It's a stout touring-trail bike, somewhere between an Atlantis and a Bombadil. It has Bomba-stout tubing --- about 0.1mm thicker in the main tubes than the Atlantis tubing.  But like the Atlantis, the Hunqapillar has either 26-inch or 700c wheels, depending on the frame size (48cm/26; 54-58-62/700C).

Again Bombadil-like, it has an expanded frame, meaning the listed size truly is the length of the seat tube, and then from that point the top tube slopes up six degrees. This increases the standover height (compared to a top tube that's level or slopes up less), and that's why you ride about 3 to 6cm smaller than you would, say, a Surly or Masi. And as long as you buy down a few centimeters, you'll have the standover clearance you like. 

I/Grant ride a 59 Hilsen, and a 54 Hunqapillar. Keven rides a 62-63, and is getting a 58. It goes like that.

The benefit is higher handlebars easier, and that means more comfort --- important and desirable on any bike, and especially on one for touring.

The Hunqapillar frame is an interesting mix of materials and co-conspirators. It's made in Taiwan by a team of builders trained by Tetsu Ishigaki, of Toyo. The main tubes are the most expensive steel tubing we could find anywhere --- Japanese Kaisei 8630 heat-treated. The seat and chainstays are excellent Taiwan CrMo. The fork is made in Japan by Tetsu Ishigaki at Toyo.

The Hunqapillar has clearance for 2.2-inch tires, which is big enough for anything except downhill racing. The smallest tire you have any business riding on it is about 38mm/1.5-inches --- an appropriate size for a loaded tour on pavement, although we'd recommend bigger than that. 

Every bar in the world is suitable for the Hunqapillar, so put on what you like. Drops, Moustache, Bullmoose, and Albatross are the ones we like, and you'd be hard-put to come up with reason to not go with one of those. 

Rear Spacing is 135mm --- normal for touring and mountain bikes, and that gives you access to about a million rear hubs. 

The two bigger sizes, the 58 and 62, have extra top tubes, for extra strength. The smaller sizes don't need them, because the main triangles are already well-triangulated. 

It has plenty of braze-ons for any tour. It's strong enough for any trail. It's comfortable enough for any back, hands, neck. 

The headbadge has a Woolly Mammoth, and Hunqapillar seemed a good name for a Woolly Mammoth.

The frame will have a fancy paint job. It will be dark grey with seat tube, down tube, and head tube panels of a complementary yet undetermined color likely kidney bean red or orange. We're having samples made both way. Probably the lugs will be lined with cream. We'll just have to see.

Frame-fork-headset cost $1500. We're expecting them in July 2010.
 
April 1 update
The Hunqapresale is OVER. Thanks to everyone who dove in!

Watch the Hunqavideo here.

Headbadges are here.  We have four frames in. The 62 and 48 are being ridden now, 54, and 58 are in paint. We'll make our final micro-tweaks to the details, nothing important, and then we'll order them up.

Tubing: Butted CrMo. The seat, tops, and down tube are Japanese Kaisei 8630 heat-treated and custom-spec'd for the Hunqapillar. The chainstays are Japanese Kaisei as well, but not custom 8630. The other tubes are standard CrMo. The fork is made in Japan with a low radius rake, how we like it. 

The front dropouts are our new investment-cast, internal plug style with two eyelets. 
The rear dropouts are either investment cast (54cm and larger frames) or forged (the 48). They're equally good, but the small frame didn't fit the cast dropouts, and that shouldn't make you sad. If it does, don't be that way (sad). It is a superb dropout, artistically addressed and beautified.

All lugs, bb shell, and the fork crown are ours exclusively. We had a new BB shell made for this frame, and two (2!) new lugs, for the second top tube on the two larger frames. Obviously, with another Kaisei tube and two lugs and the labor involved, the two bigger frames cost us more to make, and if we same-sized the margin on all the models, these would cost more. We don't like two-tiered pricing by size, even when it's justifiable, and this time we priced all frames as they would be with single top tubes. 

All frames use 1-inch threaded headsets, as is normal around here and unusual in the real world, where you will be told this is backwards and obsolete. That is pure bullpucky. The one-inch standard has worked for more than a century, and didn't stop working well when oversized and threadless headsets were introduced. Our "skinny steel" head tubes are far more reliable and safer than are fat-n-flared carbon, and allow us to make forks with good tire clearances (up to 52mm wide in the case of the Hunqa).

In addition, the Hunqa's fork uses a quill stem, which makes vertical adjustments easy as pie. Far from being obsolete, the quill stem remains a sensible standard, and availability is easy. We have twenty variants in stock, with different lengths, materials, and looks. If you want a clamp-on stem for any reason, adapters abound and by the time the Hunqa is out of the oven we'll have a fine one by Nitto.

There is a kickstand plate that doubles as a chainstay bridge.

