# My Kish.



## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

Here's my new Kish frame as it arrived three days ago. It's now built up and I'll post more pics as they get taken.

This is the last frame I'm going to buy (I've got a good start on my 60's) so I wanted to do this one right. It's based on the dimensions of my Argon18 as that frame does everything right and I can't fault its performance.

Dimensions - ST, 52cm, TT - 55.5cm sloping 3.2*. HT, 142mm. STA, 74, HTA, 73. CS, 415mm. Plain gauge titanium. Delivery 8 weeks. $2500. Jim won the "Best Titanium Frame" award at NAHBS last month for a plain-jane 24" wheel BMX based bike.


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## Dajianshan (Jul 15, 2007)

Congratulations! Looking good. That is a top-notch builder. 

Any plan for the build? 

Please don't forget to post a review after you build it all up. 

I remember you mentioned there was something special you wanted to do... what was that? 

Again... great looking frame.


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## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

Dajianshan said:


> Congratulations! Looking good. That is a top-notch builder.


Thanks.....and yes he is! There's not many of them around here.



> Any plan for the build?


It's all finished and ridden once. Mostly Ultegra and Thomson.



> Please don't forget to post a review after you build it all up.


Oh for sure.



> I remember you mentioned there was something special you wanted to do... what was that?


Heck I don't remember  I guess the memory is the 2nd thing to go.



> Again... great looking frame.


Thanks Daji!


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## Sebastionmerckx (Mar 6, 2008)

Mike T. said:


> Here's my new Kish frame as it arrived three days ago. It's now built up and I'll post more pics as they get taken.
> 
> This is the last frame I'm going to buy (I've got a good start on my 60's) so I wanted to do this one right. It's based on the dimensions of my Argon18 as that frame does everything right and I can't fault its performance.
> 
> Dimensions - ST, 52cm, TT - 55.5cm sloping 3.2*. HT, 142mm. STA, 74, HTA, 73. CS, 415mm. Plain gauge titanium. Delivery 8 weeks. $2500. Jim won the "Best Titanium Frame" award at NAHBS last month for a plain-jane 24" wheel BMX based bike.


That is...damn nice:thumbsup:


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## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

*Pics & spec here.*

Here's the spec on the bike -

Kish titanium frame. Straight gauge tubing.
Reynolds Ouzo Pro fork.
BWW wheels, two sets -
Carbon with 50mm Gigantex rims. CX-Ray 24/28.
Blackset Race. CX-Ray 24/28
Ultegra 6600SL (the dark grey stuff) -
- Crankset, compact. 50/39. Salsa inner ring.
- Shifters/brake levers.
- Derailers f&r.
- Brakes
Ultegra Cassette. 10spd.
Thomson stem (130mm), seatpost (30.9mm) and clamp (34.9mm)
PZ Racing CR6.3 bars.
Cane Creek 110 headset.
Chris King bottom bracket.
Vittoria Open Corsa Evo CX 25mm tires. Conti tubes.
Sram chain.
Speedplay Zero pedals.
King titanium cages. 
San Marco Concor saddle. Vintage.
Fizik h/b tape.
Victory Circle Grafix name decal.
Weight 18.5lbs.

Here's the story on the finish -

Jim bead blasts the frame and then brushes it with 3M 7447 Scotchbrite (the maroon stuff). Originally I thought the frame was just blasted as it looked matte and I wanted to avoid matte blasted as it's not possible to get rid of scuffs without re-blasting. But Jim assured me that he went one step further than basic bead blasting - he brushes them out with the fine Scotchbrite which leaves what I'd describe as a perfect pearly finish - I can't detect any brushing marks at all. Ok, now I can in the bright sun. He assured me with this communication - 

_The main reason I do the finish this way is because it's easy to maintain. A blasted-only finish is not easy to maintain unless you own a blast cabinet. 
I could save myself a lot of labor if I just did a blasted finish and sent them out like that. I call it brushed because I stand in front of the frames for a lot of hours every week wearing out scotchbrite pads. It's more subtle because the pads I use are very fine. It would save time to use coarser pads, but the result looks bad to my eye, and it's harder to blend if you need to do any work on it further down the road. Your typical blasted or wire/nylox brushed finishes are what I'd consider industrial finishes, done that way for efficiency. Mine is a hand finish. It's anything but efficient. 
If you need to get rid of any scratches, fingerprints, etc, just get a maroon scotchbrite pad and buff it out, it'll take 5 seconds, You'll see what I mean if you try it. It blends VERY easily. Then squirt it with Armor All and you're done. _

The finish is incredible, very subtle and impossible to do justice to with a photograph.


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## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

*One mo' pic*

Just one more. Honest.


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## Sebastionmerckx (Mar 6, 2008)

That is a very, very classy build!


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## boneman (Nov 26, 2001)

*Nice build*

Kish make a nice understated frame and your build looks both great and functional. How's the ride and what was your main ride before?


