Friday, April 29, 2022

Steel gravel frame with steel fork for a local

I hope that the sparkle black can be seen in the photos- it really is spectacular in person. I don't often build this style of frame with a wishbone seat stay so this one is a little unusual.
The brakes are flat mount disc and there's fender and rack mounts on the frame and fork. 

 

Wednesday, April 27, 2022

WCCX frame going to the midwest

I'm just waiting on the fork before I can ship this one out. Since CX season isn't for awhile there's no hube rush.


 

Tuesday, April 26, 2022

Headed to the Eroica to ride and I have stuff to sell

Yes, I am getting rid of some choice old bits and a bike or two. The bike below is a 1963 Raleigh Gran Sport that is mostly original. I got it at least 20 years ago and only rode it for the first time today. Not sure why I bought it all those years ago- maybe because a childhood friend had one and I remember how nice it rode.
The bike is too big for me and if you have seen my shop, you know that I have way too many bikes. Come to Cambria Saturday and check out the swap- I'll be there.



 

Steel gravel frame in copper

This frame is the same color as the previous posting but this frame is steel. The unique thing on this fame is that it has an integrated style head tube- something I use on nearly every aluminum frame but seldom on  steel. It actually works really well on a smaller frame like this as there's more room for the top tube so that there's no overlap between the down and top tubes. This simplifies the building process and makes the frame a bit stronger mechanically .
I'll be hoping that this customer can get the build parts soon as I can't wait to hear a ride report. Every tube on this frame was tailored to fit this smaller riders stature. I built this one differently than most so I am curious to see how it performs .

 

7005 gravel frame in copper

At the last handmade bike show about 3-4 years ago I featured two bikes in "Rose gold" powdercoat. That color was a sample and never produced for sale. As luck would have it, many people liked the color and wanted it on their frames. The copper color is the closest I could find and is proving to be equally popular and fortunately is available.
This CX/gravel frame is a little different as it is going to be set up with flat bars, not drop bars. This customer has been riding and racing with that setup and it has worked well so no reason to change up now.

 

Friday, April 22, 2022

Large steel disc brake road frame

This one will see a lot of high mountain riding in Colorado. The tubing is a mix of Columbus Life and Zona with the lighter short taper seat and chain stays. These are tricky to weld but this one went well.
This 6'4" rider is barely 170 lbs. so I was able to build this one pretty light. I have not weighed it but I'm sure it is very light for a frame this size. The virtual top tube is 630 mm !

 

Steel road fork for a Litespeed

This 1" treaded steerer steel fork is going in an older Litespeed owned by a former team rider in St. Louis, Mo. I guess he really likes the frame but the fork on it must be pretty tired. I had fun building this one as this style of crown has really good blade and steerer fitting. A lot of crowns are pretty off on the tolerances and demand a bunch of extra blacksmithing to get everything to fit properly. That was not the case this time.

 

Thursday, April 21, 2022

Steel gravel frame that will eventually wind up in Canada

This customer is in So-Cal but has a move to Ontario, Canada planned for later this year. There are tons of gravel miles to ride where he's moving to so this is the logical choice for a bike.
This one is set up for mechanical shifting and the possible use of a double crankset. He will have the option to go 1X as the guides for the double are not really obvious and won't look out of place if not used. 
It is always nice to have the options concerning gearing when moving to an unfamiliar place.
 

WCCX frame going to junior team member

Very typical for the newest edition of the team CX frame, this one is going to a young junior rider who already has a district championship and nationals experience . He opted for the unique dark blue metallic decals and the checkered stripes . This one will have a wireless Sram group installed and be present in Nor-Cal races and probably the nationals in Hartford next December.
This rider has always been highly motivated and has had a long list of successes in CX so hopefully that will continue in 2022 when there is bound to be more races than in the last two seasons.

 

7005 aluminum cross country 29er

This one is going to Santa Barbara, Calif. to a sponsored rider. He's putting in the miles in a big way and has plans to do ultra endurance events of all kinds. I'll be waiting for his ride report. I had one like this of eight years and had a lot of fun with it.


 

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Steel all-road frame going to Redlands, Calif.

