Handmade Bicycles
Ben's Porteur Rack
Raw porteur rack for NYC messenger ben. Awesome for food delivery, a six pack, and any other sub 25 lb load.
New Build
COARSE fabrication Build #3
Low pro geometry, but still super comfortable for street mashing. Come take it for a spin while it's on display at Velo Brooklyn, and if you like it make an offer. We can also use it for a platform to discuss the geometry and component changes you'd like to have in your own custom build. I tweaked the bb drop and seat angle to ensure no toe overlap even with the super steep 74.5 degree head tube angle, 38mm track rake fork, and 170mm cranks. After the hours of contemplation, setup, inhaling flux fumes, obsessive filing/sanding and finally piecing this build together late night after being locked out of my apartment, all done...and well worth every minute spent. Actually getting on a bike you designed and built and taking the first few pedal strokes is an incredible feeling. Like a caveman discovering fire. Cyclist self sufficiency fully realized.
Definetly plans to make this a stock COARSE model, with custom options available.
Warmth is a comin' aka fuck the winter
Thank god that spring has finally settled upon NYC. Good news for all that love the sunshine, warmth and relative happiness that comes along with season change,this of course especially pertaining to cyclists. After busting my ass working as a messenger this winter, by the start of march i was feeling quite a bit of bitterness towards my velocipedes, and to cycling in general. Anyone who has worked as a courier in NYC in the winter can attest to this i'm sure.
Of course that feeling has passed just as it always does, and with my seasonal employment change back to full time co operator of Velo Brooklyn; riding, working on and building bicycles feels just as good as ever. The last month has seen business at the shop pick back up to the normal in season pace, spurred by the The change in weather along with healthy growth and expansion through the addition of new product lines and a revamping of the shop space. the new COARSE facilities, which is now conveniently located in the basement of Velo Brooklyn/Bushwick Bike Shop has also been slowly coming into it's own
Shots from the shop
Photoset by Ish'Mor Brazi
Loyal Velo Brooklyn/Bushwick Bike Shop customer and friend Cy snapped these photo's last week. Nice work man, dig the wide angle, thanks again. Got my bringheli alignment table today, and reorganized my work area. Slowly things are looking and feeling more complete and professional.
New Track Frame
Finished yesterday and sent out to paint last night. This geometry inspired by the several different track frames I have owned, taking the best characteristics of each.
The design is tighter and more aggressive than traditional track geo's, but still quite comfortable for fast street riding. As much at home bombing through traffic as it will be tearing up Kissena.
Working with lugs does limit what one can do with the frame design somewhat, but i was able to carve the cast's into the angles i wanted, without too much trouble.
I have yet to build a Fillet brazed frame, although on each of my lugged frames, I did fillet braze the bridges, and this time around, the seat tube cluster. Getting much more comfortable doing this and am definitely ready to do an entire frame this way This braze integrated the two lugs i made for the seatstays. Once painted, the idea is that they will be seamless and appear to be part of the rest of the cast.
This time around i opted to try liquid paint, as my finish work is finally getting nice enough to warrant a display of detail as the wet paint will reveal. Getting it back early next week, so we shall see.
The design is tighter and more aggressive than traditional track geo's, but still quite comfortable for fast street riding. As much at home bombing through traffic as it will be tearing up Kissena.
Working with lugs does limit what one can do with the frame design somewhat, but i was able to carve the cast's into the angles i wanted, without too much trouble.
I have yet to build a Fillet brazed frame, although on each of my lugged frames, I did fillet braze the bridges, and this time around, the seat tube cluster. Getting much more comfortable doing this and am definitely ready to do an entire frame this way This braze integrated the two lugs i made for the seatstays. Once painted, the idea is that they will be seamless and appear to be part of the rest of the cast.
This time around i opted to try liquid paint, as my finish work is finally getting nice enough to warrant a display of detail as the wet paint will reveal. Getting it back early next week, so we shall see.
NAHBS: Photoset II
Here's some photo's taken from day 2 of the handmade show...
This was pretty interesting to me from a builders standpoint... Cysco cycles had these frames with spiral tubing that had been cold worked into this shape. Fuckin badasss, pure muscle
Heres some beautifully executed fillet brazes by David Kirk and Kirk Frameworks
The Geekhouse polo bike with s & s couplers for easy traveling. I took more shots of the geekhouse crew and their bikes and Prolly's new custom woodville touring bike, but this is the only one that came out decent... shucks. Geekhouse Rules!
The pure and elegant offroad designs of Engin Cycles. Builder Drew Guldalian is known for his craftsmanship and attention to detail, and for making more than just frames and forks. Stems, seatposts and other integrated fabrications are standard on Engin framesets.NAHBS: review and Photoset I
I've been so busy with work and life in general since arriving home from Austin, i'm just now reviewing all the photo's and schwag i brought back with me. So, before another week passes by, here is my half assed review of The 2011 North American Handmade Bicycle Show!!!!
