Spectrum Cycles

**Tom Kellogg** · 03-14-2016

Spectrum 4130 Chain Stays

Material: 4130 @ 740-850 MPa
Length: 490mm
22.2mm section length: 200mm
Large end gauge: 0.85mm
Small end diameter: 13.2mm
Small end gauge: 0.9mm
Straightness: +-1.2mm
Price, Sold in pairs: 24.50

Our new shipment of chain stays are ready for delivery. With this order from Reynolds, we have tweaked the design to give builders even more design flexibility than ever before. Not only does the new stay offer builders a much wider range of stiffness adjustability than any other chain stays on the market, but it is considerably lighter than all but the most flexible stays available. Working with Reynolds, we were able to start the swaging process with a thinner taper gauge then other mills use, giving us a final small end gauge which meets the specification of a single taper gauge. In most other cases, builders are stuck with extra thickness and weight where they don't want it and less stiffness where they need it most. We considered ordering the stays in 531 material because of its excellent notch hardness properties, but the weldability of the material would have suffered.

**Tom Kellogg** · 01-14-2017

I've been silent on here for a LOOOOOONG time. It's as simple as ... too much work, and a worry that posting more pictures just gets us more orders. Something we really haven't needed. But I've been getting complaints as well. For some reason, there are some folks who want to see what we've been up to. So here are a few shots of the batch I just finished up Thursday around noon. I have been sick with the coughing thing that everyone seems to have and I couldn't get to the final clear coats until Then. If I remember, I'll take some more shots of the bikes when they are all built up in another week. Let's see; one will be E-Tap, another Ultegra Di2 Hydro, a third D-A mechanical and another is to be Chorus mechanical. Nice range. Here you go.

**DeeDub76** · 01-15-2017

Great work Tom! Glad to hear that you are on the mend.

**cool rider** · 01-16-2017

As always your painting skills are world class. I know this question has been asked earlier but it seems that you are building a lot more Ti frames than steel. What is your current ratio of Ti vs steel? I also truly enjoy the build process on your website of Jeff's steel frames from start to finish. Is it possible Tom to show at start to finish a Ti frame being build by Seven? I will be ordering a Spectrum very soon but I am still 50/50 between the two materials.

**Moke** · 01-16-2017

Thanks Mr. Tom, I always enjoy looking at your stuff and did miss your posts.

**mzilliox** · 01-16-2017

just a lovely bunch of yummy. such variety, love to see em all!

**Tom Kellogg** · 01-17-2017

Originally Posted by cool rider

As always your painting skills are world class. I know this question has been asked earlier but it seems that you are building a lot more Ti frames than steel. What is your current ratio of Ti vs steel? I also truly enjoy the build process on your website of Jeff's steel frames from start to finish. Is it possible Tom to show at start to finish a Ti frame being build by Seven? I will be ordering a Spectrum very soon but I am still 50/50 between the two materials.

Cool:
Thanks for the compliment. We are moving more titanium through here than steel, about in a five to three ratio. It just turned out with this paint batch there were a lot more ti frames than steel. The paint batch I am about to start will have three new steel frames, two new ti frames and two refinish jobs. I paint in batches of seven simply because in the two areas where the process work hangs, there are seven hooks and seven pegs. The other reason is that finishing more than about seven at a time is just too hard. When it comes to the final sanding stage, each frame takes me about an hour and a half to sand in preparation for the final two clear coats. More than seven frames would pretty much kill me. My fingers get kind of bruised after about five hours of sanding. And then there is my brain which pretty much turns to mush after about three hours of that stuff.

I don't know if Seven has ever done a series of build photos or some sort of video of the basic steps that go into fabricating a titanium frame. Your best bet is to try getting in touch with them for that.

I had thought of creating some sort of time-lapse video of the frame drawing process. I am not a trained draftsman, but I'm told that the drawings I create for ABG and Seven are actually pretty good. I am proud of them and it might be fun to so some sort of video of the process. A single drawing generally takes me about two hours to finish, but I would try to squash it down into about two minutes. Might be fun.

**tbonefitz** · 01-17-2017

One of these is mine--Chorus mechanical (the light blue with the classic white panels). Tom, that paint is amazing, and I can't wait to see it in person!

**nahtnoj** · 01-23-2017

Tom,

I stopped by Firth and Wilson Transportation Cycles on Saturday with a bent fork. While Simon was straightening it for me, I spotted a Bill Boston tandem hanging in the rafters waiting for some attention. He was going to convert to 650B. Looked fantastic. Did your time with Bill include any tandem work?

**Tom Kellogg** · 01-23-2017

Originally Posted by nahtnoj

Tom,

<SNIPPED> Did your time with Bill include any tandem work?

