Good ideas gone wrong: Tony claims that the Trek 660 has the ugliest seat-cluster ever. Maybe. mw and I think the Heron merits this honor. I'll admit that the Trek is...ahhh...heavy-handed, but the Heron is also ham-fisted and chunky, PLUS it only lines up with the seat stay on one size, which I feel gives it an edge.
Vote early and vote often, or nominate your other contenders.
17 comments:
I had (or my wife had) a Trek with a similar socket cluster to the 660 but it a lower level model. It was, well, whatever. A pretty decent bike, actually. But please, Tony, look at the Heron cluster. See how the line of the seat stay doesn't even come close to matching the line of the socket. And what you don't know is that Gunnar is showing you the pretty side. If you saw that mama from the back you'd know ugly when you saw it. I mean, all is fair in love and war, but that was like a thousand buck frame or something. That was designed by the immortal lug guru Grant Peterson. No wonder he ran for cover when he realized what a Frankenstein he'd created. Ok enough with the pleasant chitchat. That is an ugly dog lug, which is given all the grace of Gunnar's incredible build.
mw
But now for a word about Trek. I loved the 70s Treks. I didn't own one, but I had a superhot girlfriend for a while named Jan Motley who rode a French blue Trek touring bike. Jan, whatever happened to you on this planet, I always loved you and don't blame you for dumping me, you had no choice. Anyway, I began riding with her on my prancy Euro-racers, which I always assumed were in a different league from her crappy Wisconsin mule, and began to notice that her bike was in fact better built than mine. I then developed quite an affection for the 70s Treks with their long clean lugs. Then, in the 80s, I guess they decided it was time to do lugs 2.0 and the unfortunate result is plain for all to see. Those investment cast lugs were probably much easier to build, but were so hideous that yes, plumbing comes to mind, if not the couplers for radiators or colostomy bags. I hated Treks for years then. Now I like them again, and have several, which I can see in their true light, unfettered by history. The Trek is a dog, but the Heron has even less of an excuse. Sorry, Tony, you lose.
mw
The French purse covers her wide bony hips.
yeah, I could see exactly what you were up to
mw
OK, OK, especially considering the price per ugly, the Heron wins! But really, the 660 set cluster looks like some wierd corrigated schedule 40 pvc coupling. Its saving grace is that this bike really has a nice ride. Maybe a nice paint job would somehow distract the eye from the visual defect? Oh well, I have too much history with this bike so I'm keeping it! -Tony
$850, fire sale price.
Not being a roadie or any kind of lug expert, but I nominate the Raleigh Technium as the world's ugliest seat cluster. Looks like conduit pipe.
http://www.magma.ca/~cagrant/RaleighTechnium753.html
BTW, I've ridden the offroad version of a Technium and it was the most dead feeling mountain bike I've ever ridden.
I'll vote for a bike I built for my buddy Chad in 2007. It featured a nice wishbone rear end, but the execution (albeit totally utilitarian) is pretty hideous.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/trafficbikes/3035320955/in/set-72157609199956244/
Spence,
Your early effort gets points for plumbing pipiness, but "form follows function" takes it out of the pure ugly class.
Guys, check out:
http://trafficbikes.com/
BARBARIC!!
Allan Pollock
I am not a member of pipe fitters union local 2929 so I cannot comment. Refer to the Trek that I sent Gunnar a couple months ago as a real lug set.
Sorry I was late on this post but I was riding my McLean all weekend.
I have to agree with Mimbres Man--the Technium was the first bike that came to mind. Not only is the seat cluster just plain ugly, but the bike loses(wins?) on principle due to its bonded steel construction. Of the many suitable means for joining steel tubing...lugs, fillet brazing, welding...glue is not one of them. A good illustration can be seen here.
My friend Lucky Lestie was a Raleigh dealer. He has a bike similar in appearance to the one in Erik's link outfitted with a modern Campy Record 10 gruppo. I recall the tubing material as described as something vague like "woven mesh", which I took to be an early run at carbon fiber. Light bike. I'll stop at his house soon and look it over with a camera.
As for the Raleigh Tech. that is just a really bad version of a Masi 3V.
Oh yes I forgot to comment on the Heron. Who the hell did the connect from tube set to lug set. Bad jig, it doesn't even line up. And oh BTW if you go back to the Rooster (Galmozzi) of the 50's you'll notice the Heron is just Gawd awful bad replication of that seat post cluster.
JG
On the Heron the top of the seatstay is cast with the cluster. There ain't no changing the angle, hence the mismatch.
The 'Nago Masterlight cluster has nothing to recommend it; http://www.gvhbikes.com/photo/Colnago/ColnagoMaster62PRMO.JPG
Best,
Rick "Cluster-&%$#!" Moffat
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