Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Joey's bike outta here / Tom's off to paint / Sam is up next.

Stoked guy! man, Joey's 29er came out really well. *love* the color, too. we actually got it just one brake cable short of completed but he snuck away without me getting a built shot - get me a maiden ride shot, huh? it was a beautiful, sleek bike.
what would you call this color?

I knocked out some fine brazing on Tom's bike. it too snuck out without me getting shots of it all polished {i have inlaws here & it's kinda mayhem-ish} but i will get some good ones when it returns from paint.

...........not that it really NEEDED to be polished........

right out of the dunktank, still dripping.

component mock-up.
AZ ride relic - that was a hard one!

I had a Chip Thomas drive-by-smiling! I'm always stoked to see Chip. he has more style is his pinkie then I own total. He is scoping out the shop for an art installation.

Next: Sam's 650B. I'm off to Sedona with the inlaws to for a few days, I'll be back in the shop on Saturday the 3rd of April. - that's all for now - thanks much for reading, folks! - Garro.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Tom's bike chugging right along, a quick overnighter to go trout fishing.

i use CAD - "coffee aided design" - Tom does graphic design, so figured he would dig this.
all good to go - life size 100% accurate blueprint. as of a few frames ago everyone gets their plans with the frame - i have 100's now & they are taking up space. I'm going to figure out a scheme whereas previous clients can get theirs + a goodie - more soon.

Let's do morning fabrication!

Front triangle mitered on the mill + seat tube assembly almost done and checked for perfect straightness on the alignment table. good to start straight.

BLO stage - "bicycle like object!" gives you a very good idea as to the final design. as i only draw the front triangle & build the stays in their respective fixtures i never really know exactly what a bike will look like until this stage, either. it's built around the person's body, so there is no "size" per se.

Yay, Lee's Ferry! we went up for a quick overnighter to get out of the snow & see some colors other then white & blue. it was very nice and only two hours from our house, an easy field trip away. here where Denise is standing you can see a cable, right? downriver is the Grand Canyon Natl' Park, and upriver is Glen Canyon recreation area - where we go in the kayaks - when we rowed the canyon back in Nov. we went downstream from here.

lap full of trout. laptrout?

That will about do for a fine lunch. We keep very few trout, leaving more for later. we only keep as many as we can eat right away. the trout here have to fight against the huge flow of water so they are strong & lean, not like the fat, fat, lazy lake dwellers we catch in the summer - I'll fill my freezer with those! all the trout at the ferry are born in the river & struggle against it all their lives.

that's some cold, clear water, Yo. I fell in it, i know............

Denise says "Hi".

Here is a colorful guy destined for lunch.

a really quick shot of a gorgeous little speckled guy before he was released to speed for the deeps.

a morning shot from our deee-luxe suite {the back of the Chevy}

there is tiny little me in my little yellow boat.

That's it for now, y'all. enjoy the pics! I'll be back in a few days with more to report - Garro.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Thanks, Kevin!


that is cool. nailed the colors, too. Kevin is one fine artist you all should check out: http://www.kevinnierman.com/home.htm rock on, Y'all - starting Tom's bike today & got some fishing in, pics later, mucho busy - Garro.

Friday, March 19, 2010

Sedona beatdown..........

dropping in on Ridge Trail - no problem! five hours in the sun, 70*+F and no riding for over a month = one hurtin' unit. it beat me up but good.
A nice view of the giant monuments around the Village of Oak Creek area from Airport Mesa. cool. the clouds were really neat, I always think of them by the name for them that i got while in Argentina, "colas de yeguas" - "mare's tails" in English.

dropping down towards the creek with Cody. i thought the Ocotillos would be green or blooming by now, but not yet - spring is just starting down there.

a tiny Mamillia cactus - all the cacti are as fat as they can be due to the winter moisture.

Here is a most excellent christmas cholla. a cool & not super common native species.

blooming mystery plant........

about what my mind felt like near the end. "i've got a head with wings."

My beautiful wife, i'm so glad that she loves me & takes me out riding. i'm here today, but we are going paddling Sat/Sun. at Lee's Ferry. i have to get out as much as possible while i can - it could start snowing again at any moment/day! - that's it for now, enjoy the pics, y'all. - Garro.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Joey's bike done, spring here?

gotta clean up a little shipment from Mr. Pacenti & then do the second thorough alignment check on Joey's frame.
well there you go right there. explains it all.........

checking the clearances before moving on to the seat stays.

all fab'ed up & ready for mitering. i've got my seatstay method down enough now that it goes smoothly & stress free for the most part. these were a nice challenge as they were so short & needed to clear a fair sized 29er tire.

still hot pic.

i'm glad my chops held during my vacation.


straight out of the dunktank after de-fluxing. damn, bikes are coming out really, really straight. within a small fraction of a millimeter on all given planes. sweet.
final alignment check. a mighty fine frame, i'm quite proud of it especially as it is as small as i will make a 29er {30.25" inseam, rigid 425 axle-to-crown fork} and it still has great aesthetics.

done, done, done in the sun!

Wesley came over the other day to help out around the shop. thanks, Wes!

i HAD to do some work on the one-off, which I intend to go & see if i remember how to ride in Sedona tomorrow. this is the bottom of one of my pieces of knee armor - my 2nd set in 4-ish years.
quite the piece of work. I do love this thing!

first open door day in the shop for 2010! also, the first day over 60*F since Nov. 11th. i'm digging it.

that's all for now - going biking tomorrow, Joey's frame will go to paint, starting Tom's frame on Fri, then going paddling for the weekend and then back at metalwork. thanks for reading! - Steve.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Justin's frame, Joey's frame, built pic from Stan.

caught the waxing light to get this quick pic of Justin's frame. nice Blue!
Joey's bike at the start. Vacation is OVER.

man, i was knocking out sweet fits today, all straight from my "hoopty" mitering rig.......

Way different then Baja.........
seattube assembly all ready to hang parts on.

almost there........

tried some new Black flux on Curt Goodrich's suggestion - quite nice.

getting the spacing all good.

seatstay day tomorrow. kicking it right out.

Stan's bike came out quite nice! looks *fast*. - back at it, y'all - Garro.