feeling much better on many accounts!

first, my eye feels MUCH better. ahhhhhh.......... second, i got Shayne's frame all done! this is critical as he & Kyle are gonna be here on Thursday to build their bikes up.

and, i got out for my first real exercise since i think the 9th of this month - it felt great and harsh all at once. the flowers may be waning, but if conditions persist we may be up for some of the best fall colors in a few years!

conditions are dry - you can barely tell that it rained really hard just a couple of days before - the ground just soaked it all up.

creeping through the ferns being herded by Sally Dog in the Pain Sled. i'll sure miss her someday, i hope not soon, what a great companion!

climbing up the mountain with Fremont Peak in the background.

as soon as it freezes the ferns change overnight. the first of the fall colors!

gotta re-group in the shop today after the push through the last two frames & i'm gonna start putting together M. Hoover's frameset - it's gonna be eclectic & not quite like anything yet............ Steve.

easing back into it........

i got back into the shop for the first time since my eye injury yesterday after putting out fires in the office for the better part of the morning. my eye definitely isn't 100% and still hurts but it's allot better. anyhoo, here's Shayne's bike all brazed up.

i brazed this whole bike with a new brass/nickle rod from Aufhauser - pretty nice! more fluid then Gasflux C-04. it will take a little getting used to, but i'm very pleased.

that's not so bad, is it?

seattube junction before........

and after. that's all for now, i feel allot better about the timeline on this project now & may actually try to get out & get some exercise for awhile today, it's been a loooong time. thanks all, Steve.

down but not out!

just got back from having a rust particle removed from my iris - no fun! it's lost me a few day's productivity, but i should still be able to deliver the goods on time - Kyle & Shayne, i'll be back at it tomorrow & i'll get your bikes done for your road trip out here. it may be tight, but i'm gonna hit it hard tomorrow & get it going on - the frame is fully brazed & "just" needs polishing and braze-ons and paint........ i was wearing full eye protection when it happened but somehow the metal particle got in there anyway - it was better then when i had my eyelid lanced in 03' to remove the flux shard! framebuilding = a hard dangerous job - the glamour wears off fast & it's not for everybody. anyhoo, here's a pic of better times, a fat 17"er i got at Luna Lake last week. pics of Shayne's frame tomorrow night, Steve.

lots of cool stuff / ** next five builds - get ahold of me, people! **

whew - lots of stuff to share, including the build list for the next five frames, which i'll go over at the end of the thread. first, Tracey's sweeeeet new road bike. damn........

headbadge shot.

this is so cool! i just got a new three roll bender that will let me fine tune the radii of curved top tubes. i can operate it smoothly in a wheelchair with ONE ARM on 1.125" x .035" chromoly. here is good buddy Doug with his sample bend - not a ripple to be felt on the curve at all, except the 4" tails on each end.

Gooch gave us a drive by smiling on Coconino #69.

Shayne's front triangle getting an alignment check.

i do not use the alignment table to really bend frames so much as tell me what has to happen to ensure a straight frame - i wanted to emphasise this to people. in this picture i have marked where i want to put additional tacks with the frame in the jig to pull the frame where i want it to go.

i'm talking about moving it this much............

and here, with chain stays on - looking like a bike! gonna do seat stays tomorrow, i've already had a massage this morning and went to get a crotch to toe casting of my leg for a new walking brace & i'm gonna try to get ahold of the upcoming clients to confirm details

Kyle's frame back from paint. i'll post pics of it in the sun all decked out - it really pops!

OK - **next five builds** M. Hoover - you are in the hot seat. i'm starting your fork as soon as i finish Shayne's bike. R. Mingus - 29er w/100mm front fork. vertical disc, no? Simon Z. - 29er, 100mm shock, vertical disc. Anthony Ramirez - same thing. J. Brunk - same thing, !!! i need your measurements page filled out, thanks!!!, and lastly, just to put it on the radar, G. Deckey's 700c roadster & fork. thanks for all your patience, guys. you all rock. that's all for now, and i think that was quite allot! Steve.

it's hard to belive you could cram so much into five days!!

what a great trip! check out all the pictures over at Denise's blog: http://denisegarro.blogspot.com/2009/08/super-salve-head-quarters-bt-narisas.html man, we saw allot of crazy stuff packed into around 120 hours, check it out...........

out of here until tues. 8/18 - cool stuff!

here we have Angry Bee from Osaka building his swank new rig! it's a 29er x 650B with a 135mm front hub so he can also run a 26" x 4" snow tire/rim. whoa. that's allot going on. i just like how it looks like it is kicking ass just sitting there - there's so many little touches on this that make it all one great package, including the Ti bars from Rody at Groovy Cycles and the stunning fork from Wade at Vulture Cycles. quite the badass collaborative work!

next, Kyle's bike which is currently at paint and should be a soothing blue upon our return from NM next week. what a classic bike. i have three 26" MTBs in a row to build right now.

