Bikerumor Monday Mystery Pic

posted by Staff - February 27, 2012 - 8am EDT

bikerumor monday mystery pic from first flight bicycles

Photo from the collection of Jeff Archer of First Flight Bicycles. If you think you know what this is, post your answer in the ‘comments’ section– the correct answer will be posted there on Tuesday!

To send in your own Mystery Pic to be considered for the Monday feature, click here and attach your photo with all pertinent information.

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Comments

chris - 02/27/12 - 8:07am

I know! It’s a bi-cycle frame!!

No really, I have no idea.

Rob - 02/27/12 - 8:08am

build your own kit parts for brazing

NoCoRider - 02/27/12 - 8:08am

Titanium lugs from a Specialized Ultimate frame?

Mcr - 02/27/12 - 8:14am

Front triangle cluster, seat tube cluster, rear stays, all in stainless steel (or titanium) awaiting their carbon tubes. Carbon tubes shall be:top tube, seat tube, seat stays, chain stays, and down tube…But where is the BB?

jimxwill - 02/27/12 - 8:14am

they are lugs for a carbon tubed frame. Tubes get mitered and glued into the lugs.

Richard - 02/27/12 - 8:17am

It is the titanium lugs for a bike made by Specialized in 1994(?) that had carbon tubes coupled with these titanium lugs and was called the “Ultimate”
I’m pretty sure anyways…

Richard - 02/27/12 - 8:24am

Actually, it may have been called an Epic. Or maybe an Epic Ultimate!

nick C - 02/27/12 - 8:30am

lug set from harry havnoonian.

nick C - 02/27/12 - 8:32am

but no doubt, richard is correct.

professorVelo - 02/27/12 - 8:38am

mmm… I’m was going to say it’s the lug set for one of the Trek bonded carbon fiber bikes of the early/mid 90s. these would have been aluminum, though, and it was a fastback seat cluster… the weird thing is that the brake bridge isn’t drilled. that and the head tube is complete. most – especially early versions had a CF head tube…

dang.

carl - 02/27/12 - 8:40am

Looks like a lug set from a GRAFTEC.

John - 02/27/12 - 9:46am

Lugs for whatever custom frames. Tubing would be brazed to the lug.

harry covair - 02/27/12 - 9:56am

the seatstay bridge has no brake bosses though….

Shredder - 02/27/12 - 9:58am

Don’t think it’s for that Ultimate, the seat stay bridge doesn’t have any canti mounts on it.

am - 02/27/12 - 10:02am

It kind of looks like a lug set from a Merlin, pre Lightspeed days. That seat binder is whats catching my eye

Atgani - 02/27/12 - 10:04am

The Emperor’s New Bike?

joby - 02/27/12 - 10:06am

Seven Odonata raw lug set?

andy - 02/27/12 - 10:23am

definitely specialized epic ultimate

Sean - 02/27/12 - 10:30am

The seat cluster doesn’t look right for the Specialized Epic Ultimate. It looks as if it has been chopped in half to produce the seat cluster and seatstay bridge separately . If you look at the pictures that Andy posted, you can see what I mean.

James Barnes - 02/27/12 - 10:39am

A set of lugs so sweet that even I cold build my own. Steel is real!
So nice and clean.

NoCoRider - 02/27/12 - 11:10am

Maybe this will help.

http://www.kalimotxo.com/mtb/specialized_ultimate_prototype.html

Adam - 02/27/12 - 11:55am

Well, judging by the Epic Ultimate being in Jeff’s own collection.
http://mombat.org/MOMBAT/Bikes/1992_Specialized_Ultimate.html

The bridge could simply be in the builders stage, pre-welded before building the frame to ensure the brake bosses are square to each other.

But, I remember hearing of a road version of this same frame-set but can’t find it online anywhere.
But where is the BB… hmmm

huelse - 02/27/12 - 12:00pm

Exxon Graftek lugset?

Mark - 02/27/12 - 12:25pm

Specialized Epic Ultimate for sure. I owned (and broke) one many years ago…

Charlie B. - 02/27/12 - 12:38pm

The brace that slides over the stays is the Epic giveaway.

jamie - 02/27/12 - 1:26pm

those lugs were made by merlin for specialized

Sean - 02/27/12 - 2:46pm

Ah, NoCoRider’s picture looks like a winner. Satisfies my questiong.

Hank Matheson - 02/27/12 - 3:23pm

Lugs thats for sure. Most likely made to interface with some carbon tubing. And from the color of the heat effected zone I’m going with Ti.

Kees - 02/27/12 - 4:52pm

Lugs from a Litespeed made John Tomac Raleigh Ti carbon frame he raced in the early nineties

Speedy - 02/27/12 - 5:04pm

I think a few of you are missing the fact that the Cantis don’t mount to the bridge, they were set up on their own metal sleeves. Look at the images in the link posted by NoCoRider, and you will see what I mean. The canti sleeves and BB are just not pictures in the post here.

ryan - 02/27/12 - 6:54pm

ti lugs made by merlin

Moove - 02/28/12 - 7:19am

Congrats to NoCoRider, he spotted it first!

Kristibee - 02/28/12 - 8:25am

Lots of great guesses…and the answer is:

“the titanium pieces to make a Specialized Epic frame. They would have been joined with carbon fiber tubes to make a complete frame like this one http://mombat.org/MOMBAT/Bikes/1992_Specialized_Ultimate.html“

Kevin - 02/28/12 - 10:11am

Lugs to make a bamboo (or any other cut to fit material) frame

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