We attempt to avoid mixing politics with cycling (although stay tuned for Q&A with USA Cycling cyclocross candidates who are campaigning to your vote), however with our recent trip to visit Paul Component Engineering in Chico for Paul Camp, we figured the 45th U.S. president’s declaration of this week being “Made in America” week is an efficient time to spotlight some U.S.-made creations. Today we’re taking a take a look at a titanium monster cross creation we pushed through the rocks, dirt and gravel of Chico earlier this 12 months.
Made-in-America, with a plethora of American-made components. Caletti Cycles’ titanium wire monster cross bike. 2017 Paul Camp. © Cyclocross Magazine
Made in Surf City, USA
John Caletti, founder of Caletti Cycles, grew up riding bikes and tinkering within the family storage, so it was maybe inevitable he would find yourself as a custom body builder. Caletti realized the craft from Jim Kish, and then went on to establish Caletti Cycles in 2004 in Santa Cruz, CA.
Caletti Cycles produces made-to-order TIG welded steel and titanium bikes, and with the exception of a bit of part-time assist, is generally a one-man shop. Caletti is an avid off-road rider, and has a number of cyclocross and gravel-pleasant builds to choose from.
John Caletti climbs the rocky trails on his personal mountain bike at 2017 Paul Camp. © Cyclocross Magazine
Cyclocross Magazine has profiled Caletti Cycles’ bikes on the North American Handmade Bicycle Show in previous years. Caletti’s personal interest in off-highway pathfinding has led the corporate to develop some versatile off-highway offerings. Back in 2012, we had the opportunity to see the gravel-pleasant Adventure Road Bike that includes a build that combines pace with durability and provides room for wider gravel-compatible tires. Caletti Cycles also makes a ‘’traditional’’ race-ready disc brake, thru-axle cyclocross bike.
Cyclocross, gravel, and beneath-the-bridge dirt criteriums, Caletti Cycles’ titanium monster cross bike is constructed to do it all. 2017 Paul Camp. © Cyclocross Magazine
This spring, we threw a leg over one in all his rides at Paul Camp-a titanium monster cross bike constructed specifically for the camp-to sample his work and USA-made parts from Paul Component Engineering, White Industries and Velocity.
A Far Cry from 90s Ti
Caletti hand picks the titanium tubing to build his frames, counting on titanium’s inherent ride qualities, but don’t count on this to trip like your dad’s whippy 90s Ti body.
“It’s such a snug-riding materials, that I find that individuals have a tendency to note the advantage of going a little bit bit bigger in a number of the tubes more than they’d attempting to return the opposite way,” Caletti explains.
He tends to go bigger on tube diameters, opting for a large 42mm down tube and 24mm chainstays, slightly bigger than what he says is typical for the wonder materials, however for a lighter rider or somebody craving an extremely-easy ride, he’d cut back tubing diameter in certain areas.
Caletti Cycles’ titanium monster cross bike paired Dedacciai 24mm chainstays with Paragon dropouts. 2017 Paul Camp. © Cyclocross Magazine
Caletti retailers for his tubing based mostly on his wants and specs, not by brand, however has been fond of Dedacciai titanium chainstays. He says they’re a bit softer. Come pre-bent in S-bend shapes. For this monster cross build, Caletti added additional dimples for tire clearance.
There’s loads of tire clearance around the WTB 27.5×2.2 Bee Line rubber, with room for mud round 700c cyclocross tires should the proprietor go that route. Caletti Cycles’ titanium monster cross bike. 2017 Paul Camp. © Cyclocross Magazine
Caletti pairs his chainstays with a Paragon titanium dropouts, head tube and seat tube insert with 3/2.5 titanium grade 9, chilly labored, stress-relieved straight gauge tubing to form his titanium framesets. Caletti also works in steel, however is building an increasing number of titanium, with about 60% of his customers opting for the lighter metallic.
“It’s such a snug-riding material, that I discover that individuals tend to note the good thing about going somewhat bit larger in among the tubes greater than they might attempting to return the opposite way.” -John Caletti
A Cyclocross Monster Mod
Caletti builds loads of cyclocross and gravel (which he calls “Adventure Road”) bikes, sometimes cranking out one bike per week, however the monster Paul Camp request didn’t quite completely fit the jig for either of his cyclocross or Adventure Road classes of bikes. Caletti builds bikes to customized match his prospects, so it’s not like you possibly can examine this to a stock model. He had a 5’10″ rider in mind when building this 56cm (high tube) frame (Appears like me, thankfully).
