Finishing off the year

 This has been a busy year for me-maybe the busiest ever. I did not teach my UBI class last summer so I spent the time in the shop for the most part. These two frames are # 98 and # 99 for the year. I should be starting # 100 later today. This might be the first time I have built 100 frames in a calendar year in nearly a decade. This was not a goal I set out to do back in January but once I got to November it looked like a good chance for it to happen.

My main goal is to do the best job I can on these frames for my customers. I would not try to build 100 in a year if it meant that I was cutting corners or doing sub-standard work to do so. My customers deserve the best I can do all the time. That said, the goal of 100 for the year might just happen. Not sure what # 100 will be- I'll have to contact the next people on the list to find out who's ready. If nobody is ready I have a special project I'll work on. Once # 100 is done I'll have a few days to clean the shop, do recycling and fill boxes of old bike parts to donate to the local bike church. Might be good to start 2018 with a cleaner work space.

650 adventure MTB for east bay

 This fall saw a few more MTB builds than in recent years. This is one of the more interesting ones as it has internal dropper post routing and rack bosses. The aim of the owner is to have a bike for back woods touring as well local trail riding. This one is steel and it is built to last.

 The headset is a King 'Inset-7' in turquoise but it actually looks more blue- so much that it matches the compression knob on the Fox fork-a nice coincidence.

Fixed gear MTB frame for Kansas

 Yes, that's correct . There's a few people out in Kansas who ride fixed gear off road and this frame is for one of them. He's a guy who really can hurt a bike so his value as a test pilot can not be underestimated. I built him a frame maybe a decade ago and it has been back to the shop for repairs on several occasions. My guess is that eventually this one will be back for repairs,even with the extra efforts I made to make the frame indestructible. No frame is unbreakable-it is my hope that this one comes closer than most.

 The rear wheel will be a 650 and the front a 29er . The rider has done a lot of test rides with all sorts of wheels and he settled on this configuration. This is a first for me and I'm anxious to hear how it rides.

Steel 29er frame for Ohio

 Just in time for Christmas- this one looks like a blue Christmas tree ornament . The frame was ordered with Paragon slider dropouts so that it could do duty as a single speed as well as a geared bike. This one has a modern front end but still has the style of the Team Tig s.l. mountain frame that I have been building for over 25 years.

 The Paragon head tube will house a tapered steerer fork and the rear inserts are for a 12x142 thru-axle. There's a lot on the frame that make it compatible with current components but it is still the basic steel hard tail-a good choice for twisty single track.

Steel SL/CX for the UK

 The team tig SL that I have been building since 1992 has had some changes over the years. Some of the things that were in the original are still there- stable handling and room for big tires.

What is relatively new is the front and rear thru-axles, tapered steerer carbon fork and full-housing zip-tie cable guides Of course, people can order whatever but here's a frame that really speaks to the current build. All the new features make sense, not just from the fact that manufacturers of bicycle parts are changing standards all the time but also to make a better platform for riding in the dirt  . Disc brakes mean less hand and upper body fatigue, thru-axles mean a more secure attachment for the wheels. Yes, change can be a pain for a builder but when the result is a better bike, I'm all for it.

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.