Steel CX frame for S.F. with fork and stem painted to match

 This might not look like it but it is a really bright neon orange. I don't think that you'll miss this one when it rides by ! The frame is my favorite steel mix with an Enve disc brake CX fork. The frame is built for thru-axles front and rear and has the Solid BMX tapered head tube. This style of frame was just about all that I built the whole month of October.

Team aluminum CX frame for a Nor-Cal team rider

 There's a good chance that you'll see this frame if you go to any bay area races this fall. This is a disc brake model but not for thru-axle wheels. With the rider being barely over 100 lbs. there's no need for that kind of strength in the wheels.

 The team is sponsored by a number of companies and the King headset and Enve fork are a couple of the important components provided to this rider for the 2015 CX season.

Aluminum 29er with new XT group

 This single track special is built with Mavic Crossmax SL wheels , a Fox 100 mm fork and the newest XT group. The whole package weighs in at 24 lb. 6 oz. -Not bad for a pretty heavy duty frame.

 This rider has been riding full suspension for years but around here the single track is more fun without all the squish. There's only a few trails where it is really needed and the rest of the riding here is more about steering than suspension.

26" wheel MTB frame for Scotland

 This frame is mated to a steel fork that is 453 mm axle to crown. This is longer than a non-suspension corrected fork so I imagine the customer has an older shock fork that he might sub out on occasion. The frame and fork have fittings for 'Mud guards' as they say over there. Unlike here, there is wet weather in Scotland and plenty of times where the mud guards will be in use.

The build here is very traditional and rooted in the style that I adopted many years ago. The fork and the tubing is updated but the basic proportions and tub diameters are what I have been using since the early '90's. No reason to change something that works well.

A pair of interesting travel frames

 When I got the list of requests from this customer I thought " Hey, these will be a couple of unique builds for me" and that was definitely the case. The forks are Whiskey #9 disc-road that have been painted to match. The rear dropouts are Paragon "-Poly-drops" , something I have never worked with.

The customer also opted for a Ritchey breakaway seat lug and an S&S coupler on the down tube.

 The painter also had his hands full with the custom graphics but he did a stellar job on both frames and forks. The color-co-ordinated King bits don't hurt, either. Tapered steerers, thru-axles make these steel frames pretty modern in my estimation. I hope that they are as fun as they look out on the road.

Disc brake big tire road bike for Vermont

 This is a tall one -the rider is over 6'2". The frame will be paired with an Enve disc CX fork and will take up to 700x38 tires. The owner has a gravel commute so this steel frame is the appropriate tool for the job.

Steel CX bike going to Yale

 This build is a pretty smart pick of parts. The Ultegra group is made more deluxe with the Dura Ace hubs. There's a Cane Creek 110 headset and a Praxis Works crank and BB. The Paul's brakes are a mini-moto up front with a touring canti on the back. This combo reduces the fork jutter and makes the feel of the brakes nearly identical.

The bar and stem are from Ritchey and the seat post will also be Ritchey. This post and saddle are not what will be on the finished bike. Someone on the Yale cycling team will be riding a different sort of bike.

Steel road frame for Pittsburgh

 There's a bit more tire room on this one-700x28 tires should have plenty of room. The tapered steerer forks tend to have a bit more tire room as well so the combo should be good for a variety of road surfaces.

 This rider is 170 lbs. and told me that he tends to be pretty rough on bikes so I went for a stout down tube. The rest of the set is fairly light without being delicate. The chain stays have a slight s-bend that allows for more tire room without needing additional crimps.

This is maybe the 6th frame I have blitzing the new pulser attachment for my welder. I know that this is old technology but for me it is new. The result is a tighter heat zone and a slightly more orderly bead. I am having fun getting up to speed with the new tool. There's always something to learn in the shop-it keeps me coming back every day.

steel 29er frame for a local

 there's a bit more to this frame than normal. Since it is equipped with Paragon slider dropouts there is the ability to not only run the bike with or without derailleurs but also to change the rear axle spec. There are inserts for 142x12 thru-axle that bolt right on just like the 135 Q.R. inserts pictured here.

There's bit of  weight penalty with this hardware but it is almost like having two bikes in one.

The paint scheme has been done before on similar frame and that is where the customer got the idea for this panel and stripe option. It would be funny for the two bikes to meet on a trail somewhere......

Single speed aluminum CX bike

 This one is the official pit bike for the team, although it is technically my bike and I'll maybe do a few races this fall. The chain tension is adjusted with an eccentric BB from Beer components. This has to be the only good EBB I have used. The chainring is a 40 tooth rom Praxis Works, another Calif. company.

