annie's bike coming along nicely.

not much to say, just checking in with a couple of quick pics to show what the current project is looking like. a pretty sweet, light, 26" bike that's gonna see most of it's time as a one speed. the slider dropout plates, however, are available in several configurations such as one speed, geared, disc, and rohlff. pretty versatile! short post today, still have to lace some 29er wheels tonight.....steve.

rum, bloggery and the lash.

prettty regular stuff going on around here......it's cold, so i've been inside getting alot done. {seemingly}. i got a good start on annie's bike, i'll go out and get the front triangle tacked right now, i got it all mitered yesterday. a good ole' 26" one speed with slider dropouts. sweet. it's gonna be light too. it's good timing for her, it's gettting one of the last four prestige downtubes, and one of the last three ritchey chainstay sets. it will be a sad day when all the prestige in the world is used up. and, i built a sweet stem for denise, and promptly ruined it. i was so bummed i crawled in bed at 6pm. don't ask. i'll try again when i get more pinchbolts. good buddy jeff stopped by from boise. he has himself a couple coconinos. here he is trying to take my picture. and, went for a great ride up sunset trail. beautiful, deep woods. sure is steep......as steep as it looks! steve.

progress on denise's bike.

well......this project is starting to wind down. still gotta do all the brazeons, but they are gonna be minimal so it shouldn't be much of a task. it suuuurrrreee looks nice! i'm pretty pleased with it as a package. i was going to finish it today, but i'm going to go ride. oh yeah....still got the stem to do. ouch. my body hurts, gotta go stretch out and get some exercise and see the beautiful coconino natl' forest! enjoy, steve.

some thoughts on thanksgiving - not about the holiday, just thoughts.

getting ready to go out and do some work before we go to dan's house to be festive. really trying to get denise's bike done, closing in on it, and trying to get the polishing and some of the brazeons done today. sooo......some of you may or may not have noticed that prices on frames have gone up. well, everything i use to make bikes is going up. i the almost six years since i started building full time, the silver i use to apply brazeons has DOUBLED. brass has went up a third, and steel, luckily, being one of the most common elements on earth {and one of the most easily recycled} has gone up, but not as substantially as other metals. check out titanium prices - that stuff has gone through the roof! a pair of ti s-bend chainstays are selling for $165.00!!! ouch! and, shipping to and fro has gone up. i know that you, the end consumer of my frames pays the shipping to YOU, but i pay for the shipping of materials to me, and to and back from paint. i ship most of my frames to santa rosa, california to get the quality finishes that make me happy, and it costs. also, i spent over $6000.00 in tooling this year to build better frames quicker and easier so you can get them sooner. headbadges went up. and, unlike most of the industry, i don't upcharge for brazeons and doo-dads. also, after all these years, i'm just trying to make a reasonable weekly wage. plain and simple. i think an "average" frame takes me about 30 hours with my hand bent seatstays and all the hand finishing. almost all of the polishing on my fillets are being done by hand again. they are coming out so smooth from the torch that power tools seem overkill. i am proud of this, as it shows quality and craftsmanship that only time and thousands of repetitions can produce. and, it is personally gratifying. i have added lugged forks to my line. i feel that a lugged fork is a beautiful, strong, graceful thing. the silver brazing process is both light and strong, and i feel that the set geometries of the forks i wish to make do not require fillet brazing. and, we may add stems soon.......so, for now, frames are $1500.00. they may go up again after the handmade bike show in feb. standing orders are not affected by price changes. as of this post, i have 30 bikes on order, and as always, i want to thank everyone for their ongoing Patience. happy holidaze, i'm gonna leave you with a pic paul sent me of his coconino from the front range, it's been ridin' trails and doing endurance races for at least four years now......it looks happy! steve.

today was bike day!

bike stuff of all sorts today.....got lee's bike back from paint, i still have to headbadge and chase'n'face the whole she-bang, and i don't think it's gonna take stickers, as the paint isn't smooth but had a slight texture. it's for touring, so it's gonna look just fine with a coat of dirt. it's called "lava". also, got jim's bike together. he's gonna be stoked! he's looking for maximum comfort, and i think this rig is gonna deliver, the geometry puts his head in a very relaxed position and it's based on a long, stable touring geometry. boy, i gotta say, the 2008 xt gruppo shifts great. built the wheels and everything on this rig but the paint. the green really lights up in the sun with a gorgeous gold undertone and sparkle. and, got denise's 650b brazed up. it's gonna be sweet, the lugged pacenti crown fork is going on it. see you all soon, i gotta make salsa and take a shower! steve.

