Shuksan Cycles

Appropriating Mountain Biking

2010-09-20T07:14:00.000-07:00

For those of us who have been mountain biking for over a decade, the paradigm shifts within the sport have been slow in coming but undeniable. Fifteen years ago, cross country athletes the likes of Thomas Frischknet, Juliana Furtado, John Tomac, Susan De Mattei, and Ned Overend were the heroes of the sport. They were brutally fast and got that way through dedication and sacrifice. Downhillers were around, with riders like Gred Herbold and Brian Lopes flying down mountains, but the sport was focused on cross country riders...the athletes. Today, the sport celebrates the guys (almost never women) who air the biggest, pull backflips, throw tailwhips, or ride skinnies twenty feet in the air.

The sport has shifted from Power Bars to Monster Energy Drink, from Crested Butte's 401 trail to Intrawest's Bike Parks, and from Yo Eddy' to Demo 8's. While the shift is undeniable, I have been left wondering what happened to the sport I grew up with. The only thing I can come up with, is the idea that mountain biking...actually riding up and down mountains is to hard for most people. That difficulty kept a substantial percentage of people from getting into the sport. Like having to skin up a mountain for 45 minutes that can be skied down in three, pedaling uphill wasn't enjoyable for the unfit. What were companies to do?

In an effort to grow the sport, and to increase their revenues, the industry began selling the adrenaline. Throw bikes on ski lifts and eliminate uphills. Pile bikes into pick-ups and drive to the tops of hills. Nevermind that the riders didn't have the requisite skills to make it down these trails, give them lots of suspension, push the forks way out, and drop the seat all the way down. Build up some jumps and work on "sessions" where riders take turns hitting those jumps and complementing each other's form. Like snowboarders on a hill, mountain bikers turn towards a "freeride" culture was in effect, a turn away from the athleticism that dominated the sport fifteen years ago. Increasingly complex bikes triple the price, requiring four times as much maintenance, and outdated every year keep both manufacturers and shops happy. Videos and photographs of the extreme sell way better than straining faces on long climbs, fueling one sided media representations of the sport. The shift towards a freeride mentality was, in effect, a win win for those looking to profit from mountain biking.

I ride local trails and the most common sight is a middle aged man pushing a six inch dual suspension bike up hills in body armor. Those who are riding, are crawling uphill in a grannygear talking to the rider next to them about the latest and greatest gear. I work in a local bike shop and see kids getting hard-ons for next year's downhill set-up (this year's now sucks). I hear in the news that the local ski area just got a permit to throw in a bike park next year. The average rider despises uphills and tolerates them only because they have no alternative.

Does this mean that mountain biking's "old-school" cross country orientation is somehow better than today's freeride" mindset?
Will the US market ever see mountain bikes marketed to athletes instead of all-mountain/freeriders?
Where does the sport go from here given it's present direction?

I for one see mountain biking following the ski industry's lead towards "resort" riding that overcomes land use conflicts and lets riders focus on descents. A fringe crowd will pedal up the surrounding countryside, but they will be far and few between...content with their solitude and the sound of their breathing as they pedal along.

The last month

2010-09-14T08:39:00.000-07:00

The last month has found us enjoying all that Whatcom County and the surrounding area has to offer. While there has been riding, the high notes include hikes in the high country of the county ans a sea kayaking trip to Tofino, BC. Pictures can't do justice to either of the places but here's a couple.

High Pass Trail in Whatcom County

Sea Kayaking in Tofino

Old growth trees in Tofino region on Meares Island

Tofino at sunset

Seatpost extraction

2010-08-14T09:42:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to take a seized seapost out of a frame this week and the only good that can come out of such an operation is a reminder to grease/antisieze your seatposts. This one came out in about 10,000 pieces and took over three hours to extract.

2010-08-01T16:06:00.000-07:00

A new fillet brazed 29er with a matching stem and fork

R.I.P. Cayenne

2010-07-27T18:50:00.001-07:00

Losing a dog is about as bad as it gets. This one was with us for ten years and it's tough to let her go.

Route 542 is officially open to the top!

2010-07-23T11:34:00.000-07:00

Well, I managed to get out on the road bike Wednesday night and found that the snow crews had managed to turn the last corner to the parking lot at Artist's Point. To say that there is still a lot of snow up there is an understatement.

The last bend in the road has a wall of snow that must be 30 feet tall.

You can see a bike in the last picture for a little perspective. The good news is that the snow is melting off fast and the road is as much a river as it is pavement.

The good news is that the road is open and the scenery is as good as ever. Be careful above the gate as the road is covered in gravel but get out there and ride it.

More brazing...this time a mountain fork

2010-07-21T13:28:00.000-07:00

Making a rigid fork for a 29" mountain bike is always fun. The clear substance on the fork is a substance that lets the bronze attach itself to the steel and the fact that its clear means that my heat control was good. Too much heat and it burns up and turns black.

Finding time to ride

2010-07-14T17:27:00.001-07:00

The weather has taken a turn for the perfect and the riding is great. There is some brazing going on and some more to come. Up at Artists Point they are clearing out the snow on the road. As of today they are at the chicane above the steep switchback just past the USFS interpretative center. Another two weeks and they should be to the top. That being said, it is amazing how deep the snow is along the side of the road. Nothing at all down by the upper ski area and 15-20 feet just a couple hundred feet higher up.

In the shop there has been some fun wheelbuilding projects with a XTR hub respaced to 130mm for use in a cyclocross wheelset (available for $450).

I've also had the opportunity to get out riding a Colnago Extreme Power that I picked up with a Campy 10 group. The bike is a blast to ride and keeps my work in perspective relative to the heavy hitters in framebuilding...seems like I'm building a great riding bike even compared to a state of the art Colnago.

Stem getting closer

2010-07-05T10:30:00.000-07:00

Well, a custom stem for Joey is getting closer to completion. This is a fillet brazed stem in which the material bonding the parts together make it seem as if the tubes are flowing into each other.

A few more pictures of the new bikes

2010-06-29T12:05:00.001-07:00

two two niners

2010-06-28T09:19:00.000-07:00

The local powdercoating guy in Ferndale (JL Powdercoating) was able to special order in some fancy colors for us from Tiger Drylac and we've just received two frames back from the painter. The frames are fillet brazed which means that the tubes are joined together using melted brass as opposed to a TIG welded or Lugged frame. The appearance is of tubes flowing into one another as opposed to sharp transitions...a really cool look. There's a bunch of detail shots to be posted so I'll spread them out over the next week or two. In the mean time watch for a couple of custom stems to be wrapped up.

Custom fillet brazed cyclocross stems

2010-06-14T09:38:00.000-07:00

Well, the quarter at UW has ended and for anyone wondering, here's what a quarter or two at the University looks like after it's all said and done. Nothing but a bunch of words on a computer screen. Much less satisfying when compared to the products created working in the shop.

Now that summer is here and I can spend a substantial amount of time in the shop, it's back to making tangible things. First up is a batch of stems that will be fillet brazed. The first two will be cyclocross stems with the front brake routing right through the middle.

First I get the raw materials and cut down a barrel adjuster traditionally mounted to the side of a head tube

A portion of tubing is then brazed to the end of the barrel adjuster so that I can create a water tight cable route through the stem. Water that gets in up at the cable housing/barrel adjuster interface will run along the cable and not down into the stem.

The tubing that will be used for the extension on the stem is then punched and drilled to fit the sealed creation.

The steel tubing that will be used for the steerer and handlebar clamps is turned on the lathe to remove excess material

The key to making a beautiful stem is prep work. The more you do prior to the actual brazing the nicer your finished product will be. More coming soon...

Canti Boss Replacement

2010-04-23T11:52:00.000-07:00

If your cantilever brake posts are separating from your front fork, you may want to replace them. A scary picture of a fork that was brought in from a customer's tandem. I would hate to see what would have happened if the post broke off on a steep downhill.

Luckily, they can be replaced with some prep work and a little brazing.

Good as...no, better than new

McKenzie River Trail=Fantastic

2010-03-27T11:13:00.000-07:00

For those who have heard about the McKenzie River Trail in Oregon, the rumors are true...for those who haven't, here's an introduction. The trail is almost 30 miles in one direction, paralleling the McKenzie River in Oregon. We showed up in late March (last week) to explore and started riding from the Belkap Lodge near the bottom of the trail. As we didn't have a shuttle option, we opted for the out and back singletrack ride...knowing full well we wouldn't be making the entire 60 mile round trip. The singletrack was fantastic as were the views. The river is constantly by your side and the trees are awe inspiring.

In case you were wondering, the trail is definately directional. Ride up the trail was a methodical, moderate paced (but still enjoyable) push while riding down the thing was akin to a long flowing rollercoaster. A definate must do.

Where have we been

2010-03-25T16:14:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a heck of a long time since the last time we posted here on the blog...sorry. It's not that we haven't been busy. Instead, between a return to grad school during the week and trying to make the most of the weekends, blog posting has fallen by the wayside. Luckily the action was captured in pictures. Over the past two months we've been able to get out on skis a few days this winter,

we've managed to get out on the bikes a number of times including a great ride around the Chuckanuts through the mud in a downpour

We went up to see a couple Olympic events, including the Men's 50k XC skiing final.

And we took a trip to Bend, OR to ride some singletrack and climb at Smith Rocks.

Included in the goings on was a trip to the McKenzie River Trail for some mountain biking. The trail was so nice that it's going to get its own write up in the next couple of days. After that...some framebuilding content.

Orcas Island...why didn't someone tell me about this?

2009-12-29T16:20:00.000-08:00

For some weird reason, the weather in the PNW has been phenomenal. The sun has been out and the afternoons are warm. Roads are clear and the trails are firm. Hoping to take advantage of this odd weather (given the season) and some time off, Amber and I drove over to Anacortes and took the ferry over to Orcas Island for an attempt at riding up Mt. Constitution on Orcas Island. We were fairly certain that the road would be iced over, or the mileage would be too great for a short winter day.

No waiting on the ferries, they were empty.

