This fork is going on a Ritchey P-21..........it will not exactly be the stock item but it will dress up the bike . The Pacenti crown and cast stainless steel dropouts are fancy hardware.
A genuine mid-90's style Rock Lobster stem for a 25.4 handlebar......I don't think I have built one of these for a few years. This will go with the frame and fork for Switzerland. At least they didn't ask me to make handlebars !
These are 26x1.4" tires from Michelin. The triple crankset will come in handy for the steep hills in the San Fransisco neighborhood that this rider lives in. My guess is that the house may be up on the hill but all the shopping is at the bottom .
The disc brakes are a good way to clean up the look of the bike, solve cable routing issues on such a small frame and most importantly, provide stopping power for a bike with a load of groceries or a loaded trailer.
The shop that ordered this frame Cycleworks asked for some photos of the frame in the process of being built. Here is a quick version of the build with some important steps highlighted. First, I produce the drawing.
Second, I'll machine the head tube and weld the seat tube to the BB shell.
Third, I'll weld the head tube to the top tube. I don't always do it this way but most of the time this is the most comfortable progression for me.
Next, I'll miter and weld on the down tube.
I'll assemble the two parts into the front triangle.
Next, I'll bend, cut and fit all the stays for the rear triangle. In this case i had to build a wishbone seat stay-I always do for MTB frames.
Here's the nearly completed frame and fork. I still have to build a stem.....that will be tomorrow.
This sculpture made entirely from bicycle parts showed up at my shop while I was at NAHMBS. I contacted the usual suspects and have not found out who made it or who dropped it off. I am thinking of hanging up in front of my shop.....it's really pretty amazing.
This customer requested that I try my hand at painting on the logos rather than the standard decals. I have not done this sort of thing for a good many years....I guess if it does not make the cut it can easily be removed ! When I first started building I used to always hand paint on the name....I had no decals nor money to have them made.
This frame will have to wait for a fork to be built. I had to source dropouts from the U.K. and am waiting for their arrival. This is essentially a team tig euro with disc brakes.
The old wavy gussets are making an appearance on this frame and the Columbus rear stays came with the s-bends so I saved a little work. These seatstays are a bit larger diameter than normal to resist the twisting forces of the brake.
About half way home from work I came across about seven wild turkeys just off the main road through Grey Whale ranch. I just happened to have my camera with me so I took a coupe of shots. Too bad my camera does not have a really good zoom.......actually it has a really bad zoom. I guess that's what you get when you buy a camera at a drug store.
This guy had his feathers all spread out until I pulled the camera out.
I have seen this guy off and on at 'cross races for years. A few months ago he called me and ordered this-a steel road frame for riding the hills around Santa Cruz. Seeing as how he lives up in them the bike will come in handy. It is a mixture of True Temper OX and Columbus Nivacrome.
There's not much out of the ordinary on this bike except for a fairly steep seat tube angle. This was needed for a relatively short femur for a rider over 6'.
This might be the first thing I have sent to this southern state. It is a classic pre-suspension length unicrown fork with NOS Tange blades. The fork will be installed on an early '90's Paramount MTB. Set up for rim brakes and fenders, the only nod to semi-current tech is the threadless steerer.
I know this isn't the most exciting photo but here's the front triangle on the alignment slab. I occasionally take a photo here when I want to show this step. This is where I determine how much twist is in the frame. In this case there was about .020 which I tweaked down to .004 . Truthfully, this tiny change is hardly worth the effort but it makes me happy to get the twist as small as possible , even if it is way below the noticeable threshold for even the most sensitive rider. About once every five years I'll scrap a front end if it has too much twist......usually caused by my forgetting to have everything clamped down properly in the jig. I really triple check this step as I hate to wast time and material and in particular, my customer's waiting time. This True Temper OX steel is really tough to align so it is good to try to have conditions such that it does not need to be done more than a tiny bit, if at all.
With the bike show and a short vacation I have been unable to build much until this week. Not being in the shop and not riding is tough but the time off gave me renewed energy to launch into these two that will be going to Washington state.
Obviously, this one is getting a full carbon Dedaccai rear triangle , to be bonded in after the front triangle is powdercoated. It has been mitered and fitted so I won't have to tackle that later.
Bike # 2 is all steel and fairly light and sporty for a bike with couplers. There are mounts for a rack but I imagine that the bike will mostly be used stripped down.
Did I leave anything out ? I'm doing the buildup on this one and I'll post photos of it when it is rolling. I have to get it to the customer as it will be his daily commuter. The 11 speed belt drive setup should be really reliable and not need much attention.
The little Paragon seatstay splitter is visible here. The dropout inserts have not been installed yet.
Scott Chapin on our cyclocross team ordered this big-tire road bike....my guess is that there will be a time when he gets on this bike and rides a long ways for a really long time.
The high brake-boss position is for the Paul component 'Racer' direct mount brakes. They stop really well and have an excellent feel .
The stripes signify the recent win and podium at the cyclocross nationals in January of this year. Scott got a medal for fourth place while his team mate Aaron Bradford took home the win. Next year who knows......
Other than the seatpost and bars and pedals, this bike is stock as it was orignially built. It is here as the original seat post is prett shot and I had to ream the seat tube to fit this newer Easton post.
With the new post, tires and bars this bike will once again be hitting the trails. The frame fork and stem are the 'team issue' fillet brazed type-unfiled for the most part. The paint is classic late eighties fade/splatter. There were very few of these bikes at the time.
