David T’s Club Racer

Cold, rain, snow,rain, cold Nice and warm in my shop though However I am not looking forward to the floods coming tomorrow. I got David T’s Club Racer together. Everyone that has come into the shop has liked the color. David is going to like his new bike a lot. He was riding an old Motobecane[sp?], that was way to small and with skinny tubes, old parts. This is going to be like a rocket [with fenders].

I sent a drawing off to Paragon Machine today for some new slider dropouts. I am really tired of dropouts that do not fit in the stays, do not have eyelets where I want them and have 5 x .8mm threads for eyelets [I like big 6 x 1mm for racks]. I am always drilling and taping out eyelets to make 6 x 1 threads. These droputs will look similar to the Paragon sliders with windows. I have some that I will modify [as prototypes] to look like the ones I will have made for me. These will be my new universal dropout for all my bikes rear ends and will work for any drivetrain. I recieved a small batch of Shimano Alfine hubs and shifters a few weeks ago and I am excited to finally get them. I wish more of the Alfine group would work for me, but it does not cut it. I would like to use the crank and BB, but it only comes in a 170mm legnth. This is one reason I use the Sugino cranks that I can get in 165mm, 170mm and 175mm to better fit people on my bikes.

Once I get these dropouts modified I am going to come up with a new prototype bike for production. I took my fist order from someone in Ohio! He has been riding the same mtn bike for 12 years for commuting and now want a Boston Roadster with some upgrades on it [Front rack, Inoled light, Honjo fenders], my kind of bike.

I am going to get going on Shivs bike and build it up and will post pictures in a few days.

Next up will be John B {MA}, then Jon B. {HA}, Chris H {MA}, Billy {CAN}, Jeff B.{CA}, Tom H.{CA}, Bob G. {MA}

Shiv’s Mixte for his wife:)

I made Shiv’s wife’s mixte this week and will powder coat it soon [after the rain stops]. I am still having flooding problems in that area, but the landlord is on it, so will be fixed someday. Shiv had ordered a LR for himself a long time ago. When his number finally came up, he decided to change the order for a single speed mixte for his wife. There are a lot of people that have bought ANT’s for their companions, kids, siblings. I think that is very cool…I think everyone should have an ANT made for their family:) 

David T’s Club Racer

I finally finished Mark H’s road frame got it shipped. I am sorry that I do not have any pictures, but it was just a frame and I like to take shots of complete bikes. I machined and tack welded David T’s Club racer today and will begin welding it tonight.

David T’s frame was a donation to an auction for “Bikes Not Bombs” http://www.bikesnotbombs.org/ in Boston . David has been waiting a very long time for his bike and I have been putting off for too long. He needs it too, because he had a crash on his bike this fall. David needs a custom bike too, becuase he is big and tall. I made a custom over sized seat tube and seat stays along with some beefed up chainstays and fork blades. He will be suprised at how this bike will feel so good, compared to everything he has had before. 

Every year I donate a bike for the Redbone’s Bike to Work week kick off party, which raises funds for MASSBIKE http://www.massbike.org/ and NEMBA http://www.nemba.org/. Every other year I donate something to BNB and other efforts. The auction for this frame was to raise money for BNB to move to a new location.

I am sporting  my new Major Taylor shirt made by Janet Bike Girl in Canada http://flickr.com/photos/janetbikegirl/ She makes some cools stuff and you should check it out. She does not have a website, but you can get in touch with her and see some work through her flicker page. The shirts are made by hand, so the wait can be a bit long, but worth the wait

Next frames in line are Rao S.  John B.  and then Jon B.  and then Chris H.