$2,500.00

One week bicycle frame building class. [5/6 days 9 to 5] 

One on one, full week with me in my shop, building a frame set for you   Materials included for one rigid, TIG welded,steel frame and fork, powder coated with a custom cut headbadge.

We can build most any type of frame set you want. Road, Touring, Cross, Mountain, Fixed gear, BMX and of course City bike

Other options also included are a brazed lugged , curved blade fork and headtube rings.

Building a fully lugged frame might be an option, but will cost $200+ more for materials and may take more time. Fancy paint is available from Circle A Cycles for $200+

It will be your week, so it is really up to you and what you want to get out of this. There are many options of instruction taught and how much you want to get out of this…now that being said. This is only one week [even if was two weeks] there is only so much you can learn, so this is really more of a fun vacation were you get to help build you very own frame.

If you want to most of the work yourself, then this will have to be a thick tube frame [nothing wrong with that]. If you want to just cut all the tubes, do all the hand work and then have me TIG weld it, then you can have any light weight tube set you want. Daily TIG welding and brazing instruction will still be included.

Components to build you new bike can be purchased at a discount from me.

You may very well take this week and use it to start your own frame building hobby/business….if you are really serious then I have another option.

6 week intensive training with your tools: $20,000

6 weeks with me in my shop, using tooling I make for you. TIG welded frames only.

Tools I will make included are:

• Frame, fork and stem jigs
• Frame and fork Alignment table
• Tube cutting system on a small milling machine [for main tubes, chain & seat stays]
• BB, HT & seat tube reaming and facing tools
• Heat sinks for TIG welding BB, HT & ST
• Various benders for forks, stays, and racks.
• Computer program for design and tube cutting.
• Materials for 6 frames

This will be an intensive 6 weeks of hard work, but the best start to making your own shop that you could ever have. Each week we will build a frame for you, along with my shop duties. TIG welding and brazing practice everyday.

This is also not just instruction, but a proven system that has been honed from years in the frame building industry. You will learn on your tools and be equipped with a how to manual.

I can build you a little shop that can fit into a small garage and run on 110V power. If you want to go bigger then I can advise on that too. Powder coating instructions are included, but finish work involves much more space and equipment.

Further consulting is included for the rest of the equipment you will need. Problem consulting/follow included for 6 months [by phone or email]

• TIG welding machine [$1,500]
• Brazing rig [$700]
• Suppliers
• Insurance [$2,000]
• Other machine tools [Lathe etc...] [$500/$2,000]
• Rigging/moving machine tools
• Paint shops
• Painting or powder coating equipment [$1,000 to 10,000]

If needed, for an additional cost, I can take photos for you of the bikes you build and make a wordpress website to get you started.

ANT annual Open House!

Oct 17th [Sat]  {Rain or Shine}

11am bike rides start, 1pm food…trike races, track stand competition and shop scavenger hunt! Details and directions here.

If it is raining come on out [you do not have to go for the ride, still lots of fun and food. I have 3 big tents]

 CANCELLED due to thunderstorms!

Saturday, October 3rd 11am.

Meet at my shop at 11am for an informal little ride of about 20 miles, touring around the beautiful rural roads of Holliston, Hopkinton, Ashland and Sherborn.

You can dress up in your vintage outfit or not. Helmets not required, but please wear one if you want to. The only restrictions are that you will need to follow the rules of the road and ride in single file in some areas. There will be a few hills, but ridable on a 3 speed. This will be a slow ride and we will wait for everyone, speeders are on their own.

We will stop at the Stone’s pub for lunch and then take a consensus on how big of a loop to take, back to my shop.

If you can’t make it out here on Saturday, then go on the Boston Tweed Ride on Sunday October 4th.

  Update: Looks like rain for both days. If anyone shows up I will ride..otherwise I will work.

 

Roadster Derailleur bike

SOLD! Thanks to my friends Laura & Perry

I need to sell this bike asap, so I have reduced the price…again! I am very suprised that this bike has not sold yet? I have only really had one person interested in it, but he has not had the money. Our annual Open House is coming up on Oct 17th and I need to pay for the food, among other things to pay for here at at ANT. If you know someone that would like this bike, please tell them about it.

