Thursday, March 14, 2024

7005 road frame for Junior team member

While we don't have a road team, we do have a CX team with a number of talented juniors. The rider of this frame is a real talent , riding elite level races at 14 years old.
This 3 lb.3 oz. road frame will hopefully be a great training tool for him. Some of the tubes are pear shaped NOS Easton Elite. I still have a small stash of these that I use every once in awhile. 

 

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

7005 WCCX frame going to an east coast team member

 

This isn't just any old team member- this rider is current women's 35-39 national CX champion Clementine Nixon.
She will now have two matching bikes with which to defend her title. This one is early identical to her original except that it has a slightly lighter top tube and a tad larger diameter down tube- this is because these tubes were not what I could get to build her first frame soif she likes # 1, she should really like # 2.
This frame weighs 3 lb. 3 oz.

Monday, March 11, 2024

The legend continues- 7005 WCCX Team frame

This one is going to a rider who is starting his tenth season with the team. He has been on the podium at nearly every nationals he has raced in and has finished on the lead lap in a world cup in Europe.
It has been a great association with this rider over all these years and it continues in this year of 2024.
This frame is the distillation of years of building frames for racers like the one who will be astride this one.Team riders have given me good feedback and have probably  done more to shape my frames than I have......riding at the level they do , they encounter things that at my slower speed I will never have to deal with and hearing about how my bikes handle in these situations is vital to the evolution of my CX bikes.
Each one of this rider's frames have been named. This is the name of the latest one......long story based in eastern European mythology with a taste of my warped sense of humor.
 

Saturday, March 9, 2024

You don't see one of these every day.......or ever !

This is a fully rigid all steel tig SL MTB frame for and stem. What really sets it apart is the group of components that the customer had collected for it over the years.
While the hubs and BB are current issue Phil Wood and the headset is a fairly normal King , the drive train and brake parts are anything but normal- this is all Campagnolo. Some of the parts are late '80's Euclid, some are '90's Centaur and there might be a Record OR piece here and there. I really don't know these parts well enough to be definitive on which is which but one thing for sure , they are all Campagnolo.
These parts have never been very popuar so they are super rare. In order to make the whole thing shift properly the mechanic ( Ryan Bontrager ) at the Spokesman cycles had to literally manufacture spacers for the 8 speed cassette. 
Yes, much went into the assembly but it all works and this is a rolling bike unlike any that has come out of my shop. The NOS Mavic rims with the CD finish were the best of their era . Once the toe clips and straps are on, this one will be complete.

 

Thursday, March 7, 2024

7005 WCCX frame going to Brooklyn

This one is unique in that it was made around the Enve Adventure fork which has a slightly different spec than the usual G-series fork that I associate with this frame.
Also, the chain stays are 435 mm instead of 430 so that a larger tire can be fitted. 
Another non-stock feature is a third set of bottle mounts under the down tube. This really is a custom build for someone who won't be racing CX.........but they could if they got the bug.
 

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Really huge 7005 gravel frame for N.C.

They don't come much bigger than this frame built for a 6'9" rider. I used some of my stash of NOS USA made Easto Elite tubes. In spite of the size of the frame in is just 5 lbs. A steel frame in this size would be closer to 9 lbs.
The frame is set up for a 1X drive train and should be able to take pretty large tires as the chain stays are 45 CM long. A bike of this size needs the length in the stays to keep the front end down.

 

Monday, March 4, 2024

7005 CX frame for a local

I have built two other frames for this customer over the last 30+ years but this is the first gravel frame for him.
After a couple of falls on his road bike he decided that a longer frame with larger tires and disc brakes might be safer. A friend of his offered up most of the parts for the build so he pulled the trigger on this build last year and I am finally building it.
The rider is 6'5" so this is a really tall one. Not too heavy , even at this size-I went with a 44 mm down tube to keep the frame from feeling too twisty.