what's up in Santa Cruz

Travels to two big cities

2008-05-17T17:45:00.000-07:00

Chicago's Millenium park has a seriously modern stage for musical performances.
Architects have tried to outdo each other for over a century in Chicago with the result being the grandest collection of tall buildings anywhere in the world.
The city is serious about meticulous gardens and greenspaces in spite of all the skyscrapers and concrete. This gives the city a much more open and spacious feel than other large cities.
A distant peek at the John Hancock building, shrouded in fog.

In Manhattan a bar with the swiggness advertised in gold letters.
A very old street and some ceramic work in the subway shows a little of the old New York of the 19th century.

Chrysler building and skyline of lower manhattan.

Manhattan sunrise.
Columbus circle has this gleaming globe dominating the scenerey.
Seen at Strawberry Fields, Central Park. They have not forgotten John Lennon here, just like Santa Cruz.

Graffitti in Little Italy is pretty artistic.

Wanna race 'cross

2008-05-08T21:00:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for a bike to go fast on and you are 5'9", this is it. Bike says: Ride me, race me, skid me-I don't care, I'm not paying your race entries and you are buying all of my tires" This is the fabled 'pit bike' that saw very little use last season. It's all Dure Ace and the rest is all the best. $2,400 takes her home.

Lee's frame

2008-05-07T20:07:00.001-07:00

Even working in the e.r. at a local hospital can't sway Lee from giving cyclocross a try. This is the final frame in the second spring batch. These frames will be off to the heat treater in the morning and by the time I'm back from a little r&r they will be back, too. At a tad over three lbs. this frame won't bruise your shoulder. It's still a long way to go until 'cross season but a lot of folks are getting ready early, very early comared to last year. If you are going to race you had better get you training, tires and fitness together as it looks to be a very competitive bunch of neophytes coming to a race near you.

spring batch #2 almost done

2008-05-07T07:21:00.001-07:00

One more frame and this batch of 7005 frames will be off to the heat treater. Eight frames in about eight days.......hard work but rewarding just the same. The furthest frame on the rack is a 29er for a 6'7" team rider. The frame I have to build today is a 'cross frame, the last of the litter. Even though 'cross season is four months off I have been building 'cross frames almost every week.
Panels are back in style , as this frame shows. It's a tig-welded steel frame with modern components but the customer decided to give it a classic British '70's motif. The matching fork crown is a nice touch, all the customers idea. This is an all-conditions road bike for our deteriorating Santa Cruz county roads. The 48-39 chainrings will be mated to a large rear cassette, hence the XT rear der.

on any given sunday....

2008-05-04T14:25:00.000-07:00

Leo's frame

2008-04-30T19:24:00.000-07:00

This frame came out lighter and cleaner than any previous aluminum MTB frame I have built. I wasn't trying to make it really light but 3 1/4 lbs. is stinkin' light. No super light tubes, just Easton Elite, good stout stuff for beating on. Just a few cable guides and a discmount and it will be a done deal.

On any given Saturday

2008-04-26T13:08:00.001-07:00

fancy town bikes in the garage

2008-04-25T17:47:00.001-07:00

You won't find a BMW or Mercedes in our garage but we have a pretty fancy town bike assortment. Nice stuff for getting food from the weekly farmers market close by. Yes, those are Brooks saddles......maybe not the most comfortable at first but they won't wear out any time soon.

higlights of the spring aluminum batch

2008-04-24T18:25:00.000-07:00

A.K. will have a new sled for the SSWC in Napa this summer. It's a 7005 aluminum frame with Ahrens slider dropouts. Even with the sliders the frame is only 3.5 lbs. This is about as cutting edge as a single speed can get in my shop.

Big Dean's 29er will not be under-built. The rear triangle has two yokes machined from 7005 billet. These parts are also of Mike Ahrens design-the best aluminum hardware available for bike building. Mike also has his own line of bikes .

happy 18th, Max.

2008-04-21T07:50:00.001-07:00

Sunday was not the typical ride as Max Fraser turned 18. Max is a sailboat racer on the world circuit but a bike rider when he isn't out on the water. We let him win all the sprints and climbs on the ride today, but he would have easily won them even if all of us tried 100% !

Progress in April

2008-04-17T19:01:00.000-07:00

If only the camera could really show the true shade of lavendar/blue on this road frame. This frame is distinctive because it can take 700x32c tires but is not a 'cross frame. It's technically a road frame that you can take in the dirt. It will use Shimano long-reach caliper brakes and a compact drivetrain, also Shimano. The cool thing is that aesthetically the frame is a road frame in almost every detail...the difference is in the subtle things done to accomodate the larger tires and make it stable in all conditions.

This is the spring batch of aluminum frames taking shape. I am now about 5 1/2 frames into a total of 14 frames bound for the heat treater in a couple of weeks. After this it will be back to steel for may/june. The selection of team bikes on sale has gotten smaller as the Ultegra bike is sold. The pit bike with full Dura Ace and Easton carbon fork is still available for $ 2,400. The seat tube is 50 cm c/t/c. the top tube is 54.5 cm c/t/c and the headtube is 130 mm. The bike has handbuilt wheels, 28 spoke Mavic Open Pro's in black. The bike is super clean and the same bike that the team races on. A new version of this bike would sell for $4,200 as equipped.

