Kelly Deluxe
History
In May 1999, I bought a Kelly frame and stem in Kelly green. I also got a Rockshox SID which I had powder-coated in the very same green. The frame was set up as a singlespeed with silver Spot hubs laced into green Sun rims. Shimano XTR brakes provided the stopping power and AC LoPro cranks transferred my leg power. The bike as it was set up handled really well. I instantly loved the geometry. It did however not come without flaws. First, the AC spider couldn’t handle the power of a singlespeeder. One weekend while riding with friends in China Camp, the spider blew up in the middle of a climb. My ride was over - a spider in several pieces and a bent chainring. Then over time the Spot hubs started to have bearing issues due to a poor design. They used cartridge bearings that received too much preload while bolting them to the dropouts. It was adjustable, but it was a major pain in the a**. The frame also developed lots of fine cracks in the clear coat. Chris Kelly was awesome though and repainted it free of charge. After being repainted in early 2001, it remained unbuilt and in a box for several years. Only in 2008, I rebuilt it with some spare and some new parts to a rigid, geared 69er for my wife. It now has a Chris King hub up front and a Shimano Alfine hub in the back. To fit the larger wheel up front, I used a Pace RC31 fork I had purchased two years before for another project. Hand-polished and black anodized XTR cranks sit at the bottom bracket and a silver Thomson stem towers above the head tube. Silver Love Levers and Avid Single Digits replaced the XTR brakes. A Chris King singlespeed rear wheel, the Kelly stem, the green Rockshox fork and brand-new Wildgrippers are still around should we ever want to return it too a pure 26 inch bike.
Specs
| Frame: | Kelly Deluxe |
| Fork: | Kelly green RockShox SID |
| Stem: | Kelly 120mm |
| Headset: | Chris King 1 1/8” |
| Handlebar: | Titec Hellion |
| Brakes: | Avid Single Digit Ultimate |
| Front Hub: | Green Chris King Singlespeed |
| Rear Hub: | Green Chris King Singlespeed |
| Rims (f/r): | DT XR4.1 |
| Spokes: | DT Competition |
| Skewers: | Control Tech |
| Tires (f/r): | Michelin Wildgripper 26x1.95 |
| Bottle Cage: | Stainless Steel Blackburn |
| Seatpost: | Thomson Elite |
| Seatpost Clamp: | none |
| Saddle: | Selle Italia SLR |
| Cranks: | Custom anodized Shimano M-952 |
| Pedals: | Crank Brothers Eggbeater SL |
| Bottom Bracket: | XTR BB-M952 |
| Chainring: | Actiontec 34T 110BCD |
| Chain: | SRAM PC-971 |
| Chaintensioner: | Tuned Singulator |
| Cog: | Chris King, steel, 18T |
| Ridden: | on & off from 1999-2011 |
| Status: | retired & restored |
