According to Frank this is the first prototype of the ATAC stem, circa '88.
It's in a filing cabinet labeled "do not take pictures of this stuff and put it on Retrobike". By most accounts the ATAC was the first commercially available oversized aluminum stem.
What's the timeline on the Syncros stuff? Bueller?
Notice the one piece quill and shaft? Pretty snazy, but not all that light or strong, a smart way to make a stem like that if you don't have the resources to press-fit dissimilar materials on a Friday night.
The finished product was certainly a lot smoother, for sure, but it's nice to play with the first one when I can't deal with answering many more emails.
A box full of NOS production stems just came in for the "Pro Cut" which is something that Chris Herting started to do to team stems to save weight by drilling a hole in the face, scalloping the edges and slicing off the top of the stem at an angle to get it all dialed and light(as seen on the coolest bike ever).
I'll snap some "how-to" shots of the slicing and chopping on the stems that just came in.
I'm knee deep in cool old stuff all the time, I'll try to do a better job of sharing and documenting the cool crap that haunts the filing cabinets of FTWindustries here in beautiful Southern, VT.
There's even a batch of new Bullseye crankarms being made right now as I type!
It's in a filing cabinet labeled "do not take pictures of this stuff and put it on Retrobike". By most accounts the ATAC was the first commercially available oversized aluminum stem.
What's the timeline on the Syncros stuff? Bueller?
Notice the one piece quill and shaft? Pretty snazy, but not all that light or strong, a smart way to make a stem like that if you don't have the resources to press-fit dissimilar materials on a Friday night.
The finished product was certainly a lot smoother, for sure, but it's nice to play with the first one when I can't deal with answering many more emails.
A box full of NOS production stems just came in for the "Pro Cut" which is something that Chris Herting started to do to team stems to save weight by drilling a hole in the face, scalloping the edges and slicing off the top of the stem at an angle to get it all dialed and light(as seen on the coolest bike ever).
I'll snap some "how-to" shots of the slicing and chopping on the stems that just came in.
I'm knee deep in cool old stuff all the time, I'll try to do a better job of sharing and documenting the cool crap that haunts the filing cabinets of FTWindustries here in beautiful Southern, VT.
There's even a batch of new Bullseye crankarms being made right now as I type!