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## medimond (Apr 26, 2009)

Nice and clean looking Mike! 

Looking forward to your description of how she rides!


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## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

boneman said:


> How's the ride and what was your main ride before?


I've only ridden it once for 1:15 so I don't have much experience but it felt just the same as my old bike, which the new one was designed to mimic as in the 8 years I've owned it I can't fault its ride, handling or fit at all. It's an Argon18 Platinum.


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## mav6162005 (Mar 17, 2009)

Beautiful bike. Enjoy...


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## Bob Ross (Apr 18, 2006)

That is one _proper_ looking bike! Badass. Congratulations.

Jim Kish was on the _very_ short list of builders I considered when I was planning my first handbuilt bike last year. I wound up going with Carl Strong, but it sure looks like I could've been quite happy with a Kish.

Oh yeah, btw:


Mike T. said:


> *This is the last frame I'm going to buy* (I've got a good start on my 60's) so I wanted to do this one right.


That's exactly what I told myself when I turned 45 ...which was 3 bikes ago!


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## blakcloud (Apr 13, 2006)

Nice bike Mike, looks absolutely stunning. Copying a frame you already have is sage advice. You don't want a $2500 experiment. 

When I turned 50 I promised myself one custom bike. I saved for years but alas, I went to Tiffany's on 5th Avenue in New York and bought an engagement ring. Good bye bike and savings. Now I am putting my kids though University, so my new goal is at 60 I will buy that custom titanium. 

Enjoy your bike.


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## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

Bob Ross said:


> That's exactly what I told myself when I turned 45 ...which was 3 bikes ago!


Yebbut I'm nearly 20 years older than your 45! Since I was 45 I've had 7 new bikes. The Kish makes it 8 I think. So we buy Ti for longevity right?  Maybe this *will* be the last one. So keep going Jr!!


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## Bacana (Aug 13, 2010)

Very beautiful. I've had my eye on Kish for a while. Not sure what it is about his frames that I like, but I like them.

Very tasteful build. I like the little red bits, too. I have a build not too dissimilar--Merlin Extralight frame, white handlebar tape, Campagnolo drivetrain, Speedplay pedals, Thomson seatpost, etc.

Waiting for ride report.


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## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

Bacana said:


> Very beautiful. I've had my eye on Kish for a while. Not sure what it is about his frames that I like, but I like them.
> Very tasteful build. I like the little red bits, too. I have a build not too dissimilar--Merlin Extralight frame, white handlebar tape, Campagnolo drivetrain, Speedplay pedals, Thomson seatpost, etc.
> Waiting for ride report.


Thanks. I wanted red bits as I think red goes with Ti but I didn't want to repeat the "red headset, red bottom bracket cups" theme so I went with more subtle red bits. If ya can't be fast there's no reason for not being fancy eh? Ride report? Ride #2 was today - 11c and windless. I was going for an easy 30-miler but it turned quickly into a flat-out 30-miler. I guess we love to suffer don't we? How else can we tell if the new bike is "better"? I'd like to report that I knocked five minutes off my PB for that route but I can't. It *was* my fastest ride this year but not my fastest ever. I won't come close to that until July. But it did feel good and the bike and (new) wheels did everything perfectly. It handles perfectly, corners solidly, and responds to my feeble input. I guess it's customary to say "it's vertically compliant and laterally stiff"  I'm 100% happy with the bike and how it turned out.

Here it is in battle dress and here's the (knackered) pilot after 27 miles of a flat-out 30-miler, with time out for a rolling photo-op -


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## gregg (Oct 30, 2000)

Wow, nice build EmTea! Subtle and elegant...just like the builder AND the owner! Nice wind vest, too!

-g


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## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

gregg said:


> Wow, nice build EmTea! Subtle and elegant...just like the builder AND the owner! Nice wind vest, too!
> -g


Hey thanks g. Yeah I don't think either Jim or I are much for the "flash" stuff. If we were into m/c's, like you, we'd both be Ducati guys I'll bet. Ya caught the wind vest! I've got the jersey too IF it ever warms up enough to wear it. I stopped short at getting the RBR thong though. :blush2: I'll leave them for Frankie.


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## masfish1967 (Mar 3, 2010)

Is that a small mirror on your sunglasses? How well does that work? Oh, and super sweet ride.


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## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

masfish1967 said:


> Is that a small mirror on your sunglasses? How well does that work?


It sure is Fish and it works perfectly. I make 'em myself and have for decades and wouldn't ride 10' without one - but then I wouldn't ride 10' *with* one of the big dorky ones either. I make 'em out of old spokes, very thin mirror glass out of ladies' powder compacts (do they still use those?) and epoxy. It sits about 1/8" from my glasses and is about 3/8" square - the closer to the eye it is, the smaller it can be. It's really impossible to make one for someone else as they're tailor-made to fit the glasses.



> Oh, and super sweet ride.


Thanks Fish!


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## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

You have a great eye for the aesthetics of a race bike. Me likey.