 The wheels have hubs from Paul Components, yet another Calif. home grown component. The wheels are some I built with Mavic Reflex tubular rims and DT competition spokes. I think that the whole bike is just a hair over 17 lbs.

The head tube is a new one for me, a Dedaccai tapered unit for internal headset. I'll be interested to see how it holds up over the next couple of seasons.The fork is a re-painted Enve with a tapered steerer. There's a chance that soon I'll be able to make a thru-axle disc brake version of this bike. I'm sure it will be popular when it is available.

Aluminum CX frame for Di II and disc brakes

 This one is headed east and is pretty close to the most up-to-date CX frame I can construct. The aluminum tubes came from no lass than three suppliers and three countries: The USA, Italy and Taiwan. This is what I have to do to get it all together but the results are worth the trouble.

 I used to think that electric shifting on a CX bike was silly-that was before I saw a really cold race where the mechanical bikes stopped shifting but the Di II bikes were still operating fine. When the temps get below freezing there is a definite advantage for not having cables.

I'll most likely be boxing up this one tomorrow. Elaborate paint jobs like this ( from Allan Neymar in this case ) can take a long time. The distinctive look is going to be hard to miss on the race course.

Tig team 'Utimundo' bike built

Here it is, my first new model in 1,000,000 years. It's not all that new but it has a new name. Since the features on this frame have been so popular I have decided to offer it as a package: Frame, fork ( painted to match) with  sterling head badge and King headset-the 'Ultimundo'. The tube set is a mix of True Temper S-3 and Columbus 'Life' and the fork is a tapered Enve carbon . This package with the King headset will go for  $ 2,400 plus shipping and/or tax.

The bike pictured here is a recent build by the customer and CX team member-he went with a solid mix of the Dura Ace 9000 group, King hubs and Enve rims with Ritchey carbon post, bar and stem. Not sure what the whole bike would cost but I can figure that out in a few days.

Steel disc brake adventure frame for Eureka, Calif.

 I have been posting a lot of photos on the Rock Lobster Facebook page so if you don't see it here, it is most likely on Facebook. I don't intend to neglect this blog but I am spread pretty thin for time these days-it's a good thing to be busy. Speaking of busy, here's the latest frame to get sent out-a disc brake road/dirt frame like a CX but with touring braze-ons on the rear. The Whiskey disc fork and Ritchey stem were painted to match.

 The wheelbase of this bike will not be as long as a standard touring bike but will be nice for occasional loaded trips. The frame, fork and stem weigh in at 6 lb. 1 oz. so it could even be a race bike if the need arises. This one will take a pretty large tire even the Bruce Gordon 700x43 rock 'n road.

Steel road frame with tapered carbon fork for local

A member of the CX team is getting this frame. It will have a pretty top-end build with all Dura Ace 9000 , Enve rims built to King R-45 hubs. This is a straight-ahead road bike, not like the big tire versions I have been building recently.

  

 The Ebve fork has been painted to match and there's a Jen Green silver head badge to top it off. The steel tub set is True Temper S-3 and OX Platinum with Columbus 'Life' rear stays. I'm going to put this all together in the future as a new model of road frame and fork. These options seem to be popular so it only makes sense to offer them all as a package. This will be my top-of-the-line welded road frame and details on the website will be coming,

7005 road framed matching fork for San Fransisco

 I'm pretty taken with this color-I'll use it some day on a project. This frame will take 700x28 tires and is made to take the beating of Nor-Cal roads. The Enve mod. II fork was wet-painted to match by Allan Neymark. The frame was powder coated by Jeremy Martin at Powdercoat it in Santa Cruz. These two guys did a terrific job on this one-I know that it is only a single color but getting one that looks this good is not a given.

The customer opted for the tapered steerer setup and PF-30 BB shell.

Moto-Ace

 Long before Salsa , Bontrager, Rock Lobster or any of the Santa Cruz built mountain bikes there was this- Moto Ace. This frame was a high school project of a friend of mine, Johnny Thess-once an employee of both Salsa and Bontrager and a sales rep of my own brand. Back in the '70's Johnny fashioned this frame and a number of people rode the piss out of it, much of the riding was in the dirt here in the forests behind U.C.S.C.

 The bike was crashed and severely bent and subsequently repaired by Ross Shafer so that it could resume duties and the bike to be abused frequently. One of its duties was to be used in a really race that was part of the Santa Cruz criterium. The bike was on the winning team two years and note of that is written on the top tube.

This frame is part of early Santa Cruz dirt riding history and although it has been in storage for a couple of decades it re-surfaced and I had a chance to photograph it. It is now making its way up to Petaluma to reside at Ross Shafer's house.