Old frame gets a new life

 This is Rock Lobster MTB frame # 0128. I think it is from 1991. It started its life as a fully rigid bike and has been in use for most of the last 27 years. Now it will have a new front end paired with a Fox fork and a disc brake on the rear. Bike collectors might be angry to see an older bike get re-purposed like this but the owner wants to keep riding it and these changes will make the bike much more useful to him.

While the bike will have a modern fork and brake set, the frame will retain the old look with bronze fillet brazed joints. The tubes are larger diameter but from a distance the frame will still look like it did before the work was done. This is an old customer and this kind of re-do is something I normally do not take on. You might be looking at the last one right here.

Partly traditional steel road frame and fork for Kansas

 This customer wanted something a bit off the beaten path-a frame with modern welded construction but with traditional diameter steel tubes and a 1" threaded fork. This frame looks very much like something I would have built about 25 years ago. I even put on the Bocama head tube collars from that time period- you can still buy them.

 The straight blade crowned fork was my go-to style in the early to mid '90's. The new aspects of the frame are the s-bend stays and the fact that the frame is only 3 lb. 13 oz. , quite a bit lighter than what I was building in the '90's.

Having a pump peg, a chain hanger and a front der. braze-on , this frame has most of the things I can put on a bike other that rack and/or fender mounts. I used to have a bike like this in about 1998 made from Reynolds 853. This frame is mostly Columbus with a NOS Tange head tube that I machined down to the same thickness as a Columbus SL head tube. The brake bridge is one I used a lot in the '90's- I called it the 'star wars' brake bridge as it kind of vaguely looked like one of the small spacecraft in the film.This was a real trip down memory lane, back to the time I was building frames in a metal shed on Gross rd. , about 6 miles from where I am now.

Team CX frame

 Since this frame will be built up with a Sram CX-1 group it is set up post-mount for the brakes.

 I also have been building quite a few flat-mount frames for Shimano . Some of our team bikes will be sporting the Paul's Klamper mechanical brakes and I will have those in photos in the upcoming weeks.One of the flat mount bikes just got built and it tipped the scales at 17 3/4 lbs. with tubelesss clinchers- that's lighter than my bike by over 2 lbs. !

With the season only a week away from starting, this is pretty much one of the last couple of team bikes to be delivered.

CX race frame to Seattle

This customer is going big- the frame you see is nearly identical to the frame I built for the same customer last year. Two bikes means having a fresh one in the pit- hopefully someone working there to hand off the bike and wash the muddy one when it comes in. CX season is almost here !

Steel gravel frame for a local

Every once in awhile I get to ride with this guy. I'm honored that he chose me to build his next bike. This one is steel with a flat mount matched to a Whiskey CX fork- the newest one with the flat mount as well. Most likely this bike will get set up with Shimano- the stuff that always works.

New shop

In case you were wondering, yes- I did move the shop, although it is only a block from the old location. The new shop is at 719 Swift st. # 10 in a much newer building. I am sharing the space with a woodworker. Our respective spaces are well defined and my space is in the back. I have an open floor plan, something I have not had in more than two decades. The shop phone is out at the moment so email or my cell (831) 334-5874 would be the way to get in touch with me.

CX/ Gravel frame for S.F.

 Nice fade on this one- maybe one of the nicest fades I have seen on one of my frames in many years. This paint was courtesy of Allan Neymark. He told me over the phone that it was 'beautiful' - he's a guy who usually never gets excited about his own work. He has a reason to be proud of this one.

 The Whiskey fork is painted to match. The flat mount in the rear coupled with the post mount in the front is by design. This frame is getting Paul Component 'Klamper' mechanical disc brakes that fit either style with the proper adaptor.

The King headset is the NTS taper that is on most of my steel frames.