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## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

Pablo said:


> You have a great eye for the aesthetics of a race bike. Me likey.


Pablo, that's about the best compliment I could receive. Thanks for that. I've been thinking of race bikes for a long time. Due to my advanced age this will probably be the last bike I get and here's a pic of me on my *first* custom bike in 1963 at age 15. It was a Harry Quinn (Liverpool in my native UK) and all Campagnolo. They didn't make brakes back then so almost everyone rode Mafac Racer.


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## Bacana (Aug 13, 2010)

What a pic to have. Hard to believe we were once that young...

I was going to ask about the mirror, too. I've been trying a Fredly helmet mirror, and I have to say that I really like being able to check behind me. I don't like riding without it.

And on the topic of your bike--have you had titanium before? It's great to not worry about scratches and the like.


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## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

Bacana said:


> And on the topic of your bike--have you had titanium before? It's great to not worry about scratches and the like.


I've got a Seven Cycles Sola titanium mountain bike that I've had since 1999 - just 12 years.


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## veloduffer (Aug 26, 2004)

Welcome to the Kish *family*! A beauty indeed, with a terrific build. How'd you pick Jim?


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## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

veloduffer said:


> Welcome to the Kish *family*! A beauty indeed, with a terrific build. How'd you pick Jim?


Thanks Duff and a great question! I picked Jim through the process of elimination over 1-2 years of research. Actually it was forum poster *rx-79g* who tipped me off about Jim. I was looking for certain criteria of (not necessarily in this order) delivery time, price, Wright dropouts, 30.9mm seapost, brushed finish, round main tubes, internet comments and reviews (and maybe other things I don't remember). Jim was the one who got the most checked boxes. That's how it went.


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## veloduffer (Aug 26, 2004)

Mike T. said:


> Thanks Duff and a great question! I picked Jim through the process of elimination over 1-2 years of research. Actually it was forum poster *rx-79g* who tipped me off about Jim. I was looking for certain criteria of (not necessarily in this order) delivery time, price, Wright dropouts, 30.9mm seapost, brushed finish, round main tubes, internet comments and reviews (and maybe other things I don't remember). Jim was the one who got the most checked boxes. That's how it went.


When I was looking at custom ti, I did the usual searches at Moots, Ericksen, Lynskey and found Jim Kish. Buying from Jim was cheaper than most others, particularly Moots where I would have incurred a custom upcharge for my geometry preference. But I got a number of positive references from other owners and given Jim's 20+ years experience at welding ti (plus teaching it to others at UBI), it was an easy choice.

Have fun and enjoy.

My Kish was reported here:
http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=202922


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## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

I've seen the pics of your beautiful cx bike many times. It pops up in many "Kish" searches.


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## Bertrand (Feb 1, 2005)

I just have to add my congrats to the list. A beautiful frame and and a beautiful build. I like the metal cages and the classic saddle. It just works so well with the rest of pictures.


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## tsidkenu84 (Mar 6, 2012)

i wonder if kish make lugged ti ?


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## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

tsidkenu84 said:


> i wonder if kish make lugged ti ?


Not a chance. Lugged Ti? Can you show a pic as I've never even heard of one.


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## veloduffer (Aug 26, 2004)

tsidkenu84 said:


> i wonder if kish make lugged ti ?


 IF and Serotta use ti lugs with carbon tubes. But if you're talking about like a lugged steel bike, I have never seen one. But I would call Jim and ask - he's a cool guy. Might be pretty cool to see.


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## TimV (Mar 20, 2007)

Hey Mike. What are the diameters of the ST, TT, and DT on your Kish frame? I am in the process with Jim right now and am just trying to get a sense of scale. Thanks!


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## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

TimV said:


> Hey Mike. What are the diameters of the ST, TT, and DT on your Kish frame? I am in the process with Jim right now and am just trying to get a sense of scale. Thanks!


Here we go -

TT - 1.25"
ST - 1.25"
DT - 1.5"

My ST insert is for a 30.9mm seatpost, not the normal 27.2. Why? Just because I wanted a 30.9 that's all. Jim uses Paragon Machine Works seatpost collars (their name for seat tube seatpost insert) which allow seatpost size of choice to be used.


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## TimV (Mar 20, 2007)

*Another new KISH*

Link to my new KISH thread in Bikes & Frames:

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/bikes-frames-forks/month-my-new-kish-282262.html


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## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

TimV said:


> Link to my new KISH thread in Bikes & Frames:


Yep, saw that great bike on the other forum. You did an excellent job and will really enjoy it.


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## ejr13 (Dec 14, 2006)

Mike T. said:


> Not a chance. Lugged Ti? Can you show a pic as I've never even heard of one.


Bruce Gordon did it in 2008 - I saw it in person AMAZING! scroll down the page Bruce Gordon Cycles - The Unofficial Official Blog: June 2012


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## maxsec (Feb 28, 2005)

Beautiful bike!


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