# My Caletti



## wgscott (Jul 14, 2013)

I got this at the end of May 2014, having gotten in the queue in late July 2013, when I was still having trouble walking (after breaking my ankle -- see profile pic):










Steel frame, Chris King wheels, etc., Shimano hydraulic discs (which I really do need around here), Di2 (which I don't need, but comes with the brakes currently, and the shifting is flawless). This is the most stable bike I have ever ridden, and the best ride I have ever experienced with my clothes on.

I wanted to buy locally (Santa Cruz CA), and I really lucked out with John Caletti. Everything exceeded my expectations. My only regret is I waited until I was 50 years old and broke my ankle before I got this for myself as a recovery incentive/present. 















































Pictures filched from the Caletti Cycles website.

I've been riding it off-road a bit (firetrails) in addition to back-country roads in the Santa Cruz mountains. It handles incredibly well and has enabled me to regain my cycling confidence.


----------



## Duncan.E (Jan 2, 2012)

Bike looks brilliant, enjoy it!


----------



## Richard L (Jun 16, 2014)

Really nice looking. Only recently learned about John Caletti so its nice to hear about your ride.

Enjoy


----------



## wgscott (Jul 14, 2013)

He's an extremely nice guy, and the diametric opposite of a pushy salesman. If anything, I had to talk him into a more expensive component set. Frankly, I'm not worthy of this bike -- too old, too slow, too fat, too lame from the ankle break, and a cheapskate who typically buys Nashbar instead of name brand -- when I showed up at his shop the first time about a year ago or so, I was still having trouble getting up and down from his doorstep. He had every reason to tell me to go away (which a few LBS essentially did), but he took me very seriously as a customer and built a bike with a better understanding of what I needed than I had, and it certainly wasn't for a lack of customers. There is about an 8 or 9 month wait, but for me it was worth it, and it gave me a goal to work toward in terms of recovery and hopefully got me into a bit better shape overall. I would definitely recommend him and the bikes he makes to anyone.


----------



## spdntrxi (Jul 25, 2013)

she's a beaut !


----------



## DrSmile (Jul 22, 2006)

This thread needs a price tag. Looks wicked pricey.


----------



## tsutaoka (Mar 4, 2005)

super nice!

I have a CX bike built by John. Super nice guy, excellent tig welds, and spectrum always provides a nice finish.


----------



## wgscott (Jul 14, 2013)

DrSmile said:


> This thread needs a price tag. Looks wicked pricey.


The steel frame is about $1500. The component set is what made it expensive, because I neurotically needed the Shimano disc brakes, which in turn meant Di2. But as far as custom frames go, I think that is an exceptionally reasonable price, especially considering the cost of living in this area (vs. that of a Chinese carbon slave-labor colony).


----------



## RangerDD (Aug 6, 2012)

Just discovered John's work at a bike demo in SF, where he displayed his own 17-pound road bike -- beautiful craftsmanship! I subsequently talked to him on the phone and he seems very conscientious, sympathetic, and insightful. I'm thinking about an Adventure Road bike, which appears to be the kind you got. My fantasy is of a light, fast, nimble road machine that can still handle fire roads with rough terrain and steep dirt pitches. How's yours working out for you, wgscott?


----------



## wgscott (Jul 14, 2013)

Great. He has a huge fan club in the area. Every time I am out for a ride, people complement me on the bike. My off-road skills are rather limited, but the bike handles rather rough terrain in Wilder Ranch (Santa Cruz) for example with ease, to the point where I now often ride this instead of my mountain bike. I put some 35 mm treaded tires on it for this. It is probably overkill, but the main point is it works really well. 

I am definitely the limiting feature on the bike. 

Your initial impressions of John seem right on the mark too.


----------



## RangerDD (Aug 6, 2012)

Why do you say you really need disc brakes "around here"?

Also, do you know how much the bike weighs?