The roads didn't have any traffic

The climbing in the woods was on perfect roads

At this point, the climbing was getting to us but the scenery made up for the steep grade

Getting closer

The view from the top

A happy couple

A couple of beers to close out a perfect day

What month is this again?

One semester down...fifteen more to go

2009-12-19T08:46:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm 1/16th of the way done with a graduate degree...that means I'm almost done! All kidding aside, I've managed to wrap up a semester of schooling and it's time to return to framebuilding and riding. Spending so much time in Seattle, it's great to come home to Whatcom county for some longer rides out in the country. One of the best winter rides has to be the ride out to Drayton Harbor. The miles are almost all flat so you don't have a lot of climbing to deal with. You head out through out of season berry fields and dairy farmland that has been abandoned for the winter. The wildlife ranges from Cows to Eagles to Salmon to Swans, and if the clouds lift you can see mountains in all directions.

I didn't even see the second eagle in the tree until I downloaded the pictures.

This one has an eagle hidden in the tree looking out at the Drayton Harbor and the mountains.

Back in the shop, there's a tubeset for a 29er mountain single speed that's been waiting to be brazed together. The mitering and the brazing went well with lots of filing on the horizon.

Feeling both young and old at the same time

2009-10-21T13:10:00.000-07:00

For those who read this blog every once in a while, you may have noticed that the posting frequency seems to have dropped as of late. It's true but not without cause. Turns out I've jumped back into the academic world as a doctoral student at the University of Washington. It's something that has been in the back of my head for years and things just lined up such that this year was perfect for jumping back in. It's a beautiful campus and the Science Education program is one of the best in the country.

For anyone over 22, going back to school is a big shock to your sense of self. The majority of the population is 18-22 and walking around it is readily apparent that I am old. At the same time, spending your time around so many enthusiastic young people has some contagious effect. Now, I'm not going out and drinking at the normal parties, but going to class, commuting, grocery shopping, and walking around a college campus makes you hearken back to those days when we were all idealists. You feel younger.

Then you try to drive around. Just the other day I saw an intersection frozen for two green lights because the right turning car blocked both lanes, the left hand turning lane decided to position themselfe such that they would be ready when traffic did move (the car seen blocking oncoming traffic). Then a bus, getting frustrated with waiting, puled out into the intersection (blocking all traffic coming from the left side of the picture). I couldn't go straight, oncoming traffic was blocked by a bus, traffic from the right was blocked by that car in the middle, and traffic from the left was blocked by the bus. So, what do you do when stuck in a mess like this? According to my observations you call and text other people. Being an urban campus means that the UW has major traffic issues. Cramming that many young drivers into just a few blocks, letting them Text and talk on their phones while driving, and then surrounding that student population with a million people in the city and you have a traffic nightmare. Riding sucks, it's downright dangerous. Cyclists all dump onto the bike paths along with the walkers. The bike paths become swolen with traffic as well. The traffic makes one really appreciate what a special place Whatcom County is.

On the bike making front, we're still making bikes, just making fewer. Instead we're working on selling the best products out there, at the best price out there, with the best customer service. If you're interested in a bike, a component, or service, give us a call.

Canadian Dollar at par again!

2009-10-12T14:10:00.000-07:00

Well, I don't know exactly what happened over the last two years with the Canadian currency, but it seems that the Loonie is back strong relative to the U.S. dollar. For those of you just north of the border, this means that your dollar goes farther than it did just a few months back when buying U.S. goods.

One example of this can be seen in purchasing a frameset. If a fillet brased mountain frame would have been $1500 USD (and $1875 CAN), that same frame, while still being $1500 USD (and now $1500 CAN) is $375 cheaper. This stinks when I go to buy an Italian made tire or a Steel Tubeset from England but it's good for Canadian consumers.

For those of you just across the border in Vancouver or Abbotsford, give us a call when you are shopping around for cycling goods. In many cases our exchange rate can end up saving you a lot of money.

Two weeks later

2009-09-25T18:45:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been two weeks since the last post. It's not that things haven't been going on in the shop. I've got the bent seat stays to prove it.

Amber's 12" 29er has been on the bench and getting the seat stays to work on a bike that small while keeping the chainstays short was a real challenge. I ended up wasting over three sets of seatstays before I got a set to work. Lets see, three sets at $40/set = $120...maybe that $750 tubing bender isn't such a bad idea.

In the end, it came out great and the bike has tons of standover, tons of tire clearance, and pretty fillets. I can't wait to get parts hung on it and see it out on the trails.

Funny thing, this 12" frame looks proportionally similar to a regular sized bike built around enormous 36" wheels.

Busted Carbon in Pennsylvania

2009-09-09T15:33:00.000-07:00

For those of us who sometimes question the wisdom of fabricating a bicycle frame as light as possible for the sake of a performance, it sometimes is good to take a moment to remember just what it is that we are afraid of. It's not that Carbon fiber is not strong enough to withstand all the forces that human beings can dish out. Additionally, it isn't that they don't ride nicely. Instead, it is the fear that you will take a tumble at an inopportune time, that your bike get knocked over by some kid walking past it on the sidewalk, it's the fear that one small accident will take $2500 worth of carbon and make it worthless.
Walking into a great shop in central PA this week, I managed to see a collection of carbon carnage that made me wince.

The first was a carbon mountain frame from Fisher that had crashed to the side at slow speed only to have the top tube smashed into a rock and become "mushy"

The second was a carbon road frame from Trek that had been involved in a crash that messed up the rear wheel. The wheel then somehow came around and tore a huge hole out of the chainstay. Ouch!

Neither of the bikes were cheap imports that collapsed while just riding along. As a framebuilder I don't think any of the uber-light bikes ever would. What I fear is what happens when the inevitable slow motion spills happen. What happens when a spoke breaks on a low count lightweight wheel that then rubs against your chainstay? 99 times out of a hundred everything is just fine, but that 1 time is isn't, I certainally hope that the bike owner of that superlight frame can afford the consequences. I for one will trade the weight savings on the frame for savings in the bank, and I will try to lose the pound or two that the superlight frame promises from my waistline instead.

Even in Whatcom County

2009-09-01T10:00:00.001-07:00

In certain parts of the country we cyclists expect to run into rather ignorant and careless individuals while out riding. People yell at you as you pass, things get thrown at you, cars honk as they pass...but that rarely happens in Whatcom County. If you think this county is bad you had better never leave the confines of this place because it only gets worse. Now once in a while, the plague of rude drivers that afflicts the rest of the nation rears its ugly head here in the Northwest.

Recently posted on the Bellingham Herald, a letter to the editor (http://www.bellinghamherald.com/letters/story/1041071.html), a local resident complained about cyclists on local roads. He advocates cyclists be relegated to roads with bike lanes and only those roads, citing rude and inconsiderate cyclists as the reason behind his feelings.

As a cyclist, my first response is anger, but upon reflection I start to wonder what sort of interactions this driver has had over the years to make him so against cyclists. Additionally, there are over 70 comments on the posting with some feeling that cyclists are rude and inconsiderate when using the road.

Who are these cyclists that aren't riding responsibly when out on the roads? They are the same people who are inconsiderate when they are in a car, behind a desk, or out on the town. Having ridden thousands of miles both solo and with others all across the county, I have seen riders cutting off traffic, riding unnecessarily far out in the middle of the lane, running red lights, and otherwise acting like an idiot while riding a bicycle. Similarly, I have witnessed cars brush past as they pass on a blind curve, I've seen oncoming drivers veer into my lane as they try to finish a text message while driving, I've had people pull out in front of me as I come down a hill at 40+mph, and I've seen a driver get out of her car and stand in front of a cyclist, causing him to crash, because she was tired of seeing cyclists on the road.

Rude people are rude people be they cyclists or drivers. By and large, the statement by Alex sums it up best.

"I've lived here for 35 years and I've never had a single "incident" involving a cyclist while driving, and for five years I drove a cab so I've probably driven the roads of this county more than him. The most dangerous thing on the road is impatience and it sounds like Mr. Adenau has that in abundance. If you'd risk injuring yourself or another person just to shave a few seconds off your trip, then you shouldn't be allowed to drive. Sit-back, enjoy the scenery, and wait until it's safe to pass."

To all of the Mr. Adenau's who have discovered the bicycle, perhaps you should return to your car. Being a inconsiderate cyclist does a disservice to those of us who work towards sharing the road. Making the slightest effort to ride single file when you hear "car back" goes a long way towards creating good will. A friendly wave when a car waits to pass and gives a wide margin is far more beneficial than flicking off a driver who chooses to be disrespectful.

We will no doubt continue riding on the rural roads of the area regardless of the Mr. Adenau's that are out there. And no doubt people will continue driving on those same roads in this county. If we hope to make both groups safe and enjoyable, we need to take a moment to extend some courtesy to those we share the road with.

In the mean time:

Thank you to all of those people in the county who give a wide birth when passing.
Thanks to those cyclists who move over to let me pass when I'm driving.
Thanks to those who use ropes or fences to keep their dogs from chasing me down the road.
Thanks to those drivers who offer a ride when I'm fixing a flat tire on the side of the road.
Thanks to those cyclists who ride predictably down Holly, Railroad, Cornwall and all the other urban roads in the area.
Thanks to those who don't text and call while driving.

Whatcom county is an amazing place to be a cyclist and an amazing place to go for a drive. The Mr. Adenau's of the county may not realize this but most do and for that we can be thankful.

Your border...safe and secure

2009-08-21T09:49:00.000-07:00

Was out riding the other day and thought people might like to see just how secure the borders in this country are. The road on the right is Canada and the road on the left is the U.S. with the ditch serving as the border.

Now, I really don't worry too much about evil doers infiltrating this country when I see images like this one because our neighbors to the north are so damned friendly. If they weren't, we might have to dig that ditch a bit deeper.

A bike for Kent and a couple hikes

2009-08-19T16:17:00.000-07:00

Well, Kent's bike is out on the trails now. He went with a true stealth look...black decals on black paint with a black fork and SLX group. Very cool looking.

On the non building front, the hiking has been beautiful as we've managed to make it up into the mountains a couple of times now. The North Cascades have to be one of the most beautiful places in the country this time of year.

