Wow. I’m here and setup. I am a young builder in a sea of immense talent and I am taken away by the sublime and rad beauty of the machines surrounding me. I am amazed. Situated amongst the most talented builders in the country I am simply stunned.

Met a few folks, shook some meaningful hands to me, set up, checked in to the hotel, and about to settle in to some crappy Chinese food that I love.

I am a lucky $%)&)( &^*%.#

I feel both humble and proud.

Out.

Yo. Just some final paper work to take care of printing out. Machine is done. Hello Holiday Inn Express Sacramento tomorrow. I hope they have a pool, just sayin’.  Also, I’ve posted almost (almost) every day since registering for NAHBS on January 9!  Slamma jamma.

Odds and ends. Here and there. Before and after.

The fork is on a UPD truck and I’ll be picking it up tomorrow, finishing the build, taking my “studio” shots, and packing for the show.

Sprinting.

’m only allowed to bring one, so you’re seeing a lot of it, but also oddly just a little of it. Build in progress, smooth sailing. Chris King hubs to Velocity A23′s, built in house by your truly. And the sad state of my desk. Cleaned up before leaving, as always. I think controlled chaos for short bursts is acceptable, and indeed can be a conduit for creativity. But cleanliness is right next to godliness. Or something.

It is actually my birthday.

Rick did a sick job.  Even better in person.  Part won of too.  I met Steve Potts picking it up too, which was totally totally rad.  I can’t say that I didn’t feel uneasy about such a master and creator holding my frame in his hands.  Got a bit of a lesson and some tips too.  He invited me to go up and visit his shop in the near future.

The law of conservation of energy is a law of physics. It states that the total amount of energy in an isolated system remains constant over time. The total energy is said to be conserved over time. For an isolated system, this law means that energy can change its location within the system, and that it can change form within the system … but that energy can be neither created nor destroyed. (Wikipedia).

All coming together.  ENVE tapered carbon fork shipped today (thank you Matt for pushing that through!), buttons and stickers on the move, wheels building, all my next tubes coming in, more freshies coming back from paint soon.  Seeing results is inspiring.  Push hard.

And a huge huge shout out to Bicycle Fabrications, here in SF, makers of radass badass machines.  I was in a jam about reaming the head tube of this monster and they came through in a pinch.  Thank you men.

NAHBS approaches. I’ve posted most every day for, well, a while now.  I bet you’re sick of me.  But.

I’m picking up my show machine tomorrow (teasers to come…) from Rick. I’ve been slightly under the weather, and coming out of it, but it’s put a delay on Will’s machine for sure. With all the prep and intensity surrounding the show, I’m delaying the finish until after next weekend. Thanks for the understanding Will. Sometimes one has to know when to step back, take care, and be honest with the client. I am also going to be hooking him up with a stem for the wait, so just sayin’.

Anyways though, it just needs the seat stays installed, and clean up touches. Everything else is in and dialed. CS bridge in today, my friend Mike Deni of Geographer took some snaps of me looking like a working doofus in the shop today, and some shots of Geoff’s stem, almost done also. Check out the “fixturing”. Oh yea, my buddy Trevor made me some badass letter press business cards, killer, yea.

Tomorrow oh tomorrow. I am amped up.

Alright.  I was feeling a bit under the weather yesterday, so so so not a lot got done.  What’a we got herez.  Headtube (re)enforcement rings machined and installed.  Chainstays in, an unsoaked but smooth BB / CS junction.  Dialed height and width of the drops, score.  And and and Will’s serial badge.  I also cracked in on Geoff’s track stem while things were soaking, and then killed my oxygen tank.  Tomorrow bridges and seat stays and some gas gas gas.

Tired.

Uh. What? Amped up too. Rick called and said the color forum NAHBS machine is “bitching’”.

But really. Hard to stay emotionally and physically healthy, eat well, work a part-time “other” job, have meaningful relationship, and then spend my 40 or 50 or whatever it is in the studio. But f’it, onwards and upwards, there’s a smile on this man’s face.

So what do we have what do we have. Internal TT brake line “ride fast”. Routing for the CS shift housing, pretty killer swoop if you ask me. And you did. BB unsoaked, BB soaked. Some smoothing done, some smoothing left to go, but I like them likes. The exit port for the shift cables. And my desk. New welding cap, new Mike Giant Cinelli SF pride yo bar tape for the CX bike.

