Brownie gets a new road frame

 My friend Mark Brown decided to retire his 2003 Al Carbon' road frame and go steel.

This is pretty much an 'Ultimundo' without the fork painted to match. All the other features are there, the internal brake cable , the headbadge and the S-3/ Columbus life tubing mix. The frame is 3 lb. 10 oz. and should build up to a fairly light bike.

Mel's bike

I have a friend here in Santa Cruz who I have been riding with since the early '80's. He got his first frame from me in 1989, a Columbus  SLX lugged road racing frame. Since then I have built him a mountain bike and another more modern road frame. I have not built a frame for him since 2006.

 This is something that he has been talking about for a couple of years- a mixed terrain bike that is light and has a wide range of gears and disc brakes. This is an aluminum frame with a carbon Enve fork joined by a Cane Creek 110 headset. The cockpit is Zipp service course.The saddle and tape are from Selle Anatomica. The drive train is a mix of Shimano with Dura Ace hydraulic levers mated to R-785 calipers.

The wheels are ones I built with rims from Light Bicycle and Industry 9 hubs. This is a really fast wheel set at a decent price. The XTR rear der. is made compatible with the Dura Ace shifters by the addition of a Wolftooth 'Tanpan' pulley devise. Lots went into this bike for sure. Mel just turned 70 yesterday-don't think that he's not going to shred on this thing today.