Review: Riding in Oregon

2009-08-06T11:09:00.000-07:00

Last week found us riding down in Oregon both around Mt Hood and along the Oregon Coast near Tillamook. While riding around Mt Hood is fantastic (good roads, light traffic, great views),

riding in the Tillamook area was simply horrible. We were stationed in Oceanside where the coffee shop was instrumental to beginning a ride in the morning fog.

Rides went both north and south along the coast looking for great scenery and lightly traveled roads. What we found wasn't quite what we wanted. The pictures are great but that's cause we werent' taking pictures while dodging potholes and fighting traffic.

The traffic along the coast was insane. The roads are almost death traps with giant potholes and diagonal 3" vertical cracks in the middle of 40mph descents. The views, while spectacular in areas, consisted largely of staring at the backs of beach houses and sand dunes. While riding we passed tons of cyclists on touring bikes loaded with panniers and others on racing machines out for a training ride. I couldn't imagine trying to navigate one of the hideous descents on a bike loaded with 80+ lbs of gear. Sadly this was an established bike route in the state. Time to lobby your local politicians for better road upkeep or the cyclists are going to stop coming.

For anyone considering a cycling vacation in Oregon, I would have to recommend staying away from the Tillamook area.

A frame to paint and lots of odds and ends

2009-07-28T09:00:00.000-07:00

Well, Kent's 29" mountain frame got taken to paint yesterday afternoon. It's getting painted locally by JL Powdercoating in Ferndale, WA. It's nice to be able to support a local business as opposed to shipping the frame down to Colorado and then paying someone I'll never meet. Instead, I hand the frame to Jeff and go pick it up in a few days, helping him put food on his table in the process. The production of Kent's frame has now spread money to Praxair over by Bellingham High (acetylene gas and silver), Hardware Sales on James St. (Cartridge Rolls and Cutting Oil), and JL over in Ferndale. That was just for specific materials used for this frame. Most of the materials and tooling that I've used for this bike and others were also purchased in the area.

By buying local Kent is not only helping me stay in business, he is indirectly helping numerous other businesses in the area that are locally owned and operated.

On the non-framebuilding front, it was time to clean and true wheels. They all got wiped down and straightened. It doesn't seem like much until you realize how many wheelsets we have.

Maintaining another bike for a customer it was noticed how necessary regular maitenence is this time of year. After riding up Mt. Baker and flying down at 40+mph, the rear tire was recognized as being a bit "thin". We sell tires here at Shuksan, and this customer recieved a nice new Continental clincher to take them safely through the rest of the summer.

Almost done

2009-07-25T11:30:00.000-07:00

The parts kit is in and the frame only needs a couple bottle braze-ons and paint.

2009-07-22T10:30:00.000-07:00

Attaching the chainstays

Getting closer

And now back to our regularly scheduled program

2009-07-21T08:16:00.000-07:00

Well, the flying back and forth across the country is over for the time being and it's back to building bike frames here in Whatcom County. On the bench this week is Kent's replacement 29" mountain bike that is replacing the one he had stolen.

The frame is going together well and by the end of today the rear stays should be attached. As for the finish work (filing, braze-ons, etc), that may take a little longer. As for the pictures, sorry for the lack of clarity...the phone only does so good at close ranges.

Tacking the head tube in the jig

Tacking the bottom bracket shell

Silver brazing a steel sleeve over the seat tube where the top tube and stays join to prevent distortion.

The Bottom Bracket post braze and before any clean-up

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The head tube post braze and before clean up filing

2009-07-20T07:27:00.001-07:00

Ugh...not the same flight as two posts ago, but a different one for a funeral back in PA. Now on to some bike building...

On the framebuilding front

2009-07-14T04:45:00.000-07:00

While the traveling has been at the forefront over the past few weeks, there has been activity on the framebuilding front as well. Trouble is one rarely has a camera when in the middle of mitering, tacking, or brazing. Because of this, I tend to finish a framebuilding operation without documenting it for the blog. This week I made a concerted effort to take some pictures and here's what I've got going on.

Sean's frame is back from paint. It's beautiful...given his knack with colors, maybe he should look into a career in interior design.

Amber's frame had the chainstays attached to the bottom bracket shell.

This frame would have been run to completion but I ran into an issue with another customer who's bike was stolen. Kent's 29er mountain frame was stolen from the Deming area. If you see a fillet brazed 29er mountain frame on the local trails, let me know...Amber was nice enough to let me delay progress on her bike so that I can crank out a new one for Kent so he can get back on the local fire roads and trails. The tubeset is already in and the headtube was cut to length, then turned down in low stress areas to lighten it up a bit.

From riding in wide open spaces to a sardine can...

2009-07-07T14:12:00.001-07:00

While the last post from Mt. Rainier was picturesque and amazing for the scenery, feelings of freedom, and the grandeur...today was the opposite. It was the Yang to Rainier's Ying, a Tweedle Dumb to the Mountain's Tweedle Dee.

I was stuck on a plane for the day with two screaming toddlers in the seat behind be who yelled and cried as they kicked the crap out of the seat in front of them for the entire five hour flight. Add to that the fact that United Airlines seems to have shortened the distances between seats (they are now advertising an optional upcharge for a seat with an extra 5" of legroom) and you've got one heck of a flight.

It was one of those scenarios that you just have to laugh at because it's so stereotypical that it seems cliche. Even better was the fact that I'd traded this seat so that a guy could sit next to his brother. So, what was it like?

Riding at Rainier

2009-06-23T10:22:00.001-07:00

We took the bikes and headed down to Mt. Rainier this past weekend for some camping and a ride up Paradise. The pictures say it all as we had a mix of rain, sun, clouds, wind, and even snow. Descending was miserable as a front had blown through and we dropped from sleet and snow at the top to mid thirties and rain down below. Absolutely beautiful riding but maybe better saved for a warm and sunny day.

Thank god we brought rain gear and the fendered bikes

A tiny 29er

2009-06-19T21:50:00.000-07:00

This week has found Amber's 29er being brazed together. The seat tube on this thing c-c is only 12" long so it's a really small bike.

Try to convince her she needs smaller wheels that are proportional to her size and she'll laugh at you as she outrides you...I'm not going to argue with that.

The mitres on this one are tricky as the top tube intersects the downtube before it reaches the head tube. Makes for some neat lines and interesting brazing.

Another weekend down

2009-06-01T09:45:00.000-07:00

This weekend found us riding again but this time we were riding as part of a bigger trip. We were gunning for a summit of the North Twin Sister in Whatcom County. This is the left hand jagged peak that looms above Bellingham.

The climb starts with a approach on local logging roads. With only a singlespeed mountain bike at hand, I was stuck chugging up the steep logging roads. Amber ended up riding in a single gear just to prove I was wimp as I moaned and groaned up the mountain roads.

Once at the climbing trail we ditched the bikes in the woods and took off on foot. The climb starts up on a ridge covered in snow and transitions to a rock ridgeline.

The views are incredible and the exposure is enough to keep you honest. You can look straight down and see where your corpse would end up if you were to slip...

On the way down, we were planning on glassading until we set off a wet slide. Not wanting to die, we ended up downclimbing the slide path the entire way down.

Where have we been

2009-05-27T15:06:00.000-07:00

Acknowledging that it's been a while since my last post, it's time to explain where we've been. Two weeks ago found us in Monteray, CA for a conference. The place is okay but it's no Whatcom County.

After the trip to CA, we have been taking advantage of the absolutely perfect weather we've been experiencing. Tough to get on a computer instead of a bike when it's 65 degrees, the mountains are out in full effect, the singletrack is buffed out, and it's sunny.

Oh, the computer also broke so it was tough to get online...

2009-05-15T13:36:00.000-07:00

Prepwork is underway for another 29er mountain bike. This one is going to be tiny and for someone near and dear. Here's a pic or two of the process for making the seat tube sleeve.

Spring is here and a New frame is sprouting

2009-05-13T11:00:00.000-07:00

Well, spring has arrived and with it the weather has turned, and turned again, and turned again. From beautiful to terrifying and back to beautiful again we've had it all over the last couple of days.

Yesterday, riding on Sumas Mountain, there was snow at 2500' but the weekend let me ride up Mount Baker to over 4000' on clear roads.

On the framebuilding front, Amber is finally getting a new mountain bike. This shot is of some tubing being thinned down to create a seat tube sleeve that will prevent distortion and allow the mounting of a seat post binder bolt.

Shipping out to Paint

2009-05-04T14:36:00.000-07:00

Sean's 29er is done and ready for paint. The odd coloring is from the frame sitting in a waterbath as the flux was soaked off. The surface gets a flash rust that wipes off with a rag but looks really cool in a rustic sort of way. The clear/silver sections are areas where flux is still coating the metal (flux is used in the brazing process and was used for the cable guides in the picture).

Show your chain some love folks

2009-04-27T05:16:00.000-07:00

I spent some time working on my own mountain bike this weekend and was reminded just how rough the local mud can be on drive-train components.

The chain got oil and was replaced relatively early last year but you can see the concavity in the rollers and cracking all over the place.

Just some braze-ons and it's done

2009-04-25T08:38:00.000-07:00

With the fillets all smoothed out, there are just some braze ons to add to this 29er frame and it'll be off to pain. Braze-ons include the cable guides and the water bottle cage mounts.

A day at Galbraith

2009-04-22T09:02:00.001-07:00

Some of those guys on the big dual suspension bikes could learn a thing or two from Sean...riding it all on a fully figid 29er.

2009-04-13T09:41:00.000-07:00

Sean's 29er is really progressing nicely and should be ready for paint in a couple of days. All that's left are some braze-ons and some finish filing...other than that it's ready to ride.

Sean's 29er continued

2009-04-10T14:06:00.000-07:00

Spent some time on the chainstay/bottom bracket junction area. Mitering this area by hand is a slow and deliberate process but the results are great. The light is placed opposite the side I'm filing on and I look along the area where a bottom bracket shell will intersect the chainstay for gaps in the junction.

You want the two pieces to be super snug (like they were meant to be together) so that when they are brazed they draw tight and keep everything alligned as planned.