----------



## wgscott (Jul 14, 2013)

I live in the Santa Cruz mountains at about 1700 ft and do almost all my on-road riding on roads with the suffix "Grade" on their names, and the fire roads and trails are quite steep as well. I actually haven't weighed the bike, but it is comparable to my 1987 steel-framed Bianchi. The bars and fork and post are carbon, but then I put a nice hefty Brooks saddle on it. If you are worried about the weight, he also does a great job with titanium frames. It adds about $1K to the price.

The best thing to do is talk to John about what you need. I had him build me a bike that is incredibly stable with a relaxed geometry, so it probably is not going to be the best representative example of how "nimble" the bike can be. I never have ridden competitively, and my main concern is avoiding falling and re-injuring myself, so I think what I have might be a little bit atypical of what he would normally build. Having said that, the bike is by no means sluggish or unresponsive.


----------



## RangerDD (Aug 6, 2012)

You & I do have some things in common. I'm even older than you (64) and the first place I rode much in California was Santa Cruz -- Empire Grade/Granite Creek/Bonny Doon Road circa 1975. Still love riding down there when I can, but now I live in Berkeley where I have 6 bikes including a 2013 Giant Defy Advanced, a 1999 Schwinn Paramount, and a 1993 Bridgestone XO-1 with mustache handlebars. The latter is a forerunner of today's "gravel bikes" and I love it dearly, but the Giant has sort of spoiled me with regard to bike weight (despite the fact that I weigh 195), so I'm investigating the idea of a more modern "adventure bike" w/disc brakes and Di2. (Oh yeah -- my Giant also has carbon bars and a Brooks-like Selle Anatomica saddle.)


----------



## wgscott (Jul 14, 2013)

The first place I rode much in California was Berkeley (while in grad school from 1986 to 1992). Now I live in Bonny Doon right near the elementary school.


----------



## RangerDD (Aug 6, 2012)

Ha! I probably saw you out on the road. Getting a bit off topic here, but what's your line of work from Bonny Doon?


----------



## wgscott (Jul 14, 2013)

I work at the university. I just sent a pm to you with my email address.


----------



## BikeLayne (Apr 4, 2014)

RangerDD said:


> You & I do have some things in common. I'm even older than you (64) and the first place I rode much in California was Santa Cruz -- Empire Grade/Granite Creek/Bonny Doon Road circa 1975. Still love riding down there when I can, but now I live in Berkeley where I have 6 bikes including a 2013 Giant Defy Advanced, a 1999 Schwinn Paramount, and a 1993 Bridgestone XO-1 with mustache handlebars. The latter is a forerunner of today's "gravel bikes" and I love it dearly, but the Giant has sort of spoiled me with regard to bike weight (despite the fact that I weigh 195), so I'm investigating the idea of a more modern "adventure bike" w/disc brakes and Di2. (Oh yeah -- my Giant also has carbon bars and a Brooks-like Selle Anatomica saddle.)


I lived in Santa Cruz from 75 to 84 and rode all those roads many times, also Mountain Charlie Road, Eureka Canyon road. . I used to ride on the Saturday ride with the Bicycle Center guys, which were Tim Neenan, Robert Wright. I was more of a tourist back then and rode an Eisentraut Limited that I bought from Roger at the Bike Center. That was when the store was where the Greek restaurant is now. The new store across the street was in the planning stages at that time.


----------



## BikeLayne (Apr 4, 2014)

wgscott said:


> I work at the university. I just sent a pm to you with my email address.


 My daughter graduated from UCSC and my son-in-law (a cyclist) earned his Masters from UCSC. Actually my daughter is applying for a Masters of Education at UCSC. I think applications occur in January.


----------



## RangerDD (Aug 6, 2012)

BikeLayne said:


> I lived in Santa Cruz from 75 to 84 and rode all those roads many times, also Mountain Charlie Road, Eureka Canyon road. . I used to ride on the Saturday ride with the Bicycle Center guys, which were Tim Neenan, Robert Wright. I was more of a tourist back then and rode an Eisentraut Limited that I bought from Roger at the Bike Center. That was when the store was where the Greek restaurant is now. The new store across the street was in the planning stages at that time.