Have a great weekend all.

Will’s bicycle truly begins.   Alright alright. Victor of Archive Bags came through today to drop of a desposit for a CX machine, and dropped off this rad saddle bag as well. Killer, thank you! Skerpies, from the dollar store. Hard to say no, right? Taste that rainbow. And various shots of the sculpted CS / Dropout connection on Will’s racer. I love the beef on those stays, and the line of the taper into the dropout. Really clean, muscular. Tomorrow then.

Things should be coming back from paint soon too, and I am amped up for that. Fire.

I finally got a steady rest to face headtubes, mill crown races, and generally rock out. I am a little bit of a tool dork, and was pretty pumped to set this up.

Will’s machine is getting a whole bunch of internal routing – shifters and rear brake. It was a learning mission, and I’m really really happy with the way the routing came out. A hell of a lot of work to figure it all out, keep the angles correct, machine stainless cable stops, mill tubes, etc. but it’s going to look really great. I don’t usually break out the layout fluid, but I wanted all the ports to be really spot on. Crucial account ing kids – where the butted parts of the tube start and stop. Don’t go and start putting all kinds of crazy stress takin’ holes into that thin (.5mm!) part of the tube.

I played with an idea (first pic) before moving into the second idea (second, ha) which I think is sleeker and more appropriate for the look of this machine. That’s three out of the either 5 ports (internal TT brake routing) or 7 (maybe routing the rear shifter through the CS, gotta mull that one over).

ST sleeve. The top will be profiled and refined when I cut the excess tube off. Clean lines.

Hella tight. Thank’s again Victor / Archive.

I’ll spare the words.  Paint is going to be killlllllllller.

Onward and upward with the Rose Racer.  Some new details and ideas going into this one.  PegoRichie Uber Oversized tubeset, fillet brazed, everything internal, we like.

A the joy of seeing the full machine. All the braze one’s on, bridges in, and time to clean it all up. These were my first fastback stays like this, and I’m pleased how they came out. We’ve got two jigs in full effect – homemade style and Anvil’s bridge guide, which is a damn pleasure to use. A little curved baby bridge here. This machine really is all about them curves – stays, the lines of the bilaminate sleeve, the drop puts, transitions. I dig it.

Of note is probably my favorite piece of tooling technology – the short section of angle iron. Just rock that line down a tube and line up anything your heart desires.

And damn bicycles look like hell all covered in used flux. Time for a soak (the machine) and coffee (for me).

Aaaaaaand I’m back.

Clean up almost done. But not so fast. You think I’ll show everything before NAHBS? Fatttyy chance. A few teasers and then bounce! I might be radio silent for a few days. But maybe not.

It is a puzzling thing. The truth knocks on the door and you say, “Go away, I’m looking for the truth,” and so it goes away. Puzzling. // Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Persig.

Track bikes need coffee cup holders. Will’s bike started while I waited for some flux to soak. Neat colors – the hacksaw blade has a blue coating, the yellow of the rubber, the copper, the metal. I’m a sucker for contrast.

Tomorrow you’ll see Andres’s bicycle just about done!  Looking real rad.

Becoming.

It’s a difficult process to describe, let alone be in. The goal, if you could call it that (and by nature it resists terminal beginnings and endings) is to always be engaged in a process of becoming. It’s a flow, an energy, a process. Passage through. Movement. A continuum.

We do not start “becoming” and we do not “end” or “finish” becoming. I regularly feel that I desire something tangible to relate to this amorphous process, this state of being. Something to hold onto, sign posts to read, progress to chart. Though I do have the artifice that I create with my hands, I have nothing beyond these signs, as signs are all that they are. Becoming better, becoming faster. We can always attach modifiers to the nature of the word; these modifiers make becoming more legible, but I seek a qualitative result, not a quantitative. It is the becoming quality that I seek, and it is the becoming quality that is so difficult to be engaged in. But in every frame I seek to do “better”; to instill it with greater quality. It is this becoming, this physical, emotional, philosophical, and aesthetic engagement in my work that propels me forward. I cannot grasp the intangibility of becoming, but my practice produces results that are a simulacra of the becoming.

So what.

So.

Really though. It’s been on my mind a lot. It’s tiring. But as long as every frame is better than the last, that I learn from my mistakes, that my hands retain memories of the work through repetition, that the macro lens becomes increasingly closer to the subject, that the standards and ideals are never achieved, but pushed higher. This is what becoming means for you, and for me in terms of my production and my practice.

