Monday, March 25, 2024

New model ? Road racing frame in 7005 with dropped seat stays

The guy who I share my shop with- the one who owns all these nice slabs of locally salvaged wood- requested dropped seat stays. This style is current on a lot of pro-tour bikes. 
Since none of my bikes are in the pro-tour , I'll call this one a 'Bro-tour' team issue replica.......who knows...maybe I'll have to build more of them. Structurally, I'm not 100% confident in the area of the seat tube / seat stay junction holding up as well as a normal design but this customer was willing to roll the dice and be a test pilot. I guess time will tell if it is going to last as long as the more conventional frame design. Fortunately, the aluminum seat tube is pretty stout. I don't think I would do this design in steel as the wall thickness on a steel seat tube is barely .6 mm....... not much there to take the stress.

 It does have a fairly modern sporty look, though....

Rocker single speed/geared steel MTB frame

This one is going to Bismarck, N.D.  ....way up north. The customer asked for no wishbone so that's why it has s-bend seat stays- this is actually a bit lighter than the wishbone.
The customer also asked for the rocker dropouts for the ability to run single speed-this is a nice way to have a bike that does two duties.
And of course, a Jen Green copper headbadge adorns the front of the head tube- always a nice option.
 

Thursday, March 21, 2024

WCCX single speed

This is the final frame in the first aluminum batch of the year.This one will have an EBB bout could also do geared with a wireless setup.
I really got in a groove with this batch and tried a different setting n my welder-I like it. Not a big change, just a slightly different heat range that makes the welds just a bit more flowed out. I like the look, even if it does not have any structural advantage.
If you don't see your frame in this batch, don't worry- another batch will be coming up after I spend April catching up on the steel list.
 

Thursday, March 14, 2024

7005 road frame for Junior team member

While we don't have a road team, we do have a CX team with a number of talented juniors. The rider of this frame is a real talent , riding elite level races at 14 years old.
This 3 lb.3 oz. road frame will hopefully be a great training tool for him. Some of the tubes are pear shaped NOS Easton Elite. I still have a small stash of these that I use every once in awhile. 

 

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

7005 WCCX frame going to an east coast team member

 

This isn't just any old team member- this rider is current women's 35-39 national CX champion Clementine Nixon.
She will now have two matching bikes with which to defend her title. This one is early identical to her original except that it has a slightly lighter top tube and a tad larger diameter down tube- this is because these tubes were not what I could get to build her first frame soif she likes # 1, she should really like # 2.
This frame weighs 3 lb. 3 oz.

Monday, March 11, 2024

The legend continues- 7005 WCCX Team frame

This one is going to a rider who is starting his tenth season with the team. He has been on the podium at nearly every nationals he has raced in and has finished on the lead lap in a world cup in Europe.
It has been a great association with this rider over all these years and it continues in this year of 2024.
This frame is the distillation of years of building frames for racers like the one who will be astride this one.Team riders have given me good feedback and have probably  done more to shape my frames than I have......riding at the level they do , they encounter things that at my slower speed I will never have to deal with and hearing about how my bikes handle in these situations is vital to the evolution of my CX bikes.
Each one of this rider's frames have been named. This is the name of the latest one......long story based in eastern European mythology with a taste of my warped sense of humor.
 

Saturday, March 9, 2024

You don't see one of these every day.......or ever !

This is a fully rigid all steel tig SL MTB frame for and stem. What really sets it apart is the group of components that the customer had collected for it over the years.
While the hubs and BB are current issue Phil Wood and the headset is a fairly normal King , the drive train and brake parts are anything but normal- this is all Campagnolo. Some of the parts are late '80's Euclid, some are '90's Centaur and there might be a Record OR piece here and there. I really don't know these parts well enough to be definitive on which is which but one thing for sure , they are all Campagnolo.
These parts have never been very popuar so they are super rare. In order to make the whole thing shift properly the mechanic ( Ryan Bontrager ) at the Spokesman cycles had to literally manufacture spacers for the 8 speed cassette. 
Yes, much went into the assembly but it all works and this is a rolling bike unlike any that has come out of my shop. The NOS Mavic rims with the CD finish were the best of their era . Once the toe clips and straps are on, this one will be complete.