Kaffenback or what?

prb007
prb007 Posts: 703
edited October 2010 in Road buying advice
Two clicks away from getting this...........
http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/FRP ... back-frame
as a winter commuter/trainer/turbo bike, which will be built up as soon
as I sort my parts bin out!
Possibly as a singlespeed, tho' probably not (I live up a BIG hill!)

Just offloaded my old Trek to a workmate for £100 so was looking
around and considering buying/building something more 'genuinely' retro
- maybe an old 60's Holdsworth/Claude Butler/Raleigh affair, but concerned
about the 'whippiness'/durability of an old frame compared to the sturdy-looking
Kaffenback (I'm 6'4" & 16st!).

So...do I get the Kaff and make it look retro (brown saddle/bartape/non-aero levers)
or go genuine retro and consider entering next years L'Eroica? :lol:
telaio_small.jpg
If Wales was flattened out, it'd be bigger than England!
Planet X Ti Sportive for Sportives & tours
Orange Alpine 160 for Afan,Alps & dodging trees
Singlespeed Planet X Kaffenback for dodging potholes
An On-One Inbred for hard-tail shenanigans...

Comments

  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    I saw that frame in Giaole - there was only one and it was third prize in a raffle - it wasn't my size and I didn't fancy the first 2 prizes either...

    FWIW There's no scrutineering at L'eroica, so as long as you have the DT levers, non-aero brake levers, toeclips and straps - a 90s frame in something like Genius O/S might fit your bill - or you may want the whipiness to cope with the strada bianchi. I saw people riding modern carbon shoes and clipless pedals or carbon frames and modern 11-speed transmissions - not exactly in-keeping with the event.
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • prb007
    prb007 Posts: 703
    L'eroica is a pipe dream if I'm honest, though I'd love to go back to Tuscany (toured from Pisa/Radda/Gaiole/San Gimignano about 8 years ago on the tandem with the better half).

    I don't think I can justify adding an 80's replica to the stable, if I'm honest - I just retracted a bid on a 80's Merckx afetr a rush of blood yesterday!

    What I need the bike for realistically is commuting, winter training and the occasional light tour - so I think the Kaff ticks all the boxes - will post pics when complete.......
    If Wales was flattened out, it'd be bigger than England!
    Planet X Ti Sportive for Sportives & tours
    Orange Alpine 160 for Afan,Alps & dodging trees
    Singlespeed Planet X Kaffenback for dodging potholes
    An On-One Inbred for hard-tail shenanigans...
  • ynyswen24
    ynyswen24 Posts: 703
    Don't know about the Eroica but the kaff is a fine bike. I got the frame and forks as they were about the cheapest that you can get that look half decent and then built up with 8spd campag and various bits - including brown fizik microtex bartape. Not enough money for a Brooks saddle (and the idea was to keep the cost down...).
    With 28mm tyres on it's a great commuter/ light tourer with a bit of zip to it and with 32mm knobblies on (it will struggle to take wider) can handle a bit of non competitive cyclo cross - or as much as I can anyway. I don't suggest taking it to Afan Argoed but I've gone zipping past kids on 'mountain bikes' in the local forestry to their bemusement because I'm on a 'racer'. You won't go far wrong with it. If I could only keep one of the bikes it'd probably be the kaff.
    Post your pics on the P-X Readers rides section - mines on there...
  • prb007
    prb007 Posts: 703
    so is this yours, then Mike/ynyswen?

    1ACWEO98-DSCN0433.jpg

    same age as me, you old scrote! :wink:
    If Wales was flattened out, it'd be bigger than England!
    Planet X Ti Sportive for Sportives & tours
    Orange Alpine 160 for Afan,Alps & dodging trees
    Singlespeed Planet X Kaffenback for dodging potholes
    An On-One Inbred for hard-tail shenanigans...
  • prb007
    prb007 Posts: 703
    No - will probably keep it away from Afan, except maybe a spin with my kids from Pontrhydyfen, up the RHS to Cymmer. then along the cycle path to Glyncorrwg for some Welsh Rarebit and a cuppa in the Drop-Off!
    Can't justify the £60+ for a Brooks, either TBH,
    maybe one of these, instead for a 1/3 of the price...
    NP6071B.jpg

    or maybe....

    189361_1.jpg

    will get it rolling with min. spend, then upgrade as I go,
    as mentioned, will inc. pics when done

    where u from btw?
    If Wales was flattened out, it'd be bigger than England!
    Planet X Ti Sportive for Sportives & tours
    Orange Alpine 160 for Afan,Alps & dodging trees
    Singlespeed Planet X Kaffenback for dodging potholes
    An On-One Inbred for hard-tail shenanigans...
  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    I should have added I had a Kaff about 5 years ago - it was a great bike for the money and rode better than many bikes many times more expensive. The original version had a big flaw - rear wheel clearance was cr@p and now thankfully rectified. I had XACD make me a Kaff in titanium with bigger clearances and disc brakes.

    But you still need to ride L'eroica..
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • ynyswen24
    ynyswen24 Posts: 703
    prb007:
    Thats the one! Complete with a homemade halogen lamp inside a drainpipe coupling and stereo jackplugs as power leads (didn't work that well to be honest!), parked up way out in the wild west down carmarthenshire way. That was the day I hacked off a load of kids by offroading faster and harder than they did.
    I've been looking at Charge saddles as a possibility (much easier to deal with the torment when you scuff them all to hell).

    Monty:
    You're right about the Eroica - I still have my mid 90's steel Bianchi frameset, maybe I'll have to resurrect it... if you built your own steel frame that would be allowable? But that's just a pipedream. How much did the Ti kaff cost? Dave Loughran had a few interesting things to say about the vrious frame geometries that P-X use on one of the threads a few months ago.