Steel That Sleeps the Eye

Hey gang.
Today, I present a bike for Eric Richter.

With Eric being here in Santa Cruz, the conversation
about this bike started with listing names of roads.
Names like Stetson, Redwood Lodge, Schulties,
Redwood Retreat, Mountain Charlie, Skyland,
Valencia School, Uvas Canyon, etc.

Names like that conjure up thoughts of tight, twisty, steep roads,
shaded by redwoods, with pathetic pavement, if any at all.

The conversation continued with the new re-release of Columbus' Max tubeset.
Eric, being a junkie of all things Max,
wanted a custom bike to add to his collection of bikes built
with these legendary tubes.

First designed when tubes were narrow and didn't
take the abuse under larger, more powerful riders,
the double oversized tubeset was like nothing before it.
Huge, ovalized profiles allowed a bike to remain in one
piece while being raced in events like Paris-Roubaix
and the Tour of Flanders.

We decided not to use the entire Max tubeset,
settling for the bi-axialy ovalized down and top tubes,
chain stays, fork blades, and fork crown.
These are the most instantly recognizable tubes of the bunch
and overwhelmingly responsible for the look and feel of the bike.

We took it step further and added the ability to run 28's,
with fenders, or up to a 35c tire without.

Disc brakes, Dura-Ace parts.
If you can't ride this bike there, that place should probably be left unridden.

Between the capabilities of the bike and the fact that
Eric is one of the coolest, nicest, most genuine people I've ever met,
it was truly was a pleasure to build this bike.
Thanks, Eric.

All right kids,
enough of the sentimentality.
Melvins!
When I went to see the tour
supporting the Houdini record
(was that almost 20 years ago?!?!),
I remember thinking that it simply
could not be any louder.
Hooch
Honey Bucket
Night Goat

Up For Grabs

Hey, Y'all.
Today is a different day so we're going to do things differently.

Normally, the bikes posted are built for specific people.
Not the case for this bike.

As luck would have it,
this bike is, as the title suggests, up for grabs.

It has a 6 degree sloped, 56.5cm top tube.
Built for someone 5'11" or so.

Built with lugs and a super light, double oversized tube set,
this bike has the aesthetic of an old world charmer,
but the ride of a race bike.

Hooded dropouts for a stiff, responsive feel.

Fillet brazed pf30 bb shell for all the pedaling stiffness you will ever need.

Enve composites 1.0 carbon fork.
Will take 28c tires happily.

Drop me a line via email for pricing or for further details.
I'm happy to sell as a frame set
or to build it up as a complete bicycle.

SOLD. Thanks.

Let's hop in the Way-Back Machine for some Wipers.

New Year, New Bike

Happy New Year, y'all.

Let's start this year off on the good foot
by introducing a bike for Kyle E______.

Kyle and I have been acquainted since we
worked at the same bike shop about 10 years ago.

Having good friends on bikes is about as good as it gets for me.


Oversized head tube for those tapered steerer forks.

PF30 bb shell. Mega.

17/4 Stainless dropouts. Shiny.

Curvy tubes. All the bells and whistles on this one.

Been doing a lot of listening to Baroness.
Particularly The Red Album.
Rays on Pinion
The Birthing
Isak
Get it.

This Song Has No Title

Gentle readers,

and not so gentle ones too.

Another road bike today.
Sean Coffey is the owner of this one.

A double over sized tubeset makes this bike thoroughly modern,
with all of the pedaling stiffness you'll ever need
to get you down the road as far and as fast as your legs will take you.

This post's music pick is
the one and only Elton John.
If you haven't already,
do yourself a favor and purchase
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road as an easy primer.
Who doesn't love the Crocodile Rock?
He's absolutely killing it here on Rocket Man.
If you don't like Bennie and the Jets on Soul Train(!),
you, my good friend (and gentle reader),
have deeper issues not easily overcome.

Thank you and good night.

Street Eater

Hey, gang.

This is a road bike for Shinya Tanaka, who has
been importing handmade bikes over the Pacific Puddle,
to Japan.

This bike is for himself.
He asked for a road bike and carbon fork with room for fatter tires.

Fastback, swoopy seat stays.

The paint is a combo of painstaking masking and big brush stokes.

I hear the road riding in Japan is pretty unreal.
Might have to get over there for some
market research at some point.

A little while ago, I was talking with some
friends about the state of music these days.
More specifically, if you could travel back
in time and kill one band, group, or individual
to nip some musical movement in the bud,
who would it be?
To avoid the catastrophe that has come to
be known as Emo (Screamo, Emo-core, whatever),
Hightower and Danny B both agreed that AFI must die.
I may or may not agree. Well, ok, I agree.
However, Akimbo might also fall into the category
of being a band that was copied right and left by
screaming teenagers.
Don't get me wrong, I like me some Akimbo, but
to avoid this, someone must pay the ultimate toll.

Who knows? Someone may have this power.
Maybe Buddy Holly, Ritchie Vallens, and the Big Bopper
were about to start a super group from
which rock and roll would never recover.

Sand Blast

Jello.

This 'cross bike was bought by Josh Yablon for his
favorite special lady friend, Devon Yates.
Nice guy.

The paint is obviously inspired by the illustrious
Gulf/ Porsche four wheeler racing team.

The frame design is relatively straight forward.
No big surprises here.
Built for 38's with room to spare.

Stem to match.
Modern stems are fatter than
most steel road or 'cross bike down tubes.
Unnecessary and aesthetic killing.

Thanks Josh and Devon.

Seeing as both Josh and Devon
are punkers from Minneapolis,
maybe we should play some
appropriate music from there.
Prince? No.
How about some Dear Landlord?
Yes, let's do some of that.