Lex's bike, Mc D's bike, Simon's bike and some other stuff........

Lex's front triangle all tacked up. gonna go out & get some stays on it today..........i'll take more shots, i promise!

Mc D's frame on the done rack with Simon's frame. Mc D: your frame went to paint. Simon: we're on for the 6th for a build party. the suds are on you, i'll bring the tools.............

detail shot of Mc D'd rear triangle. sweet! the rig is a dedicated rohloff & the threaded bosses are for "p-clips", usually used for electrical wiring, as all three of the bikes cables will be solid housing all the way from the bars down the left stay......

i've been trying to knock out shorter { 2.5-3 hour range} rides lately to get my shoulders and what i have that passes for "core strength" up to longer summer rides in the peaks. i gotta watch my shoulders - i just don't want to risk an injury. these pics were from yesterday going from the mailboxes on Mt. Elden road up to oldham & down rocky ridge.
a look up at Elden.

lots of critters up in those steep, rocky cliffs. this area is notorious for big cats.

i saw this blast from the past going out riding! these guys used to play at our old house, the mutant hostel. it got me really stoked to see it out & about!

we also went for a cruise out on the Arizona trail north of walnut canyon. cool forest out here. all limestone vs. the volcanic rocks of the peaks.

i like the Arizona trail - 800 miles of just about everything.

1st flower sighting of the year! it was about as big as your thumb.

the turkey vultures were keeping an eye on us.

game over! we followed an old road spur to the park boundary - Walnut Canyon Natl' park.

more build pics soon, i'm gonna go get some progress on Lex's bike.....Steve.

having some computer issues - call me/upcoming builds

having some troubles logging on to my computer which will hopefully be resolved this afternoon, so i should be back up & running, but you might want to call and leave me a message if you need to contact me - 928/774/7747. i likely won't pick up as i will be making bikes so leave me a message, please. also, here is the current upcoming builds. you have all probably noticed by now that it fluctuates, and this is largely due to some people in the build que not having their details ready to go { even after waiting nine months, on average - current build list has twenty-two frames } sooooo........... get your ducks in a row, be thinking about the details, get me your measurements. the more details the better, no matter how minuscule you think they are. it all helps me build your ideal bike more efficiently, and gets everyone their bikes faster! SO. here's the hotseat list: Lex - starting today. Danette - all good. Keri - got your old drawing. just like you 1-speed but with vertical dropouts for disc & gears, right? Nate T. - expecting a visit from you for new measurements & component finalisation. Aki - what am i building you? i have your WHUB'S and rims here. Shabir - 29er/cross hybrid with lugged fork. any component feedback much appreciated! Dave @ the bike hub. got your info - thanks, man! Jeff from BTI - you are on the radar..............there you go for now. also: Simon, your bike is all painted, looks great & is waiting for you. when will you come build it? let me know. Mc D: frame will be finished this morning & paint is on order. that about sums it up for now, ya'll............oh, yeah - Eb - thanks for the awesome maple cutting board in the pic - perfect!! Steve.

pics for your enjoyment.........Coconino riders in cool places.

oh, yeah.........Mark's bike in SW Utah.

Stephen workin' the rainbow rim trail in AZ.

Stephen's bike at the ready.

Pete in Marin.....

Mary's bike at the beach.......



yep, there are coconinos all over out there........i've been collecting client photos for a little while and i decided it was time to bust some out. please send more, ya'll - much appreciated! generally taking it easy today. had to go to the dentist today, so i'm just doing customer relations and sorting frame parts and tubing for the next few builds and ordering things for the shop and organising. i REALLY need to do some stretching - i get really balled up from sitting from 8-12 hours a day on average. gonna go at it hard again tomorrow.............Steve.

Mc D's frame all brazed, Rocky Ridge..........

that there folks, is some A-OK brazing.......

not much needed to buff that out.

same all around. i think i'm finally hitting the groove with my new O/A setup.

it's really nice to nail areas that it's hard to get fingers into.

i'll be putting some serious time into getting this all polished up today so we can get it off to paint. it's getting full touring braze-ons too, and that's always a time sink!

got out for a windy grovel on rocky ridge yesterday. super hard! like doing 1000 bench presses.
despite the sunny conditions, we woke up to a dusting of snow this morning.

