Wednesday, October 21, 2026

Steel commuter 650 for Texas

A customer sent me a frame to duplicate -at least as much as I could considering that his original frame was 26" wheel and this new one would be 27-1/2" wheel. I think I really captured the spirit of the old bike with the classic MTB geometry from the '90's . I used some older dropouts and some NOS tubing to make it a frame that is not typical of what I or any current builder would do,at least not in 2026.


I hope that the owner likes what I put together for him. He has had a few bikes over the years but his old beater commuter was his favorite and he is only retiring it as it is cracking and pretty much fully worn out. 



 

Saturday, October 10, 2026

Bro-Tour in-route ....new model


 


Yes-I'm making these now- if you want all your brake lines hidden on one of my bikes it can now happen. This one is going to Washington state to a team rider . He wanted the team color but also wanted some sparkle- it has that in a big way. This 'space dust' sparkle clear coat has to be seen in person to see the depth- it is amazing. The frame and Enve fork are joined by a King Aeroset-3 in polished gold to match the seatpost clamp. The max tire size on this model is 700x32




Steel road frame , fork and stem for Ohio

Not often that I build stems and this one has the last of my Paragon stem parts. This blue has to be one of my all time favorite colors and the photos do not fully capture the richness. With mechanical shifting and rim brakes, this really harkens back to the '90's when I built many frames like this. I kind of miss those days when there weren't so many new component and frame specs coming down the pike every year. Sure, things like disc brakes and tubeless tires have revolutionized riding but still, simplicity has a beauty all its own. This frameset is a testament to that.




 

Steel 29er for San Fransisco, Calif.


This month is MTB month -I have three in a row to build, this being the first. This one will take 2.4" tires and has the newer UDH dropout. It is built to take a beating with a Velospec down tube and my new-ish wishbone seat stays. It also has one of my last Paragon head tubes. When they are gone, they might not be fully gone and First Hand frame building is seeking to ressurect many of Paragon's pieces. For now,I'll say that I don't know if I'll ever see these again but hope to.




 

Thursday, October 1, 2026

Steel big tire CX for Colorado


 This one is made to take up to 700x50 tires. It will be mated to an Enve G-series fork. The chain stays are Columbus MTB bend - a little heavier duty than my stock Zona chain stay and a tighter bend to fit around those big tires. This one should be able to handle some rough terrain, as I am sure it will where it is going.