Crisp Titanium

[darren crisp]

Hi Ronnie,

For now its just me, myself and I. Plans are to keep it exclusive, even at the cost of growth. I like to be the decision-maker in most aspects of my work (call me a contro freak), and its hard to grow unless I give up some of that. I'm very happy keeping it small as it allows a relationship with each client that becomes much more than a sale. For me that's the value and the fun. What keeps me in the game, so to speak.

Any plans for you in Italy? :)

thanks for keeping up with me and for the questions!

darren

[darren crisp]

Check it out

new Dmc Website and a special 80 years edition of Campy Super11 eps Gruppo !!!

Campagnolo 80th Anniversary - Bici da corsa | bdc-forum.it

www.crisptitanium.com - official site - 2013

well done Darren...Campagnolo could choose whatever framebuilder.....and choose you!

Hey Y'all,
Here's a post i just put up on my blog about the Campy 80th project. I forgot to link to the video which I discussed in a previous post. I've embedded it into the journal on my webpage (selfless, i know).
Thanks for the comments. It's sure been an honor for me to contribute to their campaign and is nice to see a company recognize a small artisan framebuilder. Coming from a company that still does things in their home territory and has not been swayed into cheaper manufacturing processes for me, means a lot.
ciao!

CRISP titanium – English Campagnolo 80th Anniversary » CRISP titanium - English

[corko]

Wow..... congratulations

[darren crisp]

Wow..... congratulations

thanks for that! makes the hard work seem much more rewarding when you get some exposure. appreciate the comment..ciao!

[ORMojo]

That is the ALIKE' fork from Leonardi Racing (ITA). it is a "lefty" style fork based on an older BMW suspension model. You can see some nice pictures of it here on my blog post from a few months ago (scroll to the end of the photos for the fork detail shots).

. . .

It is available via his website and direct ordering from his shop.

Thanks for following!
darren

Dragging up a slightly old response to ask: Is the ALIKE fork available for purchase? I am having a custom Ti 29er built (Darren, you would have been top on my list of builders, but I am working with someone slightly closer/local to me in Oregon!), and will be using a Lefty fork. I'm interested in the ALIKE if it is available, but I have searched all of Leo's web sites, and can't turn up any trace of it for sale.

Thanks for any info!
Paul

[darren crisp]

Hi Paul,

thanks for the msg. Getting right to your question: Yes, the Alike fork is available for purchase. Leonardi has made revisions after the 1st year of production so he's taking preorders for the updated version. You can contact him directly at info@leonardiracing.it and inquire directly with Michele Leonardi. If you want, copy me in the email as I usually give him a hand with international orders.

Glad to hear you're getting a local custom build. I wish you fun and adventure with the new ride!

best,
darren

[darren crisp]

Ciao y'all. It's been a while since I've checked in. Between work, kids and keeping myself reasonably clean and minimally nourished, I have slacked with my photo duties. I've added a few to my stream over on Flickr so if you've been away like me, please have a look and ask any questions. I'll be happy to discuss anything here. I've been trying to add some color to my photos so let me know what you think...

Flickr: Photostream



ciao and thanks!
darren

[twails]

Hi Darren,

Great photographs of fantastic work.

Could you name some of the influences which have shaped the visual aesthetics of your bikes graphics? How does the way your bikes look reflect you? How did you decide on "Crisp" bike graphic design, headtube badge design (how many prototypes did you go through?), which fonts to use?

Thanks,

Tom

[darren crisp]

Hi Darren,

Great photographs of fantastic work.

Could you name some of the influences which have shaped the visual aesthetics of your bikes graphics? How does the way your bikes look reflect you? How did you decide on "Crisp" bike graphic design, headtube badge design (how many prototypes did you go through?), which fonts to use?

Thanks,

Tom

Hi Tom, thank for the questions.

Looking back, I remember going through thousands of fonts on the net. I studied them all and was drawn to simple, minimal sans serif-types of letters. rounded stuff turned my head and lent itself to movement and simplicity.

I did the same thing with the name, listing thousands and finally deciding on the one, Crisp Titanium. Go figure, all that work and then I just used my last name. I remember that the battle came down to Crisp Titanium and Black Swan (It's a long, boring story).

About the frames and aesthetic, there's a lot that goes into simplicity. My influences both during and after school were modern architecture (post war, simple forms, no decorative elements). I traveled extensively in my 20's and visited landmarks of the Bauhaus movement and was specifically drawn to the work of Mies van der Rohe, Alvar Alto and Peter Behrens. When I got a real job, i found myself building things that reflected these attitudes (by chance) that reinforced this design criteria and was able to carry that philosophy into another context of objects with a smaller scale. I say somewhat smaller. I was also building window fixtures that were 6+ meters tall and glass cylinders from Holland that needed to be moved with large cranes as well as very complex (but big) elevators and display cases. Have a look here to see what I mean. Simple doesn't always mean easy:

---CLICK THIS LINK TO SEE SOME PHOTO REFERENCES---


I've always played with finishes and started media blasting the frames after I did some treatment to nickel-silver rods that we had in the fab shop. It took me a while to figure out how to make templates for the bikes as I was blasting large blocks of solid material at my previous job without any masking; it was very industrial-type of stuff. After reading a story about Leni Fried, I messed around with anodizing as you can see in this bike that I made in 2005 (i think this was the first 29er in Italy)

crisp_SP29er | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

crisp1.jpg

Here you can see a complete ti front fork anodized gold and purple. I eventually abandoned that idea as the colors become dull due to humidity/climatic conditions and I wasn't too excited about the limitations of the anodize color spectrum. I still use this treatment but only for small border treatment/text on some frames.

