Keith Lippy, Built

January 23, 2019

Keith Lippy, Built

A Very Early Keith Lippy

I finished building up this frame recently, and it is a good one. Really a great ride, and it loves to climb. It's downhill character is superb; very stable, holds a line and tracks very well, doesn't ever get upset with bumps. An excellent all around ride.

While restoring the frame and building the bike I took the time to study the details of the impeccable construction. Simplicity of line and elegance of execution are the hallmarks, which Keith Lippy would carry forward to his later builds. Everything lines up perfectly, there are no errant lines or lug points.

Thanks to the superb work of Joe Bell and company, the bike has an exceptionally beautiful finish. It's a light blue in the vein of the color used by San Rensho, with a lovely pearl added. The frame logos are stencils, and are perfect. It's just a beauty.

I chose to build it with a first generation Shimano Dura-Ace group, mostly NOS components that I have gathered. The brakes are Dura-Ace center-pulls, a truly excellent brake. The control with these binders is wonderful; linear, predictable, and effective. An ideal brake for this bike. The crankset is a Dura-Ace adapted to a triple chainring setup, with excellent function. Shifting is handled by one of the few non-Dura-Ace bits, an early Shimano XT front derailleur, and a Dura-Ace Crane GS in the rear. Both of these shift efficiently and without fuss, making them very pleasant to use. The shifters are Dura-Ace band-ons; flawless function from these.

The wheelset is built with NOS Ofmega 36 hole hubs, laced with stainless DT spokes to IRD Cadence rims, one of my favorites. 28mm Continental Gatorskins round out the package. Wrapping those are a lovely set of Velo Orange fenders, with a Velo Orange rack up front.

The headset is a slightly later Dura-Ace EX, with those interesting scalloped wrench flats. It's one of my favorite headsets; long wearing and easy to maintain and adjust.

The seatpost is also early Dura-Ace, with engraved logo and flutes, a beautiful piece. All this is complemented by my favorite stem, the Dura-Ace hidden bolt type, at 110 mm. This is also the early engraved logo version.

Dimensions are 61cm ctc, 58cm top tube, 145cm wheelbase.

So far I have covered quite a few miles on the bike and am very pleased with it. It's an excellent ride, an "as-new" bike!