Money Shot - all i did here on all eight faces was face the "U's" on the spearpoints. i'm likin' the new 45% silver allot!

the view out the back window of my shop of the sunflowers - we have thousands every year that we do no care or feeding of, just free. it's been dry so i'm sure that we won't break last year's record of 11' 4" free standing.

i got this cool/creepy/hairway to steven-esque picture from the Branches of young R. wearing a T-shirt i brought back from New Zealand in 1989. we printed up a bunch of Team Mutant shirts there with some locals on shirts from thrift stores, of which this was one.

the start of Shayne's 26" MTB. i actually got the front triangle all mitered up for when i return.

i got out on a super hard handcycle ride the other day too. man, i was cashed, 4+hrs of grim groveling on what i have begun to call "dog walks of pain"

by the time i got here both my sight & my thinking were mighty blurry.........

"rocking it" with Aki & John Z. i rode some hard stuff this day!

i just sent this slot, one wheel on each boulder.

Steve's eye view - my eyes were so full of pollen!

a Pine dropseed for Planteo.

now here's a bunch of freaks! Joe Murray, John Z, the NOD, Angry Bee & myself. i've done some crazy shit with each & every one of these cats! that's it for now, see you all after Tuesday. Steve.

Coconino T-Shirts now availible!

Coconino T-Shirts are now available through an outside bicycle accessory vendor here in flagstaff - selling shirts turns me into a shipping & receiving person and takes me away from building bikes, which is why i'm here. so, they can be purchased here: http://www.bikebagshop.com/coconino-cycles-mens-t-shirts-p-1293.html and i will attach a permanent link on the toolbar to the side. thanks, all! Steve.

Kyle's frame, Shayne's frame.

Kyle's seat stays all fabbed up and ready for mitering.

here, all tacked and checked on the alignment table - WAY straight. some bikes just snap together.

drying out after brazing and a trip to the dunktank to soak the dry flux off.

the head tube junction still fluxed & still hot. nice!

Shayne's bike to be. i powered down and got the front triangle mitered too, so after i polish up Kyle's bike i can just head straight into it before i head to Gila, NM for BT & Narisa's wedding on the weekend of the 15th.

here's a sobering sight - these were my best attempts to write my name after ten days in a coma 3 1/2 yrs. ago.........not too cool to look at. my hand control has come a long way, thankfully............Steve.

sussing up the new AZ trail - ballad of the lone handcyclist.

been checking out the new AZ trail on the western border of the Kachina Peaks wilderness area - great stuff! here's a view of the western edge of the volcanic field in which we live with Kendrick peak to the right and Sitgreaves peak to the left, Alfa Fia tank in the foreground.

some great light playing over Arizona's highest mountains.

here i am three years into being the solo offroad handcyclist. of course Denise is there, but i have only ridden with other handcyclists i think four times in three years - pretty lonely sport! how many people would still ride mountain bikes if they were the only ones who did? not many, not for long, i think. it takes some real dedication to go out and punish yourself solo - the social aspect really is a huge part of cycling. heck, i'm not sure anyone even reads these posts anymore, i mean, how many photos of my ass & rear wheel with a dog following do people wanna see?

here we are exploring a dead end elk trail in a lovely meadow.

sucky - the wildflowers are already winding down due to the dry spell. next month is fall already - WTF? where did my summer go? gonna digest a delicious breakfast & go out and get Kyle's seat stays on and get ready for brazing - more pics soon, & thanks to those who read my rants! Steve.

Jeff's bike ready to go out, Kyle's moving right along, TIRED!!

Jeff's 29er back from paint & soon to be sent off to Santa Fe, NM. nice orange!

the beginning makings of the rear triangle.

fast forward to the stays cut to raw length, slotted & spearpointed and chucked up in the fixture for brazing the dropouts.

a zero cleanup braze straight out of the dunktank. i've been using a different silver alloy and flux on stainless steel parts & i'm very happy with the results so far!

a nice tight fit all around all tacked up.

all bolted down for a thorough alignment check - very nice! this is gonna be a 26" wheeled MTB built around a 100mm travel Magura fork & it will be going to live in Texas.

just the seatstays left before brazing! i think that other then some packing and shipping & receiving that i'm gonna take the day off! i'm tired and my body hurts from some long days in the chair and i want to feel good for tomorrow as it will be the first opportunity for me to go hand cycling in quite some time. more later, thanks for reading & all your collective patience! Steve.