Wednesday, January 30, 2013

A quick post on current projects.

 Wow - I got the Mountain Cruiser done, the first one ever out of my shop with double straight top tubes - all the rest have had a curved top tube, and I think I have made 15 cruisers total (I call the lower one the "kicker" tube) and the owner actually owns one already with the curved top tube, so............
 This design goes way back in bicycle history, but it's the mostly California bloodline of 26" wheeled BMX cruiser class racers - dads needed something to race on BMX race day, and thusly the Cruiser Class was invented, leading to many iconic bikes like the SE Racing OM Flyer, the Cooks Brother's bikes, Powerlites, Torkers, Lagunas, Pandas, King Stings, ect. I personally believe this is where the first true "Mountain Bikes" came from, with the Mert Lawwill Pro Cruiser being, in my opinion, one of the first true Mountain Bikes, then on to the Breezers, and VVA (Victor Vicente of America) bikes and more, all of which had variations on multiple frame tubes - tubes were smaller, and you needed more of them to make a stiff chassis - as for bicycle specific tubing, road bike stuff was all there was to be had..........
 I wanted some sun pics, but none was to be had, so snow pics will have to suffice.
 I timed myself on the polishing - 15 hours of polishing alone - these are legacy quality, and they are SMOOTH.
 And immediately on to Michael's 29er/700c single speed.
Dang - True Temper, Dedacciai, Paragon, Coco-Moto, Everest, Columbus, Nova.........one eclectic frame parts pic. Custom, Yo.
And, I have been building many custom wheels - most people get a wheelset with their frame if nothing else. I build very, very nice wheels.
In just that stack: Stan's, Kris Holm, King, Hadley, Phil, White Industries.........
More soon, very soon, like this afternoon, important news about the 10th anniversary of Coconino Cycles, which is on February 7th.
- Steve.

3 comments:

Walt said...

15 hours of polishing?

You guys need some kids - you know, small hands to get in the tight spots, polishing builds character, don't need to pay them...

-Walt

steve garro said...

Yeah, huh?
maybe i can borrow one? :)
I know, it adds up - I really wanted it to be as near perfect as possible - people eyeball my bikes closely!
I ain't got nothing on the TIG guys, for sure.........

Anonymous said...

Haha, you know your shop boy #1 AKA the poor Chinese farmer has thin fingers as well, Steve.

He may be pleased to transfer from El rancho 66 with some Red peisi;-)

-Aki