £50 instead of £150 type of sale.

and why is it ugly ?

Looks okay I suppose if you hanker for a bike from about 1992.

My biggest issue is the price 😯 No idea how they came up with that number when you could have a similar specced Ribble for half the price.

That's not ugly,it's retro.

Mehh, I quite like it, no different than any other Ti or Stainless bike, just a different bare metal finish on half the frame.

Seatpost only a mother could love though, looks like it came off a BSO and the stem is the kind of thing you'd maybe knock up whilst practicing brazing.

And £2k for a 4130 frame and Athena groupset is a lot, but it's not that far beyond some more mainstream brands.

I've got an old frame in the shed, tempted to get it stripped and drop in a bath of copper sulfate and see what happens!

It's fine..if you think that's ugly then so are most road bikes from before 1993! Sure some of the components and colours aren't great, but it's not an 'ugly-to-the-bone' bike. And yes, pretty bad value, though silver Athena is pretty nice classic groupset I reckon..

I also dislike this style of bike (70s/80s bikes look horribly spindly to me and lugs strike me as being all about form over function) but it's not ugly as such.

I've always quite fancied a copper coloured bike though.

nemesis - Member
lugs strike me as being all about form over function

they're designed for a function: rapid, easy, joining of tubes.

fillet-brazing is the pointlessly beautiful (and slow, and expensive) option.

As above, not really ugly, just stupid, because it's not actually retro at all, just designed to look a bit that way - at least put on DT shifters if you're determined to have a threaded steerer and quill stem FFS.

As for pricing, well I suppose the hipsters will pay that, which is all that matters, supply and demand and all that. Awful "value" though, given an Athena group retails for £400, so even being quite generous on all the other bits that's £1200+ for a lugged steel F+F. I reckon you're paying at least £800 if not £1000 for the copper plating.

They had a function when they started being used. There are better methods and materials now. They're clearly used for form in this instance.

From their blurb...

Like a shimmering salmon that soldiers upstream

well, quite... 😯

I wouldn't say it ugly, I just think it looks crap!

Is there anybody here who wouldn't laugh (at least behind their back) at anybody riding one?

I quite like the look of it but I wouldn't pay £2k for it.

if I was going to ride a road bike I'd go for something like that, looks well nice. I wouldn't pay £2k for it mind but if it was £500 or so I'd be all over that.

nemesis - Member
They had a function when they started being used. There are better methods and materials now.

if you wanted to build a steel frame, lugs would get you there quicker, easier, more reliably, and with less skill required (than tig welding, or fillet).

They're clearly used for form in this instance.

almost certainly. yes.

If you want something that looks like it's an old road bike, why not just buy an old road bike from eBay or Gumtree for pennies?

Not as it is 4130 cro-mo, what utter sh*t, so yes I'd laugh a lot.

Apparently it has internal cable routing, why? Not sure it does in the pic mind.

That's blooming gorgeous

Love the Copper as well

[quote=ahwiles ]if you wanted to build a steel frame, lugs would get you there quicker, easier, more reliably, and with less skill required (than tig welding, or fillet).

Don't forget <cough> cheaper. I think I might have underestimated the cost of the copper plate.

<laughs at Ro5ey>

That's not ugly,it's retro.

As pointed out, it's faux retro, and the only conceivable market for such a thing at that price is hipsters. Ironically genuine retro is a lot cheaper.

HTH

I rather like it. Reminds me of my 531c Dave Marsh with Shimano 600. Was a lovely bike. It's hugely overpriced and needs downtube shifters.

Friend of mine has one of these pinnarello!
They where limited edition "deisel only the brave" must describe the buyer

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It's gorgeous. And too expensive.

Those saying it's gorgeous, I get where you're coming from, I really do, I mean this is gorgeous:

[img] [/img]

But doesn't it being so fake spoil it?

Can someone explain why the copper and steel parts won't just corrode as soon as they get wet?

Like when you have aluminium seatposts in a steel frame?

(And £2k for a 4130 frame? Really?)

Meh. I quite like the look, and although I'd never spend £2k on it, it looks like a nice bike for pottering around on. I wouldn't have an [i]actually[/i] old road bike because old corroded parts are no fun to work with, and downtube shifters are rubbish.

Actually I think quill stems are rubbish so I'd prefer it without that but I realise that's all part of the aesthetic.

As pointed out, it's faux retro, and the only conceivable market for such a thing at that price is hipsters. Ironically genuine retro is a lot cheaper.

It's made to look a bit like something old. That's pretty much the dictionary definition of retro, where does the 'faux' come from?

I quite like it but why has is not got full campag; its got Diacompe brakes?

[quote=kenneththecurtain ]It's made to look a bit like something old. That's pretty much the dictionary definition of retro, where does the 'faux' come from?

To be retro you surely need to avoid such obviously non-vintage features as Ergo shifters and internal cable routing (which TBH appears to be simply another style feature for the sake of doing it - it looks like the rear brake cable goes inside the top tube, but this is neither something which would be on a genuine vintage lugged steel frame, nor is there any functional benefit).

I have to admit part of my dislike (had you got that yet?) is down to the market this is clearly aimed at with the pricing.

Looks alright to me.

I've seen uglier but i'm def over the retro thing. I would have loved it five years ago though...

it looks like the rear brake cable goes inside the top tube, but this is neither something which would be on a genuine vintage lugged steel frame, nor is there any functional benefit).

Well that's bollocks for a start, I've had old steel frames with internal routing, and 30s on google came up with a pic of one from the 80's.

[img] [/img]

I quite like it but why has is not got full campag; its got Diacompe brakes?

Ugly? No.
Hipstershit trying to cash in on the end of the hipstershit retro roadie trend? Oh yes.

If you think that's ugly, you've clearly not seen any of John Climbers abominations... 😯 😐

A clear case of "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should..."

Jeebus TINAS don't get that front brake cable wrapped round your neck!

If you think that's ugly, you've clearly not seen any of John Climbers abominations..

See also any Stoner build.

For a man of half decent education and taste, he doesn't half build some munters.

Lovely 🙂

The green and copper one is a lovely looking combination though, but spec is a dogs dinner.
Frame only i'd be interested in if it wasn't made out of scaffolding poles.[img] [/img]