Details

 A few close up pics of the 29er from the show. I built this one to replace last year's Tour Divide bike that got a bit crunched (along with my leg) by a big ass SUV. Here's the disc mount with a Fastboy inspired brace...I love how it follows to radius of the disc.

 Back in the early 90's I saw a Dekerf MTB with the coolest wishbone seatstays...and now I finally have them on a bike! I made this one the look just like the fork crown to bring the whole bike together. If you look closely you can see where the brake cable exits the top tube- it then goes into the seastay and comes out by the brake. The same goes for the other cables too. I'll post a complete pic when I get my parts out of insurance company limbo.

 A better shot of the front and back crowns together...gotta love the curved top tube, huh?

 A ton of tire clearance in the back, it should keep rolling through all kinds of mud!

Lots of fab time in this puppy...but so worth it..

Unpacking

IMG_0076, a photo by Blaze Bicycles on Flickr.

Just came across this pic of the blued bike taken by Pierre Chastain (Blaze Bikes). I like the perspective. Looks like it was during setup on Thurs night.

Well, I showed them!

Made the trip to Cali to show a few frames at the San Diego Custom Bicycle show last week. This was my

first show so I really didn't know what to expect, and to tell you the truth, it was a bit nerve racking to

be showing my stuff along with some of the true masters of modern framebuilding. I guess I shouldn't have

worried because the reception was great and it was awesome to meet/make friends with the big guys.

Thanks to Greg Townsend, Mauricio Rebolledo, Chuck Hoeffer (Pacific Coast Cycles), and Eric Estlund (Winter Cycles) for making my show go a lot smoother that in would have otherwise.

Special thanks to Dave Porter for sharing the space and making this whole endeavor possible.

On to the bikes:

 It was funny to see which bike caught the most attention. The internal routing on the blue 29er drew a lot of comments thanks to Chuck H. who gave me some housing to run through the frame for day 2.

 The blued fixed gear got the lion's share of attention...and I just included it on a whim figuring I'd like to fill up more than two frames worth of space. Glad I took it!

 I was very proud of the bilaminate all-road bike, and a lot of people looked right past it. Maybe it was the color?
Still, overall, it was a good show for me- I learned a lot about how to set up a display and I have some big ideas for the next one!

More detailed shots of the show frames to come, plus Mark's SS 29er and Mike's 650b rando.

Recipe for disaster?

    Step One- Take one perfectly good frame, hot off the torch. Draw some swoopy lines and think "hmmm?"

                       Step Two- Drill big holes in the headtube to fully commit...no turning back now!

Step 3- Attack the poor frame with the angle grinder, files, and torch.

Step 4- Viola!

Murphy's law for Framebuilders....

...must state that the numbers of orders you'll get is inversly proportional to the amount of time you'll have to build your own bikes. In other words, I've got to get a couple of personal frames done in time for the San Diego Custom Bicycle Show and every time I think I'll have a few days free to get them finished up, you guessed it, another order comes in! No complaints though, but it has been busy as heck around here since January. Busy is good.
I'll have some build pics of the show bikes posted tonight or tomorrow.
 Until then, here's a couple pics of a rack that went out last month. A nice little stainless number for Patrick's custom Rivendell...just enough to hold a couple of small panniers and still be unobtrusive without them on.

Forked and racked....but in a good way

Finished this up last week, a nice custom fork and rack to complete a Santa Fe dude's homebuilt frame. Sach's crown, Columbus blades and dropouts, and good ol 4130 in the rack. I like the card suit cutouts on the blade stiffeners....style points there, baby.
I also made a new mandrel for bending fork blades, I can get a nice bend in just the right spot now- I think I'll keep it!

It's a new year baby!

OK, resolution time. In the past, I've typically posted every 3rd or 4th bike here and it keeps coming back to bite me. Several times recently I've mentioned something I've built, the person asks me for a pic and all I can say is , "Ummm, didn't take any." Like the adjustable rake fork that just went to MA...doh!
So, the resolution? Try to overcome my dislike for self promotion and post everything!
Get ready, this is gonna be like a real blog!

Here's one that went to (cue Beastie Boys), Brooklyn....BROOKLYN over the holidays.

Not a mountain bike, a fixed gear specific 26"wheeled bulldozer!

Signature fork.

Handcut dropouts with stainless faces.

Oops, double pic for ya.....no charge!



I loved this bike, but just like the last few, it's too small for me to keep.