Isn't 'cross season over?

Cross bikes! Cross bikes in Japan!

This frame is headed over the waters to the west, to the land of the east.

Shinya Tanaka and the crew at Circles and Co.
are getting their hands on this bike frame.

The paint brush effect was created with
an actual paint brush, with actual paint.

With this post we're going to delve a bit
into some doom metal with the band Witch.
If they had stopped recording after the song
"Seer"they could have called it a success.
They had to keep it going though.
Mom, you probably won't like this one.
Just a heads up...

Spanglish

Yo, Gang.
Here's a new bike for Geoff Garcia.
He'll be schralping it all over the East Bay hills and beyond.

After all the paint jobs that I've attempted,

I have decided that lining a shoreline is the
hardest thing in the world to paint.
Of course, the extra points on the gusset made
it that much harder. Glutton for punishment, I guess.

Swinger dropouts, of course, on this single speed.

Branding in Spanish to keep the street cred
amongst those who demand Spanish branding.

The seat stays have a subtle arc to them.
Just enough to give it that look.

Thin Lizzy is way
more than Jailbreak.
Emerald for example.
Careful you don't melt your
face on the wah-wah solos.

Translucent \tranz ˈlü-sənt\

1: permitting the passage of light:

a : clear <translucent water>

2: free from disguise or falseness

— trans·lu·cent·ly adverb

Yo, gang. Me again.
This is a fresh cross bike for Jennifer.
Sitting in the golden setting sun, this thing really shines.

The paint in the direct sunlight is a clear, dark gray.
Other times at other angles, it appears green.
Other times still, it looks purple.
You can see the fillets beneath,
in all but the darkest of situations though.
Nowhere to hide on this bike.

When making bikes, I like to seal the tubes
so no moisture can ruin the tubing from within.
Jennifer, being as small as she is, got a bike whose
tubes contained enough air to cause the frame to float.
I had to weigh it down in the water tank when
soaking off all the flux from brazing.

What do y'all think?

There is band in San Francisco
playing some of the funnest punk rock
around. The name to remember is
Young Offenders.
I've had a song or two of theirs' lodged
firmly in my head for the last month or so.

What We Have Here Is A Failure To Communicate

Hey gang. Sorry its been so long.
One stall after another on one project after another.
The cork has just been popped though. More to come soon.
Less talk more rock.

This is Sean Coffey's new cross bike.

I'm personally a huge fan of baby blue, powder blue, sky blue, whatever.
I like it.

Our weather has finally cleared up. Yes, the grass really is that green right now.

This bike has an excellent mix of tubing.
True Temper, Columbus, and Dedachai in all the right places.
The top tube is a Columbus tube with shaped butts that run parallel
with the seat and head tubes rather than just perpendicular to the top tube.
Its 29.5mm in diameter but still with a nice thin wall.
A perfect fit for this bike.

The music pick this time 'round is Pelican.
I like them.
Not much else to say.

Maintain Radio Silence

By all outward appearances it might seem that I've not
been up to much, as I haven't posted in a while. Not quite true.
Lately I've been working on some tools.
Sometimes making the tools to make bikes is more fun
than making the bikes. Probably just novelty.

In the past on this here blog I've kept the posts
specifically about the end product. There is, of course, a lot of
work that goes into each bike. Much of it quite mind numbing
to those unfortunate enough to be watching.
There are plenty of people blogging about their
processes that are better spoken than I, so we'll let
them do the excellent job they do.

This post, however, I'm going to deviate from the usual course a bit.
Machining bits of aluminum into tools is way more exciting
(and photogenic) than me building bikes.
Here are some images from the making of a tubing bender. The benders
that I've been making will double the amount of sizes of
tubes I'll be able to bend- just how I like them.

In the past, I've chosen music that is
somewhere between mainstream
and a bit obscure. Something that maybe
not everybody has heard of, but is easy
enough to be accessible if someone were
to look further for more of the same.
Sometimes though, an artist very obvious
and well known must be given their due here.
Fact is, if you're not listening to Miles Davis
you're only doing yourself a disservice.
Not everybody can get into the later, avant
guard stuff from the 80's. I have a
hard time with it. However, the classic
Kind of Blue is genre defining and
cannot be ignored.

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.