Home > Bike Types > Road Bike

Baller’s Bicycles – Spectrum’s Tom Kellogg’s Titanium Road Bike

24 Comments
Support us! Bikerumor may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Learn More

ballers ride tom kellogg of spectrum bicycles personal titanium road bike

Tom Kellogg works with Jeff Duser to create Spectrum Cycles. Tom does the measurements and customer sizing and designs the bike, then hands it off to Jeff to build the steel frames. Tom does do some lug prep and finishing, but Jeff’s the one turning them into complete bikes. Once it’s done, Tom takes over again to do the paint.

They also offer titanium frames, which begin the same way. Tom takes the measurements, preferably from an in-person fit at their own shop, designs the bike, then turns it over to Seven Cycles for fabrication. Not just any fabrication…they get frames back with a unique touch that not even Seven’s own bikes get…

ballers ride tom kellogg of spectrum bicycles personal titanium road bike

Spectrums’s ti bikes are welded by Tim at Seven Cycles, who’s the only one they know will properly do the smooth welds. And by smooth, we do mean smoooooooth. Tom says there is no finishing or sanding done after the weld, they come out looking just like what you see here:

ballers ride tom kellogg of spectrum bicycles personal titanium road bike

Amazed yet?

ballers ride tom kellogg of spectrum bicycles personal titanium road bike

Tom’s personal ti road bike started out with a mechanical group, hence the cable stops. It’s since been converted to Di2. The bike’s set up with an Albert Bold seatpost and Ciamillo brakes.

ballers ride tom kellogg of spectrum bicycles personal titanium road bike

The color stripes are paint, they just look raised like decals.

ballers ride tom kellogg of spectrum bicycles personal titanium road bike

Check out the coned tubes joined to create the brake bridge.

ballers ride tom kellogg of spectrum bicycles personal titanium road bike

ballers ride tom kellogg of spectrum bicycles personal titanium road bike

His build’s finished off with a Thomson stem and Buben handlebar.

SpectrumCycles.com

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

24 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Matt Ackland
Matt Ackland
9 years ago

The piece of art that is that magnificently welded frame has been ruined by what I can only imagine is someone actually spewing a rainbow all over it

Ilikeicedtea
Ilikeicedtea
9 years ago

A bike dork! I like it.

Fattylocks
Fattylocks
9 years ago

Props for the mountain bike stem.

saupak
saupak
9 years ago

ALL Spectrum Ti is built by Seven? How long has this been going on?

M. Shaw
M. Shaw
9 years ago

When you can afford the best, Tom and Jeff can provide.

Paniagua
Paniagua
9 years ago

So, Kellogg is just the painter, I think the real star is Tim, nice welds!

Velo
Velo
9 years ago

Nice welding, but the fork is hideous.

Mindless
Mindless
9 years ago

Titanium frames should be bare.

Morten Reippuert Knudsen
Morten Reippuert Knudsen
9 years ago

Spectrum TI has been build by Seven since 2010/2011 when Amercian Bicycle Group shut down the Merlin, and RealDesign brands + all OEM production to focus entirely on the Litespeed and Quintana Roo brands.

My custom Merlin CR3/2.5 Works is a Tom Kellog Design, possibly his and Merlin’s best ever. 1115g for a size M in drawn eliptical non butted tubes. rides like a dream and those Merlin welds looks even better that Sevens.

The ride? Fabolous handling, comfortable even with a 31,6mm seat post, stiff enough for me when i was 96kg with a Carridice SQR for credit card touring (now at 81kg) and tough enough to travel in airplanes without a bag. (set post down, pedals off, handlebar off and directly into an airfrance)

If i where to get a new frame it would be a Seven build Spectrum. Tom Kellogs TI design is second to none.

NASH
NASH
9 years ago

I would be interested to see the wiring routing on this machine, how did he manage to pull it through the frame, looks like he drilled a hole for the battery section then stuck in a grommet. Is this easy to do as was thinking about it on my own Ti frame?

It looks very neat from what I can see.

