Dashed plans

 Hello, all. Do now that I am recovering from a broken leg I can inventory my plans for the fall that have been scrapped. 

# 1. I have cancelled my entry into the Made bicycle show in Portland. This is a really sad thing for me to do but I am not 100% sure that I will even be walking by the time the show happens so that one is a non-starter for me. I hope that you all go and that it is every bit as good as I think it will be. I'll be really sad to miss seeing my Portland friends and doing the whole bike show thing after 4 years of absence. Maybe next year........

#2. The Eroica California was on my calendar but not any more. Would have been fun- I really liked last year and was so looking forward to this year but I'm going to be too feeble to travel, let alone push insane gears up steep hills on an old bike. Also, I heard the swap isn't happening so that was quite a downer.....anyway, I'll have to wait until next year for that one.

#3. Cyclocross.......well, no racing for me. I am not that good of a racer but I am enthusiastic and right before my crash I was in really great shape- maybe could have had a podium or two like last year but no.....can't do that now- have to be smart and let this leg heal. I will be at some races and work support or at the very least honk the horn. I only need one good leg to do the latter.

Now for what I think I'll still be able to do:

Have a frame on order ? Well, in a little over two weeks I'll be back in the shop. Two months of not working has indeed put me behind schedule but I think I can get pretty productive this fall, especially if I'm not consumed with the CX season. Anyone wishing to get a refund on their deposit will get their money back quickly. If you don't mind waiting though, I will be full steam at the shop pretty soon. 

Awhile ago I said something about re-issuing my original brand of "Sadoff" road frames-I still intend to do this. I have lots of materials and some good ideas in mind but my obligation to customer builds comes first so the first of these nostalgic period piece frames is unlikely to be built until the end of the year. 

Riding.....first I have to be able to walk again-doctors say if I listen to them I should heal up well. So far I have made leaps and bounds beyond what the nurses and PT people expected but hey-I'm 67 so I have to be realistic and figure that I'll take longer to heal this time around. What I am saying is that I'm not all fired up to ride ASAP- I'm all fired up to walk and to be able to get the hell out of my house again. Don't get me wrong, I love my house but I am more than ready to spend some quality away time from it. I miss my shop and I miss my mobility. I know that I could be way worse off and I'm thankful that my injury was a simple one........and I know that if I don't give it time to heal I will regret it for the rest of my life. So, yes- I will ride again but no hurry on that one. 

That's the news from Santa Cruz. I was wanting time off awhile ago and sure enough, I got it. I didn't want it to happen this way but there are things that just happen and we have to roll with it. 

Signature road bike for sale

One of my customers is selling this bike that I built for him in 1999 on Santa Cruz craigslist. I think it is a 56 cm, good for a 5'10"-5'11" rider. The parts have been upgraded to Dura Ace 9100 not long ago. The frame is Columbus with Prugnat S-4 lugs- a real nod to late '70's frame building. 

This customer logged many miles on this bike but I'm sure that it has a good many left. He's asking $ 1,700.00 which considering the newer parts and the fact that I charge about $ 3,000 for a frame like this is more than fair. Check craigslist for his info-I don't have the drawing or any of the original specs but if you talk directly with the seller he can give you a more complete description of the bike.

 

Broken leg progress report

 Howdy, folks. After nearly two weeks in the hospital and a surgery I am now finally at home. The first of six weeks of recovery has just been completed so if all goes well I will be full weight bearing five weeks from today. It is unlikely that I will be able to work in the shop until then, mainly for safety reasons but if I can, I will. There are still over 30 frames on the list so I'll have a mountain of work waiting for me. I will still try to build one more batch of aluminum frames before the start of CX season. I think there's only about 7 frames on that list so getting them done is really possible. The time off of work will really renew my enthusiasm. 

Thanks to all who visited me at  the hospital and for all the well wishes online and by phone. I guess I'm not done yet. 

Broken leg

 That's right, folks. Looks like there will be a delay in work for awhile. I hope to get back to it in 8 weeks but I really have to consider the long term quality of life and allow the time to properly heal. There are a number of completed frames in the shop and at the two different painters and those will be prepped and shipped first. I have arranged to have help with this and will check on my inventory in maybe 2-3 weeks. Sorry for this but hey, I was just riding along.........

Steel big tire touring frame and fork

This frame is for a local woman who is replacing a very old bike. With thru-axles and flat mount brakes this should be a sure-footed ride. The frame and fork are built to take 700x45 tires and racks, as well as three bottles.

 

Colmbus Max road frame for the UK- just been repaired.

This one will have a big carbon foot print,having already crossed the Atlantic twice-soon to cross it again to go to its owner. People send me stuff from pretty far away to be repaired. I don't generally do repairs but this frame was one that I had built and an exotic one at that so I really needed to do it . Even with the shipping it is still quite a bit less expensive than buying a new one and less wasteful, too. 

What happened was that the bike had a pretty big collision and the top and down tube were bent. Also, the fork was replaced just to be sure that the whole thing will be like new and safe to ride. I hope that he likes the bike as much after all the work. It was a trick to find the Max Tubes but I got lucky and found what I needed right here in town from another builder. It is all boxed up and ready to ship.

 

Steel road + fork going to Bakersfield, Calif.

This fork was made for 47-57 mm reach caliper brakes. I tried a 700x33 CX tire and it fit-hopefully the brake caliper won't hit. I'm pretty sure that it won't. I'm going through some of my new stash of old 1"steerer fork crowns. This one is a Tange and it was really nice to work with. Too bat that it was the only one I had. Still, I have lots of other cool ones to use in the coming years.