Archive for the ‘Everything Else’ Category

Our friend Ricardo brought this Masi Gran Criterium in a little while ago and it had a thrashed seat lug and seat tube. He wanted to convert it into a commuter and I was very willing to help. Having already replaced the seat tube on this frame and built a new fork for it, I didn’t see it as being sacrilege to do this conversion. Ricardo is going to be getting groceries and running errands on this bike with great style. The silvery metallic purple has an almost micro-suede look to it that just makes you want to reach out and touch it. And the super thin clearcoat really shows the definition of the lug lines and file marks from its original builder.

 
 
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In other news, we’ve been painting…A LOT. I will resume with the frame building very soon as we don’t want our wait list for frames to get out of hand. Here are some shots of a recently completed Royal H mixte — a very lovely bicycle. More paint work to follow suit.

 
 

Lastly, the weather in many parts of the country has been crappy and cold this winter. It has been taking its toll on my morale and my commuting bike. Salty roads and metal don’t work so well together (see pic of my Phil Wood bottom bracket). Just a quick reminder to take care of your bikes in this season. We don’t want you to get any seized seatposts or stuck bottom brackets. Take ‘em apart when you can to make sure everything is all right in there. Grease your posts and BB threads. Spray some frame saver in there as well if you can get the whole bike apart. Your bike will thank you many years from now by not rusting away.

 

Just finished building up Josh’s blue commuter/touring/road bike. We went with a similar paint scheme to Matt’s single speed with solid white accents instead of silver and stainless. It’s also fully fillet brazed including the fork for a very fluid look. He went with primarily an Ultegra drivetrain with Sugino cranks and Dura Ace bar-end shifters. He put his already-broken-in Brooks B17 on there so he’s ready to put some hours in on this bike!

 
 
 
 
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Dave Wilcox did an amazing job of representing Circle A in the Oregon Manifest Constructor’s Race! He got 2nd place in the Constructor’s Race and we got 10th in the Design Challenge. All in all it was a fun time even though I didn’t get to go out to Portland to experience it. Maybe next year? If you’re in the Portland area though, check out all the bikes that will be on display until November 8th at Manifest headquarters at NW 10th and Hoyt (Thurs & Fri 2-7, Sat 11-7, Sun 11-5). For more information on the rest of the Oregon Manifest festivities, see the amazing coverage on the bikeportland website and their flickr page, as well as the main OM site.

Dave getting ready for the race. Courtesy of bikeportland.org.

In other news, cross season started again in the past month and Gloucester and Providence cross weekends were crazy! Well, I only went to the second day at Gloucester but it was a blast. I’m still getting back into the swing of things but it should be a good season. Circle A friends, Jay and Josie, spearheaded a goodtime cross team complete with jerseys. Say hi to Team Makeout Party. Clearly we take our fun very seriously. Here’s a pic of me post-race at Gloucester courtesy of Marty at Geekhouse.

Coming up next we have a tall cyclocross bike for Matt F. Check back soon!

These two bikes are the only bikes that I’ve built and had other people paint. The first one is a cross bike for my friend Jay Nutini. He’s an amazing auto restoration artist who wanted to polish the stainless lugs and paint his frame/fork/stem/seatpost on his own. He put a lot of time into finishing this frame and got a big hand with the downtube design and lug lining from his girlfriend Josie. I think we made a pretty good team. He currently has it set up for road use and tested it by riding 150 miles last weekend!

 
 
 
 
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The other frame was a cross bike as well for our good friend and painter Nathan Trombly. Nathan has an amazing amount of skill in the booth. He used to work at Independent Fabrications a couple of years back and at Circle A before he went to nursing school. Well, he’s back at the shop but we’re not sure for how long because he just passed his RN exam! Congratulations! He did his own design for the Circle A logo as well. It has internal cable routing, no polished headbadge, and he’s rockin’ the seatmast. I’ll make sure I get a picture of the complete bike up here soon as it looks pretty mean built up.

 
 
 
 
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We also got some new additions to the shop. Our landlady handed me a bag with a kitten in it about a week ago. This little girl is Burger Time, Jr. Or possibly BT, Time Bandit, or maybe just Kitty. She’s cute though and is guarding the office so beware. We also acquired another Bridgeport milling machine via our friend Jim Frain. We now have two monsters of metal at the shop. Can’t wait to cut some tubes on it!

 

Dave Wofford’s bike is just about done so check back early next week for his new frame and fork!

The latest frame completed here at the shop is a stainless bike for Ralph. It’s a lugged single speed built with Reynolds 953…mostly. I say mostly because the head tube, fork blades, seat stay bridge, and rear dropouts are not stainless (hence the paint). The painted parts are black with a red pearl so it’s pretty fancy in the sunlight. The bike has a satin finish as opposed to the polishing I’ve done on stainless bits in the past. I’m a big fan of this finish not only because polishing stainless is a painful process but because of it’s raw feel. Ralph has chosen some pretty classic Campy parts to complement the frame. This one will be on display at the Maker’s Market in NYC from the 26th through the 28th of June. Stop by and say hi if you’re in the area and have a minute. In the meantime, check out the pics.

 
 
 
 
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I also painted a lugged Nitto stem to match.

 

The open house we had two weeks ago was a great time. Lots of people came by to hang out in the “new” backyard complete with grass, eat some food, drink some drink, and mingle. This is the second one we’ve had in the spring and will probably have it every year around this time. So if you missed it, mark your calendar for next year!

