Mike S. Code Signature Frame
Some of you might have already seen some photos of Michael Steingräber´s new Mankind signature frame “Code”. Here is what Mike S. says: “I have been friends with Mankind owner Christoph Huber for well over 20 years, and while a good personal relationship helps, that wasn´t the reason I wanted to ride for Mankind. What I find so appealing about Mankind is the quality of their products, their attention to detail and their nice graphic designs. Christoph let me design my signature frame, the “Code” the way I wanted it to be, without any limitations. I knew what I wanted from the start, so it was just a matter of bringing my ideas to paper, getting a prototype made, which unfotunately took a long time, and now testing the prototype and showing it around.
There are several key elements I wanted in my frame:
First of all: strength. My frames have to take a lot of abuse, and I want them to take it. That´s why I wanted a without unnecessary bent tubes, and nothing crossed either.
Secondly, I didn´t want to build a tank, so I opted for butted tubes and tapered chain- and seatstays. To be able to use thin tubes, I wanted the frame to be fully heat treated. That means it gets welded first, then the whole thing gets heat treated, resulting in a very strong structure, including the welds!
Third, the frame had to be functional! That´s why the down tube is slightly elevated, with enough attatchment to the bottom bracket shell, so that´s not going to fall off. The dropouts are on the outside of the seat- and chainstays, so bike varials will be easier without getting caught up with your feet. The head angle is 74°, so your bars won´t touch the ground as easyly when doing hitchhikers and backpackers.
And last but not least I wanted a lot of atention to detail. I opted for machined bottom bracket shell and head tube with integrated logo, a logo etching in the dropouts, the nice Mankind bridge between the seatstays and the curved tube/bridge between the chainstays for added strength. The seattube is outside machined to save a bit of weight and has an integrated seatclamp. The stickers are placed where they don´t get scratched instantly when you ride your bike. I chose not to have brake mounts on the frame, because I don´t use brakes and it looks like most other riders don´t use rear brakes, and the frame just looks much cleaner that way.”
