DeKerf Singlespeed Retro 18.5 MTB Frame Reynolds 725 Circa 2000. If you know your retro and high-end Canadian steel, you’ll know that Chris DeKerf has been very highly rated right from when he first started making frames under his own name in the early 1990′s. He had previously worked at Rocky Mountain and others before deciding to go it alone. I first became aware of them in 1994, when they had only one model, the Mountain, made from the finest Ritchey WCS tubing, mainly TIG welded but with a’work-of-art’ fillet brazed wishbone and seat-cluster. They subsequently added a slightly cheaper model, the Generation, made from Reynolds 631 which lost the fillet brazed seat cluster area, and the top of the range hardtail was renamed the SL, made from Reynolds 853 tubing. The Singlespeed is effectively a gear-less version of the Generation. This is in one of the three iconic DeKerf colours: metallic Tangerine. I’ve taken photos on a dull-winter day to make the details stand out better but in a bright day, it really pops and sparkles in the sun. In very good used condition with superficial light scuffs and chips to the paint on most of the tubes, some of which have been touched in with a slightly lighter shade. No dents, cracks or corrosion other than to the chainstay bridge where the paint has bubbled. The previous owner said it had been like that “for years”. I’d say it’s an 8/10 cosmetically but it’s important to note that the paint and decals are original. You could definitely make it a 9/10 if you bought some touch up paint in the correct shade and were patient. Size wise it’s an 18.5. I’ve added a photo from the 2000 brochure with the frame dimensions which tally well with my own, taken with a 420mm a-c fork which would approximately tally with that fitted to the bike in the brochure. Seat tube c-c: 16 / 40.5cm. Seat tube c-t: 18.5 / 470mm. Top tube c-c horizontal: 22.75 / 580mm. Head tube: 4 / 100mm. Seatpost diameter: 27.2mm. Headset: 1 1/8. Rear dropout spacing: 135mm. Frame tubing: Reynolds 725. Frame mass: 1895g. I’m not certain it’s exactly a year 2000 bike but the specs mean it is from that era. Later models were renamed the Solitaire. Frame number is DEK1613. Chris never made production SS bike from the more expensive Reynolds 853 tubing but the mass difference is minimal; a few tens of grams. It’s for rim brakes and no gears! Will be carefully packed with each tube wrapped in new, thick plumbers foam pipe lagging and sent via parcel force. I’m thinning my collection of DeKerfs from 7 to 1! And also have an 18.5″ Team SL disc in goldy-green and great condition and a 17.6″ Team SL disc which needs a repaint. I’ll be listing these in time but let me know if you are interested and I can pop them up sooner.
