New model - "Bro-Tour plus"

It has been about a decade since I have built myself a road frame -this one is mine. I had the idea that after trash talking disc brakes on a road bike for so many years it was maybe time for me to give in and get a bit more modern. Along with the disc brakes I'll be getting bigger tires -700x35 and lower gears. I'm 70 years old now and don't want to give up on riding the steep hills and crappy pavement-my body is saying to me "If you want to keep doing that crap you'll have to do it on a bike that works with your aging skeleton. This is the Bro-Tour plus, the big tire version of the Bro-Tour. It's still a road bike and not a gravel bike pretending to be a road bike. It has enough room for my favorite gravel tire but I doubt I'll be using it for that type or riding. I'm possibly taking this bike to France in three weeks- that is if I get it built. -Wish me luck.....I'll need it. I have a lot of your frame to build first.
 

Big tire gravel CX in 7005 for Walnut Creek.

This one has longer chain stays to take up to a 700x50 tire. It's pretty light at about 3-1/2 lbs. for the frame. It is mated to an Enve G series fork that has been painted to match by Joe's bicycle painting in Watsonville. Every time Joe nails a tricky color match I let people know about it- it's an art. By the way- this was my very last set of pink decals .If you want them I'll have to re-order them. 
 

Steel boost 29er fully built

 This one is going to San Luis Obispo, Calif. The new owner lives close enough to drive to the shop so he will pick it up in person. The build is Easton/Fox and Shimano XT including the wheel set. Tires are 29x2.5 - the big meats for the big rocks. I hope he likes the way it rides.

Single speed boost 29er in steel

I have a few of these on order. This one will not be set up with huge tires but it will take 2.5" tires if the going gets rough. The customer asked if I could build it light so it is jst a hair under 5 lbs. I hope that it holds up for this rider -he does live in an area that has some rocky trails.

 

WCCX In-Route going to Atlanta, Ga.

 This is the first of it's kind but certainly not the last. The WCCX next edition has fully internal routing just like the pro-tour bikes. This one will be hitting the east coast CX races and maybe I'll see this customer at the Pan-am games this fall. The frame is paired with an Enve G-series fork.

Single speed CX/Gravel for Golden, Co.

 

Gold going to Golden- seems fitting. This one has Paragon sliders with a new UDH insert for using a rear der. The frame is mated to a painted to match carbon fork and Cane Creek gold headset.  There's an extra no-der. insert coming with the frame as well so that it can look proper when on the single speed race course. 

Bottles coming !

 Yes, for the first time in over a decade I will have imprinted bottles in stock. I'll come up with a price and a way for folks to order them. Emailing me at paul@rocklobstercycles.com will be the best way for now as I don't think that they , like the hats will be in the web store. Only this size will be available - I think ......

Big tire road for China

 Yes- that's correct- my very first frame going to China . This one has the UDH and is built for wireless shifting and flat mount disc brakes. It also is fitted with the Enve 'All-road' fork so it can take up to 700x38 tires. The color is a canary yellow, the same color I painted a restored Girardengo frame that is displayed in my shop. The customer must have seen it in a blog post- it's a classic shade. The frame is all Columbus 'Life' tubing. I am hoping that the frame arrives safely and that it is just what the customer had in mind. 

NJS style track frame and fork for Portland, Ore.

 I bought this Samson lug set many years ago thinking that I would build a frame like this for myself. Well, I never did and the lugs sat in a box through two shop moves and about 10 years. Just last fall a customer traveled to my shop to pick up his gravel frame and for some reason I told him the story of the lugs. He said that he had wanted an NJS style frame and fork and ordered it right then and there- here's the result of my work. I tried to honor the tradition and the materials to really craft what I think is the best lugged frame I have built in a decade or more. See for yourself and let me know what you think.

I have put up as many photos of the frame as I could take before boxing it up and shipping it to the customer. The finish is powdercoat- would have been nice to do wet paint but it would have driven up the frame price nearly $ 1,000. The clear coat is wet paint at least and for the most part it shows of the detail pretty well. The color is very appropriate for a frame like this. This one is branded "Sadoff" after the time period of 1980-1983 in my frame building life- the decal is the replica of the logo I used to paint on by hand. I hope that the owner is really happy with it- I did my very best to try to make something extra special. 