Yes- another one for Redlands. This rider is about one foot taller than the other rider who is getting a similar frame. This is a pretty big frame but it still weighs only 4 lbs. 11 oz . 
This one will be outfitted with 11 spd. GRX Di II components. Hope they have stuff lined up- I would have little luck hunting it down for them right now. 

 

Tuesday, April 12, 2022

Steel gravel frame going to Redlands, Calif.

I build a lot of frames just like this- probably the most popular thing I build right now. Frame building is work and can be challenging at times but in the case of this frame I had a pretty easy Friday and part of Tuesday putting it together. Unfortunately the build overlapped a bout of intestinal flu late Sunday and all Monday. I got to know my toilet on an intimate level.......not fun. 
A little queasy and woozy , I got back to work and finished this one with no ugly surprises or train wrecks.

In spite of having no appetite and an unhappy stomach it was a good day in the shop- honestly, I really needed one.  


 

MTB frame going to Woodacre, Calif.

Pretty sure this is a 29er in steel but with the amount of stuff I have been building and the backlog at the painters a whole batch can come back and I don't remember every detail, even some of the big ones. Fortunately every frame is numbered so they wind up going to whom they are supposed to.........99% of the time. It's that 1% that bugs me. 
This one is festooned with all the Paragon bits - dropouts, BB, head tube, seat tube collar and brake mount. The top tube is a NOS True Temper bi-oval 35 mm 8-5-8 , now my go-to top tube for bikes like this . It just makes sense- have the horizontal oval at the head tube , the vertical oval at the seat tube- this really matches up with the tube diameters and also at the head tube reduces the overlap with the down tube on a smaller frame like this one . I may be old but I still think about things...

 

Friday, April 8, 2022

Signature fillet road with crowned fork

I hardly ever build frames like this but I guess I remember how to do it as this one came out pretty nicely.
This frame is for a very avid rider and he will put tons of miles on it very soon. He had a couple of Silca pump barrels that he had painted along with the frame. He also provided the NOS Shimano SF-22 front and rear dropouts. These dropouts were my favorites in the '80's and they are long gone. Fortunately he found some on Ebay for a reasonable price.

 

Thursday, April 7, 2022

Near mint 2002 aluminum flat bar CX bike for sale

The original owner passed away sadly so his widow wants this bike to go to someone who will appreciate it. It has a wheelset with King hubs and a King headset. Read der. is an XTR 9-speed with an LX front. The crankset is an FSA carbon triple so it has gears for years. The fork is a steel unicrown that I built.
Virtual top tube is 565 mm. Seat tube is 487 c/t/c. Head tube is 133 mm. I think a 5'9" rider would be ideal.The whole bike weighs 19 lb. 11 oz, not bad for one from this era. Tires max out at 700x33. The bar and post are titanium. It has Time pedals from the era along with genuine Salsa skewers- all the cool stuff from back in the day- Paul Component levers and rear brake. It's like a rolling time capsule- really cool . Asking price is $ 1,200 and the contact email of the seller is hiker.diana@gmail.com and she is looking forward to hearing from you. 


 

Chris King guest house Show bike for sale

Well, the show is over and it was well attended. This is the bike I built for the show- a single speed 29er that can also be set up 1x12 as the King hub has a microspline 12 speed body and there's guides for a rear der. cable you can see if you look closely. The components are really good- the brand new King wheels with proprietary King rims made in Utah. The Fox fork is a 34 with 120 mm of travel . The stem is one that I built of steel. The post is a Fox Transfer SL internally routed. The cranks and BB are Shimano XT.
The brakeset is a custom ordered Paul Klamper caliper set mated to the Paul's levers- they are positively the best mechanical disc brake on the planet. The bar and grips are Race face- a no-rise bar for the retro feel. The frame has a King 'Dropset-3' integrated headset and the frame is fitted with Paragon 'rocker' dropouts for single speed or internal geared hub use. There's even a Jen Green badge. 
I thought that I was going to keep this bike but the heat at our house went down and I have to buy a new fireplace insert. I would not give up a choice bike unless there was a good reason, and reasons happen for a reason. I'm asking $ 5,000- the bike has been ridden once by me at Wilder Ranch before the show. It is made for a 5'9" rider ideally. get in touch at paul@rocklobstercycles.com if you are interested. Pedals are not included.....they are old and beat up- you don't want them.