So, as i was saying... this past weekend was the annual North American Handmade Bicycle Show. Awesome chance for me to see old friends, make new ones, and garner bits and pieces of knowledge and connections to step up my game. The handmade bike industry and social scene is super unique. It is like very few other niche businesses; in that at a trade show of people stand side by side competing with each other while simultaneously sharing their most talented secret's on a better way to get the job done. In the past decade, this niche industry has gone from a handul of builders, to many hundreds of diffrerent names building every type of velocipede under the sun. This is all thanks in large part to the advances in communication and information sharing that the internet has provided, and the reemerging popularity of bikes for recreation and utility.
The show was in Austin, TX this year, a city i've always wanted to visit, so it was supermulti-faceted weekend, bikes and raging 24/7! Check out the photos, let me build your next custom bike! The partying in austin is first rate. From it's blossoming super hipster, ultra short denim shorts man, bicycle enthusiast gentrification explosion, to its down and dirty super short mini skirt wearin' southern belles of sixth street, it's a great place to be when it's 85 degrees there and 20 in brooklyn.
Upon arrival I immediately ran into my friend and former co-employee at the Spooky Cycles factory, Mickey Denocourt. Mickey Started the defunct brand back up a few years ago and has garnered much interest in the famed bikes and it's legacy. He was in need of a hand at the booth all weekend, being down a man, and since I used to make the bikes, i know the models and the ideals of the company pretty well, so I had a spot to post up and look professional.
Standouts of the show for me were the Geekhouse crews setup, Marty and the geekhouse crew are super nice, positive and approachable people, and their bikes are fuckin awesome. Naked Bicycles concept bike, and the countless new niche manufacturers who are now supplying more diverse and better tubing (stainless steel is an affordable option!), framebuilding fixtures, tools and brazing and welding materials. I could go on and on about all the cool shit i saw, Hit me up if you have any questions. check the pictures.
Billy Boscoe
The Beautiful detailed lugwork of one of the originators of the American handmade bike scene...
His booth was very prominently positioned and contained several excellent examples of his work at varying stages of the process.
"Goodbye horses, i'm cryin' over you"
Beautiful Headtube badge of the extremely detailed and visually appealing Winter Bicycles
Another Winter Frameset. Winter is based out of Portland oregon and are Individually tailored for each customer. Check them out here
As i go through and edit my photos i ill continue to post a new set with information and links for each builder following each photo, so... check back soon!
NAHBS!!
The North American Handmade Bike Show, or better known as NAHBS is coming up next weekend in Austin, TX and i'm leaving the winter hell of new york for the more temperate austin weather! My bringheli fork jig came to the shop today, pics soon. We've beem doing renovations over at Velo Brooklyn. Today with the help of some trusty loyal cyclist customer/friends we hung new slat wall on the product wall. Now...heres some random pics from this winter
MAD NEW YO!
All kinda new shit is goin down. New work space, new apartment, new friends... plans of revenge against old enemies... nah but really, just moved into a fabulous new work space beneath the best dang bike shop in NYC, Velo Brooklyn. Working on all things metal, especially, and usually bikes.
Photoset: Lightbox
Photgrapher, friend and former roommate Jammi York was kind enough to take some super professional photos of some of the work I had that was laying arond the shop. Check out Jammi's website here.
Tool Talk
Ordered new tooling today!!! Soon i'll be the owner of a bringheli fork jig, alignment table, and fork alignment system. After being so stoked on the jig, i thought his other tooling would be as equally as appealing. With these additions i will soon be fully self sufficient, aside from powder coating (soon to be conquered), in my shop setup.
Joe Bringheli, owner of Bringheli U.S.A., has been super helpful to many novice framebuilder's in providing solid tooling at an affodable price. He's a nice guy from what i can gather fromthe phone conversations i've had with the soft spoken Italian-American.
Joe builds custom steel frames, several different types of handbuilt tooling (jigs,alignment tables etc), and provides aircraft-grade steel from colombus and Dedaccia. His prices are also unbeatable on tools. Simpler and more annoying and finnicky to work with than othe;s on the market, but with its nearest competitor still more than $1000 higher in price, the appeal of his jig was great and it proved to work better than expected, which is why i feel confident that all of his products will function adequately to suit my needs.
All of this new equipment is well out of my immediate budget, but Joe was awesome enough to agree to a payment plan after a hefty deposit. Since He has to build all of the tooling out of his shop in Parma, OH, it's going to take a few months for meto get everything, but the fork jig will ship four weeks from today!!! Stoked on 2011 so far....
I love tools
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