Joseph Judkins
Judd Cycles & Engineering Inc.

St Paul, MN

Over the years, road bike design hasn't changed very much. With the exception of Trek's new Y-shaped-road and a few other models, the double triangle has withstood the test of time. The selections of road bikes in today's market are usually copies of road racing machines ridden by cycling superstars of today.

The percentage of cyclists who road race in this country is extremely low, yet we are forced to purchase bikes with full race geometry. Steep head angles, short chain stays and seat tube lengths that don't even come close to the top tube dimension. The reason I mentioned seat tube length is because when a frame's top tube is disproportionately longer than the seat tube, the end result is having bars much lower than most people are comfortable with. If you are one of the few cyclists who ride five to ten thousand miles per year, then you're probably comfortable with a three to four inch difference between your saddle and your bars. For the rest of us, that puts the bars too low to ride in the drops comfortably. The small weight savings and increased stiffness that are the result of a short seat tube are not worth the sacrifice.

Working in the aerospace industry for over twenty years has allowed me to work with a variety of materials. You may be surprised to know that the materials used in the bicycle industry today are on an even keel with the aerospace industry. The advancement in steel in particular has surpassed the aerospace industry in some respects, with affordable tubesets reaching 220 KSI and beyond. Super alloys are those reaching an ultimate tensile strengths of 200 KSI or higher. That puts some of the newer tubesets like True Temper O-X Gold, Reynolds 853 and Dedacciai Zero near or above the super alloy level. For the cyclist, these tubesets are a dream come true.

If you're a lightweight freak, steel will be able to satisfy most everyone. I built a road frame 11/97 using True Temper O-X Gold, Henry James lugs, and shells and one hundred percent silver brazed. Using a certified digital scale, the bare frame weighed in at an incredibly low 3.4663 lbs. That is about the same weight as most of the titanium frames on the market and, remember, steel is almost twice as stiff as titanium. A sub. eighteen-lb bike could easily be made using an Ultegra or DuraAce Gruppo. The upper end Campy groups attached to this frame should also produce a sub. eighteen-lb. bike.

Steel is also the undisputed champ in the ride quality department. On top of which, a lugged steel frameset is the most individual and beautiful of all frame designs. Strength, ride quality, light weight and old world craftsmanship is what you get when you purchase a lugged steel frameset from this one-man shop called Judd Cycles.