Anyone Got Anything Bad To Say About Leeson Frames?

[Bill_B]

Spoke to Mr Leeson yesterday about a custom frame build for the future (he seems a tad busy at the moment), I like the look of his designs and work (EBB and the 360deg dropouts, internal cables and fitting the rear caliper in the rear triangle etc) from what I can see the quality of welds etc look good (unlike some frames I've seen recently), and he thinks he can build what I'm looking for. So anyone got any comments about Leesons in general, anyone had a bad experience with one etc or are they all fantastic with awesome aftersales service?

Just lookng for peoples opinions.

thanks

[Al_Fel]

They are great frames and clive is a great guy. They are a tad heavy and geo is pretty dated but if its what you want then go for it. They are very well made and pretty strong.

[Nick Manning]

They are great frames and clive is a great guy. They are a tad heavy and geo is pretty dated but if its what you want then go for it. They are very well made and pretty strong.

You obviously haven't seen Rich pearson's leeson Link

[Tomm]

If you want a pretty short frame and you know what geo you'd like, then Leesons are great, there's nothing quite like having your own custom-made frame. Having said that, I think I saw in the other thread that you're a big guy, I'm not so sure that a Leeson would stand up as well as something aluminium.

[Bill_B]

The Geo is a none issue, this won't even be a trials bike, I want a nice chuckable LONG XC bike in steel. I'm 6'5" with really long arms, I want a frame with about a 17-19" seat tube (I'll be buying a 23" rockhopper in the meantime) and a 26-27" top tube!! something longer than most and lower than your average XC bike (so I can keep my balls in place when I fall off!) I liked the look of the Leeson frames so contacted him about the possibility of building something a bit different in about 6-9 months time when things are a bit quieter. Clive was enthusiastic and said he was prepared to have a go I'm looking at something geo wise between a jump bike and XC bike (could be classed as a freeride bike I guess) and looooooong. I really posted this to get an idea of what impartial people thought of Clives work and service.

EDIT: His prices seem very reasonable too IMHO

Edited April 18, 2007 by Bill_B

[Tomm]

Have you tried everything on the market XC-wise? I mean 6'5 is pretty tall but it's not gigantic, there must be a bike out there for you?

[Bill_B]

Not tried everything no, I've tried quite a few though, most of the major brands (if anyone knows anything particularly long I'm listening), its more the length than anything, I can bodge with longer stems etc to effectively lengthen the bike but I'd rather go for a better proportioned frame (easier than correcting my bodies geometry ). I really want a 21" frame with a couple of inches extra length in the top tubes, I can get there using a 23" frame, pushing the seat right back and fitting a much longer stem (it leave a frighteningly small ammount of top tube to bollock clearance though in case of accident), the problem is that is sort of what I'm doing with my old 21" XC bike (which is knackered) and it still doesn't ride 'right'. My problem is more proportion than outright size.

Despite that, the Leeson frames are well priced IMHO and the idea of having a proper custom frame is damn cool. I've ridden a couple of aluminium frames and find them a bit harsh in comparison to steel, I also have an irrational fear of aluminium fatigue after an aluminium ladder collapsed on me while stood on it using a stihl saw

EDIT: I know it may not be the most sensible solution to getting the right bike, but IMHO its not bad, the leeson frames are not expensive (under £400 for a custom frame is not that bad IMHO) it would get me the right Geo. I really like the look of the leeson style, I think a shiny white leeson frame with black hardware would look the nuts.

Edited April 18, 2007 by Bill_B

[Tomm]

Fair enough. Have you considered other companies that make custom XC frames? They might be more experienced than Clive in this area...

[Christophe']

QUOTE(Bill_B @ Apr 18 2007, 01:55 PM) ←

Spoke to Mr Leeson yesterday about a custom frame build for the future (he seems a tad busy at the moment), I like the look of his designs and work (EBB and the 360deg dropouts, internal cables and fitting the rear caliper in the rear triangle etc) from what I can see the quality of welds etc look good (unlike some frames I've seen recently), and he thinks he can build what I'm looking for. So anyone got any comments about Leesons in general, anyone had a bad experience with one etc or are they all fantastic with awesome aftersales service?

