in the forum where it belongs. Behold:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUHtK-8wZts&context=C4fb5f70ADvjVQa1PpcFN2rpP_KJqHXP1ukT6y6M0lTN9MbPL-eEg=

That bike is fucking sweet. Speedhound does great work.

Is it supposed to be a touring bike or something?

It's a whateverthefuckyouwantittobe bike.

MRJ is on to something, though.

That relaxed seat tube is accompanied by a significantly lower BB, which increases comfort at the price of handling (because you need longer chainstays to reach the BB). The BB drop on the Speedhound is 75mm for all frame geometries, accompanied by 450mm chainstays. They justify it with this line; "Cyclo-cross inspired geometry with a lower bottom bracket." Is the lower BB part of the "cyclo-cross inspired geometry" or not? The context is ambiguous, so let's look at Raleigh's line up for comparison (I would used Specialized, but they don't make a tourer)

Speedhoud Only-One: 75mm BB drop, 450mm stays
RX (Cross bike w/ Sora): 55mm BB drop, 425mm chainstays
Rush Hour (track): 58mm (400mm stays)
Port Townsend (light tourer): 65mm (435mm stays)
Record Ace (road): 68mm (408mm stays)
Clubman (Med. tourer): 75mm (425mm stays)
Sojourn (Heavy tourer): 80mm (460mm stays)
http://www.raleighusa.com/

The Speedhound is on par with the medium tourer, which is not exactly what comes to mind when I think "nimble handling" or "cyclo-cross geometry inspired". The absurdly high 55mm drop on the RX might not be representative of all cross bikes, but it's nowhere near Speedhound's 75mm. And how many people who want a nice touring bike will want (or perhaps settle for) a "do-anything" bike?

Well, as someone who rode the bike, I found the handling very nimble, and riding felt solid and comfortable. The frame is steel, so it handles as such. Forgiving. The drive train weighs nothing, because it's a carbon belt. I rode it set up as a fixed gear, but the coupler dropouts allow you to turn the same frame into a geared touring bike or CX bike. Personally, being one who has ridden LOTS of bikes, I found whatever specific performance sacrifices may have been made to in order to provide versatility very small and, upon cruising around at a healthy clip on city streets, unnoticeable.



ETA:

Hurl rode it CX'd out, so, if you see him, ask him two things:

What did you like and dislike about the Speedhound bike set up for CX?

Will you take your shirt off and show me your dinner plate sized nipples?

But the proprietary dropout system could easily have been designed with shorter chainstays and a higher BB. Just look at all that room behind the seattube in my picture. With Gates producing CDX belts in five lengths, sprockets in eight sizes, and cogs in six sizes, I find it hard to believe that it was necessary to have such long chainstays for the sake of drivetrain compatibility. And I don't even know why there would be so much BB drop.

This is great to hear! I'm glad that the bike provides a good ride.

You own a Steamroller, correct? Did the Speedhound provide a better ride than that? Or perhaps, more to the point, did it provide a $700 better ride?

I only use you as an example. Ambitiously designing a new frame and making it locally and selling it is great, if you can convince people to ride it. At close to $1400 for the frameset, though, it is not cheap. That's the price of two Steamrollers or one titanium bikesdirect ride w/ Apex. Who is the target market for this bike?

People who like what they(Speedhound) are doing are going to subsidize their work regardless. If buying nice bikes and promoting local business is your thing, you don't need to think twice about it. But those who like to ride bikes a lot will want more than one bike. I have a hard time picturing one (apparently very mechanically-inclined) person tearing down and rebuilding his bike just because he wants to get rad on a tour/fixie style/at Almanzo, etc. He has other bikes sitting in his garage for that reason.

tl;dr - Speedhounds are pricy and they market themselves to bike nerds even though bike nerds want more than one bike.

Let's be honest, I think target market for this bike is someone who can and would like to spend $1400 on a frame set. It's beautiful, the lines are amazing, comfortable, seems to be able to take a beating, and just... neato. But, yeah, 1400 bucks.

I LOVE my Steamroller, and often have a hard time just jumping on another bike without a wonky and awkward adjustment period, even other bikes I own and ride regularly! I will always say that the best deal on the market right now is a Steamroller by surly. I fucking love it. ETA Although, Steamrollers are built in Taiwan and can roll off the shelf at $700 a pop. Speedhounds are not.

Riding the Speedhound was not like riding my Steamroller, because... well, it's a different bike, though I found the geometry similar. That said, I was able to just hop right on it, ride in comfort, maneuver the bike easily, and relax on it as if I'd been riding it for years RIGHT AWAY.

I think, personally, that says a lot.

MBLer bt.mccoy asked me to do this video, and I'm glad he did. Everyone was great to work with, and I'm sure Chris at Speedhound would love to answer any questions you may have about his frames! He seemed eager to tell me anything I wanted to know.

If you, lurker person, are browsing this forum, or if you are new to bikes in general, I hope you understand what a big deal this is. I would say that most cyclists have a time where they have a really nice(more expensive) bike sitting in their garage but still ride the (sometimes janky) everyday bike because they just feel better on it. How much you spend isn't always everything.

Though maybe in Speedhound's case it is?

with all that said, our resident bad ass seems to be smiling and getting rad on said bike in the video.

Smile + Rad = isn't that the whole point?