Message: 2 ate: Wed, 13 Jan 2010 12:26:38 -0800 rom: Jack Gabus <jgabus@gmail.com> ubject: [CR] 3V v Prestige o: CR <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org> essage-ID: <9103102d1001131226t2fddb74fteb6a85b0018f4759@mail.gmail.com> ontent-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Since I am a long time member of the Pipe Fitters Union aka a 3V wner, I have nothing but great praise for the bike. A total transition iece so when comparing it to the Prestige that is like comparing Apples and ranges. I have always found the 3V stiff yet it always had a certain Deadness" (is that a word) to it in a good way. It soaks up the bumps real ell which for me made it a great long distance rider. I did RAGBRAI on it alf a dozen times and never got uncomfortable because of the frame. One of asi's best frames and when it was first made a total looking glass into the uture. Just remember it is one of the first "anti-skinny" tube frames ade so its is very different. All others followed ... Cannondale etc. Jack -- ack Gabus 10 490 3784 gabus@gmail.com aguna Beach, CA SA
Actually, Cannondale came out about the same time as the 3V, 1983, and they were really a copy of Klein's frame, which was first made in 1974. I had a large tube aluminum frame that my brother made a la Klein in 1977 while attending MIT, in the same elective engineering class that Gary Klein took from professor Shawn Buckley called "Designing and Building the Ultimate Bicycle Frame" (where they all arrived at the same result). Large diameter Steel frames were made earlier by others such as Bates, who had the radical cantiflex cigar-shaped tubes in the 50s, and Harry Rensch, whose Paris frames had large diameter tubes also in the 50s. Probably the most significant contribution of the 3V is the internal lug arrangement. It was certainly easier to make (no mitering), but it did allow a stiffer frame with minimal weight.
regards
Bob Freeman
Elliott Bay Bicycles
2116 Western Ave
Seattle, WA 98121
206-441-8144
http://www.elliottbaybicycles.com
http://www.davidsonbicycles.com