The short answer is "yes." I worked for Bill during the summer of '76 and during that time he did build a tandem. Honestly, I don't even remember for sure the color or who it was for. For some reason though, I think it may have been for a lovely Quaker couple from the Philadelphia area. Funny the things you remember after all these years.

**Tom Kellogg** · 01-23-2017

And here are a the built bikes that came from those frames further up this page.

Red E-Tap
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Ultegra Di2 Hydro
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Dura-Ace Mechanical
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Chorus Mechanical
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**Tom Kellogg** · 03-24-2017

This week's deliveries:

Two views of a Spitfire Red and Titanium Dioxide White Chorus road bike:
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Masking and some detail work:
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More details:
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Jeff's amazing seat stay joinery and custom color graphics under a matte finish:
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Custom Rubine Red graphics and a forgery:
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**Tom Kellogg** · 04-06-2017

Shipped to Florida today:

Mostly XTR, some Dura-Ace, American Classic 650B. Crazy light.

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**Tom Kellogg** · 07-11-2017

I forgot this Adventure bike a few weeks ago. Pete is riding the Continental Divide Trail this summer and needed a tough workhorse, but one that would still be fun and fast when unloaded. Sorry the images don't show on this page. I included links as I seem to have hit my storage limit.

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**Tom Kellogg** · 08-09-2017

This one was a (very) long time coming. My youngest daughter Jill is now thirty years old and June has been bugging me to build her a bike for years.

IMG_0136 by TOM KELLOGG, on Flickr

The finish is Jill's idea and she also came up with the idea of having an image one of her favorite mountains on the frame somehow. On a black bike, what better way than to airbrush a sunset onto a silhouette.

IMG_0139 by TOM KELLOGG, on Flickr

Jeff's seat clusters are simply peerless.

IMG_0140 by TOM KELLOGG, on Flickr

Yeah, well. I kind of had to ...

IMG_0142 by TOM KELLOGG, on Flickr

We can't get the original Cinelli bridges any more, so we have Albert Bold make them for us. Because they look better than anything else.

IMG_0149 by TOM KELLOGG, on Flickr

Jeff makes our lugs from scratch by hand. No compromises. They end up just so.

IMG_0150 by TOM KELLOGG, on Flickr

There is something about the old original Cinelli "SC" crowns that is just right. The lines are perfect. It's interesting that our brake bridges and the way I feel about the old Cinelli crowns (most of them anyway) all come from the early to mid '70s when I started building. Is my attraction to these pieces a matter of true artistry in their design or is it simply a matter of what I was exposed to in my formative years? Thoughts? In any case, I don't care.

IMG_0151 by TOM KELLOGG, on Flickr

**Tom Kellogg** · 09-14-2017

This one is for having fun, not that they aren't all for fun. But this one is truly a go anywhere bike. Dura-Ace Hydro Di2 with a paint job that just about killed me.

img_0156 by TOM KELLOGG, on Flickr

img_0161 by TOM KELLOGG, on Flickr

img_0162 by TOM KELLOGG, on Flickr

img_0164 by TOM KELLOGG, on Flickr

img_0166 by TOM KELLOGG, on Flickr

img_0167 by TOM KELLOGG, on Flickr

img_0169 by TOM KELLOGG, on Flickr

img_0168 by TOM KELLOGG, on Flickr

img_0171 by TOM KELLOGG, on Flickr

img_0172 by TOM KELLOGG, on Flickr

**Tom Kellogg** · 09-14-2017

Sometimes a client asks us to do stuff we've never done before. Challenges can be fun. Some aspects of this frame and build were challenging in a fun way. Other stuff was just a PITA. First, he ordered the new Dura-Ace 9170 build which was not only not available at the time, but no one knew when it would eventually show up or even just what it was. As it turned out, neither did anyone at Shimano. So once the frame was done and painted, it sat for quite some time waiting for parts. Parts dribbled in over a period of about four months and finally the last stuff, the brakes and control levers showed up last week. As much of a pain as it was, the Dura-Ace stuff is simply amazing. It really is that good, or even better. Stupid easy to assemble, even the hydraulic system. Effectively no bleeding which is pretty impressive. Once I updated all the firmware and programmed the system, the shifting in all three modes worked flawlessly. Well, except for the full syncro downshifting which Shimano still hasn't addressed. Anyway, impressive stuff. The paint job was pretty much as hard as it gets. Not only was there a lot of masking that required significant of hand-to-eye coordination to keep it symmetrical, but two of the colors are pearlized and the down tube lettering is outlined. Outlining itself is no big deal, but if you want it to be perfectly smooth when it is done, you need at least 17 coats of clear on that area before it is satisfactory. But Boy-O-Howdy! This thing is way cool.