Bike got flames, Beeeatch.

2008-04-14T19:05:00.000-07:00

This frame finish is the handywork of Spectrum Powderworks. I guess you can tell by the excellent execution of the customer's requests.
The 'Tagger-script' logo was designed by the customer and was to signify the rattle-can activities of his youth. No longer a tagger, he'll be scorching down the road on this rocket.

Notice the detail of a blue ring at the edge of the BB shell........nice touch from the painter. It's a shame that a crankset will be in front of some of this airbrush work.

views of the bluff ride on the nicest weekend of the year

2008-04-14T18:40:00.001-07:00

Four mile beach from the bluffs
Looking south .
Canada Geese, here no doubt because of the exchange rate.
A white Egret seen from the trail.

road bike for sale

2008-04-11T18:53:00.001-07:00

Here's a barely used road bike that my sister owned but when she moved to Manhattan she decided that the bike would stay behind for good. The frame is easton 7005 and the components are a mixture of Campagnolo 8 speed Athena, Centaur with Chorus brakes. The bike has an FSA compact crankset and the wheels are handbuilt with Mavic Open pro rims. The fork is a Kestrel EMS pro that matches the color of the frame nicely. The compact frame is 45 cm seat tube, 54 cm top tube, ideal for a 5'6" rider. This can be yours for the low low price of $ 1,200. It's mint.

a day late and more than an dollar short

2008-04-01T08:25:00.001-07:00

These lovely sideways images are of the ultegra-equipped team bike for sale. The numbers of the frame are: Seat tube 50 c/t/c, top tube measured level 54.5, head tube 130 mm. The bike has a king headset, Paul's brakes and has been overhauled to race-prep perfection. The Dura Ace bike ( not pictured yet...$ 2,400) has these frame numbers: Seat tube 47.5, top tube measured level 54, head tube 110 mm. This bike has also been overhauled, both bikes getting new chains, cassettes, cables and tires. You can thrash these bike like a pro for a good long time as neither have had a ton of racing miles, the Ultegra bike only being ridden for a few laps at a few races as it was the 'pit bike'. I'll have more photos next week of the D/ace bike and Simon Vickers '06 team bike.

post season clearance sale

2008-03-24T18:17:00.001-07:00

There will be three '07 team bikes for sale. #1 pictured here is the "pit bike" and had very little use as we had very few mechanicals last season. The bike is all Ultegra with Paul's brakes and a King headset. It has an Easton carbon fork so it is light and race ready with a new chain,cassette cables and XT pedals all for $ 1,700. The other two bikes are full Dura ace and will be $ 2,400 and $ 2,800. These bikes have one season of use and are all with new chains, cassettes and cables. Call the shop at 831-429-8010 weekdays for more details. More photos are on the way.

Vas ist los?

2008-03-19T20:28:00.000-07:00

Not something you see every day......a disc brake 'cross bike with an extended seat tube. Maybe a bit like the 'Speedvagen' from Vanilla.... but not quite as the cable routing and brake system are different....and yes, there is no bridge on the seatstays. All these requests were from the customer and reflect the purpose of a custom bike which is primarily to fulfill a need that can't be filled by a production bike. As you can see, this ain't no production bike !

speaking of steel....

2008-03-04T08:07:00.000-08:00

Shiny shiny steel......the soft focus wasn't on purpose. It would have been nice for the image to be as sharp as possible as these welds are maybe the best I have done. This frame was an auction donation to benefit the local jazz club, the Kuumbwa jazz center. Needless to say, the winner of the auction is a single speeder and will no doubt be beating the crap out of this frame in the coming weeks as it is almost ready. Speaking of musical stuff, some of you nor-cal folks have seen the band I play in from time to time, the Linkhorns. This band was started in Jan. 1988 and has been rocking out ever since. Now the future of the band is in question as the bass player and very good friend of mine, Rick Williams is in critical care at Dominican hospital with a heart infection and brain anyurism. Rick is holding onto life,but barely. Rick has been a supremely important person in the bay area musical community and has helped countless thousands of people in his 30 plus years in the music sales buisiness. Nobody could tell you more about a vintage guitar than Rick and we all owe him a lot. I hope that Rick can get well and play music again......that will be a great day. Please keep him in your thoughts.

do I like my job ?

2008-02-26T19:16:00.000-08:00

As long as Mr. Fab got my back, it's all good. Nice to slow down a bit after the show and weld steel for awhile.

This ain't steel, I built it last month when in the heat of aluminum building. A guy intends to go really fast on this one. Its a TT bike for local racer and U.C.S.C. student Art Rand. I'm pretty sure he'll make this thing move down the road.

More progress on the V.O.S. team bikes,also from last month. These bikes in the second batch have a nice little white stripe between the red and black. With nearly twenty of these built they will be hard to miss at the races this spring.