Steel gravel frame for Idaho

This is a powdercoat fade- only the second one from this painter and the first three color one at that. A little touch up needed to be done to the dark blue in the back but I think it came out really well for a process that does not lend itself to doing fades. I guess if you are an experienced powdercoat shop ,it is doable. 
 

The frame is paired to a Whiskey # 9 CX fork , the same one I have on one of my race bikes. It has a bit less rake than the Enve and works well with steeper head angles like what is normal on a larger frame such as this one. This bike with be set up with Shimano Di II.

All road in steel with Enve AR fork for Palo Alto, Calif.

 This one is a bit different than my usual. A few months back I got some wishbone seatstays that I had designed from the Merry Sales company who import Tange tubing. These are the official Rock Lobster seat stays and that's how they are sold- my first tube design.....better late than never ! This stout steel frame will take 700x38 tires and should be nice for all the roads that no doubt will be sporting new chuckholes from the winter storms that have finally hit the bay area. The other feature is the UDH. Not sure if this rider will be using the newer SRAM but I guess just in case, might as well have it. The front of the frame is capped off with a King NTS taper headset. 

WCCX frame for Atlanta , Ga.

 This will be the first 'In-Route" WCCX frame for me. There's large holes in the head tube and BB shell to accommodate the rear brake line. I probably should have included a detail photo of how the brake line exits the chain stay- maybe next time. I had to use a PF-30 BB shell to have enough room for the brake line but it should help make the bike easier to set up. I have a feeling I'll be building more of these soon- seems like it is what people want and it does have a very clean look. 

A re-worked oldie comes back to the shop.

This frame was built around 2003. The owner got it off of Craigslist a few years ago and finally got it all restored and back together. Not sure where the original fork went but it rides fine with a Surly replacement fork. As you can see, the new owner didn't skimp on the parts- King hubs, White Ind. cranks, Phil BB-its all the good stuff. He has a Simworks stem on the 1" steerer fork and some really interesting tires. The Flite saddle is a nice nod to the time period when this frame was built. 
 

Ultimundo frame set for San Fransisco

 This one is just waiting for the Chris King anniversary gold headset and seatpost clamp- been waiting a few weeks actually but I hear the parts are coming soon. This one looks amazing in the sun with all sorts of gold flek and tones that shift depending on the light. It really is a color I have not seen on one of my frames until now. I hope that the owner gets it soon and that it gets some real miles. It has been hanging on a hook too long !

Steel all-road frame returns to shop for a tuning

 Yes- I had to use my Park Tool brake boss facer and some elbow grease to get a rear disc brake caliper not to rub - took a bit of time but it's good to go now. I like to show full builds when I can as so few of them are done at the shop- the bulk of them are done by the customers or by shops . 

New model- "Bro-Tour Plus"

Yes- here's a new model that might be filling the gap between road and gravel. I have built many in steel which I call B.T.R.B , or "Big tire road bike" . Most of the original versions had long reach caliper brakes-I had one with S&S couplers that I used for everything from touring to CX racing as a spare pit bike. This aluminum version will not be used for either of those situations . The idea is to have a real road bike that will take up to 7000x38 tires for the generally crappy pavement conditions that we have here in Santa Cruz county.  There's a lot of nice longer climbs that I like to ride here but the downhills for the most part are pothole-filled minefields of jarring misery on 700x28 road tires, even at 70 PSI. Won't it be nice to have bigger tires , disc brakes and lower tire pressure for a change ?  I would say so. This one is for me, the first new road frame I have built for myself in nearly a decade. I'm building it up with all the spare stuff left on the shelves from 2025 and before. I could not do the full in-route system with this style of head tube but that's fine with me- I don't like complicated bike builds and this one is in my comfort zone.
 

Yes, the dropped seat stays are a nod to most of the current pro-tour road frames- is there some advantage to the design ? Hey, if it makes people look, it does not have to have better wind-tunnel numbers.....it's the sizzle, not the steak in this case. Frame weighs in at 3 lb. 1 oz.