7/23/2010

General Lee

We just finished putting together Lee's new steel road frame. The finish is raw steel, bead blasted and finished with clear powdercoat. Stickers were applied and then the whole frame was liquid clear coated for protection.

Built with a mixture of high-end steel tubes, this frame is remarkably stiff and agile. It features Columbus head tube and chainstays, Reynolds 853 seat tube, True Temper S3 down tube, True Temper OX seatstays, Breezer stainless steel/hooded dropouts and a Paragon BB shell.

The frame features internal brake routing, braze-on front derailleur mount and rear rack mounts. The down tube has threaded cable guides and brass adjusters from frame builder Dave Kirk.

The extended seat tube is Reynolds 853, 32mm OD, with a short Thomson 30mm diameter post inside. The main reason this frame is so stiff is due to the massive seat tube mast.

Front end geometry is based around an Edge Road 1.0 carbon fork with 45mm rake. The fork was sanded down to remove all decals and the factory clear coat. A matte liquid clear coat was then applied for protection and stealth look.


Future upgrades include a custom King R45 wheelset and Nokon silver cables. Mmmmm, steel is nice.

7/06/2010

Learning to Ride

Both of my twin daughters learned to ride recently....very exciting and nerve rracking at the same time because they can't always stop when they need to! They started off with wooden bikes from Skuut and learning to balance was easy for them. Pedaling and braking not so easy. When they grow tall enough I plan to build up some very light 20" frames with baskets, bells, short-reach brake levers and of course custom paint. Seeing my kids ride bikes is awesome.


I remember vividly the first time I rode a bike...it was an early 1980s 20" AMF Hawk and I'm pretty sure my parents bought it at Sears. The color scheme was basically the opposite of this one I found on BMX museum....it was a darker blue with white or silver accents.

Bottle Cap Board

Greg from Carmel (Indiana, not Cali) sent me a picture of the 'bottle cap board' he's creating. I love it and if I was making one, it would be full of Newcastle caps! Cheers.