October flying by, bumpy road but keepin' on......

 Eiji's frame is done, just waiting for a couple parts to send it off to Osaka, Japan.
I am very critical of my own work, but have to say that this is one of the finest frames i have ever made. It just gets an A++ on every line. I'm very proud of it, it took me over 300 frames to get to this point.

 Did i mention that the orange with gold flake really works for me, too?
Below, pictured with the matching Vulture fork, really, really sweet.

 Some pics of the finish work on the frame - above, unfiled from the torch & dunktank, below during polishing.

 Fully polished seat tube junction below.

 And, fully polished frame before braze ons.

 Below, I am working on a 29er for Eric, who is 6'9" tall with a 40" inseam.
that's a big bike.

 I had to order 300' of tubing from True Temper to make this happen, but with longer travel 29ers and oversized head tubes I figured this was due. It also allows me to build bikes with an oversized 30.0mm seat post for bigger riders, longer travel forks, or if you just wish to have a stiffer ride or a bike with lots of seatpost extention. I also had to get 8' of 1 3/8" to make a custom seat tube sleeve, ovalised the down tube vertically at the headtube and laterally at the downtube to stiffen it up slightly and give me a nice brazing surface.

 Above, checking the straightness of the seat tube (a 24" seat tube on a 29er) and below are my sophisticated tools for ovalising tubing..........just add Wilton 5" jaw Machinist's vise.......

 Above, a lead packing hammer I found underneath a pipeline layed in the forest in 1884.
Below, what was inside - I just need a handle and it's going from working in the Coconino National Forest to building Coconino Cycles over 120 years later - cool.

 It's fall! I got out for a ride.......

 And, it was really hard. Put me flatbackin' for real.

 Off-road handcycling is the hardest thing you can do, or at least that I have done, and I have done some hard things........

 We had out 11th wedding anniversary! I love my beautiful wife more now then ever.
The best thing in my life, I could not think of life without her.

 Four days away from the grind - it was idylic.

 Cooking D. an anniversary dinner - trout tacos.

 Caught my 1st brown here that I remember - nice one, too - that's a 22" paddle blade.

 Spectacular colors.

 We got to see the Paria Plateau flash flood! I haven't seen this one go off in the 37yrs I have been coming up here - see below, it was HAMMERING. That would have destroyed a boat instantly.

 When the sun came out - same waterfall in both pics, we often sit in the shade where the bottom picture was taken - nice beach there now.

 That's a 1000 footer below - cool to see the path the water takes in it's voyage to the river.

 Doug & Ian Hall joined us for a couple days, good times/moist camp.

 D. and Doug both bringing in some nice trout, D. really killing it & Doug just learning.

 Fishing was good - really good.......

 Fish On!

 The Halls - good family fun, right there.

So long and thanks for all the fish!
Thanks, faithful readers - more soon, it was a hell of an October on many levels.
- Steve.

Oct 2012 Coconino World HQ update.

 Well right back at it for October after a VERY trying September - Glad to have survived that month.
 Here is Bill's un-filed flat black 29er for the Zuni Mountains of Western New Mexico.

 Pretty no nonsense, fully rigid, no moving parts. A dependable companion.

 This bike, Matt's, had a mysteriously cracked seat tube after over 8000 miles of mostly single track - a flaw in the tube likely. You'll have that.
I replaced the entire seat tube - epic. Here is the finished frame, all ready to go out for more.

 I can tell my older bikes as the proportions are oh-so-slightly different then the absolutely current ones being made - I have worked hard on perfecting the "flow" in a frame while maintaining optimal fit.

 This is Eiji's 650B for the mountains of japan - He is keeping the rack tabs on the new Coco-Motos (see below) to, I hope, carry his fishing pole!
in this picture I am checking the alignment of the front triangle, which you must have down before you proceed to the rear stays.

 And now the rear chainstays. I gave these some cool magic that I'm going to start doing on all bikes - it worked very well.

 Above & below dummy-ing up the wheel to check clearances - plenty with a Neo-Moto 2.35' slammed at 16.5" forward.

 Above & below getting the double bends of the seat stays in phase with each other.

 Did I mention the custom blue bolt on Phil Wood Kiss Off hubs?
Sweet!

 The new Coco-Motos with all the goods - disc mount, derailleur hanger, rack/blinky/whatever mounts.

 I got a random visit from one of the world's most respected framebuilders, Dario Pegoretti, who built Tour de France winning bikes for Indurain, Pantani and Cipolini amound many others - I was VERY flattered.

 We framebuilders buy, sell and trade goods all the time - I sold some tubes to Eric at Winter Cycles and this is what the check looked like - I wish it could speak.

 So far Fall has been awesome, and I have been trying to get out and experience it as it it fleeting at best.
Above, a Larkspur. Only a very few flowers left........tough ones.

 I love this picture after a brief shower of a brilliant Aspen leaf.
All pictures by Denise.

 How do you get through the rocks?

 Indian Paintbrush.

 I cut that corner by maybe .75"

A pretty damn nice fall so far!
Mostly just building bikes and trying to get out enough to maintain my grip upon my sanity, we will be out kayaking for our 11th anniversary from Oct 10th to the 13th - other then that, I'll be here.
Thanks for reading, all - And, thanks for your continued patience - Steve.