Just lookng for peoples opinions.

thanks

Go for it!

As long as you know what different aspects of the design it needs to have for Xc and can convey it to Clive it will be fine ie mud clearance on stays etc.

Ive hoped that there may be a Leeson xc bike one day.

A leeson owner

[boon racoon]

curtis will make you a custom xc frame but a tonne of options to choose from

[Deonn h]

Well i think they look wank. seem good quality by the sounds of things though..

[will]

Im gonna name drop now... I went to Clives Hut with Joel a few weeks ago, and it really is amazing! The customer service you will recieve from him is second to none, his experience and expertise in engineering, specifically metal fabrication is pretty astonishing. I was bombarding him with questions, and he just kept pumping out awnsers! A font of knowledge. I think you will be very happy with a frame bought from him.

[Bill_B]

curtis will make you a custom xc frame but a tonne of options to choose from

Yep phoned Curtis first, they seem really nice guys there, very knowledgable and had a lot of time for me, there is quite a price difference between a Leeson and a Curtis though, can anyone justify to me that a curtis would be almost twice the bike a Leeson would be?

My intention is to buy a 23" specialized rockhopper and ride that for 6 months, then design the Leeson based on how I would change/improve the rockhopper.

[Broomer]

I have a curtis super X and the build quality is brilliant.

for an XC bike i dont see how the Excentric bb would be of any use as you would proberly be running gears. if clive is up for building you up a XC frame i dont see any reason why you shouldnt go for it.

[Brian Bleech]

QUOTE(Bill_B @ Apr 19 2007, 09:05 AM) ←

Yep phoned Curtis first, they seem really nice guys there, very knowledgable and had a lot of time for me, there is quite a price difference between a Leeson and a Curtis though, can anyone justify to me that a curtis would be almost twice the bike a Leeson would be?

My intention is to buy a 23" specialized rockhopper and ride that for 6 months, then design the Leeson based on how I would change/improve the rockhopper.

but a curtis isn't twice the price of the leeson...

[Bill_B]

but a curtis isn't twice the price of the leeson...

It isn't far off!

Broomer: I really like the idea of a single speed XC bike, it wouldn't be practical all year round but I have friends who all go single speed for winter. I would still want a Mech hanger are 135mm rear so I can run gears most of the time but I would like the option for single speed, the Dialled bikes Love/Hate is like that and if they would make me a long 21" frame (or even just reply to my emails ) I'd go for that.

http://www.dialledbikes.com/products/mtb/lovehate.html

I think the concept of a sinlge speedable bike is a good one, I want something like that dialled. I like Clives 360 dropouts and I want the cabling run through the frame, his workmanship looks good and pricing is significantly better than anyone else who has listened to me. Clive has suggested he can do what I want at a price I think is very reasonable. Curtis design and workmanship looks good, but it is almost double the price for them to build it exactly how I want.

Edited April 19, 2007 by Bill_B

[RobinJI]

From what I've seen of them the brazing quality on leesons is absolutly second to none. It's the nice'st thing ever! The frames also have a really nice feel to them, as do most steel brazed frames. There definatly worth the cash and Clive is a really nice guy.

Also might be worth checking out Iolobikes.com Aaron there will make you whatever the hell you want. I've got one of there trials frames and it's been great. Definatly worth checking out.

[Tomm]

Yeah, as long as either you or clive knows what geo to put on a cross country bike you'll be fine because the quality it pretty much second to none. I'd just be a bit worried that you could easily get the angles all wrong - especially as presumably there's nothing you can copy.

But yeah, good luck.

[Bill_B]

From what I've seen of them the brazing quality on leesons is absolutly second to none. It's the nice'st thing ever! The frames also have a really nice feel to them, as do most steel brazed frames. There definatly worth the cash and Clive is a really nice guy.

Also might be worth checking out Iolobikes.com Aaron there will make you whatever the hell you want. I've got one of there trials frames and it's been great. Definatly worth checking out.

That is what I really wanted to know, the quality of workmanship is up there with the best I have spoken to Aran or Iolo and he could also sort out a frame for me. It looks like it will be an Iolo or Leeson at the moment, pricewise they are pretty much on par for what I want.