Small world! I wrote an article for Good Times about bicycling in Santa Cruz in 1975. That brought me to meet Roger and Tim, who explained bike clothing to me (pad in crotch, pockets on back of jersey, etc.). Back then I wore cutoffs and Converse All Stars on my Raleigh Super Course, but Tim invited me to join their Saturday rides to Swanton anyway. I never got up the courage to do it, which was probably a good thing because I would have gotten totally obliterated. In time I became a more serious cyclist and later re-encountered Tim in Santa Ynez, where he relocated and ran the annual Gourmet Century.


----------



## wgscott (Jul 14, 2013)

Here it is after its first firmware update:


----------



## robt57 (Jul 23, 2011)

A picture after the firmware update?? Really? How do we know you didn't take it before ? 

The Strong Frame I have in the que in Bozman is very similar, albeit a lot greener. 

I really like the blue, the way it pops...



wgscott said:


> Here it is after its first firmware update:


----------



## wgscott (Jul 14, 2013)

I had to bring it into the living room and reboot the mac mini into Windows8.1. It was traumatic for all of us, but the operation went smoothly.


----------



## Opus51569 (Jul 21, 2009)

wgscott said:


> I had to bring it into the living room and reboot the mac mini into Windows8.1.


You monster! What could that poor Mac have possibly done to deserve that kind of punishment? 

Nice bike, though.


----------



## wgscott (Jul 14, 2013)

I obtained a DVD. When played backward, it has satanic lyrics. When I played it forward, it installed Windows.



> Nice bike, though.


Thanks. The engine kind of sucks.


----------



## whateveronfire (Sep 27, 2005)

Hi there, Just saw this thread. I want to get a custom ti next year and agree with you about going "local." I'm in SoCal, so I'm defining local pretty generously. 

I know yours is steel and I want ti, but can you describe the ride quality a little? Snappy? Comfortable? I don't want to kick tires until I'm pretty sure he's the builder I want to go with.

Thanks!


----------



## wgscott (Jul 14, 2013)

Sorry, didn't see your post until just now. I purposefully asked for a bike that was more comfortable and stable rather than twitchy and snappy, and that is what I got. I think it might be a bit atypical of his builds, so it isn't probably the best representative of how they ride. I ride mine over tree roots and rocks and crappy roads (intentionally) and am constantly amazed with how well it handles, and am almost at the point of selling my mountain bike (since there is such a high resale demand for ten year old 26" full suspension bikes) since this thing can pretty much go anywhere I want to take it.

I realize this doesn't answer your question, but I what I can say is he will listen carefully to your requirements and design a bike around them. He's got a few bikes you can test ride, so it might be worth shooting him an email and arrange a visit.

Given that the titanium frame is only $1K more than steel, it has to be one of the best deals around.


----------



## whateveronfire (Sep 27, 2005)

sorry duplicate post


----------



## wgscott (Jul 14, 2013)

The waiting is the hardest part. Even though I was fairly early in recovery from an injury, at one point I almost cracked and bought an over-the-counter bike, but I didn't want to deal with reselling it.

I have yet to hear of a dissatisfied customer.


----------



## whateveronfire (Sep 27, 2005)

Thanks for the reply.

I contacted John last week. Your description about working with him is spot on (so far). Super nice, really informative, not judgemental. I'm really glad to have found a Cali builder whose work I like and who's approach fits me. Since this will be my only custom bike, I'm beyond excited.

Put my deposit down today. Ti adventure road coming in the spring.

BTW, I'm in higher ed, too. I work at CSU, Northridge.


----------



## wgscott (Jul 14, 2013)

Great news. Congratulations. What dept?


----------



## whateveronfire (Sep 27, 2005)

sorry duplicate post


----------



## whateveronfire (Sep 27, 2005)

sorry duplicate post


----------



## whateveronfire (Sep 27, 2005)

Undergraduate Studies. You?


----------



## wgscott (Jul 14, 2013)

.... .....


----------



## wgscott (Jul 14, 2013)

......


----------