The headbadge is a mix of my initials, DC put in an abstract position which could be construed as two wheels in motion. Not sure if it achieves that, but that was the intention. My good friend Jeroen van den Brand from The Netherlands took that design and made it into an AutoCad template and produced the first headbadge in stainless and that's still the same one I use today.

8952136147_98e6ee379d_b.jpg

Great questions, thanks Tom!

-darren

[twails]

Hi Darren,

Thanks for taking the time to post such a considered and insightful answer.

Tom

[darren crisp]

Hi Darren,

Thanks for taking the time to post such a considered and insightful answer.

Tom

Hi Tom,

Thanks for the questions. I enjoy answering as they are quite thought-provoking. Any more are welcome.

ciao!
darren

[e-RICHIE]

Hi Tom,

Thanks for the questions. I enjoy answering as they are quite thought-provoking. Any more are welcome.

ciao!
darren

Yo Darren - I have one that veers into the voyeur catergory:

Is there a scene in Italy? I mean, for framebuilders and related, are there forums, or meetings, or email CC fields, or anything thread at all that ties it all together? I'm thinking the market and clients, too. I know you and Dario are tight. Signore Zullo. Irio. The others. Is there net that catches all of you, all of this? Thanks atmo.

[Round]

Yo Darren - I have one that veers into the voyeur catergory:

Is there a scene in Italy? I mean, for framebuilders and related, are there forums, or meetings, or email CC fields, or anything thread at all that ties it all together? I'm thinking the market and clients, too. I know you and Dario are tight. Signore Zullo. Irio. The others. Is there net that catches all of you, all of this? Thanks atmo.

ahhh Riccardo,
great question!!!
I'm curious about the Darren answer.....................
d

[darren crisp]

Yo Darren - I have one that veers into the voyeur catergory:

Is there a scene in Italy? I mean, for framebuilders and related, are there forums, or meetings, or email CC fields, or anything thread at all that ties it all together? I'm thinking the market and clients, too. I know you and Dario are tight. Signore Zullo. Irio. The others. Is there net that catches all of you, all of this? Thanks atmo.

Ciao Riccardo,

No. It's a ghost town here. Those that you've cited are the remnants of what brought most of us young(er) f'builders into this game. When I came over in the early 90's, one of the most notable aspects of this work (or any other for that fact) was the lack of information exchange. Be it the culture, history, distrust or whatever the cause, it seems like everyone here keeps their cards close to the vest. Folks are not very apt to give out the "what" or "why" they do what they do. It may be a generational thing. I get lots of requests from guys all around Europe on how to get stuff done and I freely point them in the right (i hope) direction, but there is no public forum for that.

After peering around into some of the national forums, I realized that there is potential for such dialogue. The problem is that some folks don't have that same desire for willful exchange and enjoy antagonizing the participants. It's just not an environment that produces energetic exchange, unfortunately. All of my exchanges with other builders and colleagues are private in nature.

All of this is not to say that it couldn't be possible. I see potential (Bristol, EHBE). The problem is that in Europe, everybody has a different story to bring to the table. Trying to do that in a unified way is like herding cats. Just moving 10k from my house, people talk with a different dialect. In Tuscany alone there are 10 major dialects and hundreds of sub-dialects. Move that net out further and it just gets even more difficult to have meaningful dialogue without running into differences, be them communicative or cultural.

Does that make sense?

ciao!
dmc

[darren crisp]

ahhh Riccardo,
great question!!!
I'm curious about the Darren answer.....................
d

hehhehe..
That IS a great question, Riccardo. And Dario can attest that when we are with each other or in groups (especially among groups from Northern Italy), they have to speak Florentine with me, otherwise I just sit there and drink beer and smile Their mix of Veronese and Trentinese etc etc is overwhelming and I frequently turn to the pretty girls sitting next to Dario and ask for a translation...

When I worked in commercial construction, I was immersed with guys from the South (Caserta, Casal di Principe, Napoli, Bari). After being burned numerous times I picked up those dialects as a means of survival!

All the kidding aside, I think language and culture play a BIG part of the equation. Even if you have a common goal (as per Richard's question), the approach to communication is very different. Even Italians can't get along with each other. Just look at the split between the North, Central and South with Lombardy wanting to separate from the country. Trentino is autonomous etc etc.

