Tom Kellogg 30th Anniversary Frame

"15 Special edition Spectrum Custom Steel bicycles, built with traditional materials from the classic era of the mid to late '70s, with over sixty years of experience and artistry."

"Imagine the perfect bicycles built 30 years ago. Remember how good they felt? How lively they were, comfortable and just drop dead gorgeous? Now take two guys who have been building custom steel frames since that era long ago, add our combined experience and skills and have us craft one of those perfect frames for you, again."

"Starting in '05, Jeff and I had been kicking around the idea of producing a number of "Classic" steel frames of very limited quantity. These would be custom built using frame components from my beginnings in the mid '70s. As it turned out, 2006 was my 30th Anniversary in the custom frame business. Our 30th anniversary series are these long planned traditional frames sets."

Tubing: Columbus SL, complete 11 tube set. This is the original Columbus SL tubing, not a reproduction. If you want, you can even have the Columbus box that the tubing came in.

Available lug sets: Cinelli forged, Prugnat Long Point, Nervex Pro, Bocama Long Point, Tange Long Point. The numbers of each lug set are quite limited. The lug set you order would in part determine the price of the frame set.

BB shells: Gargette RGF forged, Hitachi Cast.

Crowns: Cinelli MC, Cinelli SC (these are the real ones, not reproductions).

Dropouts: Campagnolo 1010. These are the original long versions.

Brake Bridge: Cinelli / Confente double taper type.

Braze-ons: DT shifter bosses, WB mounts w/Cinelli diamonds, Campagnolo derailleur cable guides (top of BB shell), Diving Bell style chain stay stop.

Top tube cable clips: Campagnolo, hand made top tube tunnels available by request.

All frame dimensions are custom. If you want a 120mm rear spacing for those old Nuovo Record parts, just give us the word.

Paint options: Limited to styles of the mid '70s and before, by our discretion.

Decal set: Original TOM KELLOGG decal set, circa 1976.

"Our 30th Anniversary project developed out of a series of lucky coincidences that came together during the spring of '05. One of our suppliers had found a long forgotten stash of original, still in the boxes, Columbus SL tube sets. We discovered a long forgotten stash of cold forged lugs, shells and classic cast crowns of our own. With a bit of sleuthing, we were able to come up with the last odd pieces that we needed to create fully original mid '70s frame sets. I had to get Jeff to relearn how we did things back then in order to get the period workmanship correct."

These unpainted close up photographs are of the first completed frame in the series and all commentary appearing within quotation marks is Tom's:

"The original Cinelli forged seat lug has very weak binder ears that always got mauled
by binder bolts. From my earliest days, I dropped in a section of heavy wall tubing,
brazed it up and machined it out for an integrated bolt. Classic looking, but it had
the bonus of actually working."

"The original Cinelli lugs all had these large single holes in the bottom spoon.
They ended up making these look quite different in profile from all other lugs."

"Cinelli has not made these bridges and barrels for many years. Albert Bold
of Bold Precision Machine makes them for us."

"This photograph is almost identical to the published one of a Redcay
dropout that got me into frame building over 30 years ago."

"Before cast bottom bracket shells, the areas between the seat tube and
the chain stays were bulged out. Extra mitering cuts were not required,
but it was this kind of touch that Bill Boston insisted on when I apprenticed to him."

"Back in the day, very few builders would miter both the seat tube and
down tube into each other. This way is slower, but much cleaner."

"We used these bridge rein forcers through the mid '80s because they
made the soldering easier. It gives a more classic look as well."

"These were the most difficult small items to find for this project. We found
just enough in the UK and cleaned they guy out."

"Until I developed a different shape in the late '70s we used the
pre dimpled stays."

Finished product! This is the only shot I have that show's the dimpled chain stay...it also shows the nice "Tom Kellogg" personalization on the left side chain stay!

"The Cinelli lugs had a bit less meat on the head tube and wider spoons
than the Prugnats and Bocomas."

"I developed this style before I had even built my first frame. They take forever
to make and solder on, but I still love the way that they look. They are made out
stainless steel tubing to reduce the chance of top tube rust."

"The Cinelli top point shape is subtly different from the more common
Prugnat long point lugs. These Cinelli's have a broader middle section,
giving a somewhat "heavier" look."

And I can think of no better way to finish-off those "pure and simple" bosses...a Nitto "pure and simple" bottle rack!

"These stamped reinforces had little functional effect, but they look great."

I'd HAVE to agree....just right! When seen in person this crown is so simple looking but so perfect for the bike!

"A concession to modernity. I only started machining the underside of
our fork crowns in '82. It is so much cleaner that I could not leave them
as we had way back in the beginning."

"This is the original TOM KELLOGG head tube logo.
I made 186 frames under my own name before
going to work for Ross Bicycles at the end of '79.
All of the 30th Anniversary frames will carry this
original logo as well."

"A close-up of the down tube lettering from my early
days. Simple and spare, in that respect, similar to
how we still finish our frames today."

