Clem Smith Jr. is Rivendell’s fat-tire, easy to fender & rack, joyously upright and stable, and more affordable than the rest of our lineup bicycle frame. They're more affordable only because they come as complete bikes straight from Taiwan and most of the joints are tig-welded instead of lugged. Tigs cut the construction time for each frame down by a lot so the price gets lower. It's a perfectly strong way to make a bicycle, although not as pretty to look at as lugs.
Clems still have a strong wide fork crown, napkin-ring reinforcement lugs at the headtube, and a beautiful well-designed seat lug, so it looks far from a generic bike.
These are made by the same people who make the more expensive frames and with the same materials even, so they should ride as well as even our custom frames.