Denise self-portrait. her hair is getting long again!

a smooth part!

nice banana yucca......

lastly, saw Mr. Proctor out on his most very fine coconino........thanks for reading, Steve.

Mc D. wants more pics......

and so he shall have them! here's his 29er/dedicated rohloff/off road touring rig coming right together. also, notice that it was actually nice enough outside today to have the big door open - SWEET. spring - bring it on.

checking to make sure that all is good, and it is......the braze-ons on the top tube are water bottle bosses for "P-clips" that will hold all the housing together. two cables for the 14-speed internal hub and one for the rear disc brake, all of which will travel together down the left seat stay.

checking out chain ring clearances. the rohlff mandates the use of a larger middle ring, and i wanted Mc D. to be able to use big tires for the Nevada desert, so i shaped the right stay. looks good!

the seatstays before de-fluxing.

all cleaned up...........the brass dots are holes i drilled pre-brazing to tell me that i have achieved good penetration with the brass filler.

voila! through magic the straight stays have bent themselves into pleasing S-bends ready for mitering 1st thing tomorrow.......

also, got out for a quick ride yesterday. here's lower schultz creek trail. nice to be out in the pines under blue skies.

still some great puddles for the critters. is Flagstaff the only place in the world where there can be dust right next to snow? thanks for reading, Steve.

mid march, 2009/ next five builds.

got Mc D's front triangle all tacked up..........

and, Lex's blueprint all drawn up & i'm working on the tubing selection. i'm gonna have to do a cool twist on it to make it work the way i want..........you'll just have to keep guessing on it for awhile, but the frame parts MAY give some clues if you look at the selection..............

Sooooo.........next five builds time!, contact me people - Lex - as you see, in the works. 2: Phillip H. get ahold of me!!! 3: David S. i'll have to see if you have sent me your #'s. i'll contact you today. 4: Kerri @ Biff's Bagels - get stoked!! i'll maybe see you tomorrow if you are at work........5: Nate T's 650B. contact me as per parts selection, and i wanna measure you again. i'm sure you have changed since i built your 29er in 2004. and, i'll toss out #6 too - Aki/Angry Bee - Osaka. Vulture has contacted me about your 135mm wide front fork, but other then that, you gotta fill me in. i'm trying to make a frame every 10 days that i'm in town, and that's about all my body will let me do. gotta organise, order supplies, do bank crap & try to get Simon's frame to paint today. aaaahhhhh - the framebuilder rock'n'roll lifestyle, ya'll! later, Steve.

Simon's bike, Mc D's bike.

Simon's 29er 1-speed all done & ready to go to paint on Monday. sweet!

rear shot showing flowy goodness......

head tube closeup of shiny smooth brass. nice fat fillets = STRONG.

lastly, a shot of Mc D's old blueprint of Coconino #86, sadly destroyed when struck from behind by a drunk driver at high speed in an incident which happily, left Mc D. still with us and amazingly OK! i built it on my old Vulture Cycles jig and had to change all the notations in orange to the measurements on my Henry James jig and also to reflect ways in which my building sequence has changed in almost 100 bikes built since this one. i'm gonna digest breakfast and stretch a little and go try to kick out as much as i can on it today. Steve.

a quick over-nighter on the Colorado river

Denise's eye view of paddling the kayak up river.

OUTTA HERE! a released trout rockets into the depths.

we took a quick couple of days to zip the two hours up to Lee's Ferry on the Colorado river for some boating, fishing and camping. we hit it just right as it was freezing & windy before we left and we came home to snow. it was a great re-charge to soak up some sun between the vermilion cliffs and pull some gorgeous trout from the crystal clear waters.

here's a sense of scale - that's Jeff in the lower right hand corner on the shore.

a beauty trout! the trout were really getting great color for the spawn coming up. we also caught allot of feisty, hard charging trout in the 10" range from last year's spawn. i'd say the fishing is really gonna rock in the next couple years!

Barry with a healthy 12-ish incher.

Jeff having a terrible time........

dappled patterns on an overhang from the sun on the water.

dreamdate!

camping out on the Arizona Strip. the cliff in the background rise 3000ft. to the Paria Plateau

the view from camp of the Colorado flowing through Marble Canyon, which becomes the Grand Canyon.

our most excellent Longhaul folding kayak.

that's it for now. i'm finishing Simon's bike this morning, and starting Mark McD's as soon as i clean up the shop to where i can find anything! Steve.