blogzilla!

well, i've been super busy this week, sorry for not clocking in.....i've been working on denise's bike for the handmade bike show, and it has sorta been kicking my ass. it's a full rigid 650b/27.5" wheel. on one day i found myself lacing the wheels, building the fork and the frame at the same time and seemingly getting nowhere. so, i focused on the wheels first and got them done, then built the fork. lugwork is no "plug and play" i'll tell you. it's hard to get all the bits to fit tight. but, it came out really pretty! i'm probally only going to be making these for bikes already on order, and they will run about $275/$300. not entirely sure yet, i gotta do a little cost analysis kinda thing on them. i still have to put brake studs and rack mounts on still....but, it runs a 2.35"+ tire, no problem. gonna go out and braze the frame together tomorrow first thing, more pics then. also, got in a day biking up climb 3 and down sunset trail, and a day on the lake fishing, fish tally: barry 1 big fattie, steve 5 really decent rainbows, and gullo pulled in one all day, and it was a beauty! all the trout were fat and hard chargin'. and, zoey hall came over for some kitty nappin'. more soon! steve.

mid-november happenings.

well, trying to get denise's new bike going, and it's rather frustrating! i've changed my dropout choice four times, even brazing one pair onto stays, only to set them aside for a later project. i haven't recived the front dropouts yet, which got sent out from australia, who knows where they are. the spokes were waiting for othere tools to get shipped out, haven't seen them yet, so i can't lace the wheels to see if all the clearances are correct. arrrgggghhhh!!!! it has to be done by the end of the month to go to paint for the bike show, so something's gotta give and choices will have to be made. here, however, is the front triangle, which is tight'n'right, and most of the fork all dummied up. i hand bent the blades and brazed the steertube to the crown, but that's as far as i got, as i said, i was hoping the front dropouts with rack eyelets would show. i'm pretty stoked on the crown, it's a new fat-tire design from kirk pacenti at bikelugs.com. it will fit a BIG tire, and uses a 1 1/8" steer tube. soooo....., i know what you are thinking. yes, i'm taking fork orders, BUT, at this time, ONLY for my frames. no fork only orders. and, only lugged silver brazed, and only for axle-to-crown lengths of less then 425mm-ish, and canti brake mounts. yep, traditional, good'ole forks. 1" or 1/18", straight or curved blades, cross or mountain/touring. and, squeezed in a good five hour ride a couple of days ago, tried to link connector trails that nobody uses to keep out of the dust. did a great loop, and had a totally clean run down orion springs. saw lots of critter tracks, including this big wild turkey track, and a great view of the peaks. hopefully brown santa will still show today with some goods.......steve.

a glassy day on the lake.

some gorgeous conditions out on the lake the other day, nice and warm and almost no wind at all! only saw a couple othere boaters, blue ridge is closed to big motors, so no big boats to ruin the quiet and scare away the critters, mostly just paddlers and tiny trolling rigs. fishing was great, we got seven trout, definately slowing down from the summer monsoon season with the water growing colder. all the trout were really healthy, fat, and hard fighting. our buddy jeff cruised out in his cute little kayak for the day, and here, we show the two most important features of a cooler: a drink holder, and a fish scale. usin' both! steve.

tasty dishes from coconino cycles.

more bike stuff going on.....here's lee's bike at my favorite stage, all polished up and pre-braze ons. that's as shiny as they get around here! and, a couple close-ups of a seat tube junction, and some sexy stays. the straight tubular seat and chainstay braces are for fender mounts, instead of the usual web braces. and, chris's "mantis" 29er straight outta the box, not even stickered, faced, chased or headbadged. lastly, some pico'n'limes. as tasty as it looks! tune in next time, same coconino time, same coconino channel. steve.

david's bike and lee's bike / bikesbikesbikes

cool stuff today. got to see a project all the way through today, got david's bike running. it's a sweet 26" good-old-regular-one-speed-mountain bike. it has kirk pacenti's disc slot mount on the disc side for horizontal dropouts and discs. pretty clean and simple. dig the burgundy paint with the gold nugget topcoat. all in all, a really clean build. it's staying local in flag. and, lee's bike is in the de-fluxing tank. it's not being punished, you need to soak off the hardened flux post-brazing. i'll post more pics of the raw brazing and polishing in a few days. and, just for fun, a frozen dog bowl and a horney toad. hasta, steve.