Saturday, March 27, 2010

Big tire road bike built up.

This bike will take 700x32 c tires with penty of room, yet it still feels like a road bike. The big tires , handbuilt wheels and slightly longer wheelbase make this a cushy ride-important in this case as the bike is destined for the streets of San Fransisco with all of its trolly tracks and old pavement. The fork is a custom order Wound-Up made to the spec I asked for-name another company anywhere that will build you a custom carbon fork in less than three weeks .........I can't ! Other than switching out the 10 degree stem for a zero degree, this is how the finished product looks. The Ultegra 6700 group is so close in design and performance to Dura Ace that I doubt most people would be able to feel the difference, other than wieght.





Dahon Rohloff conversion

Ever see a 14 speed Dahon ? I'll bet not. I believe there are only two on the planet and I had a minor role in doing the conversion, just a little re-welding of bridges and spreading the rear triangle to 135 mm. Inspite of the short wheelbase and tiny wheels, this bike feels pretty safe to ride and has the smallest turning circle of any bike I have ever ridden. I must give some props to the mechanic who did all the mechanical work including sourcing parts and wheelbuilding. I don't know his name but the work was clean and the bike functions flawlessly. While it may not be a bike I built, I doubt I could have done much better of a job putting together a folding bike that has the features and ride of this one.

Friday, March 19, 2010

people to the side I know you hate my 98.

Here's the other bike i'm selling. It has a few scuffs on the paint as it has been raced at the SSCX worlds and a couple other events. The brakes are godd and the tires are fair. $ 2,500 and it's yours. Look carefully at this thing.....it's got some really nice bits and I worked like a slave on the frame many hours to make it into the battleship you see here. If you are 5'10" , it's your size. It no longer has the seat in the photo.....that one lasted about two rides. It now has a Fizik Arione.....a real saddle.





Wednesday, March 17, 2010

own a piece of history, or at least a really fancy bike.

Around six years ago I built this frame , fork and stem to try out my first set of Pacenti lugs and to commemorate twenty-five years since building my first frame. I also built it to show folks that I had the capeability of building a really fancy lugged frame if required to do so. It is now 2010 and I want to buy a bunch of tubing that I cannot afford so without ceremony, I am going to sell this rolling tribute to Alf Hetchins and all the really gaudy frames we love that came from England in the '60's and '70's . I'm asking $ 3,800 for the whole bike s shown. It is almost unridden inspite of its age. If you have questions about the bike, just email me paul@rocklobstercycles.com . I'm also selling my single speed 'cross bike that was featured on this blog about this time last year. Both of these bikes were built for shows and although I like them and worked very hard and painstakingly on them, they stand in the way of bikes yet to be built.









drop an old school beat

Some time in the spring of 1978 I built my first frame. Back then lugged construction was pretty much how bikes were built with few exceptions. Here it is nearly 32 years later and I'm building a frame not unlike old # 1. What is different this time is that instead of taking 150 plus hours to build a frame and fork, I'm getting this one built in approximately 24 hours of shop time, give or take. I'm happy with the results, although it really won't be pretty until the paint goes on. This is a 'Path Racer', one of about five that I have produced-all of which have been bult in the last two years and are ridden quite a bit. Hopefully that will be the case with this one.









Friday, March 5, 2010

a thousand points of light ? Nooooo, it's sparkle.

I was instructed to get the 'bass boat' look on this black frame. I have not really taken a look at a bass boat to know quite what this person had in mind but I think that this 'bowling ball' sparkle is the ticket. The flash on the camera really distorts the look of the bike-it really isn't that speckly. I was in a bit of a hurry and couldn't set up to really capture the real look of the paint. This Timothy Leary acid-vision will have to do. Maybe this is the best way to show the sparkle......ignite it with light.


Panels are definitely in.

This frame is for big 32 mm road tires and long reach caliper brakes. It will be a commuter on the streets of San Fransisco. No hipster machine...I see a more classic style in what this particular customer asked for. I ordered a custom Wound-Up fork that will have the room for the bigger tires and take the R-600 long reach calipers. I might make one of these for myself.....it really makes sense to have a non-race road bike that will be sturdy enough for just about anything.


Scandium hardtail....no discs !

Keeping it simple, this customer opted for rim brakes only. Nice to know that some folks still use them . The tubeset is pretty light, mainly for hillclimbs and road work but it will be a good cross country machine when the occasion arrives.


Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Perhaps the last of its kind.....

My beloved GX-2 Easton Scandium flared tubes might be something I can't get in the future. This is the last set I have and it is going to a lucky rider in Columbia, Mo. I really think this is the very best stuff to make a dedicated race bike for road or 'cross. If I can get the bucks together to have more of it made I'll be able to continue to offer frames like this. At present I do not have the capital and am not sure where I'm going to get it. Stay tuned for some nice bikes going up for sale , mostly for someone 5'10"......hey, that's me !