Here are the details:

$2,200.00   Reduced $1500.00

This will fit someone from 5′7″ to 5′9″

This bike has about 200 miles on it, but also has new never used parts too. There are more pictures on my Flicker page or I can email them to you.

• Sugino XD triple 24 x 36 x 48T
• VO BB
• Brooks B17
• FSA HS
• MKS Rubber pedals
• 8 speed cassette 13/26
• Twist shifters
• Battery lights
• VO fenders
• 700×35mm tires
• Shimano disc brakes
• Shimano hubs and Der
• Front and rear racks with wood [with bungee net too]
• Curved TT and stays
• Brass bell
• wheel lock

 I can make adjustments to the bike, such as different bars [lower], grips and maybe shifters [for a little more money].

 

Boston Tweed Ride on Oct 4th.

I have been looking forward to a local Tweed Ride…and here we go  

 However there is a little catch to this ride…on the site it tells me that helmets MUST  be worn to participate and I think that stinks and will keep people from showing up, maybe me too?

Now the helmet issue is a hot debate [in the USA] and I have tried to stay out of it, but this just does not seem right to me, for the whole purpose is to look vintage and stylish and have fun. I was hoping that the tweed ride would be a more informal affair, just dress up and go for a ride…now liablity has to take all the fun out of it [like it always does]. When you look at all the other tweed rides, do you see people wearing helmets?

I can see where they are coming from, because I have to deal with this on our annual Open House ,which is Oct 17th   I have taken the chance at Open House and let people ride without helmets, if they choose. Actually I worry more that someone will be run over by a car and most often a helmet does not help in that case. Helmets are best for the minor accident, where it is a slow speed topple, hit your head and your done.

Now I have to point out that I have been a helmet wearer off and on, since I was in high school [had a Bell Turtle Shell, one of the first helmets]. And I have to say that wearing a helmet in a group ride isa good idea, but I don’t like to tell people to wear a helmet and I really hate it when the few times I am not wearing one, someone on the road yells at me to get one! It really upsets  my day, when I am on a care free ride without a helmet and someone [that can't even hold a line] tells me to get a helmet. I would say that for a the last 7 years I wear my helmet about 99% of the time. When I lived in the city [where it is actually safer to ride] I wore my helmet maybe 50% of the time, maybe less, mostly when I went out of the city on road or mtn rides.

Actually I think I am going to blow this ride off

Anyone that wants to go on a helmet less Tweed Ride [or with a helmet is ok too] can meet me here at my shop before 11am on Oct 4th and we can tool around the Holliston area [maybe a 20/30 mile ride] and go to the Stone’s Pub in Ashland, for lunch, have a beer and some Sheperds Pie…now that I have said that…someone will probably get a stick in the front wheel, take a header and crack their head open! Though if you have a cool looking hat it may keep the dirt out of your cracked head

Just to note this ride will have hills! I will be riding a fixed gear and if you are somewhat fit you can do this ride on a 3 speed. I would like to stay together and will be stopping a lot to re-group, speeders will have to wait or be on their own. I may make the ride go in a figure 8, so people can do a shorter ride.

You can RSVP, but don’t need to. You can just get up on Sunday…look out the window and make a decision. It takes about 2 hours to ride a bike here from Boston. Takes 45 min by car. Directions here.

This is Chris A’s new bike. He bought it for himself as a celebration of living through a car/bike accident, this Spring. He was/is pretty messed up by it with many broken bones, but that has not deterred him from getting around by bike.

Chris had a much loved Kronan bike when he was hit. It folded the bike in half from the impact and he is lucky to be alive.

As I have gotten older I find myself getting out of the way more often now and at night I dress up in all sorts of relective gear and with many lights. I live and ride in a rural area, that is suburban in attitude, with commuter traffic to the Boston area. Old, small New England roads lined with stone walls and big trees.

