Last of the OX Platinum

One of the coolest things about being a larger size “small company” was the relationship we had with True Temper Sports and the ability to design our own proprietary tubing, with custom butting profiles, diameters and shapes.

The Kelly/True Temper relationship began when I met a guy named Paul Knox back in 1990 at Interbike. Paul planted the seed by sending me an OX3 mountain bike tube set in which I built my first TrueTemper MTB frame and was amazed.

I built it to the same exact drawing and specs as my previous MTB frames so I could be sure I was running a true comparison of materials. The results were astonishing and I was completely on board from there on out as a True Temper guy.

Paul called me up one day somewhere around 1996 or 97 and said they were developing a new material called “OX Gold” and asked if he could send me a few boxes to build with and test the new material. He explained it had a higher yield and tensile strength than the OX3 with a 12% elongation, better memory, dampening and an all around tougher material.

Obviously I said “yes”, and what began as OX Gold was later re-branded as OX Platinum, and the rest is history as far as our involvement and helping to put it on the map with our factory race program and exclusive production program.

Fast forward to 2016 – True Temper announces its getting out of the bicycle tubing business effective 2017 and what I have left on the shelf is the last of the OX Platinum.

Id say I have about 80-100 main tubes left that I use when im building road and CX style bikes, and after that, there are no more…

So if you’re one of those folks that love the ride of a premium built high quality US steel frame then you owe it to yourself to get in the queue for one of the last Kelly OX Platinum tubed frames as supplies are limited.

There will be a $100 non-refundable queue fee for these special frames, available in custom or production spec – in either tig or fillet brazed construction, with a great amount of attention to detail and care.

Call or email to get your spot on the list!

Categorised in: General, Technical

This post was written by Chris Kelly