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 SPECIAL OFFER NO LONGER VALID.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.)

Communications Blackouts

Got a call yesterday about doing a custom fork (possibly two) for a couple of old Croll cyclocross frames. Yeah, I can do that. I’ve pulled together a quote, but now I have to call the guy back because the email address I have for him isn’t working. Thank God for the iPhone’s “History” function.

…

Unrelated to building cool custom stuff out of steel, the impending shutdown of MplsBikeLove in favor of a different format of site with a more national scope and a business model had me thinking. I have had bike612.com for a couple of years now, and decided on a whim on Tuesday night to set up a new forum over there. It doesn’t have a ton of traffic yet, but it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out once MBL shuts down on the 24th.

I’m sure there’s some people who think that this was a really dick move, and they might be partly right. To clarify, though, I don’t have anything against Jeremy Werst — I think he’s an awesome guy and I think that his creation, MBL, is a great, vibrant community, which is difficult to build. However, I’m disappointed that the focus of the new BikeLove is going to be more of a nationwide thing, rather than focused on the Minneapolis area. I think that the focus on the Twin Cities area is what made MBL so great in the first place. So, I put up the site. And we’ll see how it plays out.

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Still on the theme of communications blackouts, there’s still no word from Skaaly on the waterjet re-do, nor on the frame he wants me to build for him. I’ll probably give him a call mid-day tomorrow if I don’t hear from him soon.

As for my next session in the shop, I should give Paul a call today and see what’s shakin’…

Accents

There’s been a little touch of class I’ve been wanting to build for the first batch of frames, and with the 29′er completion fast approaching, I decided to hop to it. I’ve got a 2-foot by 2-foot sheet of 22-gauge T-304 stainless with a nice brush finish waiting for me over at Discount Steel. And I’ve got waterjetting arranged for. This is going to make for some classy, classy looks.

Wednesday night, I dropped off the stainless, then I head to Paul’s to get crackin’ on the last of the 29er work. It’s down to just a few minor touches, and then she’ll be ready for paint!