Full travel bike build for Berkeley, Calif.

This is not the first bike I have built for this customer but it is the first in quite awhile. He had a CX bike from the 1995 batch that he rode the heck out of for many years but it got stolen. This is quite different than his previous bike as it has S&S couplers and is not a bike to compete on. 

The parts are Shimano GRX 12 speed with mechanical shifting- perhaps my favorite parts group of the last 15 years. He had me build some wheels with DT-350 hubs and DT 481-R rims as he was not planning on using really big tires, although the bike will take them. He opted for a double chainring as he will be doing a lot of road riding on this one. I hope that he likes the Thomson bars that compliment the Thomson stem that he provided, along with the saddle and King bottle cages. The bike weighs 22 lb. 11 oz.

 

All road frame for a local

 Sea foam decals on a British racing green frame ? Nver been done in my experience but it works fine here- almost looks like black and white decals were applied and the base green color bled through . Of course, that isn't the case here. This frame is married to an Enve 'all-road' fork that has been painted to match-held in place with a King tapered headset . This one is going to a local professor at UCSC , a place where I never took classes but have definitely done a lot of riding, even a CX race last year. The Santa Cruz area has a history of dirt riding and cyclocross going back more than 50 years. 

NJS style track frame and fork for Chicago

Is this the last frame of 2025 ? Might be and it would be a good way to say goodbye to an eventful year in the shop. This Samsom lug set that I got from Richard Sachs about a decade ago had been sitting in a box with no hope of getting used - that is until I told a customer the story of how I saw a social media post by Richard showing that he had these fine pieces of frame building parts in stock. In a truly odd moment I told myself "I'm going to buy a set of those lugs and build an NJS track frame !!". Well, I did get the lugs but I did not build the frame- got too busy with customer bikes and at the time I already had 4-5 fixed gear bikes hanging up in my shop gathering dust. The lugs , dropouts and fork crown were expensive- the most expensive lug set I had ever bought-I felt like a total chump as money was tight back then and I really could not afford to be accumulating frame building stuff that would probably never get used......that was until this week.

I told a customer from Chicago who had travelled out here to pick up a frame he had ordered the whole story of the lugs-I don't remember how the conversation wound up going that way , but it did. He said that he was interested in having an NJS style track frame and fork built- I could not have gotten better news - the Samson lugs would find a home at last and it would not be another track frame for me that I didn't need. I se to work a couple of days ago and here is the result. I have to say, that lug set was a pleasure to work with. The set did not come with a BB shell so I had to look through my accumulation of frame building parts to find one with the correct angles to build this frame. I found a Takahashi BB that I had gotten from the estate sale of Hugh Enochs that was perfect. I needed a tube set and found one - new in the box- of Tange Prestige that I had gotten from the shop sale of Ed Litton who had gotten the frame from Bruce Gordon......that means that no less than three deceased frame builders had a part in the creation of this frame and fork. The fork blades are Columbus PS- also gotten from the shop of Ed Litton. Ironically, I got more Samson dropouts and lugs from that estate as well.......but not this cool fork crown. 

I don't normally use steel plugs on the seat stays of my frames but I did a little research and found that many NJS frames are built this way so I went for authenticity . The materials didn't put up much of a fight and in a couple of days I have this- my second lugged frame of the year and maybe fifth track frame of 2025- big year for the fixies. 

 

Here's a photo of the tubes and lugs fitted but not yet brazed. I pinned the seat tube at the BB shell- a nod to the man who sold me the lugs. I used 50N silver for much of the frame but used bronze for the steerer tube and nickel silver for the seat stay-seat lug junction. 

According to all the things I use to check alignment and sizing, this one looks good . Looking forward to seeing it painted and getting a ride report from the owner. I might do a little bit of sanding around the lugs but it really doesn't need it- I would only be doing that to make myself happy-nobody would see what I had done once the paint was on- kind of pointless but then, it's frame building- lots of pointless stuff in my world.....and that's the point, pretty much. 

Fully built steel gravel bike for sale

I don't often have extra bikes for sale but I have this one- just built it up yesterday. It has Shimano carbon wheels, a Praxis carbon crankset , king headset, GRX-105 mechanical groupset with Zeno cable disc brakes. It's a great bike for someone who likes to have a bike that is easy to service. Here's the geometry:

Seat tube c/t/c ........454

Top tube virtual.......500

frame reach ..........336

Frame stack.........607

BB drop................75

chain stay ............430

You can put big tires on this one - 700x47 no problem. The bike is at the shop so get in touch if you want to check it out. 

