Gato Blanco De Los Camino

Check out my ghetto-fabulous photo studio!
Only the finest oil stained canvas drop cloth for you folks.
So pro.

Carbon fiber top tube and seat tube/mast. Steel lugs.
It was harder than it sounds. More nerve wracking, too.

Press Fit 30! The only oversize bb platform worth fussing over.
The rest are marketing hype without the promised benefits.
Stiffness ain't worth a hill of beans if you have to pedal through constantly roached bearings.

15 pounds as you see it here.

Let's here it for The Thermals!

rOADBIKE.

I'm running out of clever quips for titles, people. Times is tough.

This bike made it out to Richmond, VA, for the Fancy Bike Show. It was probably the most subdued item in the hall. It was made for Jen, and she likes it that way.

I particularly like the chain stays. Flattened in some directions, squooshed in others, and swooped in others still.

The wood paneling looks all rumpus room-y.
Too bad no polar bear skin rug to really make this one pop.

Sugar.
Actually, anything with Bob Mould.
dig.

Goes With My Luggage

Here in Santa Cruz, this is a trail bike.
As Aptos Brad says, "there are 2 rocks in town and I know where both of them are."
Swoopy stays take the edge off those 2 rocks.

This custom stem keeps the brake cable as straight as possible to avoid any friction and ensures your brakes work as well as possible.

Asymmetrical paint scheme to make symmetry freaks freak.

Heel clearance? Yep.
Mud clearance? Yep.

Hecka smooth.

Listened to a lot of Sunny Day Real Estate while getting ready for the show. Yes, that is 4 different links, 1 for each word. They are that good.
Saw them in October. Still have it after all these years. In spades.

Green Machine

Single speed 29er's have kind of become a calling card for black cat bicycles.
So here is the one that I took to the handmade show.
Hope you like it.

Curvy custom stem? You got it.

I spent 2 days, yes, 2 days making these fork tips on the mill.
That radius on the back blends with the radius on the disk tab just so.
They are wide and thick and tall enough to do the job but not look clunky.
How many people commented on my fork tips?
Zero.
I sure am proud though.

All the curvy tubes are butted microalloy sweetness. No straight gauge 4130 here.
Built as you see here: 20 pounds.

Even the chain stays are curvy.

Black ano dropouts look pretty sharp.

In honor of the handmade show being in Richmond, VA, the music pick has got to be:
Avail.
I wish they'd play live over on this coast a bit more often.

Oh yea, I owe Chip a huge thank you. This guy is what you would hope all bike shops to be.
When in Richmond, go say "hey" and check out his scene.

Handmade Show Freakout

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Been too busy with my own personal Handmade Show freak out. These bikes aren't going to the show, just what i've been working on simultaneous to the show bikes.

This one up top is nice and neat. Satin finish.

This one down low is my "ode to Willie K." cardboard stencils and spray painted fingertips.

It took a while to get it to where i thought it looked "right". Strange how the seemingly random stuff is always harder than the tidy stuff.

Let's not forget the music pic.
Lo Pan.
Rock out.

See y'all in Richmond. Come by booth #400 and say "hey".

Yikes! Bikes!

This bike went out to the single speed worlds in Durango, and then on to Interbike in Vegas.
I have to thank Yakima for displaying it in their booth, Fox for the fork, True Temper for the tubing, The Hive for the Chub Hubs, the FifteenG crankset, and the Formula Brakes.
Despite the adage, this one did not stay in Vegas.

I tried to get some kind of reaction out of you folks with the Abba reference, but apparently either you people are asleep at the wheel, are Abba fans, or more likely, don't care.
So, in light of no one caring about the music that plays in the shop while I'm trying to keep all my fingers, take that.
The sound is kinda crappy but the other videos are terrible.

Add Creative Name For Post Here

Steve Weber has this frame and fork in his hands.

He'll be ripping it up in Indiana.

What do you think?

The green grass is popping up here pretty early. Might have something to do with the nine inches of rain we just got in one day. We'll take it however we can get it.

Been a Little Busy

Been on a bike building bender as of late.
Here's a hand full of the bikes I've been working on.

Zak Ball ordered this bike in sour apple green.
Single speed 29er with the possibility of parole, in the form of cable routing and derailleur hanging.

It's taken about three years for the bike industry to sit up, take notice, and promptly "invent" swinging dropouts of their own. I'm surprised its taken as long as it has.

If you want USA made 4130 cro-moly quality, designed and built by bike nerds for bike nerds, ask your builder for Black Cat dropouts. Or ask me for your next bike.

On that note: try and find a better pop song than this. You can't.

It's Not British Loafing Green

John Merriam in San Luis Obisbo wanted a race bike.

Extra light dropouts (Black Cat exclusive) with titanium bolt kit.
Deluxe race tube set.
Light but stiff in all the right ways.

Not to mention the Lotus team colors.

Don't git no sweeter.

What Constitutes "Monster Cross"?

A quick handling yet stable geometry equally at home tearing up singletrack, laying it down on a two hour road climb and everything in between?
Check.

Room for 45c knobbies? Fenders? Three bottle mounts?
Check. Check. Check.

Fully sealed tubeset (like all Black Cat bicycles) ready for any weather mother nature can dish out (and you're willing to leave the house in)?
Check.

This one comes in "Ranger Danger Green" for Reverend Dick.

We have pretty different tastes in music, me and the Rev, but we can agree on the Decemberists. Everytime i hear this song i think of the those poor kids of his being scared (and possibly scarred) by his outlandish tales of whalers, pirates, ghosts, werewolves, and whatever else can make a kid nervous on campouts.