February 24th, 2009 scottk
It’s getting very close to both the North American Hand built Bicycle Show and the Toronto Bike show and as such it’s quite busy here at the shop (this seems to be a re-occurring theme in these posts). Although we as a shop will not be going down to the Hand built show in Indianapolis, i do plan on making a quick trip down and will likely have a few pictures up on the site next week (i will try to focus the majority of the photos on the show as opposed to my planned visit to the Waffle House, which i am equally excited about). As for the Toronto Show, we have a couple of really cool bikes planned, but we have to make a trip to the patent office first (how’s that for a teaser) Below is a picture of an frame with S and S couplings and Paragon’s new disc dropouts. I estimate i will be 47% happier installing racks and fenders on bikes with these dropouts, but i’ll let you know for sure when the time comes.
We’re finally getting the last of our repair bikes out of the way. We have to slide these frames into the queue when it both A)makes sense and B) time permits and thus it can often take quite a while to turn around a repair. This is why we have to limit our repairs to True North frames and why is it best that the bulk of repairs occur in slower seasons like late summer/fall. Here is a pic of Hugh doing a little sanding on Canadian Junior National Team Member Ryan Aitcheson’s track frame
Catrina is getting a sweet little city bike and after a bit more paint it will be ready to assemble.
Once it gets True North painted on it and hit with a little clear coat,this cross frame will be ready to go aswell.
Posted in Custom Frames, Frame Repair, New Bikes | 3 Comments »
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.
Posted in Cool Projects, Custom Frames, Frame Repair, New Bikes | No Comments »
July 18th, 2008 Hugh
Usually things slow down quite a bit during the summer months. I am not sure what has happened this year as I seem to have more orders than in the peak spring rush. The temperature with humidex has been at least 35-40C the past 3 weeks in the shop. It has been quite a task to keep working and not to go and sit in the lake.
Here is a cool before and after shot. All of these frames are built from True Temper Platinum tubing. From left to right:
- Sean’s new mtn frame which is a copy of his 1996 Rocky Mountain Blizzard frame.
- Custom 29er frame built for Drew Graham.
- Suspension corrected 29er frame for Firefighter Steve.
Here are a few frames hot off the press. From left to right:
- True Temper S3 /carbon crosser built for Tecla
- Single Speed EBB crosser built from Columbus Max OR tubing for Tricky Ricky
- Steve’s top tube met with an untimely death - good as new!
- Full reconstructive surgery on what has to be the oldest Bontrager frame I have ever seen.
Posted in Custom Frames, Frame Repair, New Bikes | No Comments »
April 30th, 2008 Hugh
It has taken quite a bit of work to get the new shop set up and operational. The showroom is now painted with bikes on display. The other shop had almost twice the showroom area so we are going to keep a little less P@A and only 4 or 5 bikes on display.
The manufacturing area has a nice flow with lots of lighting. I didn’t realize how well things were compressed into the other shop. The bike storage was a bit of an issue until the bike lifts were rigged up.
I have been able to build a number of frames in the past couple of weeks. I think it took almost twice as long to make each frame. I am still getting used to the placement of the tools. Pictures are of Chris Gibson’s Columbus Spirit road frame and Lawrence’s Rohloff specific touring frame.
Scott’s frame had to have the down tube replaced thanks to Air Canada. Good as new!
Posted in Custom Frames, Frame Repair | 1 Comment »