Finished product!...and as Tom points out on his website: "And yes, there are
two "Ls" and 2 "Gs."

"This is the original 1010 dropout. The designation eliminates a
letter after the numerals because this dropout originally had an
eyelet. The 1010a was forged without an eyelet and the 1010b
was the more modern shorter version. For those interested, the
1053 was the track dropout."

"Through the late '70s I cleaned all of my dropouts by continuing
the lines of the stays onto the dropouts. The result is those little
notches between the stays and the dropouts. By '82, when we
were able to get custom drawn tubing, the larger diameter of the
stays eliminated the need to "notch" the stays."

"For the first few years that I built frames, the Gargette bulge
forged shell was all we could get. Next up was the cast Cinelli
shell. The first investment cast shell available was the Roto, but
it was too hard and brittle. The Cinelli was quite nice if a bit soft."

"Because these shells were forged, the inner ends of the lugs were
rounded and inconsistent. The challenge was to hand miter the seat
and down tubes and chain stays in such a way that they made
the shell look better and in fact, stronger."

"To this day, I still can't make my seat stays look as good as Jeff's.
He has a way of making them look as though they are floating just
above the surface of the seat lug when viewed from the side and
completely integrated when viewed from the top or bottom. Amazing."

Finished product! Just plain graceful! The "dent" in the pump top isn't a dent, just a strange reflection. Also, the color in the studio pictures seems to be a lot darker than this bike really is...my outdoor shots are more true-to-color.

"Jeff modified this binder boss. The original was just the bulge forged piece.
Jeff brazed in a section of 4130 tubing and filled it up with bronze. Much stronger
and cleaner."

"Simple and clean. Forged lugs just look different. You can tell that
they were fabricated from a single piece of strip steel."

"Simple and clean as well. This joint may look old fashioned, but it
is stronger than all of the "modern" joining techniques. Period"

"I got the idea for these cable guides from my Master, Bill Boston in '76.
His weren't split, but he made them from scratch just as we have here.
The only difference from back then is that these are made out of stainless,
not mild steel."

Finished product with silver mesh Jagwire cables selected especially for this build.

"We prefer to not use pin striping on our band edges. Historically, pin
striping has been used in the same way that lug striping has; to hide
poor workmanship. If a customer prefers the look, we will pin stripe
band edges, but we will not cover up our lug edges."

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And now for a few remaining shots of various sections and components along with a few pictures of #1's maiden ride!

NOS Campagnolo Record cranks and front dr. Deferred to the modern pedals but stuck with Campy because I think that their slightly bulkier look is the least modern-looking of anything currently produced....but open to suggestions if anyone has any!

A couple of downtube shifter views...used this panographed set that I've had for a few years but will probably switch them out with some plain Campy ones and move the pano'd ones to a Bob Jackson that sports the same red-green-white patterned paint job.

Went with Brooks Honey on the bars and saddle...I really like this shade of brown with the Daytona Blue of the bike!

I had been saving these lever's for a long long time...very "racy-looking" with the other silver bits and pieces.

Head-on! Nitto stem and Noodle bars, both favorites of mine and used on all of my more vintage-type bikes.

First time I've used a Brook's Swallow Classic and I am TOTALLY in love with it! It's hard to believe that something this uncomfortable looking could be OH SO comfortable to ride! I was blown away since I was prepared to not like it and now wish all of my Swift's were Swallow's!

Simply and classic....just like Tom's workmanship on the frame and fork....it's very "proper" looking to me!

Campy front dr gleaned from some NOS that Joe Young had in a box at his wheel-shop.

Veloflex Pave tires...clincher's that are as close to tubie's as I've EVER ridden...by the way, so far, over 800 miles and NO flats....myth-BUSTED!

I purchased these Ambrosio rims when I bought the frame and had been holding them until I got a chance to run out to Joe Young's place...love the look and the ride...just the perfect amount of color difference between them and the frame to make them ideal for the build...cool but still a little understated.

Maiden Voyage-Sorry that you'll now have to put up with a couple images of me!

Sorry my mouth is open, probably telling my sister about everything she is doing wrong to take the picture! This is the first ride on the Tom Kellogg #1, out Old Mission Peninsula and back to Traverse City, Michigan....a ride I do at least once every time I go to the Leelanau Peninsula area.

This really cool kairn was built to pay honor to those that served from the county in World War One...it has been updated on the other sides to honor more recent veteran's. These kairn's used to be built all over Northern Michigan to designate all kinds of things and are really unique. One of the best of them marked the northern terminus to the famed Dixie Highway. It was in Mackinaw City but, alas, it was torn down about 25 years ago...no doubt by someone that thought a lot more about "now" and not enough about "then!!!" This one also stands almost directly on the 45th parallel.

It was a beautiful ride on a beautiful day on a SUPURB and BEAUTIFUL bicycle! I LOVE this bike! Thanks to Tom and Jeff for all of the love, pride, and work they put into this frame and fork...it's simply perfect for me!