Ready for paint

Here's some more pictures of the recently completed frame and fork. The frame is built around 700C wheels, 32mm tires with clearances and mounts for fenders and canti brakes. The lugs are the previously pictured Pacenti lugs that I carved up. I'm happy with how it all turned out.









Here's a nice shot of the completed seat lug. You can see how I carved down and reshaped the top of the seat lug. I think it looks more balanced and sedate. Also you can see the capped seat stay after it's been brazed onto the seat lug.








I don't know why but the bottom head tube lug is my favorite. This, to my eye, is a great photo of it. Notice how the lug has been thinned. I can't stand when lugs get stock on and left at stock thickness. I guess that's fine for a production bike but for a handcrafted frame the lugs look so much better thinned out.












Here's a nice shot of the fork crown. It too has been thinned and the points have been tapered. While not necessary it shows the hand of the maker.

Why not?

I first saw this cable stop design while working at R&E Cycles in Seattle. An old Rodriguez custom frame was in for a re-paint. It had this type of triangulated cable stop. I always liked the look and have been using it on a few Goodrich's. Perhaps I'll continue to use it as a signature of sorts. We'll see. It's more work but worth it, I think.

Semi-wrap seat stay caps

Here's a picture of a frame in my Marchetti frame fixture. The front triangle is brazed and has been put back into the fixture to tack on the rear triangle. I don't have the head tube held in place because it's not necessary when tacking on the rear.










This is a close up of the seat stay as it rests on the seat lug before tacking. You can see that the seat stay is capped and not plugged. The difference is with a plug a pre-shaped piece (either turned or cast) is brazed onto the end of the seat stay. A seat stay cap is when a piece of tubing is brazed onto the end of the seat stay. In this case it's a scrap piece of chain stay to create a concave finish. You can see the tip of the cap wraps slightly around the seat lug. It increases the surface area thereby increasing the strength of the braze. That's cool but not necessary. Mostly I do it because I like the way it looks. I've never liked a full wrap like the old English bike builders did. I also don't like when the stay is just stuck on the side of the lug sitting out there in space. To my eye, this semi-wrap splits the difference aesthetically. The seat lug has been filed and thinned. After I've brazed the whole frame then I will sandblast around the joints. That will quickly remove any of the silver flashing which is the excess silver that you can see around the lug. The top of the seat lug will also get shaped then. Currently the seat tube extends through the lug and is left there until I'm done brazing. Then I'll greatly reduce it's length and change it's profile. Pictures of that later.

Pacenti lugs- before and after

Here's some Pacenti lugs before and after I carved them up. This is a twist on the way that I typically carve them up. The window or cut out that I usually do is a tear drop of sorts. In these pictures the cut out is more of a traditional triangular window. What do you think? The lugs will be thinned after the front triangle is brazed up.

Some lug carving

This picture was taken by my friend Mark Stonich. The color is a stock Imron color. The seat lug is a Pacenti artisan lug that I carved up. I like how it turned out. The seat stay caps are a semi-wrap style that I typically do.










This picture shows a Richard Sachs top lug in my hand and the same lug on the frame with the head tube extension removed. Kind of trick.

More pictures

Here's some more pictures of the recent club racer.

A recent Goodrich

It's what I consider to be a club racer. By that I mean it's a bike that's built as a race bike but is a little more practical. This is accomplished by building the frame and fork around standard reach brakes and maxing out the brake reach. This creates the maximum amount of space between the tire and the brake arch. Also fender mounts are on the drop outs and bridges. The additional clearances and mounting points come with virtually no penalties unless you consider an additional 8 grams a penalty. The bike can be built in many configurations. It could be outfitted with 23mm tires and be at home in a race. Or if the rider desired there's room for 28mm tires and fenders. I know not everyone will always want to ride with fenders but sometimes it's nice to have them and it's even nicer to know the bike doesn't limit your options. The frame is built with Richard Sachs lugs and crown and Columbus .7-.4-.7 tubes. The stem is fillet brazed and nickel plated.

Test run

This is my first attempt at blogging. I recently finished a Rivendell. The customer requested a custom front rack. Normally I only make those for Curt Goodrich customers but in this case I made an exception. The bike is built around 650B wheels and bolt on Paul Racer brakes. I like how it turned out. Oh yea, the rack will be plated.