With them ready to braze, brass was laid down to form a fillet between the tubes. This fillet will soon be filed smooth to create a beautiful transition from one tube to the next. Both pictures of the fillet are before any flux has been soaked off. You can see the glassy material on top of the metal. It's nice and clear, an indication that the heat didn't get too high. Next up...filing.

Front Triangle and a Paddle

2009-03-30T08:31:00.000-07:00

This past week saw the front triangle of Sean's 29er completed. The fillets have been smoothed out and it's time to start on the back half of the bike.

On the non bike building front, we got out on the water and paddled around Lake Whatcom.

The day was foggy and the water was calm but the real estate was prime. Check out the sweet waterfront house available complete with giraffe, elephant, and gorillas. That's right folks, this sweet place is now on the market.

Avalanches and seat tube sleeves

2009-03-23T16:11:00.000-07:00

This weekend was spent turning a seat post sleeve for Sean's 29er. The seat tube where the seat stays, top tube, seat tube, and seat post all meet up is a highly stressed area. This is especially the case on a mountain bike where most riders are using a long seat post and landing hard on it. To reinforce this area, I turn down steel tubing on the lathe and then braze it onto the seat tube. This then creates a nice, thick, strong area that I can attach all of the other tubes to in the days to come.

When not framebuilding, we got out on the skis. This weekend was a reminder of exactly how small one is as we went out to look at the aftermath of enormous avalanches that hit the area this week. We toured around the debris fields from the slides in the Bagley Lakes area on Sunday and were all humbled by the scale. Debris fields were hundreds of feet out onto the flats and the crowns were many feet tall.

Tubesets and trash piles

2009-03-07T15:18:00.000-08:00

Both Sean and Amber's tubesets arrived today and the build for both will be starting in the next day or so. Both are getting fillet brazed 29ers with Paragon sliders but one will be akin to a 17" frame while the other will be more like a 14" frame.

While tubes are being mitred and brazed, building walls are also being knocked out as we work on some renovations around the house. So far we've managed to create quite the huge pile of garbage...now what do I do? Taking on a project like this makes you really respect skilled craftsmen who do this sort of work on a daily basis.

Unseasonabaly seasonable

2009-02-26T18:59:00.000-08:00

The riding at Galbraith until this week has been fantastic. The singletrack is clear, dry, tacky, and buffed from all the trail work the WHIMPS have done. I made it out for a day last weekend and it was one of the best days at Galby in months.

Enough already

2009-02-13T11:28:00.001-08:00

Well, as anyone can see there hasn't been a lot of building going on lately. It's not that I don't want to and it isn't because there isn't any work out there. It because of all the traveling we've been doing. Two days after returning from ten days in NV I went off to visit some old high school friends in Jackson Hole, WY. I know...tough life. For what it's worth I'm so tired of traveling that I won't be leaving the county for a few months.

Jackson is an amazing place and a playground unlike any other. The ski area is huge and the backcountry is easy to accesss. Rock Springs and Teton Pass are two spots that everyone should ski. For those who hate the snow, I've mountain biked there in the past and that is as good as teh skiing. Not many pics from this trip but some great times with great people.

After some much needed rest with the pest (they did this on their own) I'm starting on Sean's 29er. Bring it!

A week of warmth down south

2009-02-03T14:39:00.000-08:00

Last week found us spending time with family in Reno and the San Francisco Bay Area...

before heading down for a weekend in Bishop, CA. Not being one for rock climbing, I equate taking a cyclist to Bishop with placing a rock climber on top of Whistler's bike park in the middle of the Crank Works festival.

Amber heading up and over

Holding on for dear life

I flailed and hung and avoided scaring the life out of myself by staying close to the ground or on a rope. Regardless of my poor climbing skills, Bishop has to be one of the more beautiful places in the country this time of year. Not a bad place for a trail run, some camping, and some time in the sun.

Designing a 29'er - part 2

2009-01-20T10:44:00.000-08:00

In the previous post, we looked at how altering bottom bracket heights and seat tube angles were used to tailor the ride of a 29'er. At the conclusion of the post it was pointed out that a wheelbase could be shortened by slacking the seat tube angle. One might wonder why builders don't just create a super slack seat tube on their frames to bring the rider back over the rear wheel and the front wheel closer to the back...thereby shortening the wheelbase. There are two factors that limit how far back you can bring a seat using the seat tube angle.

The first is weight distribution. If a rider's weight is placed too far back, the weight will not be distributed correctly. Riding uphill with all of the weight on the rear wheel will cause the sensation that a rider is continually ready to "loop out" (the bike continually wants to pop a wheelie). On downhills, there will not be enough weight on the front wheel to make it dig into the terrain for traction.

Second, shifting a rider way back over the rear wheel using a slackened seat tube disrupts the natural pedaling motion. Riders tend to avoid injury and maximize efficiency when their knee cap is located approximately over top of their pedal axles.

While this might not seem to be related to the seat angle, a seemingly small change to the seat tube angle can result in a significant difference in where the seat ends up. As can be seen in the pictures, the difference in where a seat is located between a 70-degree and a 75 degree seat tube angle on a relatively small bike can be significant.

All of the seat angles start from the bottom bracket but a change of five degrees results in 2.5" difference once propagated over the length of a typical rider's seat height. Rider's with long femurs can get away with being further over the rear wheel but those with short femurs will be pushing pedals horizontally as opposed to vertically if they are placed too far back. This can irritate tendons and ligaments in addition to reducing the efficiency of a rider's pedal stroke, inviting injury and reducing speed.

So what seat tube angle does a builder choose? That depends on the terrain, the rider's dimensions, the head tube angle, the top tube length, and the components that a client will use. Next post, we will look specifically at the head tube angle and how it can be combined with stem length, head tube height, and fork rake to create a bike that handles according to a customer's wishes.

Designing a 29'er

2009-01-19T09:48:00.001-08:00

For those looking to what goes into designing a 29" wheeled bike, this post should lend some insight. For starters, we're talking hard tail frames here. The bike we're looking to create is for a small (5'2") rider who rides the big wheels on trails at Galby whose trails are muddy, slimy, and contain stunts. This is not going to be a bike intended for the rock gardens of Central PA or the bike park at Whistler. Because of the intended terrain and the small rider, the bottom bracket will be dropped down a tad. With 68-70mm of drop below the wheel axles, the standover on the bike will be maximized for the smaller rider with a minimal risk of clipping pedals on obsticals. With the drop established, we then move to the handling of the bike.

With bigger wheels come a longer wheelbase and slower steering. Imagine a bike that was super long (like the front wheel was way out front and the rear wheel was way behind you) trying to navigate a twisty trail. The front wheel would enter and leave one turn while the rear wheel would still be in the last twist in the trail. Because you are pulling that rear wheel along behind you, it would cut the apex of the turn and run right off the trail. You've seen this happen no doubt when tractor trailers run up on the sidewalk as they make a tight turn. The front wheels swing way out into the street but those back wheels get dragged throught the inside of the line.

To combat this dragging wheel that results from a long wheelbase, the head tube can be steepened to bring the front wheel in. To combat the rear wheel you can do two different things. First, you can pull the rear wheel in as close as possible to the seat tube. This creates faster stearing but can screw things up for your front derailleur and mud clearance. The second thing you can do is make the seat tube slacker. By letting the seat tube "fall back" you place the weight over the rear wheel, effectively bringing it in. To make the rider able to reach the bars, the top tube gets shortened, bringing the front wheel in closer to the rider. Letting the seat tube off a few degrees can allow a builder to shorten the wheelbase of a 29" bike.

For some great reading on 29er frame design, I recommend reading the following as a primer:
http://twentynineinches.com/2008/07/27/an-experiment-in-front-end-geometry/
http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=188215
http://twentynineinches.com/2008/02/19/a-note-on-geometry/

More later, gotta run for now.

Next up...locusts, horsemen, and a couple 29er's

2009-01-13T09:48:00.000-08:00

Well....that was interesting. We came out of a super cold and snowy month of December here in the PNW and jumped right into torrential rains, flooding, and mudslides.

Half of the roads in Whatcom county were underwater while a number of steep slopes let loose and tore down the mountains with mud, trees, and boulders.

The house on the left isn't actually buried up to the roof, but the debris is shown best in this photo.

Based on my weather projections, we should be experiencing the following by March.

Next up on the build que are two 29er's that will have Paragon slider dropouts and geometry tuned for the tricky trails at Galbraith. I'll give a closer look the next time I post. Stay safe.

Finally...Miko's frame has arrived

2009-01-05T12:35:00.000-08:00

This frame was supposed to be here weeks ago. Spectrum Powderworks in Colorado Springs shipped it out at the beginning of December. Problem is that snow started falling in Washington State and it never melted off. The local DOT doesn't salt the roads out here and they proceeded to ice over so badly that UPS and FedEx declined to deliver packages while city busses tried hurdling guard rails.

Luckily, good things come to those who wait...his frame is a beauty and Spectrum has done a great job.

The hardest thing with this bike is trying to get a good picture of it. The glossy black paint and the mirror finished stainless lugs are tough to differentiate as light reflects off of both in a similar manner.

Winter Solstice Century pt. 2

2008-12-19T12:03:00.000-08:00

Well, there's no way to bring on winter like tempting fate with a stupid plan like the winter century...I would like to officially take all responsibility for Baker being able to open at all this year. That being said, as of right now, it's still on! To hell with the snow covered roads.

To hell with the 12 degree temperature outside (as seen from in a heated car).

To hell with the forecast calling for a snow event with 55mph winds.

I say we go for it! What do you say we meet up at a local school track with knobbies and see how long it takes to ride 400 laps or get kicked off? If we ride up in Lynden it may be windy enough that all the snow will blow right off the track. I've got a couple of thermoses, two down jackets, balaclavas, hand warmers, etc.

The hills are on fire...and a fillet brazed stem

2008-12-10T09:44:00.000-08:00

The last couple of posts have been light on framebuilding so this one is getting some shots of a custom fillet brazed stem. In fillet brazing, bare metal tubes are connected with a second, different material (bronze shown) that is melted from what looks like wire and pooled up where the tubes meet. When it cools and hardens it's a solid metal again but it's now joining the parts you wanted to attach.

