Sparton Frame

Well here it is the frame set I'm going to build. My first bike was red so I was in the mood to get another red bike since it's been years. I have some fond memories of that red Benotto! Anyway, the Sparton frame is real nice! I'm partial to lugged steel frames. If you want a new lugged frame Sparton's the best deal out there. Most of the other lugged frames are made by custom builders and have a big price tag attached. Anyway, I'll tell you a little about Sparton. My good friend George Espina who I've known since I was still a teenager, we worked in the same bike shop as mechanics. He had come up from Chile after being a junior olympic cyclist for Chile. Well back to the story anyway many years latter we decide to do this bike trip in Chile and climb all the mountains on road bikes. Which we did. If you want to see some Google Portillo ski resort in Chile.
Well while were in Chile we go visit an old bike shop that still builds frames the traditional way. We were so captured by the quality and value we bought a few and brought them back with us. We showed them around and there seemed to be a demand for classic bike frames, so George got in touch with the frame builder and made arrangements to start importing frames. Thus Sparton U.S.A was born!
So, back to this frame. It's steel tubing, nothing light, but who cares it's a fixed gear frame for the street. The forks are semi sloping which has a cool look. These forks are not drilled for brakes, but you can get them drilled. I'm going to drill these myself.
The head tube lug has an S cutout part of the Sparton touch to detail. You could paint this to really make it stand out if you wanted. Also on the rear seat stay Sparton is pressed into the metal. This can be seen in the pictures. The decals are old school which I like. If you don't like them they can be easily removed since they are applied after the frame is finished. This is how bikes used to be done. Most companies throw a couple coats of clearcoat over the decals now which prevents them from being removed. You can also buy the Sparton frame without decals if you like. This frame will use an English threaded bottom bracket with a 109 length axle. The headset is a 1 inch threaded.
First thing I'm going to do is install the headset and cut the fork. I'll have to go slow on this since I'm a little tapped out for cash right now, but I do have the headset so I will be able to complete this step over the weekend. When I finish this step I'll add some photos.