Disc cross frames – MUSA

By blackmountaincycles,

Filed under: US Made Cross Frame

For the longest time, I had no idea what MUSA meant.  I’d only seen it associated with some Rivendell items.  I thought it was simply a brand name.  When I had the first run of USA made frames made, I got an email from someone who asked about the MUSA frames.  (lightbulb moment).  MUSA – ah, Made in United States of America.  Duh.  To this day, I’ll seen acronyms used in casual written conversation and have to do a quick google search.  And anything that’s posted on Twitter is pretty much nonsensical giberish to me – @iamtoooldtofigureoutthisshit.  
What just happened there?  Tangent?  Back on track.  The latest run of MUSA cross frames by Cameron Falconer are all disc frame/fork.  One was made for rim brakes, but that’s sold.  There are a few disc frames that are sold, but a few that are available for sale.  I think these turned out really great.  Unfortunately, I did not have one made for myself because I am diligently working on a Taiwanese made disc frame and I expect I’ll be riding that one.  That one’s a ways off, but as more info becomes available, I’ll pass it on.

Okay, MUSA disc frames.  The details are:
Seat stay mounted disc caliper with a super clean disc tab and rack eyelet.  Might have to be a spacer involved to fit a rack, but…  I like the seat stay disc tab because if you’re running cable disc brakes, there’s no kick up at the end of the housing for water to get into the housing and sit there degrading your brake’s performance like there is on a chainstay mounted disc.   Yeah, I know, hydraulics don’t have that issue, but not everyone is going to run hydraulics.

Full housing run for the rear brake.  No splits, no stops.  We used Pacenti stainless cable guides.

Full housing for the rear derailleur from the t/t cable stop to the rear derailleur.  No split housing along the seat stay.

The fork is a segmented design and uses True Temper blades.  The left leg is thicker walled than the right leg because there’s a lot of force going into the disc tab under braking.  The disc tab is also a Willits design Paragon Machine Works made tab.

Tubing specs are the same as the first gen canti frames – True Temper Verus tubing, Paragon Wright style hooded dropouts, s-bend chainstays.  Clearance for 43mm Bruce Gordon Rock ‘n Road tires and 50/34 road cranks.  Rear spacing is 135mm.

Price:  $1700
Sizes:  56cm and 59cm
Colors:  Green (one 56cm and one 59cm) and International Orange (two 56cm and two 59cm).

Here’s some shots of the green frame.  The orange frame is the same color as the first run of MUSA frames.

(What’s playing:  Joe Dukie and DJ Fitchie Midnight Marauders)

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0 responses to “Disc cross frames – MUSA”

  1. laffeaux says:
    January 24, 2015 at 3:52 pm

    Mike, what's the widest tire that will fit the frame? Is the rear end spaced at 130 or 135 mm? Nice looking frame!

    Reply
  2. blackmountaincycles says:
    January 24, 2015 at 3:55 pm

    Rear spacing is 135mm. The Bruce Gordon Rock 'n Road 43 fits perfect with good clearance. A slightly bigger tire will fit, but clearance is reduced – maybe okay for dry conditions, not as good in the mud. A full sized 29 x 2.1 will fit up front.

    Reply
  3. tlove says:
    January 29, 2015 at 12:55 am

    Mike you should think about expanding into selling forks. semi custom ridged forks. have some made with a given AtoC and rake and keep them in stock unpainted/coated so folks can get them finished with the brazeons and color they want. i just think there are some gaps in the fork market and yet so many bikes actually use similar AtoC measurements.

    Reply
  4. Oli says:
    January 29, 2015 at 12:55 am

    Good to see you listening to a nice bit of Kiwi music while you work – Joe Dukie and DJ Fitchie are Wellingtonians and Fitchie is a mate of mine.

    Reply
  5. blackmountaincycles says:
    January 29, 2015 at 12:57 am

    Oli – that's pretty darn cool. I found out about them from the Don Letts BBC6 radio show – http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0072pzt

    tlove – Not a bad idea. Thanks. Would you have a need for a fork such as this and what would it go on?

    Reply
  6. tlove says:
    January 30, 2015 at 3:00 pm

    I have a older Hunter that i have been using a Surly Stragler (disc) fork on (400AC). I would like; 1. 395AC (with a king 5mm baseplate). 2. roomier at the top. 3. brazeons for bottles on the legs, racks and fenders. 4. brazons for routing for a generator hub. 5. long 50-60 rake for loading the front up.

    i have others also i could think of and use on some of my other bikes. when it comes to canti forks i don't understand why no one offers a semi custom line of forks based on the pacenti crowns. heck I can visualize the website now.

    Reply

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