The tricks in fillet brazing are in laying down the pools of metal neatly so that you get the shape you're looking for and not getting things so hot that you burn the flux that is letting the materials attach to each other. In the pictures, you can look for ridges in the fillet that show where each pool was laid down in succession. You can also look for the cracks in the clear glassy material that come when the flux cools and hardens. Luckily the flux comes off in hot water so the cracks are not in a finished stem.

Once the flux is soaked off, files and emery cloth are used to take the rough fillet down to a smooth curve that serves as a transition from one tube to the next. The smoother the transition the better the fillet.

The silouette shown gives you an idea of the beautiful flowing lines that come from fillet brazing. Welding would result in a sharp transition and a visible set of weld beads that are typically left unfinished.

Here's The entire stem at this point. Slots still need to be cut so that it can attach to handlebars and the fork but it's getting close to done.

On a non framebuilding note, an interesting practice of loggers is occurring on the local mountains as the rains fall. Slash piles (branches, sticks, stumps, etc.) are burned as a way of cleaning up the ground and allowing replaniting. The fires are lit silmoutaneously when the forecast says they won't burn the whole forest down and sometimes this means 10+ enormous fires that make it look quite unique.

Winter Solstice Century

2008-12-04T14:07:00.000-08:00

For anyone interested, we're going to shoot for a hundred mile ride on the shortest day of the year this year. To make it an even stupider idea than it already is, I'm going fixed for this one. This isn't an organized ride and there are no support stations. Heck, there isn't even a route yet. Tentative plans would take us south of Lake Whatcom, over to Kendall, down to Sumas, over to Lynden, and back towards Bellingham. A tentative map is below but it could all change with the weather...worst case scenario we'll do 400 laps on a local school track after dark with headlights on.

Because it's winter and will most likely be raining, try to get fenders. Because it's unsupported, bring lots of crap to get yourself out of the woods (cell phone, spare tubes, a jacket, etc....I'll have a pannier).

What's your worldview?

2008-11-29T18:57:00.001-08:00

What's your worldview? For many a question like this conjures up visions of good and evil. For those of us trying to keep riding through a Pacific Northwest winter, it's much more basic. This time of year it's getting dark at four in the afternoon on a good day. Usually it's not a good day and it'll be raining and cloudy, making it dark even earlier. Not wanting to stay indoors for the last six hours of the day, we all tend to break out the lighting systems. It's a great way to get outand feel like you're using otherwise wasted time. Trouble is you tend to boil down your view of the world as a neverending white line and an eight foot circle of illuminated pavement.

It's when your visual perspective gets so narrow that you begin opening up other senses. You are more aware of the sounds that surround you. A small metallic jingle might be a dog in hot pursuit or nothing at all. Your sense of touch is more sensitive. Lights don't give a rider any depth perception so you end up feeling the texture of a road and each of the potholes you hit.
For anyone reading this who's never ridden a couple hours in the dark imagine staring at the view below hour after hour after hour.

Travels and tribulations

2008-11-28T08:38:00.000-08:00

For the past week the focus with Shuksan Cycles has turned from building frames to apparel. We've finally got some t-shirts and some wool cycling jerseys made but the process for each was a lot more work than expected.

Luckily, the jerseys came out great. They are a nice form fit and have a big zippered pocket on the back. If you ordered one you can know that they are getting dropped in the mail this weekend. If you didn't, email us and we'll get your name on the list for the next order.

T-shirts were also purchased and we're happy to say that we were able to use a new local business (IN8 Snow & Skate on Cornwall) located right here in Bellingham. In addition, we were able to get the shirts made using organic cotton. I do not consider myself a "tree hugger" but when there is a better way to do things I like to support it in a way that counts ($$$). If you are at all curious about organic cotton, check out Patagonia's website.
The shirts are made, we just need to make sure the quality (durability, fade, etc.) is such that we feel comfortable selling them.

On the non-business front, we've been riding. Kent, Amber, and I managed to do out first ride up and over the top of Sumas Mountain. This place is MASSIVE and if we were ever to develop singletrack on it we would have something 20 times bigger than Galby. There are so many nooks and crannies in the mountain that it would be easy to get lost. We stuck to the logging roads, climbed to the very top, then hiked a few miles down the old trail on the NW side of the mountain. The next project is going to be finding a way to ride out onto the South Pass Rd. We know that the road exists but getting lost back there on a bike is way different than getting lost with a motorcycle. The view from the top is unreal as you can see the Puget Sound and the Cascades for what seems to be a hundred miles in every direction. I'd have taken more pics but when we got to the top it was getting late and we weren't quite sure how we were going to get down.

We also had the opportunity to go up to Harrison Hot Springs in BC where we took the road bikes out. The scenery is amazing and it's tough to believe it's only 50 miles from the house. Again, the opportunities for riding logging roads are amazing and it looks like one could connect Harrison with Penticton and Whistler by following the west side of the lake. Talk about an Epic...

Next up are a couple of fillet brazed mountain bikes that will be hitting the trails at Galbraith. Both riders are looking for Paragon Sliders and the option for fully rigid singlespeed. In my opinion, a perfect bike for the trails at Galby.

Do I really need to spend $1700+ for a steel frame

2008-11-21T14:42:00.000-08:00

Do I really need to spend $1700 for a steel frame? They made them back in the 90's for half of that. If you have been riding for a few years, you no doubt remember the days of cycling when bikes from Trek and Specialized were made of steel tubing and lugs. They each had their own distinct lugwork and the differences between models came down to things like butted vs. non-butted tubing. For many, those bikes define what a steel frame should be, and accordingly, what it should cost. As a framebuilder, it's nice to be able to take some time to explain where the value in a $1700 frameset is.

One of those places that the difference between an older steel frame and a new custom frame can been seen in the mitres. Mitres are those locations where one tube comes in contact with other tubes, or where a tube meets the bottom bracket. Mitres are the foundation of a frame and while they can determine alignment and strength, they also reflect the time and care that has invested in a frameset. Custom lugged framebuilders will typically have mitres similar to

those shown below. They require patience and a hand file if they are to be truly tight.

That being said, the mitres are a great way to show the difference between a mass produced frameset and a handcrafted frame. I recently came across a Trek 950 frameset that had been cast aside because of a dent in a tube. This bike was one of the best that Trek offered and it had a nice butted True Temper tubeset that made it easy to sell in a shop setting. What you never saw on those older mass produced frames was the quality of construction that was hidden inside the frame. Taking a hacksaw to this 950 I am able to show people the differences in construction between mass produced frames and those from a custom operation.

First, the tubes that come to the bottom bracket are not mitred at all. They are merely cut off square and brazed in place. This can be seen in the square edges of the down and seat tubes in this section of the frame (this is where the cranks typically go).

The same thing can be seen where the chainstays (they go out to the rear wheel) enter the bottom bracket shell. They are cut off square and barely inserted into the lug. Functionally, they are

plenty strong but, the shoddy workmanship reflects who worked on this bike and how much they cared about it's construction.

Moving onto the mitres at the front of the bike, you can see the gaps that are present where one tube is supposed to meet the next. They never even meet and each tube instead has a gap wherever there is a junction. This means that tubes were deliberately cut short and then placed in a fixture that held them to length.

In one mitre it even appears that the tube was miscut such that someone went back and filed/machined a big hunk out of the tube so that it would fit.

Again, the bike rides okay but the person who build the bike could care less about it's construction. It is not a "craft" but instead a "factory" mindset.
Looking to where bikes are manufactured today, you can see that there are manufacturing situations that are similar to the ones that created the "venerable" Trek 950. A visit to the Transition website gives the following picture (http://www.transitionbikes.com/2007/HowOurBikesAreMade.cfm)

While others from Chinese and Taiwanese bike manufacturers include: from (http://flickr.com/photos/cargocycling/910733545)

Even the Trek Madone is a collection of preformed parts that get glued together with epoxy in a factory.

Looking at the video on the Trek website you can see the subassemblies and the TabA/Slot B construction methods.

I am not one to say that a bike assembled in a factory setting is inferior. In most instances they ride well and race great. Just know that they are in no way crafted. They are assembled. For some, the foreign nature of this assembly creates problems. For others the impersonal nature of this assembly is disagreeable. Others still see flaws in the economies of scale associated with manufacturing. Regardless, there is a difference between a bike that is assembled the way a Trek 950 or a Madone is created and one that is crafted just for you. If you want to further explore the opportunities afforded by a hand crafted frame, I suggest you give me a call.

Salmon and Stainless

2008-11-13T15:07:00.000-08:00

First and foremost, thank you to FedEx. They screwed up in shipping a frameset but made good on it by sending a check. I never expected to see a penny from them based on horror stories I'd heard but they made good on it in the end.

Second, congrats Tom on building up a sweet looking fixed frame. I can only take credit for the frame as Tom build up the rest including a beautiful wheelset. He'll be spinning around the roads of Newtown, PA on this rig and I don't doubt that he'll be on the road a lot.

Third, I shipped out a stainless lugged frameset only to start on a stainless lugged stem. The stuff is a pain in the rear to work with and doesn't help the ride quality of a bike at all...but it sure does look pretty.

Lastly, the recent flooding rains have brought in the salmon for that annual run up the local streams.

The fish are amazing in so many ways, not least of which is the way that they draw out assorted varies of fishermen.

the masses hit Whatcom Creek hard...

...as do fisherman of a different flavor...

A nice calm ride before the storm

2008-11-07T09:28:00.000-08:00

Amber and I decided to get out on the road bikes Wednesday before the torrential flooding storm (that is hitting now) came in. We were greeted by beautiful scenery and a low snow line as we decided to see how far we could make it up Route 542 before hitting ice and snow.
Can you spot the rider in this picture...? This is Church Mountain just outside of the town of Glacier.

Along the way we ran into one of those situations where the sun shines through the fog and trees in a surreal and almost spiritual looking scenes. Had to take a couple of pics.

We hit the ice at the first switchback (4 miles of climbing) and it quickly became apparent that while we might be able to climb up the mountain, coming down on 23mm tires pumped up to 110psi might be a challenge.

