THE CALFEE THAT’S IN THE STRATOSPHERE

Craig Calfee has been designing and making carbon bikes since 1987, and counts Greg Lemond among his loyal customers. Here he tells the brand’s story, and talks us through one of his latest creations, the Luna Pro

n the world of cycling Craig Calfee is something of a polymath. The softly spoken American holds various patents as diverse as Simplified rear suspension for a bicycle and Ground air water craft. He’s built a solar-powered, 6m-long bamboo tandem e-bike. He teaches people in developing countries how to build bamboo rickshaws. He was also among the pioneers of carbon fibre road bikes back in the 1980s – with a little help from a friend.

‘The guy who brought Time pedals to the United States was sponsoring Greg Lemond, and he saw one of our carbon bikes and said we should send one of them to Greg’s dad because he was looking for a custom carbon bike for the whole team. I said, “Wow, really?” So we sent a bike over and they were like, “Greg loved the look of the bike, can you build one for him?” We ended up making 18 for the team.’

Greg Lemond was heading up the iconic Team Z, and had been dabbling in exotic materials for a few seasons, having ridden the first pieces of carbon fibre to Tour de France victory in 1986 in the form of tubes bonded to aluminium lugs by French aerospace manufacturer TVT – although the bike was branded a Look. This was followed by experiments with titanium, courtesy of Merlin, and then, off the back of a 12km mountain time-trial at the 1991 Paris-nice, Lemond chose to personally pay to equip his team with Calfee’s fully carbon frames.

At the time, Lemond was on cycling’s most expensive ever contract, worth $5.5 million, so he could probably afford it. But still, it was a huge statement, and Calfee is under no illusion as to how important Lemond’s connection was for him, his bikes and the material itself. ‘Greg Lemond took a risk and put

a carbon fibre bike to the test, and that put us on the map,’ he says.

Shoot for the moon

In those early days Calfee built bikes under the name Carbon frames, and his road bike portfolio totalled one. Today his 20-plus-strong team makes eight Calfee models in a range of guises, from flyweight racer to rear suspension gravel grinder, as well as commissions such as a bamboo Moulton he built a few years ago.

The sky’s the limit in terms of price, with the top-level Manta Pro starting at around £3,800 for the frame alone, so it’s surprising to learn the Luna Pro – named after Calfee’s old dog, Luna, who used to guard his workshop from ‘unsavoury characters’ – can be had for as little as £3,600, fully built with alloy Rolf wheels and Shimano 105 groupset, or £4,675 as pictured here, with Ultegra Di2 and carbon Rolf Ares 4s.

‘Our bikes have always been kind of high in price, so we wanted to come down in the market a little and offer the Luna Pro at a more entry-level point without compromising fit and performance,’ he says. ‘It’s now the least expensive handbuilt carbon bike made in the USA. We’ve managed to achieve this by simplicity of construction, using carbon lugs bonded to carbon tubes. That way we can tailor stiffness for rider weights by selecting different tubes, something that’s not easily done on a moulded or monocoque frame – even though many manufacturers say they can do it – and we offer a large range of sizes.’

As a bespoke builder, fit is key, so although the Luna Pro is officially a stock geometry bike it’s available in 11 different sizes, from 48cm to 68cm. ‘And we can build even bigger. We have a 3D printer at our shop that makes oneoff polycarbonate moulds, so we can literally run off anything with lugs now.’

Behind the badge

Ever since Calfee’s original 1987 prototype, gussets between the tubes have been a hallmark feature. Initially they were almost incidental – as the tubes were mitred and wrapped, the pressurised compaction when curing the joints would force material to ‘flash’ out of the sides of the mould, creating the webbing-like gussets. That’s still true to a degree, but it’s a by-product Calfee has taken and run with.

‘The moulding process would leave a seam, and this has evolved into us designing the lugs with structural gussets,’ says Calfee. ‘It might not be the lightest way to build a frame but it’s effective and it’s strong.’

Calfee cites dependability as the reason not to pursue low weight at all costs, however he does say steps have been taken to lighten the Luna Pro. Tube stiffness, directly related to mass, is selected on rider weight and style, and unnecessary carbon has been shaved from the ends of the lugs in a way that recalls high-end lugged steel frames.

The resultant Luna Pro frame weighs around 1.3kg for a 54cm, which might seem towards the heavier end of today’s spectrum, but is actually highly competitive given the oversized tubing and some neat design inclusions. The Enve-made tubeset features a 44mm diameter head tube and down tube to increase stiffness at the front and the bottom bracket; the stays are bolted to titanium dropouts, meaning a Gates belt drive could be installed as the seatstays separate; and thanks to some clever engineering the dropout bolts can double as rack mounts. And then, finally, there’s the head badge.

‘It’s laser-cut titanium, which is expensive but people just rave about it,’ Calfee says. ‘It’s a nautilus shell, which to me is a perfect example of how nature optimises design and structure or function.

‘If you compare our puny human existence to the evolution of how bones are shaped or how trees look or how nautilus shells are proportioned, we all look at it and say, “Oh that’s such a beautiful shape – it’s aesthetically pleasing.” But why? Because it’s so functionally perfect and to me that’s how bikes should be. Yes, we try to make them look good, but at the end of the day it’s the structure that makes them look good and perform well.’

‘The Luna Pro is the least expensive handbuilt carbon bike made in the USA. We’ve managed to achieve this by simplicity of construction’