I'm not sure what the ground clearance is, probably no more than an inch and a
half at the spoiler behind the front wheel. It's off the ground just enough to
not hit the ground if you get a flat and are on the rim. My fork seems to have
a bit more room than most, and I think it would take a  20x1.25 tire. Most
that I've seen can only take a Conti GP or a Sport Contact; a Stelvio might be
too tall. In the back, I have a 23. It might take a 28, but I wouldn't count
on it; I'd want to do a test-fit before I bought one that big.

Sorry for the vague answers; I just haven't done any measurements.

------ Original Message ------
Received: Fri, 29 May 2009 10:35:01 PM EDT
From: edd_brady@...
To: BaronOwners@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [BaronOwners] New Baron frame

>
> I've been curious about the Velokraft; What is the ground clearance with the
standard tires? (I have a number of locations where I have to clear
speed-bumps). What are the largest diameter tires that will fit inside the
front and rear locations of the standard NoCom?
>
> thanks,
>
> Edd 
>
> --- On Fri, 5/29/09, John Foltz <john.foltz@...> wrote:
>
> From: John Foltz <john.foltz@...>
> Subject: Re: [BaronOwners] New Baron frame
> To: BaronOwners@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Friday, May 29, 2009, 7:23 PM
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>       ------ Original Message ------
>
> Received: Fri, 29 May 2009 03:16:40 PM EDT
>
> From: Than Man <than_is_here@ yahoo.com>
>
> To: BaronOwners@ yahoogroups. com
>
> Subject: Re: [BaronOwners] New Baron frame
>
>
>
> > John,
>
> >
>
> > You are a strong rider. No wonder you cracked your frame. So  you say a
VK
>
> is faster than the Baron?
>
> >
>
> >
>
>
>
> The Baron is pretty good on flat ground, but I've found that one of my
>
> problems in hills is that I flex the boom. I don't have enough power that I
>
> can afford to do that. The VK is a lot stiffer. BTW, it is a Velokraft but
it
>
> is not a VK2.
>
>
>
> http://tinyurl. com/mad66r
>
>
>
> What are your plans for rides this year? Chris and I want to do BRAT, as
well
>
> as Hilly Hundred.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

I've been curious about the Velokraft; What is the ground clearance with the
standard tires? (I have a number of locations where I have to clear
speed-bumps). What are the largest diameter tires that will fit inside the front
and rear locations of the standard NoCom?

thanks,

Edd 

--- On Fri, 5/29/09, John Foltz <john.foltz@...> wrote:

From: John Foltz <john.foltz@...>
Subject: Re: [BaronOwners] New Baron frame
To: BaronOwners@yahoogroups.com
Date: Friday, May 29, 2009, 7:23 PM
























       ------ Original Message ------

Received: Fri, 29 May 2009 03:16:40 PM EDT

From: Than Man <than_is_here@ yahoo.com>

To: BaronOwners@ yahoogroups. com

Subject: Re: [BaronOwners] New Baron frame



> John,

>

> You are a strong rider. No wonder you cracked your frame. So  you say a VK

is faster than the Baron?

>

>



The Baron is pretty good on flat ground, but I've found that one of my

problems in hills is that I flex the boom. I don't have enough power that I

can afford to do that. The VK is a lot stiffer. BTW, it is a Velokraft but it

is not a VK2.



http://tinyurl. com/mad66r



What are your plans for rides this year? Chris and I want to do BRAT, as well

as Hilly Hundred.

------ Original Message ------
Received: Fri, 29 May 2009 03:16:40 PM EDT
From: Than Man <than_is_here@...>
To: BaronOwners@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [BaronOwners] New Baron frame

> John,
>
> You are a strong rider. No wonder you cracked your frame. So  you say a VK
is faster than the Baron?
>
>

The Baron is pretty good on flat ground, but I've found that one of my
problems in hills is that I flex the boom. I don't have enough power that I
can afford to do that. The VK is a lot stiffer. BTW, it is a Velokraft but it
is not a VK2.

http://tinyurl.com/mad66r

What are your plans for rides this year? Chris and I want to do BRAT, as well
as Hilly Hundred.

Last fall, I noticed a crack in my second Baron frame. http://tinyurl.com/pjvdhb
Since I had to pay for the last frame and this happened within the 3-year
warranty, Optima agreed to replace it. The good news is that the frames are now
being made in Taiwan, and are 7005 T6. The bad news is that they don't come in
yellow anymore. The colors now available are pearl orange, pearl white, and
pearl black. I chose the black. The US distributor, I discovered, is also the
distributor for Greenspeed, and is located just outside of St Louis, Missouri.

At this point, I have pretty much completed the rebuild but weather has
prevented me from doing any test rides; so I figured I'd give a preliminary
report.