 

This picture is of one of the bigger spots, most being very skinny with a crumbly side. It is very beautiful here and I love my commute [most of it in the opposite direction of traffic] and I have learned to deal with the short comings of fast commuter traffic. I know my route very well and know how to expect and deal with the problem spots, which means for me to pull over and get out of the way in the tight spots.

Most often it is when cars are coming in opposite directions and by some universal rule of the Cosmos…they pass me at the same time! I know everyone knows what I am talking about. If I am riding with someone else I usually just stick to the road, but if I am by myself I will pull over right before they get to me. I like to use a helmet mirror, so I can see them coming and will adjust my speed, to maybe get into a good spot to pull over. I used to be lot more adamant about staying in the road, but now I find it much more enjoyable to let them go by and then go about my way…happily. I have done this may times with big trucks and I give them a little wave as they go by…they appreciate it too and most often wave back to me.

Looks like  a nice place to live.

http://gmy.news.yahoo.com/vid/15288400/

So you fixed gear men think your pretty tough…take a look at this.

 

People often ask me…”Can you tour on a Roadster?”….Well hell yea, you can! I ride my Roadster everywhere, on long rides, dirt road/trails..and with gear…up hills. In fact I no longer use bikes with sheep style handle bars

Fear not the up right bar position. My bikes are not set up too upright [like  a Dutch style bike] , about level or slightly above the saddle height. Feels good and level and with the swept back bars it puts your wrist going in the right direction [very similar to the brake hoods on your road bike....the place people just stay on]. Try it you will love it.

I also gear my bicycles very low. With the 8 speed hubs I use I set them up with a gear inch range from 27″ to 80″ …so the 1st gear would be the same as a triple crank with say a 28T crank with a 28T rear cog. The only time you would need lower gears [less than 1 to 1] will be for climbing mountains [with camping gear]. To achieve that you will need a Rohloff hub or a derailleur set up…which is an option. But for most regular hill climbing on my low geared 8 speed it is just fine and easy.

Peter and Elisabeth have used their Roadsters for touring, with a full load!

Every summer my family and I go various short bike trips. Mostly camp ground tours with trips loaded up for the beach.

Well all of our summer trips are done now and back to the shop on a daily basis

I have been testing out the Sturmey Archer 8 speed hub [with drum brakes] and I am very happy with it’s performance. It has a wider gear range than the Shimano hub and freewheels very good. The only thing that is not as nice is that you have to shift while coasting [just like a 3 speed hub], where on the Shimano you can also shift while pedaling. I have gotten used to it and feel the hub is of very good quality.

Not much action with the demo bikes I have for sale? I felt like that blues ladies 3 speed would have sold by now. I am going to lower the price on them to help them go. I have a few projects to take care of. One being giving Betsy money for her PMC fund raising efforts…that is what I built the blue bike for   I also need to buy a new camera. Steve A. has been very nice to loan me a camera and it has really saved me, but I should buy a camera and get his back to him. I am going to get a Canon G10 [recommended by many], they are about $5/600 I also would like to buy a new powder coat gun, that is going to run $1,200  The one I have still works and was great to get started with [it was about $700], but it is not so good for light colors and re-coating on top of existing powder [which can be a disaster].

I am working on a new chainguard [pictured on the blue bike above], but plan to revise it some more. it is going to be much smaller and longer [to get more chain coverage]. I am trying to make something that will give full coverage, but not encase the chain [like a Dutch bike]. If you have ever tried to fix a flat or put your chain back on on a Dutch bike, then you know what I mean [I have more than once, never again]. Stay tuned for guard developments in the near future ..I also need to come up with a skirt guard too…I saw some nice ones from Germany [via Lovely Bicycle Blog]…speaking of bike blogs…there are so many new good ones it is hard to keep up! I wish I had more time to blog, but hey I got bikes to build

Nothing has garnered as much attention, love and lust as the Truss frame bikes I have built. I used to call the bike the “Major Taylor” and was inspired by a photo in the book “The American Bicycle” on page 79. Iver Johnson of Fitchburg MA built the truss bike and was a racing sponsor of Marshall “Major” Taylor. Taylor [if you don't already know] was a world champion and world record holding cyclist of the mid 1890s to about 1910. The bike that Taylor actually rode did not have the truss…it was added for the everyday rider. I did not discover this until I read a book about Taylor.