On the building front, Miko's bike is done and I'm ready to send it off to a painter. The stainless lugs are as polished as I am going to get them (although you can always get them better). The next bike is either going to be a lugged fixed gear for Mark or a fillet brazed Mountain bike for Amber.

A quick note on wool jerseys that we'd ordered. They came in and look great. Chad at Portland Cycle Wear does a great job. It wasn't until we tried one on that we noticed that the embroidery that was destined for the back didn't quite make it there. They are headed back to Portland and should be back in our hands soon. In the mean time, here's what they'll look like.

Fedex can go Fork themselves

2008-10-31T09:06:00.000-07:00

Last week had me shipping Tom's frameset to him. This week I find myself trudging through the maze that is FedEx's claim process while making a new fork and polishing yet another lug. For those who don't follow this blog on a regular basis, I just finished a polishing a lugged steel fixed gear frame and fork that was a little more ornate than a similar frame and fork that was just shipped to the customer. Polishing lugs is a pain, plain and simple but I'd prety much finished the polished bike when I got a call from Tom letting me know that the painted frame he'd bought had arrived but the fork didn't. The box had split in transit. Looking at the picture below...it looks like there is more than enough tape on that box to keep it closed. I do like how they have adapted the tape to serve as an inpromptu handle...nice touch.

This meant I had a customer who's waited for months who has a frame and no fork...what to do. The best option was to ship the stainless lugged fork that was for the yet to be painted frame to paint and on to the forkless customer while making a new polished fork. All the while I'd try to get some cash or the old fork back from FedEx.

So...the claim process isn't looking good. FedEx was supposed to issue a call tag and pick up the split box. As Tom reports,
"You'll love this, it really inspires confidence in FedEx. Since I was out most of the day, I left the shipping box on the front porch for FedEx. In fact, it was between the front door and the sidewalk. When I came home this afternoon, the box was still there and there was a note from FedEx stating that they made one attempt to pick up the box and would try again tomorrow. In order to post this note on the front door, they had to reach over the box they were suppose to take."

The fork, on the other hand, is looking better.

Invaded by Ladybugs

2008-10-28T15:34:00.000-07:00

This time of year we invariably get a nice 60 degree day that makes you feel lucky to be alive. Unfortunately, that same feeling overtakes billions of ladybugs in our neck of the woods and makes them seek out hiding spots for the winter. At our shop we're getting invaded by thousands of ladybugs that creep and crawl into every dark nook and cranny they can find.

I thought I'd get a picture or two so I stepped into the yard for 20 seconds where I was immediately selected as suitable for landing upon (remember they crawl around looking for dark spaces...pockets, ears, nostrils, cracks, etc.) by a number of insects. Then, in an attempt to capture them filling the air, I shot a video...which was fun until the one coming right at the camera landed right in my ear.

On the framebuilding front, FedEx managed to lose the fork that was shipped to Tom last week so I'm stuck scurrying through the claims process and getting Tom a fork asap. More of Miko's bike to come and then it's on to Mark's.

One day of riding in Bellingham

2008-10-24T09:43:00.000-07:00

It's tough to sample a town's cycling scene in a single day but on one particularly beautiful day this week I set out before the local cyclocross practice to put in some extra miles. I happened to have the camera in the car so I figured I'd cruise around and share what's around for everyone to enjoy. For any cyclist looking for a town to relocate to, Bellingham, WA in the fall is a tough town to beat. There is a local rails to trails network that can take you all over the area. They range from gravel trails to elevated ocean walkways and the locals are all over them when the weather is good.

The leaves this time of year change colors just like they looked back in the Northeast. The leaves are such that they make a pair of Tufo Tires look drab...not an easy task.

The local trails are in fantastic condition and ready to be ridden. Pretty soon the streams next to them will be full so spawing salmon.

After riding around town, I joined other locals at a local field for the weekly cyclocross practice. I don't know where everyone is coming from but we've got 30-40 people regularly showing up and riding around some soccer fields under the lights. Jim Clevenger of www.runningshoes.com has been sponsoring the event by paying for field access/lighting and now he's got something awesome. It's good bunch of people enjoying riding with some parents even bringing out young kids to practice cross. Tag team racing on a cross course with a ten year old is awesome and, hearing thirty adults chearing on little kids as they race bikes in the middle of the week is something that every town should strive for.

Tom's frame is here...and it's painted...and the paint looks great

2008-10-18T20:05:00.000-07:00

I'll admit, when Tom chose to paint his frame orange, I thought he was making a bad decision; but opening the box that Spectrum powderworks sent me yesterday I realized that Tom has better taste than me when it comes to style. The silver absolutely kills it. The orange is awesome in a way that pictures can't convey and the color combination is spot on. Maybe I should get him to help me buy clothing?

More polishing...will it ever end?

2008-10-17T15:33:00.000-07:00

Well, the main frame has soaked and the front lugs are coming along nicely. The crazy thing is, as shiny as the lugs are, they aren't done yet. Each one needs about 3 hours of work before I can consider it "worthy".

They need the small nicks wet sanded out and then I need to use the finer buffing compounds to get the reflection "deeper"

A woodworking friend compared polishing stainless to polishing brass in woodworking. Apparently the expression 'polishing brass' means that you are never finished as you can always make it look better. At this moment that explains how I'm feeling as I've spent more on this front triangle than most complete bikes.

stainless sucks

2008-10-16T14:45:00.000-07:00

For anyone contemplating buying a bike with stainless steel bits or lugs, know beforehand that working with stainless steel is a pain in the rear. To start, the stuff takes forever to polish. You may think that there is some mechanized way to run over the thing with a dremel tool and be done with it, but you have to polish it all by hand. That being said, the fork for Miko's new bike is done and ready for a frame to go with it. The frame's main triangle is soaking at the moment and will get some pictures as soon as the flux is off. The crazy thing is that all of the work that you put into appearances have no impact on how the bike rides. Stainless bikes ride no better than a regular steel frame.

The brazing begins for Miko's fixed gear

2008-10-08T08:33:00.000-07:00

The tubes and lugs are now starting to gel together. Yesterday had lug prep and silver braze added to the stainless fork crown. Stainless is a little different to braze than typical steel. It transfers heat slower than a 'regular' steel so while you may be heating up one area, the zone just adjacent to it isn't receiving much heat. The solution is to heat slowly and over the entire piece. This allows the heat to creep into the lug where it meets the tube.

The end result is the same but the process is a little different...now back to the tubes.

Fall is here

2008-10-06T09:34:00.000-07:00

Just one week ago everything in the Pacific Northwest was perfect.

The weather combined with the fall colors to make everyone outside smile, even if they were a dog.

This weekend was the polar opposite. While the same locations held the same rich colors, they also held snow. We rode to the top of Artist's Point (literally the same spot as the earlier pictures) and found snow and rain. Descending was freezing cold and scarry at times as visibility was minimal.

In Bellingham, rain, wind, and waves were pounding away at the shoreline.

Luckily, the storms that some with fall and winter are accompanied by that period right after the storm. If the conclusion of the storm coincides with a sunset, you get a treat that is nothing short of spiritual.

The tubes are in...give me the numbers stat!

2008-09-20T08:34:00.000-07:00

Miko, get me those numbers quick or these tubes are going to get turned into a frame for me. This thing is going to be sweet. Sloping top tube, stiff and quick handling, shiny bits, etc. If you see Miko and have a tape measure, make him get me some numbers soon! I'm psyched to get cutting and brazing.

The view down the seatstays

Miko=Bling

2008-09-16T07:53:00.000-07:00

How do you go about repaying an old friend who orders a bike from you and insists on paying the regular price, doesn't mind waiting in line, and chose one of your bikes over the ones available to him as a bike shop owner?

Well, you put some extra elbow grease into his bike. Now, construction is the same for every bike but some of the accoutrements that can be added come in the form of shiny bits and extra filing. For anoyne reading this other than those who knew me when I was 16, Miko is currently a shop owner of Wheel Wright Bike Shop (http://www.awwbs.com/Welcome.html) in Abington, PA. over 15 years ago we wrenched bikes together in Doylestown, PA. We both had strong personalities and were confident in the fact that we were right...we'd butt heads once in a while. I also secretly envied his mountain biking abilities as this was the early to mid-nineties mountain bike boom and he was dropping me at will with his technical skills. The boy can ride a mountain bike!

Anyways, I appreciate his decision to get a Shuksan and think I'll spend a couple extra days polishing, and polishing, and polishing.....and more polishing. There's a reason that builders charge hundreds for polishing lugs. It's brutal! You have to take the metal from the unfinished state shown on the left to a polished state like that on the left. Sadly, these aren't even finished yet.

There are still some swirl marks on the stainless that need to come out. I just stopped to give my fingers a rest. For those wondering, hours are spent polishing the stainless as opposed to chroming because of the difference in environmental impact in polishing vs. chroming. The chroming process is one of the more toxic things that we've invented and the less of it in this world the better.

Getting closer!

2008-09-08T07:45:00.001-07:00

Tom's fixed gear is wrapping up and only needs a few more braze ons before it gets shipped our to paint.

We're back and running

2008-09-01T12:11:00.000-07:00

What a place Alaska is. More to come later but some pics in the mean time...

A mountain ride near Seward on Lost Lake Trail

Wolf tracks in Denali

Mountain bike riding near Seward

Sunset on the Ferry ride north from Bellingham

More Mountain biking near Seward

Sleeping on the deck of a Ferry on the way our of Bellingham (picture is time lapse at night)

Another picture from the boat ride up outside of Juneau

Heading for Haines, AK on the Ferry

A moonrise in Denali

The namesake mountain on an unbelievably clear morning

An amazing place. That being said, it's good to be home and back to building bikes.

In Alaska

2008-08-15T12:36:00.000-07:00

Amber and I are taking off for Alaska. Updates should restart in a couple weeks.

Prepping for Alaska

2008-08-13T09:04:00.000-07:00

While things are humming along at the shop, I'm trying to get all the small things tied up/finished before Amber and I take two weeks off for a trip up north to Alaska. We're jumping the Ferry out of Bellingham for a long boat ride and a week of exploring things up north. The work started with a build kit for Kent's 29er.

