Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Steel Di II disc brake road frame

 This is a first for me , at least in one way-this frame is built for a flat mount disc caliper, one I haven't even seen yet. The customer for this frame will be doing tech demo's for Shimano and the bike will have the new Dura Ace Di II disc group.
 Most likely there will be a tapered Enve road-disc fork on it. The frame is just a hair under 4 lbs. making it one of the lighter steel disc brake frames I have ever built.
If the owner winds up not liking it that won't be a problem......it's my size !

Monday, June 19, 2017

Full build for sale-Gravel bike in steel

 Every once in awhile I have an extra frame and parts laying around so I was able to put together a really nice build for someone who wants a deal. The frame is my Tig s.l. big tire CX/Gravel rig with a Whiskey carbon fork. The bike has Sram CX-1 Force drivetrain with Red levers. The wheels are Easton EA-70 and the tires are 700x40 WTB Nanos set up tubeless. The top tube is 525 and the seat tube is 440 c/t/c. The head tube is 115 so this bike would be good for a 5'5" rider. The bars are 40 cm and the stem is 90. The frame also has rack mounts so it would make a good adventure bike.
 This one is in the team color with gold bits, just like our race bikes. Call me at the shop at 831-429-8010 if you are interested. I'm asking $ 2,800. This bike would sell for $ 4,400 if you ordered it today.

Saturday, June 17, 2017

Visit to Bruce Gordon cycles

Here's where Bruce Gordon has been building bicycle frames, forks, stems, racks, toe clips......many things and all done at the highest level of quality ever seen in the craft.
 This is the lunch table supported by a number of old dead frames-a number of them are Bridgestones....very popular with old MTB enthusiasts but prone to breaking. They make for a pretty interesting and solid table.
 Here's one view of the shop space with a large work table and some of the tooling.
 Here are some of the machines, a vertical and horizontal mill , along with the fork jig.
 The two Schnozola frames that Bruce powdercoated. I drove up to Petaluma to pick these up along with some of the build parts that Bruce ordered for the two bikes.
 Upstairs frame storage. I thought that I had a lot of bikes and frames in my shop- Bruce's collection dwarfs my 30+ years of accumulation.
 One of Bruce's many distinctive awards. This is the fabled " Golden toilet seat" from Interbike about 20-odd years ago. You had to be someone special to get one of these.
 Here's the man in his office getting the invoicing in order .
 Bruce has every bike that he built for himself since the very beginning and he has them on display in the upstairs showroom. Some of these bikes were ones that he rode and some were special projects for the bike shows. They are all of them distinctive and stylish without being overly ornate.
 Here's Bruce's very first frame built in 1974. This one looks like it got ridden a ton. I can't say that about my first frame as it was not that much fun to ride.
 Here's some of the collection with each bike and frame with a card stating the year of manufatcure.
 Here are more of the displayed bikes from the personal collection.
 Here's one in my size.....if only I had the $ 7,800 for it. There are a lot of carbon bikes from China that cost more than this. The workmanship is evident in the fork and stem as well as the frame. It is breathtakingly  beautiful. Very few people on the planet have created bikes like this and none that have this aesthetic harmony, at least to my view.
Most people do not know this but Bruce has two victories in bowling tournaments as these trophies attest to. Man of many talents !

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

Cyclocross frame for Richmond, Va.

 This is yet another big-tire version in steel going out the door. I have built eleven of this particular model so far this year, pretty much on a pace to break twenty. This is a popular platform in a popular color, RAL-6019 the team color.
 The fork is painted to match -it is an Enve this time with a 12 mm thru-axle.
Also, this one is set up for Di II. all the cool stuff and it's steel.