Yeah, as long as either you or clive knows what geo to put on a cross country bike you'll be fine because the quality it pretty much second to none. I'd just be a bit worried that you could easily get the angles all wrong - especially as presumably there's nothing you can copy.

But yeah, good luck.

I am getting help from a friend of mine who is a certified XC nut and does a bit of dirt jumping, he used to sell bikes a couple of years ago and has many friends still in the trade, so we can use contacts to measure up the geo of known good frames and I'll be basing the basic geo of it on a specialized XC frame, but moving the tubes around a little and IMHO tidying up the design somewhat. It will not be a particuarly new or radical geo. I'm just looking at taking a regular relaxed XC bike (specialized rockhopper), stretching the wheelbase a little with the top tube, lowering the top and seat tube to a more trialsy/Dirt Jump sort of style to give me more clearance and putting more thought into the positioning of calipers, cable routing etc.

this is all for 6 months time mind, I'm just starting my research early.

[F-Stop Junkie]

Thought about going 29"?

[Krisboats]

My friends leeson forks snapped. He has a beasty disk brake, but he can't gap very far at all yet to its not like it had a lot of force going on it. The tubing was insanely thin though, like paper thin!

[basher]

Get a iolo imo, hes bit busy with his new business but seeing as your thinking about 6 months ahead it shouldn't be a problem that. And aaron is a proper genuine guy really nice dude and his frames are really nice and supriseingly light. I rode his bike and it was lighter than my control. And have great build quality.

[Bill_B]

Thought about going 29"?

Yeah, thought about it, I don't really know too much about them apart from quote 'americans seem to love them so they are probably a crap gimmick' There really doesn't seem the range of wheel bits which worries me slightly but we are talking about november for the frame build, so there maybe a load of new stuff come out over summer. I wonder if the wheel being that bit bigger would really outweigh the lack of front suss? I don;t know enought about them yet to make a really informed decision.

My friends leeson forks snapped. He has a beasty disk brake, but he can't gap very far at all yet to its not like it had a lot of force going on it. The tubing was insanely thin though, like paper thin!

What did Clive make of this and what was the service like? I know the butted tubing does get crazy thin in places, I'm talking about an XC bike though, even my lardy ass shouldn;t put those kind of forces through it.

Get a iolo imo, hes bit busy with his new business but seeing as your thinking about 6 months ahead it shouldn't be a problem that. And aaron is a proper genuine guy really nice dude and his frames are really nice and supriseingly light. I rode his bike and it was lighter than my control. And have great build quality.

Spoke to Aran and he seems a very cool guy, he can do what I need so I'm certainly considering him for the job.

Thanks for all the input guys, between Leeson and Iolo I don't see that I can really go wrong when the time comes.

[Krisboats]

QUOTE(Bill_B @ Apr 20 2007, 09:39 AM) ←

What did Clive make of this and what was the service like? I know the butted tubing does get crazy thin in places, I'm talking about an XC bike though, even my lardy ass shouldn;t put those kind of forces through it.

I havn't spoken to him since the day after it broke so i'm not sure what happened regarding a replacement. He hardly putany force through it though, he can only just peddle hop.... he's a complete n00b .

[RobinJI]

As far as customer service goes Leeson are awesome. I have currently got a pair of Pashley forks that Leeson had added a disc mount to (they sold quite a few pairs a while back). I got them second hand off a mate (rich Pearson) who had put them through hell and back, and shortly after he found a crack in them when having a go on my bike. He apologized to me and sent them back to Leeson, and Clive free of charge brazed up the crack. Even though it was in the Pashley part of the fork and on the non-disc side, so not really even anything to do with his product! So yeah, pretty amazing service.

As far as geo goes for your kinda freeridy bike, the Cove Stiffee FR is pretty much what you're looking for by the sounds of things, just a tad longer. The largest Stiffee FR is a 24.25"tt and a 20.5" seat tube. Which is pretty long, but not quite enough by the sounds of things. Obviously angles are personal preference, but personally I'd go for something very similar to the Stiffee FR for what you want to use it for.