After long last.

A bit dirty after a good 80 mile day (Amar’s training for a 2x100mi) (that’s a double century).

PegoRichie tubing, Sachs Lugs, Paragon Drops, black stained and clear coated. A study in efficiency and grace.

So it’s been a sec. since I checked in.  I know a post a day.  Sometimes they slip away, moments lost in time like tears to rain.  Okay, sorry, Blade Runner joke.  Anyways.

Cruise mode.

Andres’s bicycle tacked and brazed, in and out of soaking, and then first pass on filing. I generally hit the fillet first with a grinding stone in the Dremel tool, then successive grades of files and emery clothe.

Yea, I like them radii on them jointz.

A former client, Amar, stopped by (hey homie – a guy needs some pics!) (teasing) (well, 75%), and I couldn’t help but to snap some myself of the headtube, cabling, and stem. And then the new serial badge. I quite dig it. Roman numerals, kiddos. I’m just a baby, them’s the proof.

Decals shipped today, seat stays on Monday, clean tuesday, pre-build to confirm my tolerances and the build, and then off to paint and onto the Rose Racer. Man, things seem to be moving faster and faster these days. Good I think. Or I know. My hand is still all f-ed, so no riding this weekend, but hopefully the surf is mellow enough for me to take advantage of this insane CA weather.

A day of smaller assemblies. Mitres were all cut, mostly so I could accurately position the internal top tube cable routing. I quite like the look of the so-called “jetport”. Sleek.

I spent a while today on the dropout to chainstay assembly. Because of the position of the bend in the chainstay as delivered, I had to cut the tapered section of the stay off. So what’s that leave you with? A big fatty hole and a bitty dropout tab. What’s a homie to do? Seems like Joel of Clockwork Bikes and are are on the same page. I’ve dig the industrial aesthetic if how TIG guys like Firefly or Engin finish their drops, and this is the brazer’s choice. Instead of the plate that’s often used, I scalloped it. All in all a bit of a pain and a lot of Fillet Pro (the drops, Paragon Rockers are stainless). But I’m pumped how they came out and how the lines developed. Boom.

So yup a bunch of process. Tomorrow I teach the brazing demo. I’m all prepped up and out for that. Tomorrow I’ll also finish cleaning the drops, mitre the chainstays and then tack and braze up the main triangle and stays. Right on schedule dudes and dudettes.

Oh yea anyone have a killer place for this Padawan to stay in Sac-Town? Holler.

Andres’s single speed cyclocross disc machine begins today. It’s loaded with some high tech rad business – Paragon Machine Works Rocker drop outs and massive headtube for an Enve full carbon disc fork, internal routing, some badass True Temper tubes, and a whole bunch of love. Even though I design in BikeCAD I like to make a full size drawing as well – I like to work in scale. I’ve got all my bits ready to run, notes and a timeline.

Today I cut and mitered all the tubes, prepped the headtube and BB, brazed the BB/ST subassembly, and worked on the seat tube sleeve. It seems all of my machines these days have the bilaminate ST sleeve. I like the architecture of it quite a lot, and it serves to strengthen a high stress area. I’m going to have some simple cut outs i addition to those slammin’ sext curves.

The last pic is my material prep for a brazing demonstration that I’m giving at California College of the Arts on Wednesday, for a friend’s sculpture class. I just dig the layout here, so you can dig on it too.  I also like teaching a lot, and it’s been awhile since I taught, so it’s always nice to get your chops back a bit.

My friend and photographer Geoff took some great pics of Mike’s allRounder before it went out the door today, so we’ll be seeing those soon too.

Wrapped it up today. Cleaning, a touch up, sculpted the ST top. I love the ST cluster’s lines on this machine, and all the rad curvy action on the bilaminate sleeve and the top of the ST. Also killer are the front forks // SS cap treatment, matchy matchy swift and strong.

It’s onto my show machine. I also got word that Mike’s allRounder at long last is just about done with paint! I can’t wait to see the magic that Rick at D & D Cycles cast on that lugged baby. I’ve been pretty short on text I know, but I’ll have some words in the next few days on “becoming”. That’s right, I’m gonna wax philosophic and you’re gonna have to take it.

