To-Do Between Now and Sunday Evening

• prep November email newsletter
• fix blueprint for Jamie’s road clydesdale
• do blueprint for Aaron’s niner
• do blueprint for Edwin’s strider bike
• fix Paul’s road frame for delivery to painter
• final push on Justin’s 26er
• decal sheet for Justin’s 26er
• call Joe Bringheli about aligning fixture
• call Dirt Designs Graphics, locally, re: paint
• order sleeve tubing from Aircraft Spruce
• hang out and build with A-train

Hey Hey

Been awhile since I’ve updated here, and for that, I apologize. I know some of you are keeping tabs on Pallas Athena developments via the blog. As many of you know, I’m going to be a dad, and that’s been a big focus lately. (Yes, I read pregnancy and parenting books.) A future Pallas Athena employee!

That said, however, things are progressing nicely. I’ve been building frames, and have been talking to people about frames. The garage is getting to a point where I’ll be able to hang out and build during the winter months.

And to raise some cash for some equipment, I’ve created a t-shirt design and am selling them via PayPal. Every order helps!

A Few Random Things

1. A-train and I are going to hang out and build at his new workshop on Sunday. Expect photos.

2. CycleTC has a great infographic about biking and walking in the Twin Cities. When it’s mid-February and I’m bitching about the cold and wondering why I moved back to Minnesota, someone point me at this.

3. I’ve got a t-shirt design underway. They’ll be available for pre-order soon, silk-screened on 100% cotton American Apparel shirts. Cost will be $22.

4. Tonight, more work on bikes. Plus some prepping of the garage for the insulation/drywall project that kicks off early on Saturday morning.

Things for the Future

Website:
I’d like to add a map of where all my customers are in the world. I’ve got some ideas on how to implement that. In addition, I’d like to add some video, as well. And better (studio) photos of my bikes. Soon, dudes! Soon!

Schwag:
T-shirts. And water bottles.

Facilities:
Other than insulating/drywalling the garage this weekend? A heater. This winter, I’ll probably use a 30,000 BTU propane-fueled space heater, which should keep things fairly toasty.

Equipment:
Near-term, an Anvil fork fixture and their BBG/FOG tool. Those are my priorities now. Next after that is a mill and a lathe.

Tradeshows:
Minnecycle 2012. With a kid on the way, I need to keep this list on the light side.

Bikes:
Want to wrap up my existing backlog and then build a couple for myself to replace the two Salsa in my fleet.

What else am I missing?

What I’m Reading Right Now

One of the best books I've read in a very long time. Click for more info.

Greenlight!

Very excited to announce that my CFO (Chief Financial Officer, AKA “Wife”) approved the project to upgrade the electrical in the garage and to insulate/drywall the whole thing. By the end of October, I should have a very well-appointed garage — extra electrical, insulated, drywalled, with a huge copy of the headbadge painted on the wall. And new workbenches, but I’ll be doing that on my own dime.

Pretty stoked. Got to give my father-in-law (master electrician) a ring.

Needed

What the world truly needs is a 10-speed internally-geared hub that works with Shimano STI or SRAM shifters.

Discuss.

RIP, Steve Jobs

In 1980 or 1981, my parents divorced. My dad lived in a tiny apartment with a waterbed, and an Apple ][+ on a card table. That computer changed the course of my life in a way I cannot even begin to describe, and without it, who knows where I'd be now?

[The computer] is the equivalent of a bicycle for our minds.

— Steve Jobs

There’s not much one can really say about Steve Jobs that hasn’t already been said elsewhere. The man was an inspiration to me — his drive to be perfect, to create, to innovate, all while being willing to take risks — is something unrivaled in modern business. Not only did he provide me with a suite of tools I use daily, but he inspired me.

Thank you, Steve. For everything.

Steve Jobs.

Stay hungry, stay foolish.

- Steve Jobs, 1955-2011

The Future of Cyclocross?

Bicycling, in a recent online piece featured five trends that they think are the future of cyclocross. As a CX-lover myself, here’s what I think of their choices:

1. Belt drives.

In their write-up they say, “Throughout an entire season, our Gates CDX drivetrain ($245) proved unstoppable in mud, rain and snow, or anything else we could throw at it.”

Okay, but it depends on the belt drive — earlier models had problems clearing debris from the teeth on the gears and resulted in a belt that wouldn’t stay on. And their claims of only being able to run them single-speed are bunk, too — haven’t these people heard of internally-geared hubs?

2. Single-speed bikes.

Just because singlespeed has a standalone category in a lot of races doesn’t mean it’s going to take over the sport. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some singlespeed action, but for CX, I’ll take a 1×10 setup with a Paul chain keeper so that I have a more-versatile bike.

3. Disc brakes.

Yeah, I’ll pass. If you’ve read my personal blog, you know where I stand on the mechanical vs. hydraulic disc brake issue. While the discs will certainly give you more stopping power in shitty conditions than a pair of cantilevers, I would still favor cantis for their simplicity. Additionally, I’m not sure that I want to have a spinning disc brake rotor near my ear when I shoulder the bike for a run-up. For now, personally, I’ll stick with cantilevers. (Though if you insist on disc brakes for a frame I’m building you, I won’t try to dissuade you.)

4. V-brakes.

So less stopping power than discs or cantilevers, and somehow they’re the future because there’s less fork chatter? Give me a friggin’ break. If you can’t HTFU enough to deal with a little bit of chatter, maybe riding a beach cruiser around the lake is more your style? To be fair, I haven’t ridden TRP’s CX-9 brakes (and it’s not in the budget), but I do hear good things about it. Anyone at TRP want to set me straight on the matter?

5. Sealed cable housing.

You know, if cyclocross bikes were properly designed, they’d run the cables along the top tubes, which would basically negate the need for overpriced sealed-cable housings. And you know, after a season of racing and finally needing to replace your cables, would you rather spend $5 on a single cable? Or $65 on a sealed kit from Ride-On? I already pay enough to race, thanks.

Now then, with all of my opinions out there now, what’re your thoughts? Agree? Disagree? See cyclocross headed somewhere else?

Preparing for Winter

So tonight, after the office, I’ll be making a Home Depot run. It’s amazing how often I’m there, being a new homeowner. I do think there’ll be a day where my number of visits begins to drop, but man. Not soon, I suspect. Tonight’s run is so that I can pick the brains of some specialists on the nature of insulating and drywalling my garage, so that I can work through the winter.

The other prep work I need to undertake is getting my paws on some good winter gloves, and some winter riding shoes. I think that with Murphy-Hanrehan being so close to the house, and the singletrack open all winter, that I’d be a fool to not try riding it. The trainer is going to get cold quick. And I’ll need a break from the Sufferfest videos.

Those of you that live in cold-weather environments: what do you do to enable outdoor riding in the winter? Or do you just suffer through other indignities cross-training indoors?