First, the color. It's sort of a candy black with gold flecks. A bass fisherman
might call the color "motor oil." That doesn't sound very complimentary, but
it's actually quite nice looking. Unfortunately, it's paint, not powder coat;
and it's somewhat fragile. I already have two dings in it; one where I bumped it
with my multi-tool and one from bumping it with the edge of the carbon seat. I
got some black touch-up paint at the auto store and you can barely tell where
they happened.

The frame itself must be thinner tube wall than the old frame, because it uses a
spacer to make a good fit with my old boom. I don't have an accurate scale, so I
can't tell if the new frame is lighter. So far, I like the spacer, because it
made the boom easier to install and seems to hold well. The pinch bolts are
beefier, another good point. My last frame had internal cable routing, but this
one uses external routing and the guides use zip-ties to attach the housing. The
exception is the boom – the front derailleur cable still goes inside the frame.
I won't know until I've had some time with it whether I like the new system
better, but it all looks good to me for now. Finally, the ends of the stays are
closed off. No more open-at-the-ends tubes.


The new frame takes a 1 1/8" steerer. I don't know when this change was made,
but my last frame had a 1" steerer. That meant I needed a new disc brake fork. I
could have wished they'd supply the fork with the frame kit, but they didn't
have to soak me like they did. For my $270, the new fork is asymmetrical to get
the chain away from the fork, but the fork legs are big round tubes, which
erases any clearance the shape might have created. Considering the price of the
new fork, I'm wondering if I should have gone with a VK fork instead. Even with
the bottom bracket shimmed to the right as far as I could and the power idler
also moved outboard as far as I could, the chain still hits the fork; so I
decided to reinstall the chain tube and restore the original routing, with the
return side going over the front wheel. I also needed a new stem. My previous
setup used a Glide-Flex stem to let the bars swivel up. I merely replaced the
old Glide-Flex with a new one.


Since my Velokraft is noticeably faster than the old Baron was, and I don't
expect that to change with the new frame, the strong points of the Baron will be
maneuverability and the ability to take fatter tires compared to the Velokraft.
Michigan may not be the birthplace of pot holes and expansion joints, but both
have been raised to an art form here. Roads can be a bit rough, especially in
the spring and early summer. That means I'll probably leave the tires the way
they are; with a 20x1.3 Primo Comet on the front and a 26x1.25 Primo Racer on
the back. So, here's what it looks like now. http://tinyurl.com/pcbrtc I'm
looking forward to road testing it soon.

>When the road is wet,I get a fair bit of water spray coming from the
>front wheel and hitting the frame. The sprays up and gets in my eyes
>and is rather annoying.
>
>If I attache a piece of corflute or the like down the frame, would
>it stop the water from spraying all over me?
>
>Has anyone else solved this same problem? What did you do?

Fitted fenders. On a standard Baron there's just enough clearance for
a thin front fender and a 40mm tire. Rear fenders tend to break a lot
due to vibration. One trick is to use an old tire as a fender, or use
a carbonfiber one.

Brad,

I added a front fender to my Baron for a short time.
I cut the front of the fender off so that it stopped at the fork.
That way I didn't need the additional clearance for the fender.
The part that is going to get you wet is all behind the fork anyway.

Robert

--- In BaronOwners@yahoogroups.com, "Brad" <bradlina@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Mark,
> Thanks for the tip on making the rear fender out or an old tyre.
>
> With regards to the front, there are only millimetres between the tyre and the
bottom or the steering head. I am unable to get a fender in there. So I thought
I would try attaching some sort of guard on the frame.
>
> Cheers
> Brad
>
>
> --- In BaronOwners@yahoogroups.com, Mark van Gorkom <mvang@> wrote:
> >
> >
> > >When the road is wet,I get a fair bit of water spray coming from the
> > >front wheel and hitting the frame. The sprays up and gets in my eyes
> > >and is rather annoying.
> > >
> > >If I attache a piece of corflute or the like down the frame, would
> > >it stop the water from spraying all over me?
> > >
> > >Has anyone else solved this same problem? What did you do?
> >
> > Fitted fenders. On a standard Baron there's just enough clearance for
> > a thin front fender and a 40mm tire. Rear fenders tend to break a lot
> > due to vibration. One trick is to use an old tire as a fender, or use
> > a carbonfiber one.
> >
>

Hi Brad,

On the front I have mounted a mudguard, similar to this one, on my Baron:

http://www.bbbparts.com/fenders_mudcatcher-bfd03.php

It attaches to the bottom of the frame, without any modifications needed to the
mudguard or your bike. No problems with clearance between tyre and steering
head, and even the chain (if you don't have a dropped chain) doesn't touch it.

At the back I mounted something similar to this:

http://www.bbbparts.com/fenders_dirtprotectoriimtb-bfd11r.php

That one did require some more DIY. I made an aluminum bracket that attaches to
the back of my seat and has two holes in it: One for my rear light and one for
the rear fender.

