Friday, February 28, 2014

Mtn. frame for Pittsburgh

 Paragon 'rocker' dropouts and the new graphics are the most noticeable features on this stout frame.
 The brake routing for the rear is on the downtube and chainstay-not something I do often but needed with the rocker brake caliper placement.
I was told that a long travel fork will  be on this bike so it's kind of a free-ride hardtail/jump bike for a tall rider. The gearing will be a 1x11 setup, very popular these days.

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Travel/CX frame in steel with tapered head tube

This has basic simple features.... sometimes that is the best plan-keep the build clean and uncluttered.
 This may be a CX frame but it has road cable routing, a request from the customer and a good idea on a coupled frame. This makes for simpler dis-assembly and less rattling of cable connectors on bumpy roads.
This frame should handle 700x35 tires with a bit of room to spare as I put small indents on the chainstays.

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Big-tire CX/touring/commuter

700x43 Bruce Gordon rock 'n road tires will it into this steel frame and fork with room for fenders. I used a pretty wide fork crown to get the cantilever bosses at the correct spacing and to not crowd the tire. 
 There's even 'low rider' rack bosses on the fork, something I seldom get requests for these days. This frame has the full touring braze-on setup but will not be a fulltime dedicated tourer. I was told that the bike would see gravel duty as well as commuting when not being used on a tour.
The S&S couplers indicate that there's a good chance this bike will go to some far away places,

Thursday, February 20, 2014

650 MTN frame for Mass.

 This frame was built for a 5'3" rider . I had a very difficult time getting the tire room, standover and geometry or the 100 mm fork to all come together. This is the result of much brain work and some really intense hours at the shop.
 Every bit of hardware on this frame is from Paragon Machine works here in Calif. The tubeset is Columbus Zona O.S. with the exception of the seat tube which is Reynolds 725. Columbus did not have a seat tube short enough to use on this small frame-I would have cut off all the lower butting and made a frame with a much shorter lifespan.
No wishbone seatstay here.....I had to re-bend the seat stays to fit around the 650x2.5 tire and fit on the back o the seat tube. This is something that I can only do because of lots of years working with this stuff. 15 years ago I would not have been able to pull off a build like this.

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Single speed 29er for So. Carolina

 This fully rigid rim-brake rig is about as basic as it gets-no braze-ons for water bottles, rim brakes and a non-suspension corrected rigid fork. This would be a pefrect bike for the trails around here but the frame and fork will be on the other side of the country in a few weeks.
 The fork has a straight 1 1/8" steerer and the BB shell is a normal 73 mm threaded unit. There's no trendy cutting edge stuff on this frame-even the tubeset is smaller diameter , more like what I would have used 20 years ago. Since the bike will be on typical east coast technical rooty-twisty trails I gave it a more upright and nimble geometry than the 29er formula I have been using for higher speed riding like we have here.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

big-tire road bike for Paul Component 'medium racer' braze-on brakeset

This isn't the really big tire version but it will take 700x28 tires with fenders. The customer even requested a custom stem with a cable guide...... a real throwback to the late '80's when MTB's had cantilevers. V-brakes and ultimately disc brakes killed the need for the guides until lately-cyclocross and these unique center-pull road brakes have created a need on this bike.
This is not a CX frame but a real road frame and fork-it will be fun on the dirt but it will most likely see mostly pavement with some gravel roads, really popular these days.

Belt-drive single speed CX frame for disc brakes

 I'll have one with everything on it......almost. This frame has sliders, a belt splitter, disc brake setup, P-30 BB shell and a 44 mm ID head tube for a tapered steerer fork. Is it light ? Not really, but set up single speed the bike should not be heavy.
 I put some solid tubes in this frame to hold up to commuting and lots of trail miles. This would be a really nice rig for the single track uphill from my shop at U.C.S.C. upper campus.

Saturday, February 8, 2014

650 MTB frame with through-axle or PA.

 With a 150 mm travel fork fitted , this frame should be great for riding where there's some airing out to be done. The seat tube is a 35 mm with a step-down collar from Solid Bikes. The result is a 30.9 mm bore that will accept this customer's dropper post. The cable guides on the top o the top tube are or the dropper post control cable.
 The bike will have a 1x11 setup-no front derailleur. This setup is getting very popular as the simple setup is good for eliminating some of the chain slap as well as a couple of components.
 The rocker dropouts will allow some chain tensioning for internal geared or single speed setups.