Big Bike Little Bike

Joe’s frame is painted and ready to be sent off. The paint scheme was done with a brush and many small vinyl stencils. It was time consuming but I’m happy with the colors and the overall feel of it. Here are the shots of the finished frame and some of the actual process.

  
   
  
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Brian’s (not me) flatland frame is coming up next so check back soon.

The bike we built for the Rapha Continental project is up on their site with an interview of Chris and me. Lots of pics and interviews of all the builders and the bikes. Also check out the rides for one nearest you, print out a cue sheet, and then suffer in the saddle like they did. Fun, right?

So Joe’s bike is finished (completely since these shots were taken) and I’m waiting until I get back from vacation to do the paint. It seemed like it might be a little labor intensive so I didn’t think I should rush it. Here are the current shots. The next ones will blow your mind.

 
 
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The Major Taylor Association’s annual George Street hillclimb was this past weekend and everyone was so fast!! The winning time was under 23 seconds by Rich Hollenbeck. Which basically means he averaged 15 miles an hour up an 18 percent grade. Crazy. We had a good Circle A turnout with myself, Hilary, Brent, Ken, and the Burkes. Congratulations to Liane Burke for getting 3rd!

  
  


I also did a couple of repaints including this Moser track frame that has been around the block. I’ve seen it exchange hands several times and it has definitely seen some wear and tear. I was happy to get it back to riding condition again.

 
  

And Adam finally came by and built up his bike. He put all SRAM Red on there with a nice set of DT wheels. The final weight with the pedals was 16.5 pounds! Can’t wait to hear the full ride report.

  

Chris’s cross bike is painted, frame-saved, and ready for shipping. I’ll be sad to see it go. The paint is a classic blue with white panels and silver lug-lining. Here are the shots of the finished bike. Absolutely gorgeous.

  
  
  
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I also painted a gas tank for Tom from White Electric Coffee. It came out pretty sweet and I should have some more pictures of it soon on the bike.



Joe’s fillet brazed road frame is up next as well as a bunch of repaints. It’s going to be a busy week so check back for more updates.

Chris’s cross frame and fork are together and looking very much like a bike. A bunch of soaking, some sandblasting, and bunch of filing and it’ll be ready for primer. The paint is going to be real classy. I love the color scheme he chose and am excited to see it on the bike. Here are the latest shots.

 
 
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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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