Road + for a local

Road plus ?  What the h#$%^ is that, you might ask. This frame fills the space between a straight road frame and a CX or gravel frame. The idea is to build something short and quick like a road bike but give it room for the next size larger tire for bad roads and the occasional dirt short cut.

The max tire the bike will take is about 700x35. This sounds like a CX frame but the chain stay is only 415 mm long, 10-15 mm shorter than a typical CX frame so there mon't be room for mud or debris. This frame is made for fair weather riding or for bad weather riding on pavement .

This steel frame weighs 4 lb. 7 oz. and was built for a 6'1" rider.
 

WCCX frame going to Philadelphia, Pa.

One of our riders won her age group in the nationals last year so she gets a second frame on the house. That has been my team policy for some time now. 

She is a tiny rider but fearless and fast. Hopefully she will be back at the nationals now and she will have two identical bikes to ride the 2024 season with. I made this one just a bit lighter than the last one so it really isn't completely identical. 

 

7005 CX/Gravel for Evanston, Il.

This rider needs this one for Unbound Gravel so I hope that he will get it in time to get it assembled and ready for the event.

Yellow powdercoat and pink decals were not a combo I have ever seen in my shop but I have to admit- it has a pretty cool look. It's funny what a customer will come up with - some times its a head scratcher but some times like this its a winner.....at least I think so. 

 

Steel 29er for bay area rider

Holy top tube....this one is super long. The customer gave me fit numbers and I was shocked but I built it and I hope that the owner is happy with it. 

The frame has a bent seat tube to allow for a shorter rear end. I have avoided using tubes like this in the past as I could not find ones that I felt were good but now in 2024 there's a lot of good ones to choose from. This one is Dedacciai and they offer several radius bends .

 

Steel 29er going to Pacific NW

It is 29er week here at Rock Lobster cycles. This is different than the last one as it has dropouts for a QR rear hub. This was an unusual request but the customer has some really high-end wheels and did not want them to go to waste .

Other than the rear axle spec, this is typical of what I am building for a steel 29er these days. Some have wishbone seat stays, some don't as in the case of what you see here. This one is tall for a 6'5" rider. I hope that he likes the way it handles.

 

29er in steel going to Florida

This year of 2024 is the year of the MTB frame for me. I don't think I have had this many on the list ina decade or two. This one is about as light as I could make it without sacrificing longevity. The frame weighs 5 lb.3 oz. Most of them are close to 6 lbs. 

The frame does not have the wishbone seat stay that is typical to what I build and have been building since the late '80's. The customer likes the look and the lighter weight of the S-Bend 19 mm seat stays so that is what I used.

The next frame on the list will be much the same and I probably have another 6-8 to build on the list. Certainly not as numerous as the CX and gravel frames but a significant percentage of my workload this year.
 

Here's yer 650 single speed

Just how I like it.......med. size 2.35 tires and fully rigid setup. Its not mine but I have had thoughts of building something like this for myself. I do have around 35 bikes so maybe I'm not really in need and I do have a perfectly good 26" wheel single speed-as a matter of fact it was a cover bike on Mountain Bike action about 25 years ago . Still, I would probably be a little happier with bigger wheels. 

Anyway, this one is going to a bay area customer who wanted a good basic XT build - no carbon, no frilly fancy stuff....just the stuff that performs and keeps performing, The only boutique part is the Boone Technologies rear single speed micro-drive cog and the King headset. This bike is silent.

 

WCCX team frame for RL team veteran

This rider has been on the podium at numerous nationals and has raced the world cup circuit in Europe.

Every season he hints at retirement but he keeps coming back. As long as he wants to race he will have frames like this - he gives me great input on how my designs are doing on the toughest CX courses.

 

7005 SL road frame for junior team member

his frame is going to a very talented rider on the team. The frame is just about 3 lbs. and will sport some King built Enve wheels and Ultegra Di II. 

 

7005 road frame going to Bermuda

Yes, another one. This one has a steepish 75 degree seat angle and is going to sport Shimano Di II. I have not drilled the port holes yet.

This customer is very specific about the features and numbers on the frame and I hope that I have hit them as precisely as he wanted.

 

One-off lugged frame for a bay area rider

This customer provided nearly all the materials for this one and they all came from Richard Sachs. The tube set is the mega-oversize Pego-Ritchie Columbus set. I have not worked with this kit before but tube fit was good. As usual with lugs, the angles of the frame and some of the specs were dictated by the lug castings so a few compromises had to be made to the design. There's only so far you can tweak a lug before things get ugly.

After the frame was built I was a bit worried about overlap but once the bike was all built it turned out that the front center was totally fine. The BB height is a tad higher than I usually shoot for but overall, the bike rides nicely. The only departure from the kit was the Tange wishbone seat stay - this was something the customer asked for- a nod to Strawberry cycles Andy Newlands work. I think it is a great way to build a bike that has the elements of three notable builders , but built by a fourth -me- who is just a guy in a shed .

I did a few practice lugged experiments before building this one and I'm glad I did. I did not realize how rusty I was with lugged construction. Glad I got all the cobwebs out before building this one. It is something I can be pretty happy with. Paint was deftly done by Joe's bicycle painting in Watsonville, Calif. The fork is an Enve that has been painted to match and the customer himself did the build. He's a good mechanic-even brought all his own tools. 

 

CX frame with a fade going to So-Cal.

The fork looks big- that's because it is the Enve 'Adventure' fork with all the fittings for bottles,etc. 

I think there's some bike packing in the future for this rig. It is set up with rack mounts and mechanical shift routing for a 2X setup. 

 

Steel CX/All-road/big tire frame and fork

This one will be headed north. It also has a painted to match stem that did not make it into the photo.

This steel fork has a tapered steerer from Engin- another builder . This is one of the nicest pieces of frame building material I have seen. When the customer told me what it cost , I was stunned.....until I saw the work. You really do get what you pay for. 

 

7005 CX frame with Enve fork for Morgan Hill, Calif.

This one will get picked up this week as the customer only lives about an hour away by car.

He has a road frame of the same color so hopefully he won't mistake one for the other.....I have done that and jumped onto my CX bike only to realize that I had my road shoes on........

The frame will sport a King 'Dropset-3" in silver to match the seat collar and der. hanger.
 

WCCX frame with Enve Adventure fork going to NYC

Yes, this one is going to do non-CX duties as well. The fork has all the mounts for bottle cages and/or racks.

The bike will be outfitted with Shimano Di II- should be a fun riding bike for a variety of conditions.

 

WCCX frame going to Washington, DC

This rider already has a single speed from me so having a second geared bike will probably be nice when the weather gets rainy. This color is the favorite of one of my long time SF customers so it will be nice to have another bike the same color on the other side ofthe country.

The Enve G-series fork has been painted to match.

 

Steel 650 single speed boost frame and fork

The customer wanted a dedicated single speed so I built this one with rocker dropouts to keep it stylish and functional with east chain tension adjustment. The owner wanted a rigid fork and has no intention of ever using a shock fork. 

Even though it is steel it is pretty light. The owner said that he is unlikely to really beat on it and will ride it on dirt roads near where he lives. I made the geometry pretty current so if he ever does decide to ride the steep downhills the bike should feel good.

This one will be built up this week with Shimano XT components and 2.35 tires.