Double Trouble

Yo folks.
This post is gonna be short on words and long on pictures.
I'm sure y'all are fine with that.

These two bikes are off to Japan.
Both twenty niners. Both single speeds.

The shop in Japan that bought these bikes is called Circles.
They've got an impressive list of builders they work with to
get customers on some pretty cool bikes.

Some of the super light versions of the swinger dropouts.
Sculpted a bit more, and they come with a set of titanium bolts.

Something about the color combo on this one.
I always like the way the bikes look when they're all taped
up with blue and green masking tape ready to get painted.
These are some of those same colors.

Both the bikes have a new segmented fork I've been working on.
The crown matches the gusset on the downtube
to make sure you know it's a black cat.
They cost a bit more but i think they are pretty cool looking.

Thanks for watching.

I'm not one who's fallen blindly in love with all the
"new grass" out there, but I'm quite fond of Langhorne Slim.
This show that's on the you tubes is worth checking out.
A reasonable selection of songs and good sound.
Just try not to look directly at his ruffley shirt.

Then there was the KARP

This is Danny Buzzard's new ride.

It's name is the KARP.

Somehow he talked me into only listening to the band, Karp, when I worked on the bike. A pretty funny experiment until about hour five. With about thirty five more hours to go, things got a little grim. Stuck to it though. Only Karp, and love, went into this bike.
Not doing that again.

I really like the color combo on this one. The two greens look pretty good on the black.

Thanks, Danny.

Gonna throw down some Sleater-Kinney for the music pick.
Here's the best live stuff I could find before I got bored to tears.
Gotta love three piece band with no bass, and the
fact that all of them can sing is pretty alright with me.

And Now For Something Completely Different

From last post's show pony to this post's workhorse.

Full blown touring rig.

There really is a lot more going on with racks than it would seem. A lot to keep in mind when designing and building them. How are you going to mount them? Are the mounts going to interfere with the function of any of the components like brakes and their cables, quick release skewers, fenders, etc. Can you mount them in such a way that if disaster does strike, the owner can walk into any bike shop and buy a rack off the wall that will fit? Can you keep the weight low and within the wheelbase, and on the the steering axis, over the contact patch, so you're not fighting the weight, so the bike will steer light? Oh yea, can you make them look nice too?
Tall order.

Decided to go with a very straight forward frame design and racks that follow the lines of the bike. Tried to go traditional, but not boring.

This bike is getting finished just in time for a trip to France.
Baptism by fire.

I had a really good time making this bike, thinking about all the good times that will be had aboard it. There is something pretty amazing about a touring bike.

Today's music pick is the Weakerthans.
Nestled somewhere between folk and punk.
Good stuff. 'Nuff said.