Steel frame with some brazing

Yes.....I brought out the torch for this one. The BB area will be left raw while all the other areas are filed and finished out. This saves me time and the customer money. This is a 650 rim brake frame- I don't build many of these.

 

Fork week

Yes, this week was fork and frame prep week- had a lot of stuff to ship out- still do. The closer of the two forks is a replacement for a Della Santa fork that got destroyed.....don't know how but it is really bent. The second fork goes with a frame I built last week. Glad to have the whole package complete and ready for paint.
 

Steel road frame for SSCXWC winner

The trophy bike is supposed to be a SSCX frame but I gave this rider the option to get something else as his sponsor has him covered for CX and gravel bikes.

He wanted a road frame so here it is, complete with the winner's custom Jen Green headbadge

The only thing unusual with this frame are the chain stays- they are super beefy.
 

Steel road + frame for a local

If this were my bike I would put Challenge 700x33 Chicane tires on it. The idea of this frame and fork is a road bike that can take the beating of the local bad roads .

The owner of this frame rides quite a bit and was not really looking for a typical road bike with skinny tires but did want something for 90 % paved conditions.

The fork is a painted to match Whiskey road+ model. It will be interesting to see how this one rides.
 

Rim brake steel CX frame going to New Mexico

All I need is a shipping carton and this one will go out. It has my favorite style crowned fork with lots of tire and fender room.

The rider is tall but not heavy so this frame and fork are pretty light- surprisingly so. I guess I have been building a lot of 29ers which are not light so maybe that's why it feels so light.

 

WCCX frame going to Canada

This one used the 44 MM ID head tube as the stack needed to be enough for this tall rider.

Mechanical shifting and flat mount disc brakes- pretty much what most of the team use- this bike is set up just like mine.

 

Road + for a local

Road plus ?  What the h#$%^ is that, you might ask. This frame fills the space between a straight road frame and a CX or gravel frame. The idea is to build something short and quick like a road bike but give it room for the next size larger tire for bad roads and the occasional dirt short cut.

The max tire the bike will take is about 700x35. This sounds like a CX frame but the chain stay is only 415 mm long, 10-15 mm shorter than a typical CX frame so there mon't be room for mud or debris. This frame is made for fair weather riding or for bad weather riding on pavement .

This steel frame weighs 4 lb. 7 oz. and was built for a 6'1" rider.
 

WCCX frame going to Philadelphia, Pa.

One of our riders won her age group in the nationals last year so she gets a second frame on the house. That has been my team policy for some time now. 

She is a tiny rider but fearless and fast. Hopefully she will be back at the nationals now and she will have two identical bikes to ride the 2024 season with. I made this one just a bit lighter than the last one so it really isn't completely identical. 

 

7005 CX/Gravel for Evanston, Il.

This rider needs this one for Unbound Gravel so I hope that he will get it in time to get it assembled and ready for the event.

Yellow powdercoat and pink decals were not a combo I have ever seen in my shop but I have to admit- it has a pretty cool look. It's funny what a customer will come up with - some times its a head scratcher but some times like this its a winner.....at least I think so. 

 

Steel 29er for bay area rider

Holy top tube....this one is super long. The customer gave me fit numbers and I was shocked but I built it and I hope that the owner is happy with it. 

The frame has a bent seat tube to allow for a shorter rear end. I have avoided using tubes like this in the past as I could not find ones that I felt were good but now in 2024 there's a lot of good ones to choose from. This one is Dedacciai and they offer several radius bends .

 

Steel 29er going to Pacific NW

It is 29er week here at Rock Lobster cycles. This is different than the last one as it has dropouts for a QR rear hub. This was an unusual request but the customer has some really high-end wheels and did not want them to go to waste .

Other than the rear axle spec, this is typical of what I am building for a steel 29er these days. Some have wishbone seat stays, some don't as in the case of what you see here. This one is tall for a 6'5" rider. I hope that he likes the way it handles.

 

29er in steel going to Florida

This year of 2024 is the year of the MTB frame for me. I don't think I have had this many on the list ina decade or two. This one is about as light as I could make it without sacrificing longevity. The frame weighs 5 lb.3 oz. Most of them are close to 6 lbs. 

The frame does not have the wishbone seat stay that is typical to what I build and have been building since the late '80's. The customer likes the look and the lighter weight of the S-Bend 19 mm seat stays so that is what I used.

The next frame on the list will be much the same and I probably have another 6-8 to build on the list. Certainly not as numerous as the CX and gravel frames but a significant percentage of my workload this year.
 

Here's yer 650 single speed

Just how I like it.......med. size 2.35 tires and fully rigid setup. Its not mine but I have had thoughts of building something like this for myself. I do have around 35 bikes so maybe I'm not really in need and I do have a perfectly good 26" wheel single speed-as a matter of fact it was a cover bike on Mountain Bike action about 25 years ago . Still, I would probably be a little happier with bigger wheels. 

Anyway, this one is going to a bay area customer who wanted a good basic XT build - no carbon, no frilly fancy stuff....just the stuff that performs and keeps performing, The only boutique part is the Boone Technologies rear single speed micro-drive cog and the King headset. This bike is silent.