New Amigo Jerseys

Here are a few of my buddies. We spend every Sunday together and a week during the summer. We've have gotten to know each other quite well and have a great time together. This was only about half the riders for the day. We finally had a perfect spring day that was perfect for cycling. We came back to Dennis' place where we enjoyed some great food and enjoyed each others company. I love these people!

Gary's Sport Touring Machine

I always like to show completed bicycles. You've seen this one at various times in the blog. Finally here is the finished product with what appears to be the happy owner. Gary was alot of fun to work with on this project. He was interested in all the details and enjoyed researching everything from the components to the paint.
It was fun when Gary would stop by the shop and take some pics of the build as it went along and we would shoot the %&*# for a while.
He chose a Sram drive chain with a lot of Nitto parts thrown in. Mavic Open Pro's with Ultegra hubs.
Thanks Gary and I'm sure you will have many years of enjoyment.

5/7/11

This isn't the best picture but it shows the seat stays are done. Now it's on to the little bits and pieces next week and a bit of clean-up than it's off to my friends at Circle A Cycles!

5/1/11

This is a close-up of Jan's fork blade. It's a nice little detail.

This is Jan's bike as of 5/1/11. Looks more like a bike all the time. We're expecting to get it to paint by the end of the month.

Getting very busy

Hey All, I was so busy at the shop this past weekend I just about forgot to take pictures. At the end of the day I took this pic of Jan's front triangle that just went into the jig.

a> I always get very excited when the plan starts coming together and the tubes start taking the shape of a bicycle. I thought as long as I was here I would introduce you to some of my Amigos.

The Amigos are a local bike group that was started by 3 guys that lived in Unionville. They would meet at one guys house every Sunday morning and go for a ride together. Well the group has grown to more than 60 people. On a good day we have about 2 dozen riders. I hooked up with the group about 5 years ago and have not looked back. We ride every Sunday, socialize together and for the last 4 years have gone on cycling vacations together. We have gone as far away as Ireland and as close as New Hampshire.

We went out as usual this past Sunday and I brought a camera with me. Due to the weather only about a half dozen people showed up but we still had a good time. Here are a couple of pics.

The picture above was taken blind over my shoulder. I was amazed that I got them in the frame.

Great weekend in the shop

Hey Groovers

My friend Jan and I had a great weekend in the shop. I have been working on Leslie's bike and Jan has been making himself a randonneuring bike with a little assistance from me. Here are a few pics.

This is Leslie's frame and fork. They need some clean up which I will be doing this coming weekend. I have a clear picture of this in my mind and am excited to get it to the point when I can take a picture of the finished bike for you. <
This is Jan. See Jan file. This is my fork jig that I made a couple of years ago. I had just finished brazing Jan's fork and he is cleaning up my mess. Way to go Jan! And finally this is another pic of Jan's fork mounted to his 650b wheel which he got through me from Velo Orange. Jan was my first customer to purchase great Velo Orange products through me. If you haven't been to their site yet go now! www.Velo-Orange.com

Velo Orange Dealer

Hey All,
I'm proud to announce that I am now a Velo Orange dealer. Check out their web site at www.velo-orange.com They carry some unique items for your bike and you can now get them through me and I can install it on your ride. If you have any questions you can contact me at 860-836-9765.

Talk with you soon,

Dwight

Leslie's mock up

At the end of the day I took a little bit of time and assembled a few bit's and pieces onto Leslie's frame to see how it looks. Here are the results! What do you think?

I'm still planning on brazing one more set of seat stays that will run from the top tube back around the rear dropouts.

By the way. Look at those front forks! They are the first pair made on my new fork bender. Are they beautiful or what? They give the bike a real classic look. Don't you think?

Stay tuned for more of the saga.

Great time in the shop

This week sure has flown by. You look back and wonder where has the time gone?

Well I've continued on with my sub assemblies. So here are a few pics.

I started assembling everything in the jig last weekend and doing a little tacking.



Quite a bit of time this past week has been used to set up a new fork bender that a friend made for me in his wood shop. He made the wooden part of it and I made the steel part that holds it and the arm that pulls the blade. Here it is in action!

Starting an all new bike!

Sorry I haven't posted for a while. I started a new bike 3 weeks ago.

It all started when a gentleman called me a while back and wanted to have a bike built for his wife as an anniversary gift. So we chatted for a while and it all sounded pretty straight forward until he mentioned that he thought she would like a girls bike. A "Girls" bike? Are you sure? He was.

Now I have never built a girls bike before but I would do some research and should be able to come up with some lugs somewhere. Well...No such luck. Then it got exciting. I knew I would have to make my own lugs and it would would be a whole new experience. So I ordered some chromoly tubing and started by turning it on my new "old" lathe.

I started cutting tubes and brazing my sub assemblies. First the seat tube to the bottom bracket.

Next I brazed the down tube to the head tube.

This was pretty much a days work. Stay tuned for the next installment.

Dwight

Erin's Forks

In the picture above I'm starting out by knotching a fork blade that the dropout will insert into. The slot needs to be a few thousandths larger than the dropout.

Next I sandblast the forks inside and out to prep them for brazing.

Here I've brazed the dropout in with silver braze.

Next I spend some time cleaning it up. Sanding and filing.

And finally I assemble it into the fixture to braze the fork blades to the crown.