Caletti Cycles’ titanium monster cross bike options a clean seatstay bridge, however rack and fender mounts are an option. 2017 Paul Camp. © Cyclocross Magazine
The Santa Cruz-based mostly builder said he stretched his chainstays a bit to fit the larger 27.5 rubber (43cm, or 42.5cm effective/horizontal, 0.5cm longer than what he usually uses on his cyclocross builds). The underside bracket drop, at 6.7cm, sits in between his typical gravel and cyclocross defaults. It’s additionally a bit longer that a standard cyclocross bike to attenuate toe overlap, with a slightly longer front-middle at 61.7cm.
The rest of his body sat right the place many cyclocross bikes sit, with a 73.5 diploma seat angle, 71 diploma head angle, 160mm head tube, 61.7cm front heart and an ENVE cyclocross fork with 395mm axle to crown and 47mm rake.
An ENVE Cross Fork coated with Dark Matter Finishing paint steered the Caletti Cycles’ titanium monster cross bike, while a Paul Klamper disc brake kept it beneath management. 2017 Paul Camp. © Cyclocross Magazine
While that geometry may appear pretty customary for a cyclocross bike, Caletti recognized the small print that may change for a devoted cyclocross race bike. “For ’cross racing, we’d look to base it round a 700×35 tire, the chainstays might be a little bit shorter, the underside bracket drop might be just a little bit much less,” he explains. “We’d probably do a little tighter entrance finish, a little bit steeper head angle. When you have almost any questions concerning in which as well as tips on how to employ titanium tubing for sale, you can e-mail us from the page. This being a extra off-street biased monster cross bike not likely for racing, we need to strive so as to add just a little bit more stability so it handles the tough terrain properly.”
Builders for Paul Camp had been encouraged to use the T47 bottom bracket standard, and Caletti happily obliged, equipping his journey with a White Industries backside bracket and modular crankset.
Caletti Cycles’ titanium monster cross bike featured a T47 threaded backside bracket. Caletti’s titanium rod welds shine after media blast ending. 2017 Paul Camp. © Cyclocross Magazine
Caletti works with both fitters and clients immediately to find out an acceptable geometry for a buyer. Once they pull the set off, the wait is only a few months lengthy.
His titanium cyclocross framesets start at $4195, which includes an ENVE fork, a Chris King headset and media blast satin end. A steel frameset saves you $1k, at $3195. Paint, as shown on our demo bike, is further, and begins at $575. The finish on our test bike was by Ollie of Dark Matter Finishing.
Rack, fender and electronic wire routing options are available for a nominal cost. The check bike featured down tube-routed rear derailleur cable routing, with good, bolt-on cable housing clamps-no scratchy zip ties along the down tube-but if you’re going custom, maybe springing for internal routing would possibly reduce skinsuit sleeve snags on run-ups. Caletti aims to please.
A Chico Appetizer – Can I’ve Seconds?
I’ve now sampled the trails of Chico all of 5 times. The first two servings were on a Paul Component-dressed Surly Straggler, as soon as on a drop bar Falconer mountain bike, followed by an extended trip the subsequent day on this Caletti (the fifth was with family).
I can’t profess to overview a bike based on one ride on overseas trails, but can offer some impressions. The trails in Chico’s Upper Bidwell Park are rocky to say the least, and the 27.5 x 2.2″ rubber was a welcome layer of insulation between the rocky path and my arms, ft and posterior.
Caletti Cycles’ titanium monster cross bike supplied a easy ride on the dirt and gravel of Chico. 2017 Paul Camp. © Cyclocross Magazine
At sluggish speeds (which there was a variety of at Paul Component Engineering camp), particularly on tight singletrack, the Caletti was a nimble star. At high speeds on rocky roads, the bike required a bit more attention than the larger tire, longer, slacker Falconer that rolled over babyheads with ease. The comparability urged to me the extra-nimble Caletti could be a really perfect do-it-all bike that can be fairly at house out on the cyclocross course, gravel rides and races and on singletrack, extra so than the Mount Huff killer Falconer built.
Caletti Cycles’ titanium monster cross bike with a White Industries headset, Paul Box Car Stem and Top Cap Light Mount. 2017 Paul Camp. © Cyclocross Magazine
In reality, my fast taste steered that by embracing the dual 650b/700c wheel compatibility development, Caletti built a bike that with two wheelsets, seems to be well-suited for yr-lengthy mixed terrai adventure and aggressive racing with little compromise.
It wouldn’t be exhausting to discover a dozen manufacturing cyclocross frames that share nearly equivalent geometry with Caletti’s monster cross frameset, and it would be fun to have extra time on such a journey, together with some spent on 700c cyclocross tubulars or tubeless tires.
That’s the draw back of a fast style of one thing good. You want extra.
