March 10th, 2010 scottk
The 2010 Toronto Bike Show has come and gone and as always there was a fantastic turnout. It’s really great to get out of the shop for a weekend and meet new people and reconnect with some old friends. We get asked a fair amount why we don’t go to the North American Handbuilt show every year. The truth is we would like to, but the cost to travel that far is quite high and when we have such a big show 45 minutes down the road it just doesn’t make sense.
The line up to get into the show every morning was literally wrapped around the building.
We built up this red city bike especially for the show; the matching front rack was a real hit.
In close proximity to this bike, numerous full grown adults were heard recounting stories of their paper route days.
We also brought Brad’s recently completed lugged road bike to the show. Brad’s bike features a Campagnolo Comp Triple build featuring hand built wheels,Chris King headset and Eriksen Ti post.
My co-worker Sean just finished building himself up a new touring bike, so we brought it to the show as well. Highlights include colour matched racks and fenders.
Marilyn’s touring bike was a big hit all weekend and is sure to see plenty of use this summer.
Michel’s long reach brake equipped road bike turned a lot of heads at the show. If you had to have just one bike, this might just be it. Campagnolo Comp Triple gruppo, hand built wheels, King headset, Eriksen post; all the finer things in life.
Hugh finished work on his personal road bike several days before the show. The frame is built out of True Temper S3 tubing and as such is quite light. We built it up with 2010 Sram Force (also quite light) and Octto carbon wheels (very light as well).
Jon’s 29er was one of two mountain bikes we brought to the show. The bike is presently built up as a singlespeed, but it has all the braze-ons necessary to run multiple gears. This bike is ready to ride fast and the pastel blue paint looks amazing.
Finally, Pierre stopped by on Tuesday to pick up his road bike. We already had multiple road bikes in our booth so unfortuntely this bike got left at home. Pierre’s bike features an 11speed Campagnolo Athena drivetrain, handbuilt wheels featuring Campy Record Hubs to Ambrosio Excellight Rims, Thomson seatpost and a Chris King headset.
If you’re interested in seeing more photos from the weekend be sure to visit our flickr site.
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February 24th, 2010 scottk
8 days to go until the big show and as is the case every year, production is in full swing. Leo just took possession of his powder blue S and S coupling equipped road bike. Leo has been gracious enough to lend his bike back to us so that we may put it on display at the show.
I’ve included a couple of close up shots of the coupling and the head tube. Leo’s bike is equipped with a full compliment of Campy components, hand built wheels and topped off with a Chris King headset and Eriksen Ti post.
We have received our first Campagnolo Athena gruppo into the shop and it sure is nice. Athena is Campy’s attempt to bring 11 speeds to a more manageable price point. 11 speed drive trains allow for an almost seamless feeling between gears which is sure to please the more performance minded cyclists amongst us.
Hugh decided to sneak in one final bike before the show and is putting the finishing touches on a Porteur style frame which will come complete with a really nice front rack. Shimano stepped up to the plate and has supplied us with a set of Alfine wheels to complete this awesome bike.
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February 9th, 2010 scottk
Last year, the final push before the annual Toronto Bike show was a tough one. No matter how much you plan and how hard you work, it seems like the final week before a big show is always full of 12 hour days. This year we have started a few weeks earlier with the hope that the week leading up will be easier, leaving us more refreshed going into the show. That’s the hope at least.
Richard has been hard at work painting Jennie’s new do-it all, S and S coupling, disc equipped cross frame. I’m hesitant to call it a cyclo-cross bike, but I’m also hesitant to call it a touring bike. Really it does just about everything well and if you had to have just one bike, this may be it. Jennie’s frame is getting a pretty amazing paint job complete with faux-chromed lugs. In the photos the lugs look like they’ve been chromed but that’s actually powder coat (pretty cool eh?). This series of photos should also give you a good idea of the amount of prep time that goes into painting a frame, especially a powder coated frame. Powder coat by it’s very nature sticks to everything, and if you don’t take your time, it can lead to mistakes down the road.
Jeff also took some time to send in some photos of his completed 29er. It’s done up in what he calls “Winter Mode” at the moment with studded tires and a rigid fork. He had Hugh braze in a boss for a pulley wheel so that he could run a Dura-Ace Front Derailleur with his 2×9 drive train. The early word is that is shifts much better than his previous XT Front derailleur.
I’ll leave you with a parting shot of a new long reach brake equipped road bike we’re building up for the Toronto Bike Show. Again, that’s a powder on powder logo on the down tube. It’s going to look pretty awesome when it’s all finished.
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January 27th, 2010 scottk
One of my favorite websites is Crazyguyonabike. The sum total of my touring in recent memory was a ride from Burlington, Vermont to Burlington, Ontario. I had 4 days before i had to be back to work so i really had to motor. That’s not the way to do it, touring should be about riding at your own pace and slowing down to see the world. That’s why i really admire people who can get away from life for a couple months and ride across the country. I was checking out Crazyguyonbike over the weekend and was pleasantly surprised to see that the featured journal starred a True North. Steve rode 7000km across country this summer and I’m extremely jealous. If you want a good read, be sure to check it out.
For us non-bike touring souls, the shop has been busy. Richard’s frame is coming along quite nicely. I can’t wait to see this bike when it’s finished. It’s really going to be something.
Suzanne picked up her new road bike last week. This bike features S and S couplers and Long reach brakes and as such is ready to travel to wherever Suzanne may want to go. We really like the paint on this bike as depending on where you stand and how the sun hits it, it can look several different colours.
Speaking of paint. Jeff just got his 29er repainted. I’ll include a sneak peek for now. Knowing Jeff, this bike will be re-assembled in no time and i should receive a collection of really nice photos in my in box quite shortly thereafter. I’ll post those as soon as i get them.
Hugh found some time to repair a vintage Rocky Mountain Thunderbolt. I use the term repair loosely as it wasn’t really broken, the current owner just wanted the dropouts switched from single speed back to geared. Switching a bike over to a Single speed is something we do a fair amount, but switching it back isn’t a request we see to often. Hugh had to craft some plugs for the stays in order to accomplish this and the end product turned out great.
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