The fenders keep away most of the spray water and look a lot better (IMO) than
the ones directly over the tyres.

Pieter Jan


--- In BaronOwners@yahoogroups.com, "Brad" <bradlina@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Mark,
> Thanks for the tip on making the rear fender out or an old tyre.
>
> With regards to the front, there are only millimetres between the tyre and the
bottom or the steering head. I am unable to get a fender in there. So I thought
I would try attaching some sort of guard on the frame.
>
> Cheers
> Brad
>
>
> --- In BaronOwners@yahoogroups.com, Mark van Gorkom <mvang@> wrote:
> >
> >
> > >When the road is wet,I get a fair bit of water spray coming from the
> > >front wheel and hitting the frame. The sprays up and gets in my eyes
> > >and is rather annoying.
> > >
> > >If I attache a piece of corflute or the like down the frame, would
> > >it stop the water from spraying all over me?
> > >
> > >Has anyone else solved this same problem? What did you do?
> >
> > Fitted fenders. On a standard Baron there's just enough clearance for
> > a thin front fender and a 40mm tire. Rear fenders tend to break a lot
> > due to vibration. One trick is to use an old tire as a fender, or use
> > a carbonfiber one.
> >
>

Hi Mark,
Thanks for the tip on making the rear fender out or an old tyre.

With regards to the front, there are only millimetres between the tyre and the
bottom or the steering head. I am unable to get a fender in there. So I thought
I would try attaching some sort of guard on the frame.

Cheers
Brad


--- In BaronOwners@yahoogroups.com, Mark van Gorkom <mvang@...> wrote:
>
>
> >When the road is wet,I get a fair bit of water spray coming from the
> >front wheel and hitting the frame. The sprays up and gets in my eyes
> >and is rather annoying.
> >
> >If I attache a piece of corflute or the like down the frame, would
> >it stop the water from spraying all over me?
> >
> >Has anyone else solved this same problem? What did you do?
>
> Fitted fenders. On a standard Baron there's just enough clearance for
> a thin front fender and a 40mm tire. Rear fenders tend to break a lot
> due to vibration. One trick is to use an old tire as a fender, or use
> a carbonfiber one.
>

>When the road is wet,I get a fair bit of water spray coming from the
>front wheel and hitting the frame. The sprays up and gets in my eyes
>and is rather annoying.
>
>If I attache a piece of corflute or the like down the frame, would
>it stop the water from spraying all over me?
>
>Has anyone else solved this same problem? What did you do?

Fitted fenders. On a standard Baron there's just enough clearance for
a thin front fender and a 40mm tire. Rear fenders tend to break a lot
due to vibration. One trick is to use an old tire as a fender, or use
a carbonfiber one.

When the road is wet,I get a fair bit of water spray coming from the front wheel
and hitting the frame. The sprays up and gets in my eyes and is rather annoying.

If I attache a piece of corflute or the like down the frame, would it stop the
water from spraying all over me?

Has anyone else solved this same problem? What did you do?

Thanks
Brad

Thanks,
I'll give him a call in the morning.
Robert

--- In BaronOwners@yahoogroups.com, "marion potts" <bicycleman@...> wrote:
>
>  Yes you might give Mike McDowell a call at valleybikes tele no. is 317 339
0921.
> He is a baron dealer
>
>
>
>
>
>
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   From: Robert Lee
>   To: BaronOwners@yahoogroups.com
>   Sent: Monday, May 18, 2009 8:14 PM
>   Subject: [BaronOwners] Rear Deraileur Hanger
>
>
>   Anyone know of an USA source to get a replacement rear deraileur hanger for
my Baron?
>   Robert
>

----- Original Message -----

From: Robert Lee

To: BaronOwners@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Monday, May 18, 2009 8:14 PM

Subject: [BaronOwners] Rear Deraileur Hanger

Anyone know of an USA source to get a replacement rear deraileur hanger for my Baron?
Robert

Anyone know of an USA source to get a replacement rear deraileur hanger for my
Baron?
Robert

--- In BaronOwners@yahoogroups.com, "Peter Heal" <peterheal@...> wrote:
>
> Makes sense - pick a common bike make a fairing mold - sell fairings.
>
> http://malricsworld.blogspot.com/
>

This guy seems pretty busy. Building bikes, opening a shop, lowracers,
highracers and now a fairing for a Baron. Looks sweet though. I wonder if he
made it for a record attempt?

Sjef

Makes sense - pick a common bike make a fairing mold - sell fairings.

http://malricsworld.blogspot.com/

That really looks nice!

How does it handle? With the chain management along the front wheel I'm used to
stop pedalling in tight corners, does it change when you turn to a bigger front
wheel? How does the bike handle in general?
I'm going to look for the appropriate front fork and will be changing my Baron
into a dual 559 bike, see what happens.....


