True North Cycles

Ti Time

Hugh — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 20:19:52 +0000

I have been building quite a few ti frames this year. I have a new shaped 3/2.5 tubeset that is perfect for road and cross bikes. The shaping adds stiffness to the frame the right places while still maintaining the supple ride ti is known for.

Here is the start of Johnny 5’s new cross bike.

It is off to Stefan now for some clear coat on the carbon rear end. When it comes back I will do the final finishing.

I also just finished a ti 29er for Aleksandar. The ti 29ers are absolutely wonderful to ride. We built this bikes around one of the Eriksen ti posts. The post softens the feedback from the rear wheel. This will be the next bike I am going to build for myself. We are still waiting for some of the parts to arrive for the final build. Here is a picture of the bike with some temporary parts.

XTR 29er

David — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 14:54:45 +0000

This hardtail 29er will be racing the Ontario cups. The frame is built from True Temper OX Platinum tubing and matched to the 80mm travel DT Swiss fork. The bike is built up with XTR drivetrain and disc brakes, a Chris King headset and a Thomson Elite seatpost. The bike rolls on the new Shimano tubeless 29er wheels.

True North Cycles in the Guelph Mercury

David — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:29:51 +0000

Check out the Guelph Mercury today! Here is a link to the online version of the article.

Cyclocross Racer

David — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 19:42:14 +0000

Just in time for the upcoming cyclocross season, this versatile, custom ‘cross bike is for a very small rider. The frame is True Temper S3 ultra-light steel with a carbon fiber rear end. The frame is matched to an AlphaQ CX20 all carbon ‘cross fork and is painted deep candy red - a red clear-coat over a metallic gold base layer. The drivetrain is an XT/105 mix with versatile gearing combining a compact crank with a MTB cassette. Paul’s canti’s provide the stopping power, and Shimano’s ST-R600 reach adjustable shift levers are matched to a Salsa Short and Shallow bar for a set-up friendly to small hands. A Fizik Vitesse saddle, carbon seatpost and the FSA Orbit CX headset finish off the package.

Commuter Bikes

David — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 14:17:11 +0000

Here are some pictures of a couple of ‘all terrain’ commuter bikes we’ve made recently. Both of the bike feature strudy steel frames with 700C wheels and room for cross tires or commuter tires and fenders. Both bikes are built with eccentric bottom brackets and the Shimano Alfine 8 speed internally geared hub. The Alfine hub is the Nexus Inter-8 hub with a disk mount. This hubs span a useful range of gears and work beautifully.

Summer Rush!

Hugh — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:03:29 +0000

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.

Large Tire Road Bike

David — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:56:38 +0000

This custom steel road bike is built around long reach caliper brakes with lots of room for 700×32C tires. The owner will be commuting into Guelph with the bike as well as road riding, so we’ve set the bike up with two sets of wheels - Ultegra SL wheels for road riding, and handbuilt wheels using DT Swiss TK 7.1 trekking rims, DT Competition Spokes and 36H Ultegra hubs for gravel road and commuter riding. The bike is built up with Ultegra SL, Shimano long reach calipers, Selle Italia Flight GelFlow saddle, Salsa 46cm Pro Road Handlears and a Chris King Headset.

Lean, Mean, Green Machine…

David — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:49:44 +0000

Yeah, I know it’s black, but trust me - commuter bikes are green! This custom steel commuter has a bunch of neat features. The bike is built up with Shimano’s Alfine group - an eight speed internally geared rear hub, a front dynamo hub, and disc compatible. A Titec ‘Jone’s’ H-Bar makes for a wide variety of hand positions with a performance but comfortable rider fit. A Brook’s Flyer saddle provides a touch of luxury. The Flyer saddle is the B-17 top with sprung rails - and is surprisingly comfortable on rough roads - after it is broken in. The frame is custom steel, uses an eccentric bottom bracket to tension the chain, and has clearance for 700×35C tires and fenders. Very fun, and the black-black-black colour scheme looks very sharp and neo-retro!

Custom Titanium Road Bike

David — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:05:35 +0000

Here are some shots of another custom titanium road bicycle with a carbon rear end and custom wet paint. The colour is a really cool ‘glam’ kermit green, with very fine metal flake. The photos do not do it justice. The bike is built up with the Shimano Ultegra SL group, matching SL wheels, a Selle Italia Lady GelFlow saddle, and an anatomical, women-specific TTT-EVA handlebar.

Beautiful Touring Bike

David — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 03:29:05 +0000

I think this beautiful touring bike deserves a little extra attention. In addition to being custom made, by hand, in Canada, like all True North bikes, I’ll try to show you some of the details that make this custom touring bicycle even more special!

The bike is a classically styled touring bike with 700C wheels and compact road gearing. The bike is designed for faster touring with light-to-medium loads. The frame and fork will fit 700×35C tires and fenders easily, necessitating cantilever brakes and a slight bend to the seat and chainstays.

There are bosses for three bottle cages. Other than extra water carrying capacity, some people use the third cage to carry a stove fuel bottle, keeping any potential fuel leakage away from the rest of the gear. The black band on the seat tube is a chain catcher, which prevents chain-falls on the inside of the crank, which can really save your day, not to mention the paint!

‘Hourglass’ style rack braze-ons provide lots of thread engagement, and do not provide a path for water to enter the seat stays. The threaded insert under the seat-stay bridge (and the matching insert on the chain-stay bridge) provide a secure anchor for the rear fender.

Chromed chainstays provide extra protection. Under the paint, the chroming extends over the bottom bracket shell and up the seatstays for durability. Double eyelets ease the mounting of a rack and fenders, and give some redundancy in case of an incident. A 12-27T cassette combined with the 50/34T compact crank provide gearing suitable for the bike’s intended purpose.

As with all our bikes, parts selection is completely individualized for the customer. We can suggest parts that compliment your intended use and budget, or we can source the exact parts you desire. This bike features Shimano Ultegra hubs and drivetrain with an upgrade to the precise and reliable Dura-Ace shifters.

A carbon touring fork with lowrider and fender bosses is used. With an aluminum steerer, the fork is light, but durable enough for touring. Paul’s Touring Canti’s provide the stopping power. The Paul’s canti’s reliably provide an amazing amount of brake force when they are set up right.

I can’t say enough good things about Chris King headsets. They are pricey, but will pay for themselves in lifespan. The bearings are stainless steel (balls and races) - this makes them essentially impervious to water intrusion. Most importantly, they come in a great range of colours!

With a custom bike come custom paint. The bike is painted with candy red panels, silver bands and lettering on a candy orange frame. The fork is painted to match and the cromed chainstays are left unpainted. The candy colours are a tinted clear coat that is sprayed over a base (metallic silver). This produces a colour that is deeper and richer than anything you have seen. All told there are five distinct coats of paint on this frame.

Handbuilt wheels finish of the bike. DT Swiss double butted spokes lace Shimano Ultegra hub to DT Swiss TK7.1 rims. The TK rims are exceptional - they feature double eyelets and a welded seam. These rims are very precise and build a very true, evenly tensioned, durable wheel. Brass nipples are used as the corrosion resistance greatly extends the maintainable life of the wheels as compared to aluminum nipples.