This was the first Ellis I've ever built without ever talking to the intended rider. Rob's wife called me this past summer to see if I could build a frame as a surprise Christmas gift. It was a bit tough not being able to discuss the bike with him, but Sydney did a remarkable job of tracking down drawings from Rob's other frames and sometimes sending along his wish lists of ideas for future bikes. One of the notes Rob had made to another builder was his hope that the new frame would reflect what that builder's specialty was. Going on that, I built what I would consider an archetypal Ellis.
I submit it for your approval!
We decided early on to have the fork chromed like last year's NAHBS frame, I suggested that we do the chain stay in 953 to evoke the 80's chrome look without the cost of a full 953 rear end. Of course the Ellis "team" paint scheme was a no brainer.
If you've been watching the blog, you may remember these lugs from Chad's tri frame post. I didn't want to let the cat out of the bag too early, so I just put up a couple close ups of the raw head lugs and seat lug as a teaser.
Jason's masking on the head tubes just keeps getting better, and he was no slouch to begin with!
I'm really starting to like this seat lug.
Polished 953 chain stay with a slight "bump" for chain ring clearance.
Check out the masking on the chain stay bridge reinforcement! 
8 comments:
Wow... I think Rob owes his wife big time. He'll be paying for this for a long time.
Wow, awesome idea.
What is the tt size of this frame? Looks big. (They all look big to me, relatively speaking...)
Now the question is, what does he get to build it up with?
This one has a 595mm top tube, I guess that's on the larger end of the spectrum, but not huge. When I did the drawing for Rob's frame, it ended up being within a couple millimeters of my own frame size. I think Rob and I could trade bikes pretty easily.
It will fit in nicely to Rob's already awesome collection.
Well as the lucky recipient, let me thank Dave and my wife for this Christmas miracle. The workmanship on this frame is as fine as I have seen and I have some pretty special bikes so that is saying something. Its really quite flawless.
I had a super record 11 build kit laying around for a future project and I started to put it on this frame, but it wasn't aesthetically pleasing to my eye. This frame needed a bit more silver in my opinion so I took the SR 11 off and put on some Record 10, but with a Record alloy crank and some DT Swiss rims with Record hubs (the nice silver ones you can't get anymore). It is looking very sweet. Still haven't decided on the bar tape or saddle.
Thanks again to my lovely wife Sydney and the talented Dave Wages.
Rob, it was my pleasure working on the project with Sydney. My biggest fear was that you'd get the frame and it wouldn't be exactly what you would have wanted. I can't wait to see some pictures of the completed bike!
I'll see you at NAHBS, right?
Dave
Well the "rule" is that the bar tape should match the lettering so my vote is either "Ellis" burgundy tape to match the lettering or white to match the panel.
I'm a traditionalist, I vote for white!
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