Bling bling dollar bill, y'all

2008-02-15T18:33:00.001-08:00

Sheila Moon knows how to party. The party on Saturday night at a bar called plan B had a raffle and Sheila won a black messenger bag big enough to put her travelling buddy Barb Howe in.....maybe could have saved on airfare on the way home. Barb was hobbled with a torn Achille's tendon but still came to all the after parties and did her best Capitain Morgan .
A.K. was around although not visible most of the three days. Seemed as though he had a good time, probably better than we were having as we were working the show nine hours a day.
Capitain Kirk made the trip north and ditributed the latest FRP sportswear. Steve Garro told me repeatedly "You would be surprised at how many t-shirts you could give away." -Truer words have never been spoken.Poor Daniel Limburg attempting to talk on his phone with all sorts of yelling and carrying on taking place during the raffle.
This might have been the cutest bike in the show....yours for the low low price of : Don't ask, you can't afford it"

Andy Newland's creation.....integrated headset in lugged steel. Andy is the master and was a major inspiration for all the framebuilders of the late '70's such as Ross Shafer and myself.

Steve Garro's wife Denise has a new ride, replete with flowers. Looks nice and sweet now but you can be sure she is going to really beat on this bike on the rocky Flagstaff singletrack.
Paul's components........nice as it gets.
But wait.....White Industries stuff is mighty cool as well. Anyway, I'm glad to be back in Santa Cruz, ride a bike...see the sun and most of all, get the heck away from all that rolling art,brooks saddles, wooden fenders....bling bling yada yada. All this art for art's sake is great but bikes for riding is where I reside. Gotta pedal 'em, no matter how pretty they may be !
Heck, might as well finish off with the linear brakes from Paul Price. Stuff that works and keeps on working. This stuff is probably a lot more reliable than water buffalo horn forkblades.........

Absence of sky

2008-02-13T08:53:00.001-08:00

Yeeah, Bacon town ! Prtland....at least outside the handmade bikeshow it was Porltand. Inside it was the custom bike capital of planet earth. Next door neighbor Steve Rex showed his excellent fillet brazed machines in a tidy economical display.
Yes, this is a sub 18 pound wooden road bike and it looked like something you could really ride anywhere.

Paul Price and Tammy held court at his display of superior aluminum . The best brakes and single speed gear around made for a constant glut of folks in front of this booth.

Simon shows off his new skateboard to Daniel Limburg of Shimano. Daniel treated us to a fine sushi dinner on Saturday night after the busiest and most draining day of the show.Ever spend four days in a trade show and not see the sky ? That's what I did. On a good note, though it was the NAHBS and I was surrounded by the best collection of fine handmade riding hardware ever assembled on this planet. The show was a huge success for all concerned and our booth was no exception as the press and public even took notice of our stripped down simple racing machines. IT's nice to know that full-on race bikes can be shown next to rolling artistic statements and still get an enthusiastic response.....after all, there is some exprexxsion in a rider going fast on a bike.

Oh, Yeah.......we in full effect. Simon changes a beat up saddle for a nice new one ( Loaned to us by Hwy. 2....Fizik USA) so that the bike looks all-new.
Saturdays crowds were enough to make the fire marshal close the doors for nearly an hour.Good thing nobody yelled "Fire!"

Yaaaaa, iss good, this wood, no? Wheelsmith Rick plied his wooden wares at the show. Do not ride these through termite colonies.

Here's what it looks like in rolling form

2008-02-02T12:23:00.001-08:00

This one is bound for the handbuilt bike show. It may not be fancy but there are two kinds of bikes in my opinion: Artistic statements that you can ride or straight ahead racing bikes like this one. Both are valid means of transport.....this one is just faster and less expensive.

The fleet ready to set sail

2008-01-29T18:44:00.001-08:00

Here's the first ten frames for the VOS road team. The second batch should go to paint next week. Headsets are here and forks will arrive soon. It's going to be a sight, all these matching frames showing up at the races with all these fast guys on 'em.

Muddy waters

2008-01-28T08:24:00.000-08:00

For those of us waiting for a muddy race our wishes were granted in a big way at the Peak Season final at Watsonville fairgrounds. I didn't shoot many pictures and I don't have all the results but I do know the following: Stella scored win # 5 and equalled Josh Snead in total season victories, Dean Poshard rode to second place on the day and first in the series,TimWatson won the 35 + A series, Julie Brothers got second on the day, Tom Sullivan, Frank Kalcic and Ben Dodge all raced strong in the raging downpour that flooded the course for most of the day. We were also treated to a rare appearence by Rob Evans on his single speed . Future team rider Scott Chapin captured the overall in the A Single speed group. Another victory was had by Max Fraser in the junior 16-17 field. Max is a world class sailboat racer and has little time to train or race 'cross but when he does he makes it count. Check cyclocross.cx for all the results and standings.

More progress

2008-01-19T15:58:00.001-08:00

Next week some of these will actually leave the shop as completed eady to assemble frames.It has been a monumental amount of work but the fruits of this labor are almost ready.