Okay, I've been making a lot of this whole frame thing and how I'm not exactly enamored by them over sized tubes.
I also sent along some wrong info the other day as far as the thickness of the Columbus Spirit tubing.
I searched and found info on those tubes here.
As you can see, the thin .38mm walls are for the triple butted Spirit tubes, not the tubes used for lugged work.
The lugged tubes are .45mm thin, which is about the same as other butted steel tubes.
The pages also show the various shapes of the formed tubes, some of which are available in Spirit, though not for lugged work.
Whew.
At least now I think them tubes won't be shaped like the Deda COM12.5 on the Ciocc.
Here's a good example of the two different tube sets.
Another bicycle frame I was looking at was a Zullo, Italian of course but sort of on that next tier.
The Spirit tube frames:
That one is brazed, this one is lugged:
The SL frame:
Pelizzoli SL frame:
The differences are slight.
The top tubes and down tubes are about 3mm thicker, not a lot, but enough for me to see a difference.
The SL top tube is 25.4mm, the Spirit is 28.6mm.
The SL down tube is 28.6, the Spirit is 31.7.
Seat tubes I think are the same.
The SL frames look a bit more graceful and refined, the Spirit tubed bicycles are more contemporary looking and well, fat.
Especially the stays, of which I am fonder of the thinner look.
If I wanted contemporary and fat I got a whole lotta other frames to choose from.
Like the Ciocc I got sitting in front of me.
Actually that Zullo on the bottom is starting to look pretty good too.
I dunno why, but I sort of got my heart set on a standard tubed(25.4-28.6) bicycle.
The differences are subtle but it's going to sit in my living room and I gotta look at it.
I'm not sure exactly how the different tubes affect the ride quality and stiffness, but I don't exactly generate the kind of power where I'm really worried about it.
So there, in a pair tube sets, is my conundrum.
If things don't work out, I may have to go back and take a look at something like this:
Which of course, is a whole 'nother ball game.
Or frame game.
Or something.