Everything starts out in separate boxes all wrapped up and ready to go. I get to open every box like a kid on Christmas morning...oggling the new shiny parts, and then bolting them onto the frame. Kent's bike ended up looking like the stealth bomber with black post, black stem, black bars, a black wheelset, a set of very easy to maintain Avid BB7's and, a sweet matte black fork.

With the bike built up it was on to John's wheel. He's got a Record hub that he's looking to build up. Weight was a concern so we went with DT's Revolution spokes which jump from 2mm down to 1.7mm with short butts to boot. The step down is noticable as you build up the wheel as any lateral stress present before setting the spokes is focused right at the transition in spoke thickness. You can see in the pic that there is a bend in spokes before they are tensioned and the wheel is pulled true and round.

Luckily the DT 1.1 rim is a dream to work with and the thing came out perfect. Now...for Tom and others wondering about brazing progress. I managed to cut a few millimeters into my thumb while helping a neighbor put a new roof on. I was trying to use a razorblade to trim the shingles and as the blade got duller and duller I was pulling harder and harder. Hopefully everyone knows cutting with a dull knife is more dangerous than cutting with a sharp knife...I ended up cutting through mu thumb until I hit the nail which thankfully stopped things.

I should have gotten a stitch or two but instead threw on some electrical tape over the band aid and kept roofing. This gets in the way of brazing up Tom's frame because of the brazing flux used to let silver bond to steel. The flux is an acid and when flux gets into a cut it burns like hell. Knowing how bad it hurts on a small cut I couldn't even think of getting near it with the thumb. It's been a week now and I'm going to try to braze the back end on before Alaska. That being said, quality of finish trumps deadlines so Tom's bike won't go to paint until it's ready.

Tom's Front Triangle with Richard Sachs Lugs

2008-08-06T16:45:00.000-07:00

Well, the front triangle is all together and it shouldn't be long until the back end gets stuck on. In the mean time here's a couple of pics to keep everyone updated.

Fork blades

2008-08-02T09:44:00.000-07:00

The dropouts went into the fork blades yesterday. First they were joined to the blades using brass. Stainless faces were then brazed onto the dropouts and they were filed to shape. The fork crown should be joining them soon.

Tom's frame continued and a couple back from paint

2008-08-01T10:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday and today are proving to be quite eventful. To start, Jeff from JL Powdercoating (no website but call him at 360-380-3898) called up and let me know that the two mountain frames that I'd dropped off were done and ready for pick up.

This is a great thing because it takes the local focus of Shuksan Cycles and adds a local painter to the deal. I loved handing money to someone in Ferndale as opposed to giving cash to an outfit in Colorado.

That being said, I don't doubt that I'll be working with both in the future. Spectrum Powderworks offers some masking options that Jeff doesn't (at least not yet). Jeff does offer a finish as smooth and glassy as Spectrum. He is a super nice guy to boot.

Returning home, one of the mountain frames got built up and then it was on to Tom's bike again. His bike is at a point where it is getting mitred up. This is sort of boring to look at in pictures but it's the most important part of the build. The better the mitres are the better the final product will be. I'm glad to say that his mitres are turning out great. In a couple of days I'll be ready to tie the front triangle together with silver brazing material. In the mean time I'll be doing small prep work like setting up vent holes, cleaning tubes, and triple checking dimensions.

Time to start Tom's bike

2008-07-30T08:27:00.000-07:00

I've finally got all of the measurements that I needed so the building on Tom's bike can begin.

This shot is a bottom bracket before any post braze clean up. Thirty seconds with some abrasive cloth and this thing will look perfect as the shorelines are already nice and crisp.

What a week!

2008-07-29T10:25:00.000-07:00

Well technically it's been a week and a half or so.
To begin I had to travel to Pennsylvania for a bachelor party that thankfully involved no nudity, some barley pop, lots of fun times, some paint ball, and a $50 prize for the worst welt inflicted by a paint ball. I got shot at close range in the armpit and it bruised up like a three week old bannana. The trip was short lived and I got to spend 29 hours of delays, cancelations, and transfers flying around the country trying to get home to Washington. I was back for one day and then it was off to Pemberton for this years music festival. There were 40,000+ people crammed into a beautiful mountain valley with the sole purpose (so far as I can tell) of creating squalor.

The "waste stream" turned into a "waste lagoon/settling pond". On behalf of the other attendees I appologize to Penberton residents (we packed our trash out).

On a positive note we got to see some amazing acts over a couple of days. Highlights included Wolfmother, Nine inch Nails, Sam Roberts, The Flaming Lips, Tom Petty, The Tragically Hip and others.

Not being the type for huge crowds, Amber and I actually ended up enjoying the drive home as much as any of the music acts. We decided to swing east out of Pemberton to do some recon for a possible three day road tour through Canada. The road from Pemberton to Lilloet had to be one of the most amazing roads in North America. The mountains are bigger than anything we'd seen in recent memory and the road has epic climbs and descents all along the route. If you get a shot at driving or riding this stretch of Route 99 please do it!

I absolutely hate touring but we're going to do a Whistler to Sumas, WA loop in three days on this route because it is just that beautiful.

Gotta love this one...it's a single lane road right across a huge landslide that took out the earlier road. Feeling lucky?

Spinning things and the new lathe

2008-07-20T18:03:00.000-07:00

It is 800 pounds of cast iron that cost hundreds of dollars but, this week we managed to complete the addition of a South Bend 10" metal lathe to the shop. Within the next week or two we will be working on mitering tubesets, facing tubing, and creating customized braze ons.

Let the riding begin...Route 542 is officially open!

2008-07-10T22:08:00.000-07:00

Let me begin by pointing out that I am neither representing the USFS nor is the road "officially" open. That being said, cyclists can rejoice because they have plowed the entirety of Route 542 up to Artists Point. The road is still a single lane and there are steep walls of snow on the way up. There are also some big rocks that have fallen into the lanes but they are very ridable.

Kent and I made the trip yesterday (Wednesday the 9th) and we were surprised to find that we didn't have to turn around early. In fact, we made it to the top where the DOT crew told us that we were the first and second (Kent beat me to the top) cyclists of the year to make it to the top and in a week or so the road would be open to cars. Tough to believe as there is still 20+ feet of snow up there and they don't know exactly where the bathrooms are but...whatever.

Go out and get it before the cars and motorcycles get on the road and while the snow walls are still there. It's as beautiful and as great a ride as ever.

Time for paint

2008-07-03T13:48:00.000-07:00

Kent's bike needs a rear disc tab and then it's off to paint. In addition, we have opened accounts with a couple of new distributors that allow us to access parts from all of the major manufacturers. If you're looking for components for a build and you're in Bellingham, Whatcom County, or the Fraser Valley of BC please give us a call and we'll try to provide a price quote for your build.

Edit: Sorry for the crappy pics, the flash on the camera has died...knocking shutter speeds down into the "blurry" range.

A busy week

2008-06-30T07:06:00.000-07:00

It's been a few days since I last posted any updates on building or bikes but rest assured there wasn't a spare moment. To start, the Boundary Bay Brewery art display was taken down so that the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association (www.n-sea.org) could put up the art that they auction off to benefit the local salmon restoration efforts. I love seeing my work replaced with something trying to make a difference locally.

After the art display was removed, I put on my Teacher hat and went to Portland for some continuing education. Forty teachers from all around the country are put onto a bus and driven around the northwest part of the state looking at the efforts people are making to create a sustainable industry. They take us to all parts of the forestry industry including a nursery where they grow 60million trees a year for replanting after harvests.

In the end, if your wood is coming from the US or Canada (or if it has a certification stamp on it) then chances are you haven't killed off an endangered gorilla in Africa and you are not supporting clearcutting without any efforts at replanting.

After three days in Portland I returned home to finish putting all the parts on a fillet brazed mountain frame. None of the assemply procedures on a rigid mountain bike take much time but chasing, facing, reaming, bleeding, etc. all add up. It took a day but the bike is ready to go. I'm happy to say that according to the surface table, it's straight as an arrow.

Finished with the bike, it was time to get out into the mountains. Having hiked up to Artist Point on Friday, I knew that the road still has over 20 feet of snow pack at the top as the roof of the bathrooms isn't showing up yet. With so much snow pack still on the ground, we chose to take a hike up Goat Mountain.

It's south facing and melts out fairly early so off we went. On the hottest day around (it was hitting 90 which is hot for us) we trecked to the top of the mountain over steep snowfields.

Amazing doesn't even begin to express the views as you can look up into the Canadian rockies and over into the North Cascades. Places so remote that people just don't travel in them very often.

This week it's back to work finishing another mountain bike frame, tuning up a few bikes, shifting parts around for people, and mitering up Tom's road frame.

My name is ______ and I'm addicted to gear

2008-06-23T18:59:00.000-07:00

For many cyclists, an addiction far greater than any methamphetamines or crack/cocaine sets in after the first year or two in the sport. This addiction to new technologies, be it a carbon frameset or a 11 speed Campagnolo groupset, is as unsustainalbe as the heroin addictions depicted in Trainspotting. With "The Tour" fast approaching, there comes the release of a deeluge of new product lines designed to make all of the products you bought this spring obsolete. Shoman will have their new Dura Ace. Campy will have it's new 11 spd Super Record. Trek will no doubt introduce it's Madone 6.1258476 frameset complete with amazing innovations as will Specialized with their 'revolutionary Tarmac SSCLSCSLSLc v2.0

As the manufacturers introduce their new lines this summer, take time to consider how George Hindcape lost races because his carbon fiber rims self destructed. Remember how you skipped that training ride in February because it was raining outside. Thonk about how shaving 1 pound off of your bike's weight won't change the fact that you are 185 lbs (I'm 190+ for what it matters).