 

There’s always another bike coming up and this one is a lugged road bike for Dave in North Carolina. The lug carving has already begun and I should have something to show next week.

 

So Matt’s single speed is polished, painted, and ready to be built up! This bike is probably one of the more over-the-top ones that I’ve ever done. It has the stainless logos on the downtube, stainless headbadge, stainless dropout faces, and polished stainless fork crown and lugs. Many hours went into getting the bike to this level. The stripes on the seat tube were inspired by some vintage bicycle painting styles to give the bike a little bit of a classic feel.

 
 
 
 
 
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I also built several fillet brazed stems recently and painted them to match the bikes they’re going on (including one for Matt’s blue bike). One quill and two threadless and all with recessed binder bolts. Check ‘em out in all their silky smooth glory.

  

And finally, this Sunday, May 31st is our annual open house eat ‘n’ drink shindig! We’ll have some stuff but please BYO whatever you want. Bring your bike! Invite your friends, and let us know if you have any questions. We also have a fresh stock of t-shirts for sale and finally are making prints of Alec’s famous Circle A poster, courtesy of IO Labs! If you’ve never been here and need directions, check out the map.

The latest frame to go out the door here at Circle A is a single speed commuter for Steven in Pennsylvania. The pastel palette he chose is going to make for a beautiful complete bike. It’s a classic cream color with faded sea foam panels, head tube, fork blades, and details. This will definitely be a head turner.

 
 
 
 
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And I’ve still been doing tons of paint work. I guess I just can’t get enough of the fumes. I did a couple frames for Royal H (off white with orange lug lining) and Icarus (red and white with pearl).

 

I also did a repaint of a Klein Q Pro XX for Clyde in North Carolina. You will definitely know what kind of bike this is when he comes flying past you.

 
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And I went to Indianapolis recently to check out the handmade bike show. Thanks to Marty from Geekhouse for being accommodating and letting me sleep on his hotel room floor. I met a lot of great people there and can’t wait to display next year. Word on the street is that it’s going to be on the east coast. We’re keeping our fingers crossed!

 
 
 
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I know recovering stolen bikes is near impossible but it never hurts to try. Our friend Nathan had his work bike stolen recently here in Providence, RI. It is very distinct fillet brazed frame with two stainless steel sleeves on the top tube and down tube with the Circle A logo carved into them. It also had Paul Components adjustable dropouts with stainless faces and about a 1/4″ cut off the ends. It is black and says “Nathan—Since 1976″ on the top tube in silver and DASH Delivery on the non-driveside chainstay. If you have any information about this bike, please contact DASH Delivery at 401-864-DASH. Thanks.

[UPDATE: Nathan's bike was found by our friend Andy! It's still in great condition and is back to work. Thanks for everyone who kept an eye out for it. It's not common to get a stolen bike back so this town must be pretty special.]

Our volunteer/apprentice friend from last summer, Joseph Ng, and his friend Mathew Provost made a short documentary of me and Circle A stuff. They did a great job so check it out if you get a chance. Thanks guys!

Built In Providence from Joseph Ng on Vimeo.

I recently did a restoration on a mid-80’s Gios Torino. It came in with a lot of rust but it had a ton of potential. The finished product is better than new. The full slideshow has the complete before and after pics.

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Cross season is just about over and this past weekend usually marks the final two races. It was the NBX cross weekend at Goddard Park here in Rhode Island. Winter came a bit earlt with freezing temperatures on Saturday and snow and ice on Sunday. Fun stuff. Dan, Jack, and I were there representing on Circle A’s. Thanks to Cyclocrossphoto.com and Kris Dobie for letting me post these here.

In not so interesting news, I made a 24 tooth single speed freewheel for the retro-direct project bike. Things are moving along at a glacial pace but it’s not the highest priority right now. But I’m sure I’ll be posting more about it soon.

Joel’s Nishiki is fixed, straightened, painted, and ready to go. It came in with a crumpled downtube so I replaced that and did some alterations while the paint was off. That included new rear dropouts, new cable stops, and some fender mounts. Check out the slideshow for the pictures of the process.

  
 
 
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Mike came by to pick up his completed single speed on Saturday. The bike looked amazing with the White Industries ENO crankset and freewheel. The custom stem didn’t look too shabby either. Here’s the finished product.

Our friends Bobby and Dan held an alleycat race on Saturday as well. Congratulations to Eric Pupecki who won it and also to Mike Bike for winning the Circle A paint job (again!) for carrying the most papers. Here’s Mike in his partial Mapei kit. Nice job.

And I still ride my BMX bike from time to time. On Sunday, a bunch of old school riders (i.e. people who’ve been riding since the mid to late 80’s) got together to ride and catch up on each other’s lives. Got a little group photo because it probably won’t happen again for a long time.

Speaking of BMX, this Saturday Vic over at Circuit BMX in Pawtucket is holding a BMX swap (1-5PM), the footdown world championships (5-7PM), and the Kink Safety First video premiere (7PM).

And speaking of bike swaps, Providence Bicycle will be hosting their bike swap/fundraiser for the RI Food Bank on Sunday from 10AM to 3PM. There will be a ton of vendors and a cool raffle which will include a Circle A paint job as a prize. See you there!