7005 all-road 650 frame

The year is almost over and I just got a long awaited box of aluminum tubes so I am finishing out the year with a 7005 batch starting with this frame. The fork will be the Enve 'All-road' version that has a shorter axle-to-crown that is best suited to 650 wheels. The frame will still accommodate a 700x35 but it will handle and feel better with the wheels it was designed for- 650x42.

After building steel for the last few months it is nice to change it up and build a batch of aluminum. The process is a bit cleaner and the metal is easier to cut and manipulate-at least that's the way it seems to me. 

This one is set up for hydraulic flat mount brakes and 2x mechanical shifting.
 

WCCX frame with matching Enve fork going to Texas

Team color and a headbadge- not a bad choice for this one going to Texas where it will no doubt find some  bumpy miles on southwest CX courses. 

 

WCCX frame with matching Whiskey # 9 fork going to NC

This tall frame is going to the east coast and should see some serious racing miles. The headbadge is a nice addition- from Jen Green.

 

Steel gravel frame for the Olympic peninsula

This frame has just about every braze-on under the sun. There's ports for generator light wires, rack mounts front and rear and no less than five bottle mounts-two of them are on the fork.

The bike is no throwback, though- it has flat mount disc brakes . It may be steel but it is set up to take modern equipment. 

 

Steel Boost 29er frame for So-Cal.

Sorry for the busy background in the photo- the part of the shop where I normally take photos was too dark........daylight savings. This frame is made to take 2.4" tires but a 650x2.5 will fit- not sure how it will ride with the wrong size wheel but people are doing that so I guess it kind of works. 

This one has a lot of US steel from Velospec. The tubes were made from surplus True Temper steel when they shut down. The tubing is drawn in Taiwan and then shipped back here- Steel with a larger carbon footprint. Still, it's the best stuff right now, especially since it seems that Vari-Wall in Ohio has shut down their bike tubing line, or at least it appears that way. 

In 2021 getting supplies to build frames for the small builder is becoming complicated. I use maybe 5-6 different suppliers now and getting things like 1-1/8" steerer tubes to make forks is an adventure. I feel like I should stock up in a big way but I'm not sure how busy I'll be in 6 months. Right now I have 72 frames on order, 81 completed so far this year. Not sure how many forks I have built but I'll bet it is probably the most in a decade or more. I have no idea how long this business bubble will go and I'm leery of putting thousands of dollars into materials. Now that I have not been able to buy buildup parts it seems silly to plan for building frames that will only sit as unbuilt bikes for at least 6 months for most people. Strange times for sure......
 

Steel road frame with Columbus/True Temper mix

I still have to build a steel fork for this one. This frame has the very last S-3 downtube that I had in stock. This technically is not an Ultimundo but it is almost the same frame, weighing in at only 3 lb. 7 oz. The frame will be mated to a lugged crown steel fork that I will be building next week. I also have to build a stem so this will be a pretty complete package. 

The rear dropouts are a type I have not used- the Paragon 1-1/8" round type. I have used the larger 1-1/2" before but these are maybe half the weight of the larger ones. Usually I don't think of dropouts being a place on the frame where one can save weight but in this case it happened.

The dropouts also have a replaceable der. hanger. This is something I usually don't think of as needed on a steel frame but since the customer asked for it , I made sure that he had it. The hanger is aluminum so it contributes to the low weight of the dropouts. The customer also asked for 14 mm seat stays and these are Tange Prestige- not the old version but the newer Prestige that is currently available from a local Bay Area distributor. I keep forgetting that Tange tubes are back on the market again and after working with these seat stays I think I'll be buying more of it. 
 

Steel gravel frame with dropper post routing

This frame has both the rear brake and dropper post routed on the down tube. One is external and one is internal-the nice thing is that you can choose one or the other routing for either component. For example, some might prefer to have the rear brake internal for easier disassembly.

The tube set is a mix of Columbus Life and Zona , bringing the frame in at a weight of 4 lb. 7 oz. -not bad for a frame this tall. The bike will be made for 700x45 tires but might be able to take something slightly larger as well.

The reason there are no gear cable fittings is the customer intends to use a wireless Sram group. This is becoming more popular as of late and it saves me a little work.