May 2nd, 2012 scottk
Spring has sprung at True North and while all the rain as of late might threaten to put a damper on a new season of riding, not to worry; we install a lot of fenders.
Paul’s new bike is one of the many bikes featuring fenders that go out the door here at True North. We believe bikes should be functional as well as beautiful and this bike certainly is both.
Paul’s bike features a painted Titanium frame with matching lugged steel fork made with internal wiring for the Schmidt SONdelux SL dyno hub. The SONdelux SL is pretty amazing hub as it does away with the need to connect and disconnect wiring when removing the wheel, the electrical connection is formed between the dropout and the hub. The wire from the dropout to the light is run internally through the fork leg. This bike features hand built wheels, Campagnolo Comp Triple components, Shimano long-reach brakes, Chris King headset, Eriksen Sweetpost and Gilles Berthoud Saddle. Lee stopped by the other day and has already logged 1900 km’s on the bike in the several weeks he’s owned it.
Chappy’s new bike is another painted Titanium frame and custom steel fork combo. Yet again, the fork features internal wiring for the Schmidt SON Delux hub. Chappy’s frame differs however in that it was designed to work with Paul centre-pull racer brakes. Chappy’s new bike features a Campagnolo Chorus drivetrain, Eriksen Sweetpost, Chris King headset and some very nice wooden fenders.
Here is a close up of the SONdelux hub. It is quickly becoming a favourite request at True North and we’ll have a few more bikes in the coming weeks that will feature this hub.
April’s pink 29er mountain bike is another great bike we’ve built in the last little while. Featuring hand built pink Chris King to Stans Crest wheels, matching pink Chris King headset, a SRAM/Shimano XT drivetrain 1×10 drivetrain, Formula brakes, Eriksen Sweetpost with pink hardware and a pink Salsa seat collar. We’re quite sure that April will be ’Tickled Pink’ with her new ride.
One of the more amazing bikes True North has built lately is Graydon’s Titanium Mixte. Yep, under that amazing paint job is a titanium mixte frame with an eccentric bottom bracket and matching custom steel fork. With it’s built to match front rack, stainless steel fenders, Shimano Alfine internally geared hub and Schwalbe studded tires, this bike is built to conquer the city streets, park paths or just about anywhere you would care to take it.
A close up of the custom rack.
Craig already owns a steel True North road bike and for his new bike he decided to go with Titanium. Craig’s bike features Chorus 11 components, Campagnolo Zonda wheels, an Enve Fork, Chris King headset, Eriksen Sweet post and a Brooks saddle.
Finally, Ann’s new flat-bar road bike was designed to optimize both stand-over and tire clearance. It features Shimano long reach brakes, a Shimano/SRAM 2×10 drivetrain, Shimano Ultegra wheels and a Thudbuster seatpost.
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January 20th, 2012 scottk
We’re just chugging away here in the shop, trying to keep warm now that winter has finally arrived. I recently found the time to put our demo 29er back together. We attempt to keep a few bikes around so that clients have the option of taking a bike for a test ride when they visit. This bike is a pretty decent representation of the majority of mountain bikes we build; 29 inch wheels and an EBB which gives you the option of riding it with gears or single speed. This frame just happens to be on the small side (590mm Effective Top Tube) so it looks like a bit of a dirt jump bike, but I can assure you; the geometry is all cross country.
This is James’ new flat bar touring bike. We build a lot of touring bikes with flat bars for people would like a more upright position or don’t like the feel of drop bars. This very large frame comes with equipped with S&S couplings which allow for it to be broken down into a smaller travel bag to avoid excess baggage fees. James’ bike comes with an Ultegra triple drive train, Avid BB7 disc brakes, Shimano XT hubs built to Ambrosio Keba Rims and of course a Chris King headset. The paint on this bike really is special and out in the sunlight it really sparkles.
Hugh has been hard at work as of late on a Ti road frame made to work with Long reach brakes.
We spec ‘Wright Style’ dropouts on the majority of our titanium frames as it allows for the use of a replaceable hanger.
Here is a picture of the frame fresh out of the oven, the Ti really shines through in the falling leaf motif.
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December 15th, 2011 scottk
Hugh has been hard at work on Marty’s new S&S equipped tandem
With the bulk of the frame complete, all this is left is for Hugh to mitre and weld in the chainstays.
Complete and ready for braze-ons.
Here is a shot of the fork moments after the canti bosses were brazed on. Following this, the fork will be soaked to remove the flux and then the finishing work begins.
While the tandem is soaking, it’s time to begin work on the next frame.
We received a new-to-us mill this week. We already have one of these older Adcock-Shipley horizontal mills and are quite happy with it. The move to the country has afforded us the space to have a few more mills. Each mill can now be dedicated to a single task, like mitring chainstays; this means less down time as we don’t have to switch the mill from one task to another.
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December 7th, 2011 scottk
We just finished up two new Ti bikes this week that couldn’t be further apart on the fit spectrum.
Rick’s new frame is going to look and feel awesome out on the roads next year. It is compatible with long-reach road brakes which means he can run up to a larger high volume tire or a 28c with fenders.
Little touches like hourglass eyelets, welded down tube cable stops and a replaceable derailleur hanger make this a versatile frame that will last Rick many years.
Our friend Jay Filer owns the Winterbourne Bicycle Institute, for those who don’t know Jay, he is also very tall. His new Titanium 29er will fit perfectly and a perfectly fitting bike rides better, handles better and inspires confidence on the trails.
Much like Rick’s bike, Jay opted for hourglass eyelets on the seat stays so he can run a rack if he chooses. He opted to have his name etched on the top tube and for our engraved head tube.
Frank Foglin has been coaching both elite and amateur cyclists in Canada for over 30 years. Most recently he coached Leigh Hobson to the top North American finish at the Women’s Olympic road race in Beijing. Of course we were honored when Frank reached out to True North to build his new road bike.
Frank’s bike features full Campy Chorus, Zonda wheels and an Enve fork.
Graydon’s Ti mixte is slowly starting to take shape.
We started work on Marty’s S&S coupling equipped tandem.
And of course no custom tandem is complete without a matching custom fork.
Hugh is hard at work in this photo on the seat tube collar insert for the tandem.
Here is a close up of the insert being turned on the lathe.
Just in time for the holiday season, we thought we would mention that we now offer a new option on all our frames. Custom headtube badges made for us by Jen Green. They are available in both sterling silver and bronze.
Here is a picture of the new head tube badge on Rick’s frame. Engraved Ti head tubes and our decal are still available.
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