 

Single speed 29er for Utah

A world class athlete ordered this for his father- what a nice gift ! This one is mostly US steel- Velospec and NOS True Temper with  Dedacciai chainstays and my custom Tange wishbone seat stays. The rocker dropouts as what makes it a single speed but a different insert with a derailleur hanger is available if the rider wants to go geared. It's almost like having two bikes. This is the second one like this that I have built in the last week. I know there's a few more on the list so I can say that this has been a popular platform in 2025.

 

All steel "Travel gravel" frame and fork

 This one is going to the east bay. The owner's brother has one on order as well and I'll put up photos of that one soon. The S&S couplers will come in handy as this rider will be doing a lot of overseas travel and having the bike in a smaller travel case will make for an easier time in airports and train stations- not to mention that a smaller rental car would be usable than with a full sized bike box. This one has all the rack and fender bosses along with fittings on the fork for bottle cages or a variety of racks. this one will be set up with mechanical shifting.

Steel gravel frame for San Fransisco, Calif.

Yes, this week there are two frames from the painter that are the same color- they are different spec, though. This one is a gravel frame that can take 700x45 tires and is for a shorter rider. The frame has rear rack mounts- never a bad idea if there's some touring or commuting in the bikes future. 

 

Green on green all road frame in steel

 This one is going to a local college professor. He wanted a level top tube and room for 700x38 road tires as this one will see mostly road use.The frame is UDH equipped and would be ready to pick up except for I'm still waiting for a King headset that I was a little late ordering - my fault, not Kings. That said, this one with the British racing green with seafoam green decals should be ready to pick up before X-Mas. 

Fillet brazed all-road frame with crowned steel fork

When was the last time I made something like this ? About three years ago. I spent the years from 1984 to 1991 building brazed frames - lots of them , both road and MTB, even a few CX frames. After 1991 I went mostly to tig welding and seldom looked back. This one is a look back in a way but it also has current specs like thru-axles and flat mount disc brake fittings. It's not particularly heavy as it has a few lighter Columbus 'Life' tubes in the rear triangle. It should provide and nice lively feel- it isn't super long or laid back-it's almost stage race geometry-good for bad roads. There was a lot of elbow grease in this one- made me wonder how I coped with all the finish work back in the day..........

 

Boost 29er single speed with rocjer dropouts

This tall rider asked for a pretty classic rendition of the single speed 29er, one that I had previously built for the Chris King guest house show back a few years ago. This one has dropper routing and three bottle mounts. Other than that , it's a pretty basic build. It has a big 42 mm Velospec heat treated down tube and a NOS True Temper bi-oval top tube along with Dedacciai chain stays and the special RL Tange wishbone seat stays. All of the other hardware except the zip-tie guides comes from Paragon machine works. There was no skimping on the materials on this one- it's all the very best for the application. I hope the owner likes the ride.
 

The son of Schnoz ?

 This customer ordered a frame in 2019- might have been a Schnozola .....hard for me to remember. Later he cancelled the order , or really just had me put him on the 'on hold' list. My memory of the whole chain of events is fuzzy except for what happened this year- he got in touch with an order wish list and told me to go ahead and build the frame. Sadly, Bruce Gordon, the other half of our Schnozola venture passed away so there would be no more of those bikes. I did , however have a few headbadges left and this customer requested one so that is what you see on this unusual frame and fork. 

The brakes are post mount- something I usually only do on MTB frames. Also, the front axle is 110x15 mm.....another MTB feature. These specifications are meant to allow the customer to use parts that he already has- a good was to economize . I hope that he likes what I built for him as it is definitely in the spirit of those 7 frames that Bruce and I built together.

All-Road frame and fork for Chicago

There seems to be a new favorite type of bike out there in the cycling world- the road bike that can take 700x38 tires. Here's the latest one to roll out of the shop. It has pretty much the Ultimundo tube set but is mated to the Enve "All-Road " fork that has a taller axle-to-crown measurement that allows tires in the range of 35-38 to be fitted. There's a lot to gain in terms of comfort and flexibility and little to lose in terms of rolling resistance. If I make myself a new road bike it is likely to be one very much like this one.

 

Single speed CX frame for a local

This one will take and EBB, likely from Squid or Wheels, Mfg.  The  Enve G series fork was paint matched nicely- the head tube takes an integrated headset, something normally seen on my aluminum bikes but in this case it is on a steel frame. 
 

Small steel gravel frame with painted to match fork

Everybody is getting their forks painted now. This frame is for a 5'1" local rider. I built the frame stout so that it can handle decades of use but I also used smaller diameter tubes that more suite a frame of this size. 
 

Ultimundo disc for San Fransisco

Yes, I do make this model for disc brakes even though the version on my website has rim brakes. Times have changed and wireless shifting and flat mount disc brakes are in. I still have about 10 of these True Temper S-3 round top tubes in stock. After that I think I'll have to switch to Platinum tubes which are a bit heavier. I have not weighed this frame yet but it is probably right at 4 lbs.