Big Bike Little Bike

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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So many bikes since my last post! I finished Sarah’s cyclocross/touring machine, Ken’s bike looks outstanding, I built a single speed for myself in the after hours, and Adam’s number 150 is well underway. Chris and I also did a couple of paint jobs for Dwight Bowen of Bowen Bicycle Works out of Connecticut. I spent the greater part of last week in the paint booth so forgive for the delay in these updates.

First off, Sarah’s paint scheme was amazing. She came to me with an idea that included a damask pattern. I didn’t even know what the word meant and when I saw the sample patterns I got a little nervous. The vinyl cutter we use is pretty old and has difficulty doing detailed patterns but everything worked out in the end. I’m especially pleased with one of my premiere forays into lug lining. The gold is subtle and gives it that classy Victorian look.

  
 
 
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Ken’s frame and fork wasn’t that shabby either. I used some Richard Sachs Nuovo Richie lugs for the first time and really like the look of the cutouts. I also used a new (to me) seat stay attachment style which I borrowed from the recently restored Viking. Ken did a lot of tweaking in Illustrator getting the final paint job down. I was skeptical on how the coffee milk colored fork would look but I think he made the right choice. The dark chocolate/coffee milk scheme has me craving mousse. And more lug lining practice here. There a whole lot of lug action going on so the pressure was on to have a steady hand. It all came out fine in the end.

  
  
  
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I spent most of last weekend and early this week on a frame and fork for myself. We can never have too many bikes, right? This is a single-speed-all-around-town-and-then-some bike. My old single speed is racing through the streets of Philadelphia under its new owner, Jonny

 
 

And after a TON of carving on his bottom bracket shell, Adam’s is well underway. Totally starting to look like a bike. There will be more entries about mine and Adam’s next week when painting begins. Stay tuned.

 
 
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Micah came and built up his frame a couple of weeks ago. We spent a small part of a freezing Saturday afternoon putting some nice parts on his beautiful new frame.

Ricardo picked up the 3RENSHO which came out wonderful as well. I was very pleased with the lug matching (thanks in part to Joseph for tracing the old ones for me).

   
  

Joe’s Viking is another inspirational restoration. This was an old one but definitely worth redoing with its Nervex lugs. The seat cluster in particular was my favorite. I like the way the stays clasp the seat lug so much that I ended up using it on Ken’s upcoming single speed. Here are the pictures of the completed bike.

   
  

Sarah’s cyclo-touring machine is ready for her super fancy paint job. I finished it last week but we’re still working out the details of the paint. More to come soon.

 
  

There are a lot of knowledgeable people out there on the topic of bicycles but Sheldon seemed to be the most widely known because of his web site which contains more bike information than than any other. I hope it stays up and running in his honor. My thoughts go out to his friends and family.

Read more about Sheldon here.

So much has been happening in January! Where to start. Well, Stephen’s bike has been assembled, Micah’s bike is ready for parts, Hilary’s frame is completed and built up, Sarah’s coming up next with a cyclo-touring machine, Joe’s Viking decals finally came in from the UK, and Ricardo’s 3RENSHO is ready to be rebuilt. Phew.

Stephen came in yesterday with his Specialized to migrate the parts over to his Circle A. Everything went smooth and today was gorgeous so I’m sure we’ll hear the verdict on how it rode very soon. Here are some shots of the finished frame and the making of it.

   
  
  
 

Micah’s frame was also completed recently with the most original color scheme I’ve seen in a long time. It’s a metallic eggplant, coral panels, and gold bands. Looks AMAZING! This one was built up with Dedacciai Zero tubing and Paramount lugs. Here’s the finished product and as usual, the slideshow.

  
  
  

I also built a bike for my girlfriend Hilary’s birthday. It wasn’t a surprise because I had to get measurements to design the frame. The frame is built with Columbus Spirit for Lugs tubing (thanks Richard), Paramount lugs (thanks Kirk), and an old set of Reynolds 531 fork blades (thanks Owen). I did some fancy-shmancy vent holes in the head tube and some old styling cut outs on the BB shell. I also used the ultra-svelte single speed dropouts that we have cut over in Pawtucket. I brazed some stainless plates on them and then polished them up. The lace design was her idea and came out very classy. We actually went to the fabric store to find a nice lace pattern, scanned it in, and made an EPS file out of it to cut the vinyl mask out. Our old Roland vinyl cutter is somewhat of a relic so it wasn’t too happy with the intricacies of the lace. There’s an extensive slideshow of the build here.

   
  
  
  

And finally, cross season ended over a month ago and I haven’t even mentioned that it totally changed my life. I need to personally thank everyone who made my first season so much fun including Jack, Hannah, Dan, Adam, Scotty, Scott G., and NBX. I never knew beer and bikes went so well together. So as a result, my plan for 2008 is to start off riding mostly flatland, move onto the road bike mid-summer, and then ride cross for the fall and winter. Year-round on a bike sounds like fun, right? Here are some choice shots from this season for your entertainment.

 
 

So today is the big day for the founding father of Circle A. Happy day, brother.

Also, Stephen’s frame is done, primed, painted, cleared, polished, and ready for parts which should be here in a day or two. When I painted this bike, I tried out a new technique using a liquid mask around the lugs and bottom bracket. It was fun to work with and I plan on using it more on future frames. I’ll have a full photo shoot with it very soon but for now here’s where it’s at.

 
  
 
 
 
 

It’s been abnormally warm so far this January. So much so that we’ve actually had the garage door open some days. The weather has made it possible for Chris to put a new carburetor on his 1960-something Volvo without losing the shop’s precious heat.

 

Micah’s frame is very close to completion. The front end is all brazed together and the fork is complete. I anticipate finishing up by the end of the week. I just need to do a bunch of sanding and filing and then work with him on the paint.



And Michelle’s bike was built up and looks incredible! I’m happy with the silver and green combo. This is one classy ride.



Among other things going on at the shop, we have no real heat so this guy has become our best friend.



We tried running it on vegetable oil because it says that it can run on almost any fuel. It really just smoked a lot and spat hot oil out the front. After trying several kerosene/vegetable cocktails, we decided that heat was overrated. Or that Garrett needs to get about a dozen more full size espresso machines in the shop and leave ‘em on 24 hours a day.

Sarah (who’s on the list to get a frame) stopped by the shop recently out of the blue and brought us some amazing cupcakes. I ate three and left the birthday boy one. I’m trying to bulk up.

Next on the agenda is a 3RENSHO repair, my beard attempt, cyclocross race season wrap up, and more! Woo hoo!

Garrett, who shares the space at Circle A repairing espresso machines, stripped his bike and had us repaint it and make it new again. Here are the pictures of it in all it’s classiness.

  
 

I had a small photo shoot with Michelle’s bike at the same time so here are some more pictures of that. I’ll have even MORE pictures of it when it’s all built up.