A Few More Things

1. One of these days, I plan to get back to doing an email newsletter. I’ll probably send it out in the next couple of weeks, actually.

2. I’m working on what we in the marketing industry refer to as a “whitepaper.” It’ll be a freely downloadable guide on how to purchase a custom bike. Basically a primer on what you need to know and what to expect out of the experience. I’m not using it to drive sales — I’m just more interested in ensuring that a cyclist gets the most out of the experience.

3. I’m behind schedule. I owe some of you some frames. The post-Minnecycle burnout led to holidays led to the 8 weeks’ early birth of my son, Eddy. I’m going to be hauling ass to catch up. Promise.

4. The t-shirts are in the final stretch. I should be picking them up next Tuesday morning, and will be mailing them to the out-of-staters, and contacting the in-staters for personal delivery starting on the same day! Rock!

New Employee

He was so eager to start work that Edwin Cooper Bailey joined the world eight weeks early, on Friday, January 13th, 2012. Four pounds, twelve ounces and 18 inches long. A score of 8 on his Apgars test. Excellent prognosis. He just has to spend several weeks in the NICU.

Pallas Athena's newest employee!

Been Awhile, Huh?

So it’s been a considerable length of time since my last blog post here. Shame on me!

With the baby on the way (due in early March), my time has been chewed up with house preparations and such, and as a result, I haven’t had much torch time, never mind the time to crank out a blog post here. I even decided to make the email newsletter a bi-monthly thing, and the January/February edition will be out at the end of this month.

I’ll be trying to fix that soon. I’m at a B&B with my wife this weekend, our last getaway before our baby boy arrives, and we won’t be back in the house until Monday sometime. I’m thinking about using that time to catch up on a bunch of stuff. I owe a bunch of emails, have to lay the keel of a new frame (front triangle, dudes), and get in touch with the AGRS winner about his ride.

The t-shirts had to go to a different printer as the one I had been working with had some issues. They should be done soon and I’ll hand-deliver the locals and mail out the the distant ones as soon as they’re here.

Hope you’re all well, that you enjoyed the recent spate of warm weather, and that your training is going well. If you’re at all interested in a new frame, don’t hesitate to contact me.

2011 Email Newsletter Archive

2011:

• May
• June
• August
• September
• Minnecycle Reminder
• Minnecycle Thank-You
• October
• November

Small Items of Note

• They’ve gone and done it — Shimano has joined the 11-speed ranks with the leaked information about the new Dura-Ace 9000 group. It’s mechanical, it’s 11-speed, it’s got a press-fit bottom bracket, and that’s about all the details I’ve got. It’s really not surprising, given that Campy had already gone that direction, and had followed Shimano into electronic shifting, as well.
   
• I shipped out the Trek 720 frameset yesterday and was sad to see it go. I bought it from Mike Williams while I was working at Penn Cycle years and years ago. It’s a great frameset, from the last year that Trek made lugged frames, and it rides like a dream. It’s been sitting in a box for some time now, unbuilt, and I decided that someone else out there would probably love it and use it a lot more than I do, so I sold it. I regret it only a tiny bit — I can build something comparable in fit/comfort/performance fairly easily now. And the money I made from the sale is going toward some new equipment.
   
• It being Friday, I’m pretty stoked that the weekend is about to start. Hope you all have awesome plans. I know mine are.

How to Build a Bicycle Frame

So I’ve been asked, on occasion, a couple of questions regarding the building of bicycle frames. The two most common ones are:

1. Do you teach?
2. Where do I get started?

The answer to the first is a resounding “no” — I simply don’t have the time or facilities to offer an effective class. I’d also like more depth of experience, as I still find myself frequently puzzling over small issues and engaging in brainstorming to solve those issues.

In response to item #2, I will refer the “curious builder” to Lugged Bicycle Frame Construction, A Manual for the First Time Builder: Expanded Second Edition by Marc-Andre R. Chimonas, which will allow the reader to build a lugged bicycle in their garage, using a few simple tools including files, a vise, and a MAPP gas torch. (Click the image, or here, to purchase at Amazon.) By no means will this turn you into a framebuilder, but it will allow you to build a frame that you can build up into a working bike and ride regularly.

If you’re really dead-set on become a framebuilder, I’d recommend arming yourself with a copy of The Paterek Manual and finding a class or apprenticeship somewhere. (The class will be easier to find, but will cost you a few thousand dollars.) Tim Paterek’s book is the end-all, be-all bible of framebuilding, as far as I’m concerned, and a copy should reside in every framebuilder’s workshop. There are earlier editions available as a free download in PDF.

I’m also convinced that there’s a market for a book that lives somewhere between these two — something not as complex as Paterek, yet addresses more than Chimonas. I’m considering writing it, what with my abundance of free time and all. (Yes, that was sarcasm.)

Mmmmm….Steeeeeel.

So I’ll be bluntly honest with you — when I started learning the craft of framebuilding, I owned exactly one steel bike and it was the first I’d owned in, quite literally, more than a decade. That bike, a Surly Cross-Check, has since been stripped down and the frameset sold in order to fund stuff for this little business of mine. My fleet was that, two scandium Salsas, and a Cervelo P2C (carbon).

