WTF???

A long time ago....about 1979 I was working in a bike shop where the owner had a Stella folding bike. it was the most unstable scary bike to ride-naturally I wanted to buy it. Of course, the owner wouldn't sell it so I had to fashion my own. I got a bunch of scrap tubing and in one day put together this frame and fork. True to it's predecessor , this thing is really scary to ride. It has recently been restored by the third owner. I took it for a short spin and immediately remembered the flexy, unstable magic of this odd machine. It was called the 'Stella-matic" and I think it was about the 9th frame I had built. This photo is of the Stellamatic as of 2012 with a fresh rattle-can paint job.

Busting ass

This 29er is for one of our team riders who lives locally in Scott's Valley, Calif. He's been a strong rider for about 30 plus years so hopefully this sturdy chassis won't let him down. It will be very stiff .

this road frame is going to the east coast. It has some of the last Scandium tubes I have in stock and I'm likely to run out by the mid-summer. This frame weighs 2 lbs. 11 oz. It should rip up hills.



This 29er is maybe the smallest one I have built so far. It is built for an 80 mm fork like mine and will be ridden in the dry hills near Bakersfield, Calif. I had fun putting this one together and I'm really interested in hearing how it rides.

This stout little frame should have room for a 2 .35 " tire in the rear....larger than I would use but then, I live in redwood forest country and it isn't too rocky.
Here's the batch ready to box up and send to the heat treater.....this was about six business days work.

Locked and loaded

This is the result of my very first geared mountain bike race.....I guess I'll cat up to the next group so I can get pummeled. Today I did the pummeling on the cat 3 race.....the CX experience really paid off.
The bike and gear are in the kitchen ready for the drive to the race about 50 minutes away..that is one of the things I don't like about bike racing-the irony of starting your day in a car. There's just not many races you can ride to around here

29er for Oregon

I came in to work on a Sunday to finish this one up. I want this and the three other frames in the current batch to be done by this coming Friday so I can concentrate on getting my NAHMBS act together, which currently it is not.
I'm really happy with this frame and I think my days of leaving the owner of this frame on the long steep climbs out of Ashland are over for good- I no longer have an advantage.
You are looking at the very last pair of NOS Easton US made rectangular chainstays in my stash.......see ya !

Nick's bike

Nick has bought frames from me for about twenty years now, probably about five in all.This is what he calls his 'last' mountain bike. I concur....my hardtail 29er might be my last MTB as well.
The parts on this bike are pretty much the best in my opinion-XTR, Mavic handbuilt wheels and a Fox Talus 100. I think the rough roads of Montana are going to feel a bit smoother from now on.

Why there have been no photos

I'm in the middle of a batch of aluminum frames so the pictures of the completed frames are still a few days off. Right now I'm building three 29ers and one road frame. I have the 29ers started, all the front triangles built but the road frame will wait until next week.
The 29ers are going to a local, someone in Bakersfield and another in Eugene, Oregon.
This is the one for Eugene. I think it will be done on Monday. I hope all four will be done on Friday and I can get to making my NAHMBS display a reality. As of now it is only a pipe dream.

1982 Sadoff frame

Yes, before Rock Lobster I built a number of bikes under my own name. I think this one is # 14 but I'll have to check my records. I built it in the spring of 1982 while I was working at the Bicycle Trip in Santa Cruz. I had no jigs and only a handful of tools in those days so it took a lot of hours to build this one. It is all Columbus s.l. with some Henry James lugs and a Cinelli BB and fork crown. The seat lug is a Tange....really rare item.

Before S.T.I. I saw a shifter innovation on a bike at a shop in L.A. I liked it so much that when I started building I made a point of trying it out for myself. It really works well.

I just got interviewed on a cycling specific talk show on a station in Ohio. Here's the link to listen to the broadcast. I'm featured in the last 30 minutes or so.
http://www.wjcu.org/2010/02.11.the-outspoken-cyclist-02112012 check it out.