The name "Hunqapillar" is a variant of a last name that's usually spelled "Hunkapillar" or "Hunkapiller." One of those was a name my girlfriend-at-the-time and I saw on a big fat mailbox in Indiana when we were touring in 1976, and it's always been a fun, friendly, easy name that rolled off the tongue. It seemed an appropriate name for a stout bike, and rather than irk the Hunkapillars with an "e" before the final R, or the Hunkapillers, with an "a" there, we went for the Q without the U to distract the both. The "a" won the next-to-last spot because it looked better.

The bike itself may be a new model, but coming as it is after 15-1/2 years of Rivendell models, it is already highly refined. It has benefited from all we've learned up to this pint, and we fully expect it to last you into the sunset. 


How to build it up?

We have tons of experience with all of our bikes, and infinite patience. If you know only the result you want but not how to get there, let us show you the way. We'll ask the right questions, we know how to interpret the vaguest of answers, and from the get-go we have your best interest as a goal. 

Whether you put drops or Moustache H'bars or Albatross bars or Bullmoose or something else on it, we'll make sure you get the right bike for you; and with all the possibilities, it will likely be the only one exactly like it in the world. A fun process leading to a killer Hunqapillar!


Sizing

As always, we like to start with your Pubic Bone Height (PBH). Clink on this link to find out how: Pubic Bone Height. The PBH/size breakdown is:

48cm Hunqa: 76.5-83cm PBH (Saddle height 66-72cm, standover on biggest tire is 77.5cm)

54cm Hunqa: 83.5-89cm PBH (Saddle height 72-81cm, standover on biggest tire is 83.5cm)

58cm Hunqa: 87.5-93cm PBH (Saddle height 76-84cm, standover on biggest tire is 87.5cm)

62cm Hunqa: 91.5-100cm PBH (Saddle hight 82-90cm, standover on biggest tire is 91.5cm) 

Basically, the Hunqapillar is easy to size.  Nine in ten riders can go by the following:

Under 5' 7" : 48cm
5-8 to 5-11: 54cm
Long-legged 5-10" to 6-1; 58cm
Long legged 6ft to 6-4.4: 62cm

If you're in the high sixes, get a Bombadil, either a 64cm or 68cm. It costs more, but it's still a good deal, and if you're too tall for a 62 Hunqa, then you probably haven't ever had a bike that fit you (in your adult life), and it's time for the madness to stop.

Which handlebar?
This is the hardest decision you'll make, because every option makes sense. If you're in love with drop bars, go ahead. Put them on a DirtDrop stem, and you'll love life.  If you want maximum comfort and the most upright position: Albatross bars. Use a Technomic Deluxe stem. 10 to 12cm long. Probably half the Hunqas will go out with Moustache H'bars -- either with a DirtDrop 8 or 10, or a Technomic 7 to 9cm. And heavens, what better choice for a Hunqapillar than the Bullmoose bar? Hand-fillet brazed by Nitto of CrMo steel, it complements the bike and will confound any newbie who sees it. 

Tires
Don't put  on anything smaller than a 38mm. And that one, only for road touring. If most of your riding is on pavement but you want trailabilities, go with a Schwalbe Marathon Supreme or Extreme or Dureme.


Our No Warranty Frame Warranty

It may seem odd for a company that makes such reliable frames to not have a standard instant freebie replacement - warranty, but hold on. Just  because something that's defective is likely to break, doesn't mean  anything that breaks is defective. Even superbly designed, artfully made steel bikes ridden according to design intent can break. We know that, and go to great lengths to prevent it. 

We're skilled, experienced non-defective designers. We use top-notch, proven, non-defective materials. Within the few but real constraints pricing imposes, we're selective about who builds our frames. When it comes to caring about weight and shooting for lightness, we're super conservative. It's not far off the mark to say we don't care about weight, and it's absolutely true that we never compromise a frame to make it lighter. A good frame weighs what it ought to weigh.

After all that, our frames are tested and meet strict EN (European Nation) standards, which are tougher than the German DIN standards, and considerably tougher than the American CPSC standards. But sometimes a frame breaks, and that's no more proof of a defect than a broken window is proof of defective glass. It is impossible to tell the history of the frame. It may be impossible for even its owner to know it. Sometimes even good things break, and anybody, or any company who doesn't acknowledge that is not being honest.

All that said, broken frames are rare. Crash damage, and running into garages with bikes on the roof rack are way, way more common. Tell us your frame's story. We may fix it for nothing, but you pay the freight. Or we may charge a fee for the fix. It is at our discretion, but we're not your enemy, and you are our friend. We keep that in mind, always.

The great thing about steel frames is they can be fixed. In many cases, the fixed frame can be reinforced so that it's stronger than the original. You want a fresh start, but a fresh start with a beefed up frame can be even better. A thicker tube. An extra tube. Whatever it takes, we can do it. In almost all cases, a fixed frame needs new paint. We'll work with our local painter and get it to you at no profit. A repair may cost nothing or nine hundred dollars. It all depends.

In any case, we feel beholden to original owners only. No other warranty (or non-warranty) is implied, so don't go inferring any. But no matter how you came upon your frame, we are happy to advise you on how to get your frame repaired at a reasonable cost. We want your bike back in action, too. Fair enough?