25Seven

Interview: Tutto Mountain Bike, Italy - Part III

Here's the third installment from an interview I did, for Seven Cycles, with an Italian mountain bike magazine a few years ago.  You can read the first and second parts, too.  Since it was never published in English, and probably no one from the US saw it, I am posting a bit of it here.  

Keep in mind that I was trying to communicate in language designed for non-English speakers.

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Tutto:  “How is the American mountain biking evolving. In the past it was leader:  the top riders, the most important races and events, the best frame designers were American. How is the movement today?”

Mike Ferrentino's Humorous Writing

I believe this brand doesn't exist anymore, thankfully; otherwise I wouldn’t be posting about it.  This may be the funniest writing I've ever read in a bike magazine.  

This is from a 1995 bike magazine; it’s an editorial written by Mike Ferrentino*, referencing a rather unfortunate advertisement from a previous issue.  My favorite sentence in the piece:  

The Beginnings of the Modern Titanium Bicycle Frame

I was talking with someone at Seven Cycles the other day about the beginnings of Merlin Metalworks.  I dug up this very rare article from an old periodical called Bike Tech.  It was published by Bicycling Magazine back in the 80s.  Bike Tech was an amazing journal—very technical and dense.  It was more of a newsletter than a magazine; the typical issue was 16-pages or so.

The article “Titanium Lives!”, written by Jim Redcay, describes some very early thinking at Merlin Metalworks.  The piece was published in December 1987.  I was lucky enough to have started working at Merlin in September of that year.  I even remember the bike from this article.

Redcay did a very good job of using layperson’s language to explain some of the engineering that went into the revolutionary frame design.  Here are a few quotes for those that don’t want to read the entire article.  Quotes I found funny or interesting.

Celebritee Shirt

Jeremy Dunn of Embrocation recently invited me to join a group of celebrities in judging a t-shirt design contest for his magazine.  I was psyched to help out with his very worthwhile periodical.

If you haven’t sent in your t-shirt design, you better hurry.

Check the celebrity roundup here.

One of these photos is not like the other.  Can you tell which is of me?  I’ll give you a hint; I’m the palest of the group—I look even whiter than the black and white photo of Slate Olson.  Another hint, my photo is the only one that doesn’t have anything to do with bikes.  Somehow, this photo array seems a fitting microcosm for my world as it relates to cycling.

At least I’m in good company—a great group of cycling fanatics!  I’m sure they’ll cover for me.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to ‘judging’.  People tell me I’m ‘good’ at that.

Interview: Tutto Mountain Bike, Italy - Part II

Here's the second installment--of a few--from an interview I did with an Italian mountain bike magazine a few years ago.  You can read the first part here.  Since it was never published in English, and probably no one from the US saw it, I am posting a bit of it here; I'll post more of it later.  

Keep in mind that I was trying to communicate in language designed for non-English speakers.

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"What does it mean today be one of the most important American frame designers? Most of all a designer like you, who still believe in light cross country frames.”

Thanks for considering Seven to be one.

By ‘light cross country frame’ I assume you mean ‘hardtail’?  If so, we believe in the properly designed titanium hardtail.  A titanium—and to some extent, steel—hardtail can provide impressive ride characteristics.

The way in which Seven designs hard tails provides a unique ride.  There are four unique elements to Seven’s hardtail:

Interview: Tutto Mountain Bike, Italy

Here's an excerpt from an interview I did with an Italian mountain bike magazine a few years ago.  Since it was never published in English, and probably no one from the US saw it, I am posting a bit of it here; I'll post more of it later.  

Keep in mind that I was trying to communicate in language designed for non-English speakers.  Of which, I can relate--I often feel like a non-English speaker.

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“Once titanium was considered the most valuable material, today aluminium [and carbon] is chosen also for the most expensive bikes.  But the peculiarities of titanium are unique.  Why has it loosen its appeal?”

There is a long list of reasons that titanium is an excellent material out of which to build bikes.  A partial list includes:

·         Frame’s strength-to-weight ratio:  titanium alloys have the highest ratio of any bike frame material.  This include carbon fiber, too.  (I can explain why, if you are interested.)

·         Tunability of the ride characteristics:  titanium allows for a wide range of tube options.  (If the builder is willing to invest significantly in materials; see below for details)

·         Durability or fatigue life:  3-2.5 has the highest fatigue life of any frame material.  This means 3-2.5 builds the toughest frames.  This is particularly valuable for hardtails and dual suspension frames.

·         Durability in real world use.  Because titanium is so tough, it holds up better than other materials in daily riding conditions.  Steel and aluminum must be painted.  Aluminum is very soft so it dents—and therefore fails—easily.  Carbon fiber is has poor impact resistance so it is easily damaged.

·         Corrosion resistance:  steel rusts, aluminum corrodes.  Carbon is susceptible to UV degradation.

·         Customization:  Titanium—when used correctly—offers the most design flexibility of all frame materials.  Carbon must be molded.  Aluminum and steel offer tube sets in only a few options—by brand.

·         Overall Value per Euro:  because of all these factors, I believe that 3-2.5 titanium alloy—when applied properly—offers the best value per Euro invested.