Luigi
Luigi
9 years ago

Spectrum ti has always been done by Seven (or predecessors at Merlin, etc.). No secrets here. Tom is the guy behind the originial Merlin Extralights, etc. His ti bikes are best of Seven fabrication (Tim Delaney) with the best of expertise in design and fitting (Tom) and incredible finishes (Tom again). BTW, the bike pictured has been Tom’s daily ride for nine years or so – just repainted this year. How many nine year old bikes look this good ?
BTW, agreed that YMMV may vary on the color palette on this one, but love or hate the colors, the quality of the finish is artwork.

Tom Kellogg
9 years ago

No need to speculate about what’s in this post, feel free to drop me a line at spectrum.tom@gmail.com if you have any questions about my nine year old road bike or any of our bikes.

il Bruce
il Bruce
9 years ago

I rode in a group (briefly) with Tom’s brother Dave a few weeks ago. Dave’s Spectrum is beautiful. The glossy finish was striking. It is nice to see some flash and color on Ti frames.

uglyyeti
uglyyeti
9 years ago

Frame pumps are Baller.

syj
syj
9 years ago

Lampre fan?

Devin
9 years ago

@NASH- check out the Shimano internal frame guidelines and drill it to spec. If there’s one material that’s perfectly fine with adding a few tiny holes it’s Ti. If you’ve got access to a milling machine with tube blocks or a v-block vise to hold the frame, use that. Hole not big enough between the bb and dt or ss? Use a woodruff cutter to cut sideways. Have fun!

Henry
Henry
9 years ago

Very cool! I started road riding a few years ago on my Dad’s Merlin Extralight with Tom’s name on the chain stay. I still remember the day my Dad brought this bike home. Very cool to see Tom’s personal ride.

nsp234
nsp234
9 years ago

The Welds!
The Welds!
This is just incredible, there should be anothe name for that type of …hmmm… welds.

Kahuna
Kahuna
9 years ago

I’ve been riding and racing my Merlin-built Spectrum Ti Super since 2001. The fit, finish, and ride has been flawless and it looks as good today as it did when I first got it from “The Barn.” TK’s the man!

Ajax
Ajax
9 years ago

Wow! I know that Moots has a good rep for their consistent weld beads, but I gotta say that the welds on that Spectrum are the equal if not better than any weld bean I have ever seen on a Ti bike. They are, IMO, aesthetically perfect.

extman
extman
9 years ago

Complete lack of taste. Ugly combination despite very nice welds.

Evan
Evan
9 years ago

My Ti Spectrum is just about the same vintage as Tom’s, with a Reynolds fork – probably what you see here. I went up to the barn to see it when it arrived from Merlin before Jeff did a little work on the welds. It looked pretty much like this one, but when I picked up the finished bike the welds were completely invisible, nicer than any Seven I’ve seen on the road. Haven’t had to adjust anything in nine years. It’s still a pleasure just to look at it, let alone ride it.

Michael
Michael
9 years ago

Spectrum Ti frames have always been fabricated by other shops with whom Tom has had ongoing relationships. First they were fabricated in Merlin’s custom shop and after Merlin shut down Tom moved to Seven. Historically, Tom was the chief designer for Merlin and when Merlin moved from New England down South, Seven was formed by some of the guys that spun off from Merlin, so the production of the Ti frames has always been “in the family”. What you get with a Spectrum Ti is Tom’ magic in design, geometry, fit, tube and fork selection that provides every customer with a bike that provides exactly the personalized riding experience the customer desires. Tom also does the finishing/paint on the frames. With the steel frames, you get all the same plus fabrication of the frames by Tom’s partner Jeff. The results are bikes that are sublime in every way. I own both a Spectrum Ti and steel bike and have sold a half dozen other custom bikes from other “top shelf” custom houses because no matter what else I’ve owned, I always come back to my Spectrums as my rides of preference.

Libby
Libby
6 years ago

HI Michael. I’m curious to learn the differences in ride quality between your Spectrum titanium bike and your Spectrum steel bike. Thanks very much.

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.