Thursday, November 28, 2013

26" wheel single speed for local

 The bike that was bred on the trails of the upper campus of U.C.S.C. back in 1987 is here in its latest incarnation-disc brakes and a tapered steerer rigid fork.
The frame has my own design adjustable disctab on the the rear so that the Paul's 'swoopy' dorpouts can be used. This frame also has an extra stout 38 mm True temper OX downtube to keep it from crumpling in a big endo on the steeper trails and dropoffs on certain trails that I for one no longer ride on.......

Sunday, November 24, 2013

CX bike from the first official batch 1990

 I'm pretty sure it was 1990 or maybe 1989 that I built a run of 8 cyclocross frames and forks-this was the first significant batch of CX frames for me. I did several for a bike shop team in 1986 but these are the first that were available for sale to the general public.
The frames were fillet brazed ( unfiled !)from Tange # 2 cro-mo steel although a couple of them were custom ordered in Columbus s.p. Seven of the eight were built for a now defunct shop called 'Cyclecraft' in Cupertino, Calif. The # eight frame I built for myself. This one in the photo still has it's original blue paint.The owner brought it by last month and I have built a stem for this bike with unfiled fillets, justlike the original would have had. It wasn't until 1992 that I started building tig welded CX frames.

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Two S-3 bikes built up

 Who says that steel bikes can't be light ? Both of these bikes are 17 lbs. built up. Throw some carbon wheels on and you would be even lighter.......this was not possible back when i started building frames. If you had a bike that was less than 21 lbs. you were a hero.

Friday, November 22, 2013

Columbus steel road frame for Tennessee

 The rider of this frame has long legs and a short torso-hence the longer head tube. Hopefully, this cockpit will allow the use of a road stem flipped down with no spacers. The tubeset is almost entirely Columbus 'Life' and the frame is well below 4 lbs.
 Yes, those are stainless steel investment cast dropouts. Am I softening my stand on stainless ? In this case, yes. I think that there is some stainless hardware for framebuilding that works pretty well. I'll probably never build a frame with a stainless BB shell or head tube but dropouts are a practical and sensible use of stainless steel.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Gravel bike for Texas

 This 4 lb. 6 oz. steel frame is set up for PF-30 BB and a tapered fork. It will also take a rear rack for commuting.
 The larger tubes should be good for a solid feel-the big tires will soften the ride.
The bike will have cantilever brakes-this rider didn't go for disc brakes like a lot of folks these days. Let's here it for tradition !

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

26" wheel travel frame and fork for Wi.

 Yes, this is for 26", not 650. The rider is just over 5'  so this is a way to make a small frame with relatively standard geometry. I tried to link the points of the S&S couplers with the head tube collars and the fork crown....this makes for a little more deluxe look on a tig welded frame. I even had some smaller down tube logos to fit the scale of the frame and not totally dominate the look.
This bike will see lots of gravel roads up in Wisconsin and elsewhere in the great lakes region. The rider has done numerous endurance rides and this will be the new bike of choice for those events in the future , not to mention the occasional trip overseas.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Restoration project: 1971 Colnago Super

 This 59 cm relic has been hanging above my bench for about 16 years. I finally got it repainted and pooked through all of my parts to return it to as close as original as I could. Here is the result of my labors. I have added incentive to build it up as I have a construction project at my house that is going over budget-thank you planning dept. of the city of Santa Cruz .......so now I'll be bringing it to the San Fransisco bike swap along with some other choice bikes and parts to sell. If you are in the area come check out the booth on Saturday. This bike looks much better in person than in these photos-it rides noiselessly and goes dead straight with no hands. I'm glad it is too big for me so I won't want to keep it.


26" wheel MTB for commuting/touring

Yes, I still build these, just like I have since 1984. Other than the disc brakes, this frame is very much like what I was building circa 1992, except for about 21 years of welding practice and about 1,000 frames more experience. I really enjoyed making this frame-a non-suspension steel 26" wheel mountain bike that will be great loaded down on the highway as well as on the Santa Cruz mountains singletrack-the place where this geometry was born nearly thirty years ago.
 I use smaller profile tubing to mimic the tubesets of 20 years ago and provide a supple ride for the light rider.
The frame and fork have braze ons for full touring racks-something you don't see on mountain bikes any more.

Disc brake CX frame for Bakersfield, Calif.

 I call this one the 'Tux'. The black and off-white combo really gives this frame a formal look.....might be something to ride to the academy awards as long as you can dodge all the limos. This frame will be paired up with a carbon disc fork and see varied duties as a commuter, gravel and CX bike. The tubeset is pretty stout and the geometry stable so it should be a reliable-if a bit fancy-ride. The cable routing is my standard road style rather than CX race.
 The painter did a really excellent job masking off the little stripes at the end of the panels. I'm sure that other folks will want this treatment as it looks great without being too over-the-top. Maybe the silver headbadge is a bit fancy but this frame in spite of its appearance is a work horse.

Friday, November 1, 2013

35th anniversary lugged frame for AZ. rider

 With the exception of the PF-30 BB shell , this is a lugged frame from me-the first in a few years. I spent some serious time thinning the lugs and trying to get an attractive profile on this oversize lugset. In the past I have gone into projects like this with great energy only to be completely burnt out at the end and wind up  dissatisfied-not so with this one. I bought new files and really took the time to do it right and had an enjoyable time building this frame. Don't get me wrong, it was a lot of work and concentration but I really enjoyed it.
The lugs are from Nova, the tubing is True Temper  and the headbadge is sterling silver from Jen Green.
 The carbon fork is and enve-hard to tell with the paint. The customer specified King BB and Headset in colors to compliment the paint. I think it worked out pretty well. The paintwork was done by Allan Neymark here in Santa Cruz. This paint job was a lot of work and took longer than building the frame !
The dropouts are Henry James-I don't ofetn use these but I felt that they would really work well on a frame like this.
The scalloped stay ends  are a nod to the style I used on many of my early lugged frames.
These are positively the fanciest bottle bosses that money can buy-its a shame that they will be covered by a bottle and cage.