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.

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?

Weekend To-Do List

• refill acetylene tank
• finish Erin’s CX frame
• build final fillets for Paul’s frame
• finish fillets on Justin’s 26er
• email Jamie re: his road frame
• add Google +1, Facebook Like, and Tweet This buttons to Gallery items
• update existing Gallery Items, add Paul and Justin frames

Two Quick Things

1. I am seriously considering doing a limited-run, semi-stock cyclocross frame over the winter. Would be lugged steel, horizontal dropouts with a derailleur hanger so you could run single or multi-geared. Would include a single-color powdercoating. Available in 54, 56, 58, and 60 cm — geometry would be fixed, but you’d have the choice to go with a disc tab ($10 extra, rigged for mechanical discs only), what color you want it, and have your choice between a 130mm and 135mm rear axle spacing. No fork, but would be designed around a common, easily-acquired carbon model. Once ten of them were sold, no more would be available. Pricing will probably sit around $1100.

2. Also thinking about sponsoring an alleycat next year. More on that as it develops.

Weekend Update

So this weekend I got a lot more bike stuff done than usual.

• Most notable is the addition of the email list. Subscribe now, and you can get $50 off your first purchase of a frameset (note: does not apply to custom racks, custom forks, or repair work). SPECIAL OFFER NO LONGER VALID.

• The most exciting news is that I got two inquiries about Reynolds 953 custom cyclocross frames. I’ve sent out quotes on both, and am waiting to hear back. Reynolds 953 is a fascinating material and I’m toying with the idea of building myself a lugged CX frame out of it, too. Would be an awesome ride!

• My bride-to-be had her bridal shower on Saturday, so while the house was filling up with women, I made my exit and took about 90 minutes of riding time on my Cervelo. Unlike a lot of steel builders that I’ve met, I don’t have a problem with carbon — or other materials, for that matter. It was a pretty good time, despite the stifling heat. I didn’t leave the Minneapolis city limits, but still had plenty of time with minimal/no cars.

• The niner frame is basically finished. The perfectionist in me is screaming about tweaking the fillets, and I probably will this week. I’m only waiting on waterjet parts before I can ship this sucker off to paint, really. Which brings us to…

• …waterjet parts. Skaaly’s doing his best to rectify the situation, and I respect that.

• Stopping back over at Peacock Groove tonight. I owe Erik a set of front dropouts and I have them in my grubby little paws. He hooked me up a couple months ago when I was building the fork for the 29′er.

• Minnecycle 2 is this coming weekend, and I won’t be showing there, which is fine. I do plan to corner Chris Kvale and talk to him about his paint work. Definitely want to ship the 29er to him, along with future work. (The lugged commuter is probably going to go to Airglow in Georgia for its work.)

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.