Keep in mind that the technological marvels of the past decade haven't done much for you. Deep dish rims came out in the mid 90's with the Mavic Carbone and the Campy Shamals. STI shifters are almost 20 years out. Clipless pedals were in use int he late 80's...over 20 years ago. Are this year's developments substantial enough to change the experience that you have when you ride a bike? Will an eleventh cog make you enjoy that sunny day that much more? Doubtful. What will make you enjoy riding more...is riding more. So get out on out bike and pedal so much that you feel as if you are dancing on the pedals. After all, it's riding and getting fit that makes riding more fun. Enjoy the sun and good weather while you can. Don't work the extra hours to buy the new Gucci parts but call it a day early and go out to get your Vitamin D.

In praise of clear cuts

2008-06-20T08:28:00.000-07:00

Anyone living in the Pacific Northwest can recognize them. They are those big scars on all of the local mountains where companies have gone in and pulled out all of the cool old green trees in the name of profit. While many locally view these clear cuts with disdain and hatred, I for one hae come to appreciate them more than I ever thought I would.

For starters, clear cuts mean that a forest is being used and it is when that forest is used that it won't be developed. With mountains like Galbraith, Sumas, Stewart, Red, and Black getting cut up for jobs and logs there is less risk that the mountains will become private estates. The lower portions of these mountains have already been bought up and the closer to Bellingham you get, the more developed they become. Keeping a place like Galbraith in logging means keeping it undeveloped. I wish the city would find some way to buy this land from Trillium and have them keep cutting it to keep it in use.

More importantly, the trees grow so big around here that you very rarely get a view unless you are willing to get above the tree lines around 5000 feet up. For mountain bikers this isn't an option because there are very few places that high that we are allowed to ride. Therefore, we are forced to seek out clear cuts to get the beautiful views of the local area.

The photos are from the top of Galbraith Mountain (aka Lookout) of Bellingham, Lake Whatcom, and the San Juan Islands respectively

Back to work

2008-06-17T16:50:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess it looks as if I've been patting myself on the back for the last two weeks based upon the last two blog posts. Truth is I was waiting to finish the school year (I'm also a teacher) and I've been working on other projects.

Good news is that Tom's tubeset and dropouts are in. This means that his bike is as close to a zygote as a bike can ever be...not just an idea but the makings of a real bike!

In addition, I've been wrapping up another fillet brazed MTB. The tubes were going to be my personal rig but with Kent's frame on display and Kent being the same size as I am (we've swapped before...bikes that is!) I can use the one on display as my own while cranking another one out; letting him enjoy the riding a little sooner. It's shown here soaking in water to remove the flux from the brazing process.

The main tubes are all together and I'm ready to file and add braze ons. After that it's off to paint and back for a build kit.

Still at Boundary Bay

2008-06-15T20:48:00.000-07:00

Well, the display is still up at the local brewery and everything seems to be going rather well. A ton of people are checking out the website and they are all locals!

This week will see a second fillet brazed mountain bike underway and if everything works out I'll start on Tom's fixed gear!

I'm officially an artist!

2008-06-07T18:44:00.000-07:00

Well, the art display is up and running. Lucy, that's your frame far off in the distance and Kent, the unfinished one closest to the camera is yours...I think I'm going to need a few more weeks to get this one done now that it's up on the wall.

Breaking News

2008-06-06T13:52:00.000-07:00

I've been harassing the Boundary Bay Brewery for a few months now about displaying frames in the dining area/bar as a form of craft. For the longest time I didn't hear a thing...then Wednesday I got a phone call asking if I could put something together by Friday (today)!

I managed to scrape together three bikes and two framesets and Amber printed off some artistic photographs to place next to the displays to express the components of craftsmanship within a seemingly utilitarian object. I'll post a lot more pictures of the displays soon (with people in the restaraunt) but until then this should suffice.

2008-05-31T22:20:00.000-07:00

For those of you who wonder why I'm not cranking out a bike a week, the following photographs may help with understanding. Amber and I took a shot at Mt Baker this weekend despite a crappy forecast calling for rain and thunderstorms. Nothing is worse in mountaineering than crappy weather. Not only is it uncomfortable...it's dangerous to boot.

Despite incoming weather, we made it up through the Hemlock forest

Up the hogsback

out onto the Coleman Glacier, and up to the high camp on the Coleman-Deming Route before deciding that the weather man was right. Clouds started packing in and it looked like a summit would include lovely views of clouds from the inside.
Not wanting to climb amongt crevaces in a white out, we shot back down the mountain and made it from 2000' up to 7500' and back down to 2000' in just a few hours. Calling it on account of rain is not really an option that the guide services have with paying customers but, when you're 3 hours away why climb in crappy conditions?
Time to go finish Kent's mountain bike so we can go ride Galby.

2008-05-26T12:42:00.000-07:00

Lucy's frame is finally back from paint (I managed to trap it in the yard) and Kent's bike is progressing nicely. The weekend finds me working out in the yard, filing in the shop, and riding around Whatcom county. I'd write more but with all the work I figured I'd just give people something fun to look at and I'd jump back to work. The good news is Kent's bike is coming along nicely and should be done in a couple more weeks.

What's that out in the yard?

2008-05-23T18:39:00.000-07:00

I've been away at an environmental center in the middle of the North Cascades mountains and didn't have time to update this blog but I've got some new material that should suffice.Upon returning home from the trip, I noticed some noise in the bushes next to the driveway. Now, living in the PNW I just assumed it was another Sasquatch or a Mountain lion chasing the cat again but upon further inspection I determined that it was neither. Whatever is was, it seemed to be carnivorous as it was covered in red which I can assume means blood. Trying to get a better look I spooked the creature and it ran off into some high grass. Now, I look at this and think, "damn...when was the last time we cut the lawn" but you may think something entirely different. Anyways, the rustling in the grass got Bubba the cat thinking that there was another Wolverine or Badger to chase down and kill so off he went in pursuit of this new and interesting creature.

I managed to snap a quick picture just at it was chased up the tree bu Bubba but it was up in the forest canopy before I could even get a clear shot.
Damned if I know what the thing was but I'm going to try to bait it in this evening. I've staked the dog and the cat out in the middle of a field (aka the goat in Jurassic Park) and I fully expect that it will come back for another meal relatively soon.
Lucy...this is going to be fun!

2008-05-20T23:16:00.000-07:00

Okay Kent,

Spent some time in the shop and tacked the main frame together. The junk on the tubes is called flux and that junk gets active and cleans the tubes once you heat it up over a thousand degrees. The fillets are starting to go together and the mail frame should be done shortly. After that it's the rear end of the bike and off to paint.

2008-05-18T22:15:00.000-07:00

Okay, this quick progress queck is for Kent. Your mountain frame is progressing nicely and the tube mitres are turning out great. The tighter the miters are the stronger the joint and the closer they are to the necessary angles the better that frame will be when it's complete. So, here's some pics to tide you over and I'll talk to you soon...for anyone wondering, a mitred tube is the one that fist flush while the origional tube is cut off at a 90 degree angle. Framebuilding requires the "fishmouth" to be perpendicular to the length of the tube and exactly the correct angle. Not a big deal until you try to make 13 intersections exactly the correct angle and those tubes exactly the correct length.

2008-05-14T22:19:00.000-07:00

Well, Amber and I had to travel back to PA to marry off one of my sisters. It was a good time but the travel is stressful and going that far and back in just a couple of days means a lot of time spent in the airports. Regardless, PA was good even though I only got to hike the singletrack I love to ride (not enough time)

and I ended up working more during the wedding than I'd hoped (I'm family and I have a camera).

On the bike building front, the rear dropouts have been attached to the chainstays after getting out some old fashioned ppaper and pencil to sketch out the clearances with the chainstays that will be used.

Once it was determined exactly how the stays would be trimmed they were fillet brazed to the dropouts.

2008-05-04T18:54:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd post a picture of Kent's tubeset before I start hacking and filing away...the shaped tubes come that way but it's still no where near something to ride. He's getting a fillet brazed Mtn frame so there is no lugwork to go along with this build

Stem project

2008-05-02T22:58:00.000-07:00

Good news, a tubeset arrived today for Kent's 29er. This bike will be a fillet brazed front suspended mountain bike and before I get underway on the project I figured I'd knock out a stem for my road ride. The stem is a fairly beefy .049" wall thickness but for my 180 lbs I don't think that I need to be riding something superlight.

The first picture is of a fillet braze before any finish work has been done. It gets tossed into some warm water to soak off the fluk but beyond that it's raw.

After soaking, it's time to break out the files and production cloth. A few hours of filing and the main portion of the stem is complete. The clamps will come later on.

I'm trying a different style on this stem in which the clamp is beneath the front of the stem and I want to know if the clamping mechanism is adequate. The last picture here is of the stem in process. The fillets need a little more smoothing and I need to shape and split the front of the handlebar clamp. I'll post a couple additional pictures when it's complete.

Until then I hope these pics keep people entertained.

Climbing in Squamish

2008-04-28T18:09:00.000-07:00

Well, Saturday brought beautiful weather to the PNW for the first time in a long time and the event was occasion to head up to Squamish for a rock climbing session. Now, I am not a rock climber but I do like the views and the adrenaline that comes from challenging my comfort levels.

With that lack of comfort and familiarity comes a decrease in the desire to stop and take pictures. I'd liken it to stopping to take a picture of that big dog that chases you on a road ride. You're already scared and don't want to die doing something stupid and have a picture to prove you died in such a stupid way...

Luckily the interweb makes it possible for me to reconstruct the events of that day for those who may be interested.

We climbed to the top of Stawamus Chief peak 2 on a super crowded, super steep trail that had you looking right at the butt of the person in front of you.

That trail then comes to an end and you find y

ourself looking around a huge expanse of space with crowds of idiots peering off of a 2000' cliff with no guard rails or trees.

We decided to try climbing in a sport area near the top on some smooth granite without handholds approximately equivalent to a mirror in terms of the texture to grip onto. It felt something like this. (it was actually a low angle slab...but it felt big)

Any real climber will obviously see that I've vastly under represented the complexity and scariness of such an experience, I'm just toning it down for the cycling folks so they don't think I'm insane:)

Sorry about posting non building posts. The good news is that Kent's tubeset is ordered and there will be blog updates of his mountain bike frame in just a few days.