Sjef

--- In BaronOwners@yahoogroups.com, "PaulW" <wordy@...> wrote:
>
> Nice looking bike. What's that Idler?

Home made. CNC alucobond. One 22T Chainwheel. Two bearings. 5 bolts. Not quite
small nor light...
http://images4.hiboox.com/images/2908/7010ef60c71eb25f0afb8aeb5056dd22.jpg
http://images4.hiboox.com/images/2908/67c6410243fe1c24b1aee9c4457441bd.jpg

Unfortunatly, alucobond is not stiff and tough enough. My final idler is made of
polycarbonate.
http://images4.hiboox.com/images/3508/7610228662c06b36e734f6a5629a5184.jpg

--- In BaronOwners@yahoogroups.com, Craig Dinger <cadinger@...> wrote:
>The handlebars remind me of a Bacchetta Corsa, how do you like them and what
parts are necessary/where did you get the parts?

U bars are from Velotechnik (Germany). Open cockpit is so relaxing compared to
the original steer. No stress in the muscles of the arms nor in the breathing
like I was used to, before.
I ordered the telescopic stocker stem to Cycles Lapierre (France).
The 20" trial fork is from Echo (UK reseller).
The 24" Aerohead rim came from Ben's Cycle (US) and tyre is a Stelvio (24x1 7/8
- 23-520)...
ET VOILA ! (did I told you I was one of those froggy baron owners ?)
http://images4.hiboox.com/images/3408/17840446ef793a1c81b793121ad42465.jpg

Hi.

You can have a look and a bit of inspiration here :
http://images4.hiboox.com/images/2908/bc54d942d56fbcaec986a595780dd9f4.jpg

I called her the "Xhigh" Baron (622 rear and 520 front ETRTO wheels).
Enjoy.

S2N aka AKA

Hi Terry,

Thanks for the information. The fork you used, was it made for 28" wheels or for
26"? Ans I assume it had the 1" diameter.
I might be interested in it but I live in Holland..... Do you have experience
shipping parts abroad?

Thanks,

Sjef


--- In BaronOwners@yahoogroups.com, "Terry" <newsletters4terry@...> wrote:
>
> I ran duel 26' wheels for 2 years on my baron before I sold it.   It will have
a
> longer steering trail (mine was 4.5 inches) which handles good at high speeds
> but will dive into the turns.  You will likely have a crank-strike issues with
> the front wheel.  (see photo)   The front 26' wheel rolls better on rough
> payment.  The seat is reclined to put it from super relined 16deg to 21deg. 
And
> it looks really cool.
>
>
>
> FYI I have a Kinesis/Cannondale Aero fork with the steering tube pre-cut to
> proper length.   For $20+shipping.   Please let me know if your interested in
> it.
>
>
>
> Sincerely
>
> Terry Pickl
>
> Cell: 469-853-4015
>
>   _____
>
> From: BaronOwners@yahoogroups.com [mailto:BaronOwners@yahoogroups.com] On
Behalf
> Of petdoctor2
> Sent: Wednesday, April 15, 2009 2:04 PM
> To: BaronOwners@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [BaronOwners] 2*26" Baron
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Since I've got a spare Baron frame lying around, why not build it up
> weight-weenie style?
> The availability of light 20" front forks with a 1" head tube is limited at
> best. Especially since Velokraft changed their website :-(
>
> So I thought of using a light 26" front fork with a 1"headtube, plenty of
those
> in the shops. Does anyone have experience riding a Baron with 2 26" wheels? I
> can imagine adapting the seat angle to correct for the higher front part of
the
> bike. What about chain routing, crank/wheel interference?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Sjef
>

Since I've got a spare Baron frame lying around, why not build it up
weight-weenie style?
The availability of light 20" front forks with a 1" head tube is limited at
best. Especially since Velokraft changed their website :-(

So I thought of using a light 26" front fork with a 1"headtube, plenty of those
in the shops. Does anyone have experience riding a Baron with 2 26" wheels? I
can imagine adapting the seat angle to correct for the higher front part of the
bike. What about chain routing, crank/wheel interference?

Thanks,

Sjef

----- Original Message -----

From: John Foltz

To: BaronOwners@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2009 11:39 AM

Subject: Re: [BaronOwners] I recommend you take a look at this...DON'T, IT'S SPAM

Hopefully our illustrious administrator can remove Mister fiokdffffrt from
the list of members-in-good-standing.

------ Original Message ------
Received: Tue, 24 Mar 2009 09:43:49 AM EDT
From: "Sherman, Scott A CW3 MIL USA FORSCOM" <scott.sherman@us.army.mil>
To: BaronOwners@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [BaronOwners] I recommend you take a look at this...DON'T, IT'S
SPAM

>