Big Bike Little Bike

The front end of Chris’s lugged cross frame is in the jig and ready for brazing. He’s a tall fellow so this one’s going to be big. I carved a couple of cutouts on the bottom bracket shell to match the Richard Sachs lugs. I’m liking the way it looks like a hungry baby bird (or is it just me?). Here’s the status as of now.

  

I finished a little fillet brazed stem for Steph’s bike this week as well. I’m not really psyched on the tiny stainless bolts I put on there so I’ll probably switch those out.

  

Rick built up his flatland frame which is hot. Well, as hot as a brown bike can look.



And finally, our good friend, former roommate, and future Circle A rider, Adam St. Germain, got 4th in the men’s 2/3 race in this year’s Cox Classic in downtown Providence. This year the race tortured the riders by partially sending them up Waterman and then down Angell. It didn’t seem to phase Adam (or Gabe Lloyd who got 6th). Nice job guys! Hannah was on site selling cupcakes made from scratch. And everyone else just laid around in the grass. Myself included.

 
 

Rick’s flatland frame is done and painted a unique palette of brown, pink, tan, and white. I’m a big fan of the argyle and painting it wasn’t as hellish as I was expecting. Still it was a full day and a bunch of basecoats. It’s being assembled and hopefully he’ll be riding it later today. More pics of the completed build to come.

  
 
 
 
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Chris’s lugged cross bike is up next! It’s currently just a box of tubes but it’s going to be so much more. Sparks will be flying later today.

The latest news in Circle A Cycles-land is that Steph is figuring out parts for her cross bike and Rick is getting a very rare flatland BMX frame. There are only 4 others out there. The amount of work that goes into one of these tiny frames is on par with a fillet brazed road bike - just fewer braze-ons. We put our heart into every frame no matter how small. Here’s the progress so far. Paint starts tomorrow and it’s going to be crazy. No joke. Stay tuned.

 
 
 
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Steph’s bike is polished, painted, and finished. This update is overdue but I’ve been updating the slideshow all along. This is a single speed cross frame with dropouts from Paragon Machine Works and rack mounts for touring. She described this as her cross frame but also as her escape vehicle if she decides to go on a long tour (hence the derailleur hanger). I worked with our mutual friend and auto paint master, Jay Nutini, on the finish. I’m very happy with the way it came out.

 
 
 
  
  
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Last weekend we had a fundraiser for the Circle A Cycles MS 150 team (the MS 150 is June 21 and 22). We were giving bicycle tune-ups to people who donated to the cause. Here are a couple of shots from the event courtesy of Hilary. If you would like to help us reach our goal and support the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, show your support here. Thanks.

  
  
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Ron called from the road after getting the Circle A built up with a positive report. He put a full Campy Centaur gruppo on it with a nice Zonda wheelset. Here are the pics of the finished product.

   
  
  
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Steph’s single speed cross frame and fork are looking great right about now. That’s if you define dried flux and freshly brazed frames as great. It’s coming along fine and I plan on spending a good portion of this week polishing the head lugs and fork crown. Here’s the work in progress.

  
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And Mike Taylor’s bike is painted and cleared. Mike is the guy who painted the bearded lady mural on the wall of the shop. This bike was Chris’ project so I’m sure you’ll hear about it again but I wanted to share the pictures I took yesterday. Mike brought the frame to us with a stuck seatpost (please don’t let yours get seized). Chris replaced the seat tube, cleaned it up, and then primed the frame. Mike went to town on the frame painting it with anything he could find. The final product is amazing and was INCREDIBLY time consuming as you could imagine. Check it out.

  
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And I guess we build stems now. Get that custom stem that the bike was designed to have! With some modifications the Anvil frame jig and other frame tools were converted to build stems. This one was fillet brazed and painted to match my bike. If you’re on the list to get a frame, think about getting that matching stem to drool on as you ride.

  

And Sarah’s bike is built up and riding like it was meant to be. This bike is gorgeous. Check out the final built up shots.

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I’ve been working on a frame non-stop since my last post but haven’t said a word about it yet. This is Ron’s road frame. I used Richard Sachs lugs with a Dedacciai Zero tubeset, Henry James dropouts, capped stays, extra cut-outs on the BB shell, etc., etc. And of course the same amount of love that goes into every frame. I’ll have pictures of the painted bike very soon as it’s already painted, just not photographed.

  
  
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Jeff came by the shop last week via boxcar, thumb, and foot. He lives out in Western Massachusetts right now and came to the shop to build up his frame and ride it away. The concept was so simple and perfect. If I wasn’t building my own frames, I’d do it the same way. I have a feeling this bike is going to see a LOT of miles. Here’s a happy Jeff and his new touring rig.

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Among other things at the shop, there was a Girl Scout troop who came by on a cold Saturday afternoon and learned the ins and outs of bike repair. They were all very eager to learn and willing to get their hands a little greasy. A lot of them brought their bikes and were doing basic bike maintenance by the end of the class.

Two more bikes are ready to get built up. Adam’s racer looks incredible. The polished 150 badge was a nice touch. It seems like the Circle A milestones come in numbers divisible by 50. Adam chose to get the seat mast instead of the typical post. It adds just that much more class to this ride. It’s going to be built up with SRAM Red and an amazing DT wheelset. More pictures to come soon.

 
 
 
 
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Jeff’s touring frame and fork are gorgeous as well. The orange and cream is one of my favorite color combinations. I’m extremely happy with the lug shaping on this frame considering the lug choices for a 1 1/8″ steer tube are limited. The seat cluster in particular makes me very happy. Check out these shots.

 
 
 
 
 
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Circle A is contributing to a project organized by Rapha Clothing. They’re creating a publication of long rides with photos and cue sheets in the northeast. There are several framebuilders in the northeast that are taking part in this project including Independent, Bilenky, Igleheart, and Richard Sachs. The frame we’re building will be ridden by Piers North from NYC. It’s it’s full Dedacciai Zero Replica for lugs tubeset with Columbus Life s-bend seat stays. We’re not doing the paint on this but we’re happy to hear that the talented Chris Rowe will be taking care it. Here are the shots of the current build up.

  
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We also did a little bit of paint work on a tiny road bike. It says Colnago but it’s not. Still very adorable. We painted the fork and pump to match the frame.



We also did a bunch of clear coating on Sonny’s wire art. We’re finding new uses for the frame jig everyday.

After careful measurement of Adam’s seat height, I’m ready to cut down the seat mast and commit to the size. This is Circle A number 150 with fancy badge and a pretty fancy paint job as well. Painting will possibly be later this week so stay tuned for that. In the meantime here’s what it’s looking like.

 
 
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Jeff’s touring bike is the next on the agenda. He’s a tall guy so this one’s going to be big. The lugs have been shaped, the tubes are mitered, and the seatstays are capped. I’ll be brazing this one together today.

 
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And I finished my single speed “beater”. I tried to be as low key as possible but it still looks flashy. I took the time to polish the stainless lugs and the crappy old Miche crankset from the Monson bike swap to make it like new. Over time it’ll get its chips and dents but for now I’ll just enjoy the ride. I’ll probably build a stem for it in the coming days as well. Not really feeling the clunky aluminum thing.

 
 
 
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