Al Carbon for Santa Cruz

This bike is designed to be kind to the lower back but still be pretty sporty. The woman who owns this bike has an uphill commute to the local university. Every day will be an opportunity to see falcons, deer and the occsional bobcat in the fields next to the bike path. parts were taken from her old bike

Most of the parts were on her old bike but the Campagnolo nine-speed gruppo integrated perfectly with the new frame. I was impressed how well these components worked in all respects.

Now here's a first, at least for me...

This is a 650 single-speed or rear der. only frame for rim brakes ( Paul Component Motolites) and to top it all off....S&S couplers. This unprecedented combination will go to Virginia and probably see a lot of miles in the air as well as on the ground. The tubeset is a combination of Reynolds 853 and 725 with the normal Dedaccai seat and head tubes that I use on almost every steel frame. Reynolds has a habit of not making the diameters of thier tubes to spec so I have to really become mr. precision machinest to make everything fit up correctly, which thankfully it did. I can send this one out knowing that without the tools and experience I have I would probably not be able to complete such a frame. I guess the years of hard work and throwing tools at the floor are paying off.

Single speed 29er bound for Colorado

It's a lobster in Yeti's clothing, almost. I can't build one much more burly and deluxe than this one. It's got all the ADG stuff to make it stout , have room for big tires and still be short in the rear triangle. I'll be interested to hear the ride report.

Sliders in 7005...its a beautiful thing and they are made here in the good old republic of California.

Big tire 'cross bike, this time with paint

Here she is in all her glory. This frame represents a lot of work and some old techniques adapted to a modern steel frame.

The little tube on the bottom of the chainstay is there to prevent the cable from rubbing on the 700x45 c tire that will no doubt fill out the rear triangle. As a former bike mechanic I know that not putting stuff like this on a frame can really be a major bummer for the customer or the person building up the bike.
The fork looks like my normal 'cross fork but it isn't. The blades are about 20 % heavier to be durable on the trail and not to flex much under hard braking load. A big tire bike demands this and the larger tire volume will give the bike a smooth enough ride.

rock huckster

This bike will see some serious trail riding here in Santa Cruz very soon. Looking at the dropout situation it can be seen that the frame will be versitile, to say the least.......single speed, geared, disc brake - it will all work on this frame in relative harmony . this frame was also built from stout tubing to withstand a rider who has a downhill racing background.

Rawness

There seems to be a trend right now....the British " Path Racer' of the '50s and '60s is making a comeback , possibly in the wake of the general fixed gear frenzy of the last few years. A Path Racer is a fixed gear bicycle that has a longer wheelbase for long road use and fittings for fenders, a novel concept but sensible when one thinks of winter fixed gear training that is a tradition in the U.K. and here in the U.S. in some areas.

This frame and fork will eventually wind up in Boise, Idaho and supposedly get used in alley-cat events and be a general commute bike. I'm hoping that some of the little extra touches I have done bring a smile to the future owner. It's a special bike going to a special cyclist.

Amgen Tour of California, stage II photos

In case you didn't know, my home town is Santa Cruz and today we were lucky to have a pro-tour race finish right downtown. Here are a few of the photos I took of the day. This one is the finla sprint with Peterson and Leipheimer. Here are the last stragglers just ahead of the broom wagon making the turn onto Bonny Doon rd., the last big climb of the day.

Here's the main field starting the climb, Armstrong near the front keeping an eye on things.

This is the breakaway containing local rider Ben Jaques-maynes , visible on the left in the black and red kit. The breakaway was clear from about mile 10 until only 30 minutes from the finish. It would have been fantastic to have the local hero win the local stage but the race is far from over for Ben and the rest of the peloton.