"What we did here was make a steel stem, just like people would do in the eighties... BUT THEN we got fucking crazy! We bought a stock, off the shelf stem face plate from Paragon Machine Works, and left it polished so that it wouldn't match the painted stem. And for the icing on the cake!? Well, we dug deep into our collective artisianal minds, and installed a grossly incompatible stem spacer under the top cap"
I'm not sure if you've ever seen a "slick" design... but this sure as fuck isn't that.
I admit that in part, this one partially pisses me off in that I'm currently working on a frame for myself that has a VERY similar design for the seattube, seat clamp and seatstay/toptube junction. However... I really think(hope) mine will look a lot more slick. I mean, one of the best (read: only) benefits of an integrated seatpost, is the very clean look you can achieve... and this one doesn't even come close to looking "clean".
How about this one!? Now, no doubt, I love the attention to detail that every single Vanilla bike proudly shows off. But this one is out of control! I mean, they didn't just stop with putting Di2 on this bike... they went the extra step and painted that shit PINK!
Really, the worst part is that I love the attention that most builders put to their bikes, and the little touches that they do when they build them. I can only hope that people notice the little things that I do, even when I'm just building wheels. I think the real problem comes from the shitty writing of the typical online bike news sites...or I just like to complain.
