New Digs!

I must apologize for the lack of updates.   The last 3 or so months have been a whirlwind of activity.   The new shop is now set-up and functional.  I have also managed to keep up with the build schedule despite the movement of equipment from one  shop to the other.   Luckily the two shops were only 100 feet apart.  There is a new phone number ( 519 827 9429 ) which will be local for Guelph callers.  The new address is Unit 3A, 79 Regal Rd.  The old number still works. ( 519 585 0600 )  If you call you will probably get the answering machine.  I can’t get to the phone when I am working in the back.  Also 2 out 3 calls are now solicitors or companies trying to improve my credit card rates ( which I don’t accept ).  Please leave a message or email me.

Here are some of the bikes that have rolled out of here over the last couple of months.

Please email if you need any info on these bikes.  There are also galleries on my flickr site.

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Molten Lava!

Here is a shot of Matt’s new SS 29er.  Black lava powder with a semi gloss clear fade.

Jeff Moote had his road frame revamped with a new top tube and some black lava powder.

Trevor had his True North Foco road bike repainted and reparted.  Colours are to match the Sudbury Cycling Club’s jerserys.

I have been busy working on a pair of coupler bikes.  Last step before cleanup is to soak off the residual flux from the dropouts.  This method of soaking also allows me to get the extra flux out of the inside of the stays.

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Stick out of the Spokes

There has been lots of activity here in the past couple of weeks.  The safety crackdown has lead to a series of changes which in the end will be good.  The other main beef with the shop layout here was a nonconforming mezzanine over most of the shop.  The mezzanine had to be removed which caused a lot of grief.  End result is that we are moving True North across the industrial plaza to a new space.  Over half of the equipment is now installed in the new shop ( Unit 3A).

The big excitement today was the installation of a new rear door in the new shop.  The old door wasn’t tall enough for some of the larger milling machines we have.  The following pictures are from the new shop.  Notice the new control box for the powder coating oven.  It is build with parts that conform to Canada’s ESA standards.

Nic and Cathy picked up their S+S coupled tandem.   The test ride around the complex didn’t require helmets.

 Jan’s Ti road bike is looking very nice.  The ti finish looks really nice up against the new Ultegra 6700 components.

 I delivered this fixy just in time for Chris’ 40th birthday.  It was a huge surprise.   Tracey ( his wife ) had secretly ordered this bike for him.  She took all the measurements off of his existing rides.  It turned out to be a very unique bike.  It is built with an EBB for chain adjustment and long reach road calipers.  It will take up to a 35 c tire which will make it quite versatile.

 I am still quite busy building frames.  Instead of riding most of my spare time has been moving and keeping up with the orders.  I have been working on Brett’s ti road and Jon’s ti 29 EBB SS frames.    They are both ready for final brushing and logos. I have a third ti frame on the go also for John but no pictures yet.  Donna’s Spirit tubed all rounder road bike is also shown in this set.

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Powder Coating Blues!

The spring rush has hit hard and early here.  There are a record number of bikes on order right now and building was running smoothly.  Of course that had to come to a grinding halt with a visit from the local safety authorities.  The powder coating oven that I built is not “safe” to use.  It did work very well but it needs to be built according to Canada’s electric safety standards.  I have sent the oven out for rework and it should be back in a couple of weeks ready for action.  I am comfortable paying for the upgrades.  When I initially started powder coating I wasn’t 100% convinced that I could recreate the amazing liquid paint jobs that the old painter was capable of laying down.   After doing somewhere around  500 powder paint jobs in the last 1.5 years I couldn’t be happier with the results.

There is a quite a line up of frames here waiting for powder coating. I have been concentrating on building as many ti frames as I can.

Here are a few a shots of Jan’s new rather large  ti road bike.  Jan has put many miles on a steel frame I built him 6 or 7 years ago. It was time for an upgrade!

I also built a few mtb frames last week.  Pictured is a very small  hardtail frame built for 26 inch wheels.

The other frame is Matt’s new True Temper Platinum EBB single speed frame.  Matt had his tubes bi-ovalized.  Looks really cool!  The white funk on the frames is silver brazing flux.  The flux will be dissolved in a warm water bath.

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