January 28th, 2009 Hugh
It has been a whirlwind of activity here trying to master the art of powder coating as well as building frames and taking orders. The problem with contracting out the powder coating is that most of the existing businesses have only basic powder coating abilities. I wanted to be able to recreate finishes as well as Stefan has done for me in the past but with extra toughness. After many many hours of experimentation I feel that we are at that high level of quality and toughness.
This in the first customer bike powder coated here. It is single speed version of the geared mtb I built for Paul at the end of the summer. There is a previous post with a picture of that bike. This bike has a gloss black base powder, charcoal flames, and clear powder top coat. Pretty and very tough.
Pete’s touring frame has been built for a while and waiting for powder. This is the same powder the US military uses on their equipment. It is extremely tough. We tried chemically stripping a sample with no luck. This bike is being assembled with a Rohloff and mainly silver components.
Jay came and picked up his club bike last Friday. We packed up the bike for its flight home to Jordan. One of the concerns he had was the amount of sand blowing around in the wind. He will have to experiment with some different chain lubes.
I have also been working on Paul’s ti TT/road bike. The frame has the ti version of the S+S couplers. The lock nut is stainless and the couplers are made of titanium.
Paul’s frame is now ready for some finishing and cable guides. Most of the parts are here so it should be assembled shortly.
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November 26th, 2008 Hugh
Brad’s 650B Mixte tandem. I think the pictures tell the story. This one was a little extra work. It is a bit of a hybrid of a current day touring tandem, 1950′s vintage race tandem, and a Mixte tandem. I don’t have a tandem specific frame building jig. My Anvil Supermaster works just fine though if the frame is built in sections. There is less than 0.025″ runout over the entire frame. I now have to add the braze-ons and get working on the fork.
If I look at this frame any more today I think my eyes will explode! Check out the blood splatter scheme on Ron’s new 29er! *This is not real blood.
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October 27th, 2008 Hugh
I use a number of methods to put the finish on a ti frame. First I use a bristle disc to texture the weld/joint area on Mark’s cross frame. A Scotchbrite belt on a Dynafile is perfect for putting the first layer of brushed marks on the frame. I usually hand finish the frame with a Scotchbrite pad. In total the brushing takes me around 1.5 hours to complete. After the ti is brushed this frame will go to the painter for the final clear coat on the carbon rear end.
Andrew’s lugged fixy frame in now ready for paint. The appearance of this lugged build is extremely clean. The lugs aren’t ornate but have very nice curves. I think the lugs will be highlighted with paint. I didn’t use seat stay eyes on this frame. They always look too heavy with this style of frame. Instead I have brazed them on and blended the fillet with the lug shoreline.
I managed to get a start on Jay’s club bike last week also. It will be ready for paint by the end of the week. I am in the process of designing Brad’s 650B tandem right now. Brad already has had me built a performance version of a Kogswell road bike. The geomety of the tandem will be very similar to the racing tandems built in the 1950′s.
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October 17th, 2008 Hugh
It appears winter is just around the corner. The long underwear and toque have become standard building attire again. I am looking forward to a very productive winter building season. There are already an abnormal number of builds schedualed for the spring. I have decided to not do frame repairs on non True North bikes. I have done a ton in the past but it just seems to delay getting custom orders out the door. Best to talk to Jay at Winterborne Cycles in Guelph if you need some work done.
Delivery times will be quoted at the time of ordering. I still have a number of spots available for delivery in the spring but I would imagine these will fill up quickly.
We have also been busy working on setting up a powder coating system. Here are a couple of shots of Greg installing the insulation on the curing oven. Looks like it will be operational in a couple of weeks time. Powder paint is perfect for touring and mountain bikes. It doesn’t look quite as pretty as Stefan’s wet paint but it is almost impossible to chip.
Here are a couple of 29ers that just left the shop. They were sweet! Stefan did a beautiful job on the finishing. Both bikes were full rigid setups with Pro Carbon forks and XT drivetrains. Rob sent me a nice email after a few rides “I am just emailing to say that I am loving the bike. It feels fast as hell, and I can’t believe how aggressively I can steer it and still feel stable.”
Here is a picture of Andrew’s headtube. He is getting a lugged fixy frame. I just happened to have a few sets oversize lugs that I acquired from the Gardin clearout a few years ago. These were the lugs that were used on Curt Harnett’s Gardin track bikes.
I also have a start on Mark’s ti crosser and a new show bike. The show bike will be a fillet/lug combo.
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