People ask me about this bike all the time and wonder if I still make it. I did not feel it was right to use Taylors name and no longer use the Major Taylor name and now call it the “Truss” frame. The Truss frame was made by Iver Johnson before they sponsored Taylor.

The Truss is an extra option for the Light Roadster bike I make, which can be found…on the options page.

The Truss bikes I have made evolved over the years. The first bike was built to look as much like an 1890’s bikes as possible for me. I made it with a black frame and red rims, which was what Taylor rode. I used very small tubes [1" dia] to give the look of an 1890’s frame and with the steel one piece crank and ring also gave that old look.

Now making the bike like this got the look that I wanted and everyone loved it, but then people wanted to buy the bike and I had to modernize it, so it would fit into peoples lives more easily. The original bike had a lot of BMX type components [cranks, BB, seat post], which are not compatible with moder parts [spd pedals, track parts etc...]. I came up with a new model that was more people friendly, but it lost a lot of the style.

This next bike was a compromise, but still had some balls. However people still wanted to modify it. The biggest issue was that I only wanted to make this bike a fixed gear and with a drum front brake [or no brake]. That way you could have the red powder coated rims [the coated rims don't work with rim brakes]. Not a big deal, you don’t have to have coated rims, but it tended to slow people down with making a decision. I had to change my ideas of trying to stay true to the “Major Taylor” theme and just make a anything goes bike…with a Truss added in. This next picture was a very nice variation.

Now as many of you may know I now only build complete, fully equipped Roadsters and Cargo bikes. Bicycles that have all the accouterments, such as a  dyno lighting system, front and rear racks, stand, fenders and a bell. The Light Roadster has a lot of variety on the Options page and the Truss is an option. I have had many people that really wanted the truss and then in the end backed out, thinking it to frivolous. But I think if you like, buy it. It is just a tube and it looks great! Some worry that it will add weight…yea right. It is a 5/8″ x .028 tube…not much. Some ask will add stiffness to the frame…it must…but can you feel it…probably not.

I say if you like it, just get it. It looks awesome and can be had on the Light Roadster. Recently Stef C and Phil S fell in love with it and they did not hold back

I would like to say thank you to all that told me how much they enjoyed my last post. That cross country trip had a big impact on me and got me going in the direction that I wanted to go.

Betsy and I just got back from a week long trip to Texas. When Betsy gets to go to a conference I tag along and we get a little trip out of it. We get to stay in a nice hotel that we would never do on our own, along with seeing another part of the country. We added some days to this trip, so I could visit with my family. The conference was in San Antonio and I made a mission to find some good Mexican food and I can say that I was successful! I brought our folding bikes and we rode all around, but not for many miles. It was over 100 everyday! It actually felt really good. It has been raining so much here in New England [almost everyday for 7 weeks] and cold too [down to 45 sometimes]. The Texas heat was great, but a week is a good amount of time for it We rented a car and drove to Fredricksburg [a little cute German town] and the toured the LBJ Ranch [which is a National Park]. Then on to Austin. My brother lives near there on a ranch and we went to see him and also spent some more time with him and my mom over the few days we were there. Betsy and I also got to get some more great riding in on the Hike & Bike trail along Town Lake. This is a 10 mile loop made of hard pack crushed stone that runs along the lake/river that runs through Austin. Austin is a great place and I always thought I would end up there [I am from Fort Worth]. We met some nice people on the trail [the folding bikes atract a lot of interest] and had some more great Mexican food and margaritas

On the last night we did not want the trip to end [and then went for a dip at the hotel...in 90 degree water], but the next morning we were ready for home, New England and work. We came back to a perfect 10 weather day and cleaned the house, clothes, mowed the lawn etc…and then rode the tandem [with the BOB holding our chairs] to town to watch some Shakespeare in the park [yes our little town].

After a good week off I am back in the shop and making some nice bikes that will be posted on Flicker soon!