Commuter Ideas

I am at the point where this week I’ll be wrapping up the lugged commuter frameset. As it stands, I do need a few new parts for it — a new BB and crankset, as I sold the old, crappy ones, with the Surly Cross-Check frame that this beast replaces. I’ve been looking into a few supplemental pieces for it, too.

First off, I’m going to mock-up a prototype of a super-seekrit product I’ve been working on, and use that as part of the setup. Secondly, I’m going to start designing some custom racks for it — front and rear — that I plan to have nickel-plated.

I’ve also been looking at some lighting solutions to improve the visibility of the beast. I’ve got a plan in-place to run a pair of taillights, and I’ve got a NiteRide MiNewt USB kit for the headlight. What’s got me really stoked in this department, though, is the Cyglo tires. I’ve emailed them a couple of times, but haven’t heard anything back. From the sounds of things, they’re busy getting product made and finding distributors.

So, I’ll probably have this thing done and parted-out by about the time the shit snow starts flying here in Minnesota. Due to a past bout with hypothermia and some frostbite, cold weather and I don’t agree with one another. I’ll save the long road commutes for spring.

What Up?

So the 29er is on the verge of going to paint. I built it up with the parts package and took her out for a short spin. There’s a few little quirks that are related to my parts selection, but nothing that can’t be resolved. I’m going to do some touch-up work on her fillets this weekend and ship her off for the first round of paint on Monday, where the white for the panels will be put on the downtube, stays, and back half of the top tube. I also get to pick up the paint masks on Monday, which are essential to the second step of the paint, which is the metallic black.

Right around then, I need to get back up to Princeton to finish building the fork I’ve been working on for James. It’s an interesting project, because we’re taking a frame that was build for 650b wheels and modifying it to take 700c. The frame will accommodate the larger wheel with a 35c tire — just barely. Since the new fork must accommodate a similar wheel/tire combo, it has to be designed with the frames tube angles and bottom bracket drop in-mind. The goal is to build a fork that leaves the bike stable and predictable. I’ve got the crown/steerer together and the blades raked. Next session, I’ll double-check against the blueprint and get the dropout sockets on it, along with the brazing of the fork/fender eyelets onto the dropouts.

After that, I need to get the chainstays into the commuter frame and start getting that sucker around to finished. It’ll likely be headed to Airglow in Georgia for its paint work — a white pearl finish with metallic red lug lining and downtube logo. And there’s a track pursuit frame in the queue to follow that.

Website, 29′er, More

So as you can see, the new website is up and running, more or less. Some content clearly needs to be added, and I need to do some clean-up on the stylesheet to fix the typography. But all in all, I’m pretty happy with the way things have turned out. Do you have any thoughts on it? Let me know in the comments.

The 29′er approaches completion. Pretty much all that’s left is putting the seatstay and chainstay bridges in place and the water bottle bolts into the DT and ST, and a few other tiny details. A big thanks goes out to Erik Noren at Peacock Groove for the loan of his Anvil disc brake fixtures this weekend, as they were instrumental in getting this sucker done. So hopefully by Sunday, this thing will be done and ready to go to paint.

The commuter is temporarily stalled, which isn’t a big deal. I’m just focusing my energies on the ‘niner right now. Once that’s done, I’ll be turning my attention to it and completing it, hopefully only a couple of weeks later. I’d like to have them both ready for Minnecycle 2. The parts kits are basically taken care of — just waiting on a back-order from Chris King, and then I should have everything in-hand.

Weekend Update

Hello, I’m Chevy Chase. And you’re not.

In all seriousness, it was another productive weekend on the bike front.

Friday, between jobs (I currently have an office gig and a part-time gig at a bike shop), I stopped at the Active Living Bike Expo, as Paul was there, and it’d give me a chance to meet Erik Noren of Peacock Groove. I only had a couple of hours there, but I helped them set up, shot the shit, and had a good time. Erik’s a groovy cat and shared some knowledge that’ll be extremely helpful in the near future. I also discussed getting in at Minnecycle 2 this year, and he was amenable to the idea; I may end up at the “newbies table”, which I envision as being something like the pre-teen table at Thanksgiving. And I’m okay with that. I’m new to this, I’m just starting out and I gotta pay my dues.

Saturday’s shift at the bike shop was uneventful and quiet due to the weather. I left early and went home.

Sunday was good. I got up and did the Minnesota Ironman (not a triathlon, but a century ride). I opted for a shorter route as it was in the mid-40′s, windy, and pissing rain. In addition to being mildly sick (sore throat, congestion), I was experiencing some digestive problems that morning, so the ride was not all it could have been. I was cramping and grumpy within 4 miles, but I ground it out and finished, coating most of Lakeville and other surrounding suburbs with a thin layer of snot.

Once off the bike, I drove straight up to Princeton and Paul and I got to work right away. We discussed pricing models while we prepped — he shared his insights and opinions based on his experiences with framebuilding, and I shot back and asked questions based on my time working in B2C and B2B environments. It was good stuff. And we got down to work.

The 29′er needed it’s seat tube/top tube joint finished before we could install the seatstays. Got most of the way through that. The fillet was shallow in a few places and required some silver to be floated in on top of it. I suspect next weekend, we’ll be finishing that and attaching the seat stays.

