Sunday, July 31, 2011

Long overdue blog post - a busy summer.

MB picked up his new Coconino full build - man, it came out quite nice. Great color scheme and the first bike out of here with Paragon "rocker" dropouts - I have to admit, they work very smoothly and I like the fully raw stainless steel dropout.
This should be a bike with all the attributes of a 29er but the (near) flickability of a 26" MTB. Cody approved!

Tom C's bike at the get-go. Sorry for the lack of blog posts lately, very busy & something has to lose out, in this case the WWW.


Fast forward & we have a fully tacked bike minus the seat stays, which go on today. This is a bike for twisty Michigan singletrack & endurance racing, TC's second Coconino.


That's a busy shop for one guy.


Blue bike during the build. Paul hubs, Stan's rims, Fox fork........


Chasing everything on John G's frame.


Smooth shot........I skip the macro views largely, thinking the overall flow & ride quality trumps the macro, although this is directly in conflict with the fact that I cannot hardly let go of one until I've polished it for a very long time.


John's parts pile is growing starting with these handbuilt wheels. DT-Swiss double eyeletted rims with dependable, serviceable XT hubs & Schwalbe big apple tires.


Getting out biking - yay! Good for your body, good for your soul.


The halls - great kids!


Sneeze weed is going off!


Dayflower or haresbells?


Going south?


Or going north?


Storms rolling in - by the end of our ride I was pummeled by 1/4" hailstones which coated the ground 1" deep and I was covered with ice. The trail was flowing like a river of tiny iceballs with lightning and pounding rain - actual epicness - I had to go to my inner "happy place" for awhile....


Sweet. Damn sweet.


These small wasps really like sego lilies.


As good as singletrack gets. Hell yeah. Almost four hours of this yesterday.


Lupines.


This butterfly really liked D.


a few days ago I also got in another 3.5hr ride with Annie & D. Thanks for going on rides with me, friends!


The Peaks with the Schultz burn from last year on the right side.


That's it for now, all. Thanks for reading! Just enjoying the forest & building bikes as of late.

Finishing TC's frame, assembling JG's, the MBH's townie, JM"s 29er frame, JA in VA, Doug H, Chris P here in Flag, ect. out to June 2012 for currently placed orders - Steve.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Summertime.

John G's frame coming right along - seatstays today & then brazing & polishing.


looking good with Panaracer Rampage 2.35's front and rear - a sporty, tough 29er touring bike and fork.


Rear dropouts raw - there is damn near 1/2 of an entire rod of brass in each of those ends.


Tacking as art!


I finally got some pics of Alisha's bike - nice blue and bonus points for matching white accents.


Curvaceous.


Built in fast = N/C.


I got out for another ride - hooray!


It's worth getting out just to see the Sego Lilies rockin' it.


A very nice Penstemmon.


Old bikes re-purposed.


Yours truly in work mode with Jeffery's bike.


An old momento from my 20yrs of endurance racing - 8th overall.


Blanketflowers in the yard............


.......along with wild oregano - Monarda.


.......and cutleaf conflowers.


That's it for now - Tom's bike already in the works and Jason M. and M-beth H. up next. - Steve.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Jeffery's bike ready to ship, Mike's at paint, John's moving right along, 1st bike ride in over five weeks.



Chocolate dreamcycle!


Full booty shot with "J-Lo" stays.


Speedy! 1x9 drive train, matching King components, Brooks leather finery.


Shop Guy Gullo giving phone. This shows how big of a bike it is, that's a whole uncut steerer tube. I'll flip the bars to relaxed position from speedy scorcher position.


John G's frameset at conception.


John's fork coming along just ducky. Tom C's 29er to follow immediately.


A Sego lily with fresh raindrops. F'ing-A I missed the woods over the last five weeks.
My Soul was hurting......


Penstemmon Barbatus just popping.


pop-a-wheelie!


The Columbines were resplendent!


I wish every day was just like THIS.


Over 1/2 of my ride was in the rain. It was great. Nobody out at all, just one buck in velvet & a bunch of birds.


three wheel drifting sunset. This is so fun!


Green + AZ = GOOD.



Seeya at the bottom....


More Columbines! A very yellow one, here.


D. with flowers.


There is nectar in the ends of the tubes - pollinators like hummingbirds & moths stick their proboscis into the tubes, pollinating the flower.




Just a quick check in - busy just building, enjoying the summer and trying to get in some riding. - Steve.