I am finishing up this bike that I've had for a while (Holidays are great for that sort of thing...). It's an early '80s 531 Dale Saso frameset from California. The geometry turns out to be rather interesting, and as I can't ride it yet due to our typical winter weather, I'm wondering how it will handle. Any info. on Dale would be appreciated also....
The geometry is:
73.5 - degree seat tube 72 - degree head tube with about 50 mm of rake BB height of 27 cm. ( or a 6.5 cm. drop) 39.5 cm. chainstays (!) 57.5 cm. top tube 101.5 cm wheelbase (!) 61 cm c-t seat tube standover height is about 86 cm. Buckets of toeclip clearance, even with 175s and Large clips.
The slack head tube and length of the wheelbase surprised me, given the super-tight rear end (the front derailleur cable nearly grazes a 21 mm tubular as it passes by, and the dropouts are eyelet-less verticals, so zero adjustment is possible). Also, the fork blades are raked very gradually, from nearly just below the crown. Very funky-looking.
What is this thing gonna ride like? It weighs about 21 pounds complete.
Greg Parker
Ann Arbor, Michigan