You won't be able to miss this one....

 Neon paint and gold decals.....this one will be perfect for 'Cross-Vegas if they have a single speed race.

This one has all the newer stuff....tapered steerer setup, sliding dropouts with a post mount disc setup and BB-30.

29er for a sailor

 This bike will see the world, even though it isn't joining the Navy. The owner of this frame is a sailboat racer and travels all over the planet. With luck, this frame will be along for some of the travels.

 The slider dropouts are there because the bike will be built up single speed in the beginning but have the option to go fully geared. The 44 MM headtube will house a tapered steerer Fox Talas fork.

Single speed steel 29er for Arizona

 Yes, those are rack braze-ons on the wishbone and the dropouts. AZ people are pretty hardcore when they ride bikes. Single speed touring in the dirt is pretty impressive.

This bike will have to hold up in some of the more punishing conditions in the country. I learned a long time ago that dainty bikes and bike parts don't last long here.

An oldie comes back to the shop.

 I built this fillet brazed 650 road bike for a friend about 20 years ago. It is a signature edition of the 'Langostino"-that's what I called the smaller wheeled road frames for a couple of years. The internal brake cable and singular seat collar are touches that I did back then.

 As the sticker says, the frame really is made of Columbus EL OS tubing, some of the earliest oversize Nivachrom tubes. I think I built this one in my garage shop that I had from 1982-1992.

 The King headset is old enough that it does not have the logo on the cups.

I was putting a lot of Kestrel forks on my bikes back then. The Kestrel was the first really popular carbon fork.

650 MTB for So-Cal.

 I hope you like this one....I like it-it came out pretty nice. This is going to Santa Clarita to a guy who will be replacing a 17 year old MTB. It is his first custom frame ....I really hope he likes it.

 I put on the classic wavy gussetts and the cable guides are underneath, out of the way.

I guess you could slap on some 26" wheels if you wanted to but it will be best as a 650B bike.

Cyclocross frame and fork for Sacramento

 This is kind of a general purpose version of the Team Euro steel cross frame and fork. It has fittings for fenders and is not intended for racing-hence the unusual beneath-the-top tube cable guides.

 The guide placement was a customer request and is similar to the current style on MTB frames.

 The tubes are a mix of True Temper OX and Columbus. There's lots of tire room in the back.

The fork is pretty much the standard issue at Rock Lobster.....stout but still a 'cross fork and not an MTB fork.

Expidition style touring frame and fork

 This is not a dainty frame and will be ridden on some lengthy excursions. The frame is a mix of Reynolds 853 and Columbus. The stout tubing will be great for carrying full touring loads on just about any type of road surface.

The front and rear disc brakes will make stopping with a full load a lot easier.

Step-through 26" wheel townie and rider

 I got this one built finally-an interesting build. The drive train is mostly Ultegra with a CX-70 crank and fr. der. so I had to get some flat-bar road shifters. These shifters look just like the MTB versions but they have a leverage ratio that matches the road der's-it is not quite the same. Shimano was nice enough to dig up a set of these rare items for this little bike. The V-brakes are mated to some XT levers that have a reach adjustment good for small hands. The whole bike is surprisingly light and moves along with little effort , largely due to the handbuilt wheels with Mavic 717 rims. The Michelin city tires have reflective sidewalls and are really durable-I have gotten about 5 years out of mine on my town bike !

 Here's Mary, the owner of the bike picking it up-the day before 'Bike to work day'. Yes, that is a kickstand on the bike......can't have a town bike without one !

Pajaro Valley high school talk

 Every once in awhile i get asked to do a talk at a school or host students in my shop. This is my first time at this school but the instructor is a former employee and friend, Kirk Bernhard. The class is bike maintenance.

 There's lots of stuff on the walls including the 2006 edition of out HRS/ Rock Lobster team jersey

This guy with the low rider bike kind of stole my thunder.....I thought that I had the coolest bike on campus.

Here's both of our bikes.....a kind of mini bike show outside the classroom.

The batch is done !

 Two weeks and two days, seven frames-all different .....that's custom for you.

 This is a road frame for a tapered steerer fork. It is almost all NOS Easton 7005 tubing-2 lbs. 9 oz.

 This is a single speed 29er that can fit some fairly large tires. This will be bound for the Sierra foothills.

Tom's ride , 2012

 This ride was routed and started by the late Tom Cuthbertson about 23 years ago and some of his freinds have kept the tradition of the annual ride going, usually around the first week of May ,close to Tom's birthday . This is the start of the ride at around 8:45 a.m. at Jolon rd. just north of King City, Calif.

 At the top of the climb, just me and Dumpstervaagen. Most folks chose to stop on the climb for removing vests or roadside breaks but I went non-stop just to see if I could do it.....it was not easy. This is the first turn to get into Hunter Liggett military base.

 After a long downhill and some valley riding we passed through a fake 'checkpoint' and a model of a village not unlike something one might find in Iraq or Afganistan.......or Pakistan for that matter.

 After the checkpoint we had a paved climb, not as severe as the first that got us to this nice river valley.

 There were some really interesting rock formations along the desolate road.

 After a stream crossing we got back onto the dirt and rode along a creek and eventually came to Tom's swimming spot, about 1/2 way into the total mileage of the ride.

 After the swimming spot we went steadily up a side-hill double track dirt climb that had some amazing yuccas and wildflowers.

 This is the third climb of the ride and the most dramatic , traversing with many switchbacks over a ridge and down into Arroyo Seco.

 Here's the group at the summit , having some food and removing a few ticks. There are all sorts of creatures here that you won't find at home.

 Right before the final descent I shot this photo of a bush with some pale blue flowers...too bad they got bleached out in the shot. This was taken right before the incredibly long and amazing downhill run.

 At the bottom of the dirt descent there's a campground where one can refill bottles and air up the tires as needed. This was the end of the dirt and the start of 28 windy paved miles back to the cars.

 Here's the last food stop and the only actual store on the ride, about 20 miles from the finish. It's an odd place with more souvenirs than actual foodstuffs for sale-I managed to find some 'pop chips , edible and non-offensive.

 This is an emerging wine area with some award winning Chardonnay grapes growing right off the road , lining the valley with green vines.

Here we are at the finish in just under nine hours , supposedly fast for this ride. No matter how fast or slow the group rides  it is always about nine to ten hours long. I can't think of a better way to spend the day.