When I was up there last year (Trentino), the guy who ran the hotel asked where my family came from. I replied, "Toscana". E smiled and responded that when he "goes to Italy, Toscana is one of his favorite places"....go figure!

d

[e-RICHIE]

hehhehe..
That IS a great question, Riccardo. And Dario can attest that when we are with each other or in groups (especially among groups from Northern Italy), they have to speak Florentine with me, otherwise I just sit there and drink beer and smile Their mix of Veronese and Trentinese etc etc is overwhelming and I frequently turn to the pretty girls sitting next to Dario and ask for a translation...

When I worked in commercial construction, I was immersed with guys from the South (Caserta, Casal di Principe, Napoli, Bari). After being burned numerous times I picked up those dialects as a means of survival!

All the kidding aside, I think language and culture play a BIG part of the equation. Even if you have a common goal (as per Richard's question), the approach to communication is very different. Even Italians can't get along with each other. Just look at the split between the North, Central and South with Lombardy wanting to separate from the country. Trentino is autonomous etc etc.

When I was up there last year (Trentino), the guy who ran the hotel asked where my family came from. I replied, "Toscana". E smiled and responded that when he "goes to Italy, Toscana is one of his favorite places"....go figure!

d

Maybe the niche needs its own Hunger Games atmo.
Heck, maybe it already has one.

[Paul]

Hi Tom, thank for the questions.

Looking back, I remember going through thousands of fonts on the net. I studied them all and was drawn to simple, minimal sans serif-types of letters. rounded stuff turned my head and lent itself to movement and simplicity.

I did the same thing with the name, listing thousands and finally deciding on the one, Crisp Titanium. Go figure, all that work and then I just used my last name. I remember that the battle came down to Crisp Titanium and Black Swan (It's a long, boring story).

About the frames and aesthetic, there's a lot that goes into simplicity. My influences both during and after school were modern architecture (post war, simple forms, no decorative elements). I traveled extensively in my 20's and visited landmarks of the Bauhaus movement and was specifically drawn to the work of Mies van der Rohe, Alvar Alto and Peter Behrens. When I got a real job, i found myself building things that reflected these attitudes (by chance) that reinforced this design criteria and was able to carry that philosophy into another context of objects with a smaller scale. I say somewhat smaller. I was also building window fixtures that were 6+ meters tall and glass cylinders from Holland that needed to be moved with large cranes as well as very complex (but big) elevators and display cases. Have a look here to see what I mean. Simple doesn't always mean easy:

---CLICK THIS LINK TO SEE SOME PHOTO REFERENCES---


I've always played with finishes and started media blasting the frames after I did some treatment to nickel-silver rods that we had in the fab shop. It took me a while to figure out how to make templates for the bikes as I was blasting large blocks of solid material at my previous job without any masking; it was very industrial-type of stuff. After reading a story about Leni Fried, I messed around with anodizing as you can see in this bike that I made in 2005 (i think this was the first 29er in Italy)

crisp_SP29er | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

crisp1.jpg

Here you can see a complete ti front fork anodized gold and purple. I eventually abandoned that idea as the colors become dull due to humidity/climatic conditions and I wasn't too excited about the limitations of the anodize color spectrum. I still use this treatment but only for small border treatment/text on some frames.

The headbadge is a mix of my initials, DC put in an abstract position which could be construed as two wheels in motion. Not sure if it achieves that, but that was the intention. My good friend Jeroen van den Brand from The Netherlands took that design and made it into an AutoCad template and produced the first headbadge in stainless and that's still the same one I use today.

8952136147_98e6ee379d_b.jpg

Great questions, thanks Tom!

-darren

Interesting stuff Darren, thanks for taking the time to write this.
I'm a fan of that school of design - form following function, high quality materials and fine finishing.
I can certainly see that in the work you do.

Bravo,
Paul

[darren crisp]

Maybe the niche needs its own Hunger Games atmo.
Heck, maybe it already has one.

Yea..natural selection, I think, will work it all out. It will take time, though.

[darren crisp]

Interesting stuff Darren, thanks for taking the time to write this.
I'm a fan of that school of design - form following function, high quality materials and fine finishing.
I can certainly see that in the work you do.

Bravo,
Paul

Hey Paul,
I think if you dive deep into your own past, you can find how it applies to what you do almost every day in any application. Not exclusive to frames or the likes. Lot of this^^ stuff I didn't realize until looking back some 15-20 years later and from a distance. The forest/trees thing. I wasn't driving it consciously (maybe it was driving me).

regarding the Movement, there was also a lot of crap that came from that era. Most of those guys that I cited also made some pretty terrible work, but it was the process of extracting essential elements that interested me. Sometimes it had a positive ending, sometimes not..

1928.jpg

[e-RICHIE]

Great article about Crisp Titanium on TWMP atmo.
Here's a direct link:
thewashingmachinepost :: velo club d'ardbeg :: robert millar :: societa colnago