Between soaking the joint of flux and working on it with the Dynafile, I did work on the commuter some more. The downtube got mitered and installed into the BB shell, a time-consuming process. Next time, I’ll check and make sure there’s no headtube twist (there shouldn’t be), and start mitering the top tube and prepping the lugs to finish out the front triangle.

Sorry for the lack of photos this time. By the time we wrapped up, both the ST/TT joint of the 29′er and the BB of the commuter were both in the soak tank and I was ready to call it a day.

Moving Right Along

So right now, I’ve got four frames in-progress, as you’ve probably gathered. They are:

• The rigid 29′er frame. At my next session, I’ll be finishing up the TT/ST joint and then getting the seat stays bent, mitered and put in-place. All that will remain after this is the braze-ons (water bottle bolts, cable guides, disc brake mounts, internal cable routing on the TT), the finishing of the joints, and the assembly of the forks. Then I’ll ship her off to be painted. Parts-wise, I still need to acquire hubs, headset, stem and seatpost. This is a 4130 chromoly build.
• The commuter frame. Next session, I’ll be mitering the downtube for the fit to the BB shell, putting that into place, and getting any headset twist resolved. This is a lugged frameset and is moving faster than the fillet-brazed 29′er has. I’m re-using the parts from my Surly Cross-Check commuter; I do need to replace the headset, however, and put a sleeve between the stem and steerer tube. I’d also like to update the crankset. This build uses Columbus Spirit for Lugs tubing and some Long Shen lugs with some minor shape changes.
• The track pursuit frame. Right now, this exists as a box of tubes. Next session, I may undertake the blueprinting. I have some parts for this, but not nearly all that I need. I’d like to get ahold of some HED H3 wheels with track axles as part of this. Not building a custom fork, opting to use an Edge Composites model instead. Tubing is a mix of True Temper Verus HT 4130 chromoly and Platinum OX. This may also serve as a test-bed for a product idea that I’ve had.
• The singlespeed cyclocross frame. Only exists as a box of tubes and an idea. Tubing is True Temper Platinum OX.

So that’s where things are with the bikes themselves.

I’ve still got to do something about the head tube badges — the tough part has been getting the artwork done. I had an artist, but she’s checked-out since getting my first round of feedback over six weeks ago. At this point, I’m ready to start looking for another solution.

Infrastructure-wise, I’ve been trying to figure out the bare minimums I’ll need to get this all moving. Everything from space to tooling is under consideration.

Business-wise, I need to file some paperwork and get some cards printed up.

As for the website, well, it’s not my highest priority at the moment. The design I’ve pulled together is predicated on having at least two bikes ready to show the world. So probably another ~2 months or so before I’m ready to show it off.

More pictures after the next session.

What’s Shakin’

So things are plugging along here — the visual update to this site isn’t going as fast as I’d like, so I’ve got this placeholder template in position to handle the nice minimalist layout until I have finished frame and a bunch of photos.

On the manufacturing side of the equation, here’s where I am at:

• The 29′er frame is coming along nicely.  Pretty much just have to do the top tube and stays, and I’ll have a finished frame to be sent off to paint.
• Got started on the lugged commuter frame this weekend.  The blueprint is done, the BB lug is shaped, the seat tube is mitered and brazed into the BB lug.  The steerer tube is brazed into the fork crown and the fork blades are raked and slotted for the dropouts.
• The pursuit frame is a collection of tubes.  I did manage to get the stainless faceplates brazed to the rear dropouts.
• The singlespeed cyclocross frame is a giant collection of tubes, nothing more.

Next session with Paul will be after NAHBS, as he’s showing there.  But my intentions for that session are as follows:

• Double-check the alignment on the 29′er frame so far, and cold-set if necessary.  Then put the top tube in place, and start mitering the chainstays.
• Get the commuter frame head tube/down tube mitered and lugged together.
• Finish commuter fork.
• Get the pursuit frame blueprinted.

I’ve got some other stuff that needs to be done away from Paul’s facilities, too:

• Nail down a source for my CNC’ed downtube badges and order up a batch.
• Finalize design for the head tube badge and get that in front of a jeweler for manufacturing.
• Finish the sexy-ass template for this website.
• Start buying tools for my own setup away from Paul’s shop, come September or so.
• Do some more research on available work spaces in NE Minneapolis.

I’m not moving as fast on the second list as I’d like, but I’m not sweating it yet.  See, I’ve got training for racing season going on (~9 hours per week), and an — in a few months — a wedding to attend (my own!), so things are a bit crazy around here.

In the time since my last post here, I’ve made huge leaps on pulling together the site template, I’ve found a painter who is local — only 7 blocks from my house — who will be doing my frames, and started acquiring the tools and other assorted infrastructure I need to start doing this for customers other than myself.

Speaking of which, I still owe Jim Oliver a frame — my “take” on a Bridgestone XO-1 — how’s that for a cool project?  I’ve lusted after an XO-1 of my own for a long time now.  So much so, that I may make myself a copy of Jim’s frame when I’m done.  It’ll be the Pallas Athena XO-T (XO-Tribute), and yes, it’ll be that awesome orange with white panels.  And I need to talk to my boy, Clint, about his plans for a lugged steel road frame with the upright bars.

Oh, and since the 29′er is going to be the first one done, I should probably take stock of what I still need for parts so I can get the thing assembled.  Pretty important step.