Introducing the JK Special:
the Kirk Frameworks dedicated race bike

For the first time since the inception of Kirk Frameworks, I am introducing a model with a dedicated tubeset to my product line. This proprietary blend of tubes and lugs was selected to create a dedicated lightweight race bike. With race-oriented fit and lively handling, the JK Special is most at home going fast. The frame is lighter and stiffer than my previous offerings, and is an exciting addition to the Kirk product line.

Due to the light weight tubing and the dedicated race design this frameset might not be the right choice for everyone. I'd be happy to discuss your cycling needs and goals and to help you decide if the JK Special would be a good choice for you.

Please read on to learn more about the JK Special and its inspiration.

Specs and Details

The JK Special is built with a unique mix of the lightest and strongest steels available. Rather than use one tubeset from one manufacturer I have selected each particular tube without regard of manufacturer or cost. The tubing, lugs and dropouts were chosen to work together in concert to produce a full-on race machine. These tubes are carefully silver brazed into the finest lugs available to give a high performance race bike with the wonderful ride quality of steel.

The options on this race model are simple and few. The frame comes with a matching rake-appropriate Reynolds Carbon Ouzo pro fork as standard. An optional lightweight JK Special steel fork is also available. This fork is considerably lighter than my normal Kirk fork and is only available with the JK Special frame. The frame is built with traditional straight seat stays with the option of curved Terraplane seat stays for the highest possible level of performance.

Production of the JK Special is time consuming and its numbers will be limited. Delivery times will be quoted at time of order based on raw material availability and your place in the queue. Please give me a call to talk about whether the JK Special would be the right race bike for you. My hope is that the JK Special will give you the same feeling it does me - the feeling of speed and freedom that only a "Special" can give.

JK Special Pricing

Evolution of the JK Special

Do you remember your first bike? It may have been a sidewalk bike that you rode in your parent's driveway or piloted around the neighborhood with other kids. The riding was fun even if you were slow and your route never ventured far from your yard. Then something big happens, or at least it did for me. I was about 7 years old when I given my first real bike. It had 20-inch wheels, a "ten speed" seat and drop-style "ten speed" handlebars. I rode it everywhere, exploring and racing and for the first time experiencing the big world outside my yard on my own. But there was something even more special about this particular bike. My Dad made it for me. Following the tradition of the best American sports cars, he made me a "Special," hybridizing choice bits from various other bikes. He was not a wealthy man but being a real life racecar mechanic he was good with his hands. So he gathered up parts from wherever he could get them and over time collected enough stuff to build a complete bike for me. He painted it British Racing Green and put my name on the chain guard in chrome lettering. It was a real race bike as far as I was concerned and I was so proud. I was the fastest kid on the block and maybe even in the world.

Unfortunately a short time after my father made that wonderful bike for me he passed away. He was all too young. My father may have been gone but my love of bikes and the wonderful feeling of freedom they give have stayed with me all these years. I wish he had lived long enough to see what I do for a living now. I like to think that he would have approved.

To thank my father for setting me on this path and to properly remember him I'm proud to introduce the "JK Special." John Kirk was all about speed, efficiency and beauty and I like to think the new JK Special is the type of machine he would have appreciated. The JK Special is a classy race bike that I hope turns heads with its lines the same way my Dad's head turned when an E Type Jaguar roared past.

- Dave