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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS |
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| In order to help you learn more about the steps involved in ordering your custom made titanium frame, we've compiled a selection of the questions we are most often asked. If you don't find the answer to your questions on this page, please contact us and we'll get back to you straightaway. |
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WHAT IS SETAVENTO? |
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| Setavento is an internet based bicycle frame builder. We specialise in custom made titanium cycle racing frames for the road and track, and hard tail mountain bike frames. The company was founded by James Laurence who has a lifelong passion for cycle racing, and a successful business career that stretches from outdoor equipment retailing to London Stock Exchange listed technology company founder & CEO. Unable to obtain titanium frames at a price which he thought was reasonable he set up Setavento to deliver high quality custom titanium frames at a reasonable price. |
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WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY CUSTOM? |
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All of Setavento's frames are custom made for each rider. This means that you not only get the correct size, we also ensure that the tubing suits your body weight, and that the frame geometry is the best choice for your type of riding. It is a genuine custom service where every detail of the frame can be tailored to suit the rider.
We build many different types of frames. For example, if you want a road frame you can choose whether to have a level top tube or one which slopes (known as a "compact" frame). Different frame geometries can also be specified from a relaxed touring geometry to a road racing geometry best suited to criterium racing. We can use oversize tubing to create a stiffer frame if you are heavy or very tall, or lighter double butted tubing for racing over mountains. Usually we will request information about you, your existing bike(s), and the type of riding you want to do, before we design your frame. You can have as much choice as you wish, or let us handle the frame design ourselves. Whatever you do, we will refer to you throughout the process, and we are at hand to advise you and to guide you when choosing your custom titanium frame specification.
Some customers ask "If I request something that isn't going to work, will you tell me?" Of course we will! We build frames for riders of both sexes, and of all shapes and sizes. From small women's frames to road racing frames for men over 6'7" (2m.). If you suggest something that we think might not be the best choice we will always advise you. |
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HOW DO I PLACE AN ORDER? |
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There are two things for you to do when you place an order:
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Place an order through the Setavento Frames page checkout system and pay for your frame using a credit or debit card via
PayPal, electronic bank transfer, or by posting us a cheque. This puts you in the design and build queues.
2 Send us your measurements and the dimensions of your existing bicycle using the Custom Measurements form on the website. |
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WHAT HAPPENS AFTER I'VE ORDERED? |
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Once we receive your order we will be in touch with you, usually within a couple of work days. Occasionally your contact details don't work so if you don't hear from us please send a message via our webform with your phone number, a time to call, and an alternative email address if you have one.
We work by first establishing your riding position from your body dimensions, and then cross-relating it with your existing position. If you know precisely what size frame you require that's fine, if you don't we will work with you to establish the best riding position for the type and style of cycling you do. If you are within reach of London, England, we are happy to meet to help find your correct fit. After clarifying your requirements for a custom titanium frame we email a web link to a scale drawing for your approval. Usually this is a two to three step process afterwhich we finalise the frame specification. Depending on how quickly you respond and how busy we are this stage usually takes one to two weeks. Only when you are happy with the frame specification do we commission the frame build. Please note, after you have signed off the frame specification no more changes can be made!
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HOW CAN I CHECK IF MY FRAME WILL ARRIVE ON TIME? |
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| Provided you have sent us an email to confirm you are happy with your frame's specification, your order will be underway. We will be in touch around seven weeks later to confirm the delivery details. If your frame is late, which sometimes happens due to the usual winter flus and seasonal delays (we're only human!), you are welcome to send a message via our contact form. However, we would be grateful if you could wait for the full seven weeks build time to expire before contacting us. The time required to chase up frames which are running to schedule adds cost which we would rather not have to pass on in the frame prices! |
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WHEN CAN I EXPECT DELIVERY OF MY NEW FRAME? |
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| Please allow seven to eight weeks from the point of agreeing the frame specification to delivery of your custom frame. Orders that depend on delivery prior to Christmas 2006 must be completed by Friday 20th October 2006. With the best will in the world it is simply not possible to guarantee Christmas delivery for orders taken after the deadline! |
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YOUR FRAMES ARE REMARKABLY LOW IN PRICE. WHAT'S THE QUALITY LIKE? |
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| The quality is excellent and more usually found in frames costing £1000-£1200. We design all of our frames to the highest standard to ensure that they are best suited to their rider and the type of competition they do. Oversize tubes are selected according to the rider's preference, body weight, strength, frame size, and riding style. All our frames use either plain gauge or double butted 3Al-2.5V titanium tubing with which our framebuilders have thousands of hours experience. Have a look at the close up pictures of our frames to judge our weld quality yourself. We are happy to stand by the quality of our frames. All come complete with a lifetime warranty against any manufacturing defect. |
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HOW DO YOU ENSURE ONLY PERFECT FRAMES REACH THE CUSTOMER? |
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All frames are subject to comprehensive quality control before despatch. There are two key steps we take to ensure all of our frames are of the highest quality.
We specify the titanium tubing and the precise dimensions of our frames to get the ride qualities we want. This takes experience and trial and error, not to mention proficiency with frame engineering and AutoCAD. None of our frames are "stock" manufacturers' items.
Every Setavento frame goes through our own quality control before despatch to the customer. We check everything; welds, frame alignment, tube concentricity, all threads, finish, and dimensions against the order specification. To ensure practical quality we also insert a seat pin, thread in some BB cups by hand, thread a derailleur bolt, and gauge the head tube dimensions or insert a headset, into every frame we ship. These checks are documented in the Quality Assurance Docket that is attached to each frame. |
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WHAT DOES A SETAVENTO TITANIUM ROAD FRAME NORMALLY WEIGH ? |
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| The weight of our road frames varies depending on size and whether the frame is a compact, semi-compact, or conventional geometry build. The lightest small compact frames weigh around 1250g, monster size 62cm+ conventional frames circa 1650g. Typically a 56cm frame will weigh around 1500g, a compact frame a little lighter. Recently we have taken to shaving a few grams off the headtube and bottom bracket. |
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DO YOU MAKE A TITANIUM FRAME WITH CARBON FIBRE REAR STAYS? |
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| We believe that carbon fibre stays diminish some of the important benefits of having a titanium frame in terms of longevity and durability. So in our opinion they're probably not worth the trade-off, particularily if we can design a softer ride by simply altering the tubing specs (ie smaller diameter, longer seat and chain stays). |
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DO YOU MAKE A ROAD OR MTB SINGLESPEED FRAME WITH HORIZONTAL REAR DROP OUTS? |
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| Yes. For both road and MTB riders we have launched single speed frames as part of our standard model range. Please see the product pages for a full description. |
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WHERE ARE YOUR FRAMES MADE? |
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| Like most of the world's bicycle manufacturers the majority of our frames are made in Asia. It isn't as unusual as it sounds. These days high quality Asian frame builders with modern technology and precision engineering technique abound. This is convenient as we speak fluent Mandarin Chinese which enables us to work closely with frame builders both in Taiwan and mainland China. At present we employ two factories in mainland China. We do this simply to offer high quality frames at a good price, and we find in practise each builder has specific strengths. |
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DO YOU HAVE A SHOP WHERE I CAN COME IN, LOOK AT FRAMES, GET MEASURED, ETC? |
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| We're setting up a UK dealer network in due course. Until then for customers in the UK we offer to meet anywhere within the London/M25 area during the week or at weekends to show customers a frame and/or to measure up. Contact Us to arrange a suitable time and place. You might also like to look at our custom measurements form. |
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