A mitered down tube, getting ready to join it to the head tube.

When I started this little venture, my plan was to learn how to build with steel, and then move on to stainless and titanium as my primary metals. In the army, we had a quip about how “no plan survives first contact with reality.” That holds true. I still plan to start dabbling with stainless and titanium in the future, but that’s a few years off, yet, and the availability of a Pallas Athena from those materials is even further out.

The reasons for this are two-fold. First, I have fallen in love with steel. It’s a great material, and don’t let any carbon-peddling shop salesman tell you otherwise. With a wide variety of alloys, tube specifications, sub-components such as lugs and dropouts, and the ability to easily mix and match, I can craft a frame that balances comfort, affordability, and performance for the same price as a decent carbon frame. There are those that will complain about the weight, and while they’re right, they overlook the fact that there’s a wide variety of lightweight parts on the market that make it very easy to take a steel frame down to, and even below, the UCI mandated lower weight limit for a bike.

Secondly, it’s got so much character — you’ve heard the “lively” remarks, I’m sure. It’s true. A good steel frame is going to allow you to feel the road (or singletrack) and not get the shit bashed out of you like you would on an aluminum frame. And it’s durable — if it falls over, you aren’t going to be shelling out hundreds to repair it like you would, say, carbon. It gives you warning before it fails, unlike aluminum.

When you hear me chattering on and on about replacing my Cross-Check, or getting my Salsas phased-out in favor of steel, it’s not just because I feel that I should be riding my own stuff, but that I think steel is the better material for it.

Black Friday Acquisitions

So last Friday, I did the unthinkable. I ventured forth and did some Black Friday shopping. God help me. During Thanksgiving Day at my mom’s place, I happened upon the Home Depot ads, which showed a 26-inch, 9-drawer roll-away tool chest for $149. The store opened at 5 a.m., so I got up at four, got my shit together and rolled over to the Shakopee location. I was around 20th in line when the doors opened, and the line stretched back 100 people or so. I bought the chest and got the heck out of there.

Around 8 a.m., I decided the deal was too good to pass up and went back and purchased a second one.

Two new tool chests.

I tore up my knuckles while installing the casters, and then spent some serious time organizing my shit. The one on the left is all framebuilding — tubing, components, welding equipment, and metal fabrication tools. The one on the right is all bicycle-specific tools — my old Park AK-32 kit along with all the other stuff I’ve acquired since I bought it in 1999.

Pretty glad I went and got these. Yeah, they’re inexpensive and their quality isn’t what I originally had in mind, but combined they’re still less than half the cost of what I had been looking at, with much better total storage volume.

Things and Stuff

• T-shirt sales have been coming along just fine. If you’re going to buy, you should do it soon! Orders close on Friday the 11th. I’m in a position where I’ll turn a little bit of profit, which will be rolled over into some equipment. You could also help spread the word by sharing on Twitter or Facebook.

• You know what else would help? Selling those two frames that I posted about on Monday. Maybe I’ll post them on Pedalr or something.

• I’ve “discovered” 8020 extrusion, and I’m highly intrigued. It’s an aluminum product that has channels cut in it. Those channels are a standard size and allow you to attach other 8020 components, or machined parts to the frame. Think of it as an industrial version of an Erector set. I’ve got an idea for how to build a custom stem fixture that would be pretty minimalist, so I may take a shot at that in the coming months. We’ll see. I’ve got some other very interesting (to me) ideas in mind for the stuff, including using them as workbench frames. That might be priority numero uno for this.

• In the part of my life where I contribute to the economy (other than the new house we purchased this year, and my occasional order from Enco, Home Depot, or wherever for framebuilding gear), we purchased a new car this weekend. The primary reason, of course, was the baby that’s on the way, but I’m not going to complain about it having a ton of space for bikes. While I refer to the silver monstrosity as “Babystar Galactica” or “the Family Truckster”, it is going to be nice to have around. It gets much better mileage than my WRX did, doesn’t eat premium-only gas like the WRX, and with the roof rack coming (2-3 rails) and a trailer hitch, I could probably get everything to a trade show in pretty short order.

• Also, bike has been added to the queue — the AGRS men’s winner was formally announced last week, and Jim Bell will be the proud new owner of a custom Pallas Athena, per my sponsorship of that event. Congrats, Jim! Now answer the email I sent you!

Stuff for Sale

I’ve got two one frameset for sale, as I’m trying to raise some cash to build up my business infrastructure.

The first is a 1983 Trek 720 touring frame and fork, which has been sold.

Salsa Las Cruces. Click for larger view.

The second is a 2007 or 2008 Salsa Las Cruces frame and fork. It’s TIG-welded scandium with a carbon fork. Frame size is 60cm. Geometry and more information is available here. I built this sucker up to race ‘cross, and have only used it for that purpose. It’s got a 135mm rear axle spacing and mounts for disc brakes if that’s the way you swing. Total distance on the frame is less than 500 miles. Asking $450, or best offer. Buyer pays Paypal fees and shipping costs. (And you are getting the frame and fork only. No other parts.) If interested, please email me.