Onwards and upwards.  Yesterday was a personal development day, so we’re starting the week off on Tuesday.  Just about done with the final clean-up of David’s track frame.  New decals are on order from SSSink, so we’ll ge that off to paint as soon as they arrive, which I’m psyched about.  I think we’re going to go with a deep red, candy or sparkle in the clear.  Should be blinging.  Some clean up pictures here, a simple jig for binder bosses that I borrowed conceptually from Engin Cycles (thank you), and a gift for myself moving forward, a badass Sputnik tool stem jog, which should make building stems a bit easier and more dialed moving forward.  Tomorrow it’s final cleaning, machining, and onto Andres’ show bike.  Amped up.

Those are 28′s, but still. Tolerant tolerances they ain’t. Buzzzzzz. Your wheels best be true kiddo.

1. Tight tight tolerances. Just the way we like it.
2. Machining some head tube reenforcement rings. I like these on all my machines.
3. My buddy Andres stopped by. He’s getting the next machine in the line-up, my NAHBS bicycle. He was out riding in the first rain of the season. Happy and muddy.
4. Massively still unicorn (that’s right, unicorn, not unicrown suckas) fork. I really like these forks. Smooooooth fillet seam. Damn.
5. Headtube ring on. A little cut into the ring a’la Engin. Thank you.
6. Yea, the frame didn’t move overnight. It’s all dialed in.
7. Cooled and tested. A little filing around the interior to smooth that curve out, but yyyyea. We like that.

Well we’re back.

OOS PegoRichie tubeset and candy from erRichie.  Thank you sir.  Cleaned up bilam ST sleeve and fillet.    Cleaned up baby cakes.  The headtube.  The most banal of the tubes, in my humble opinion.  Humble.  But this beast.  Massive, beautiful.  Sublime.  BB Cluster, oh shiny.

Today clean up that front triangle till she sparkles.  HT rings, CS Bridge, who knows?  The suspense…

Long one. Kicked its ass.

I offer you, kind viewer:

A sequence of how I do stainless faces on the track drops.

A tacked main triangle and CS assembly.

A fillet brazed almost bicycle.

Full swing now, got a big ole box o’ tubes from Pacenti, and we’re cruising. Bilaminate sleeves are on, ST BB spine is dialed.

A little sequence of my mitering method. Set the tube in tubing blocks on the surface table, blocks are now in phase with each other. I hold the blocks in my machine vise under the half mill, and check the angle with a bevel protractor. Then we cut. Simple, cheap, effective.

Kalavinka drops brazed in with a slight scallop on the finish, and cap brazed onto the top of the aero fork blade. That’s kind of a teaser, and it’s hard to understand the exact profile of the aero blade, but this crown is gonna be badass.  Tomorrow we tack we fillet we party.

Alright so yesterday I had a few meetings, clients, collaborations. One that shoudl be pretty rad is a collab with LOW Bicycles. Andrew Low is a buddy of mine, making badass aluminum track frames in the Mission. Influenced by the legendary Cannondale Track frame (below), we’re going to do some of my steel forks on his aluminum frames. Keep it real.

Otherwise. New graphics coming up, working hard. It’s Saturday though. Let’s relax in the crazy weather that’s been hitting SF lately, take a mellow ride through the park, drink some coffee.

Short on text. Underside of David’s track fork. BB fillet. Random shots around the shop. Very cool photographer Gene from Orange Photography shooting me (and me shooting him) for The Bold Italic. Tomorrow sleeves get brazed in, fork gets built.

And I’m just playing with that filter. Call it what you will. Call it Instagram filter week. It’ll end soon. I’m trying to write an entry every week day till NAHBS. Whew.

For lack of a better title.

So. In lack of order. Geoff’s stem is all clean and cut up. Shop tacos. New tool – a little height indicator, many uses but working with my tube centerline gauge (pictured) was the main intention. David’s bilaminate sleeve started and finished. Zammo.

Some other business.Paragon Machine Works, basically the most kick ass supplier of domestically fabricated drop outs, bottom brackets, braze ons, damn, everything, was out of a headtube I really need for my show bike. I called and talked to Mark, the owner. He calls back 15 minutes later saying he ordered material, arriving Wednesday (today! This was Monday!) and should have them fabbed up Friday afternoon. Holy f’n smokes that’s badass rad kind and generous from an industry leader and busy man. BUY F’N LOCAL.

CX stem for Geoff. Waiting on one more order, whew, so I can start letting chips fly for David’s tracko.

I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves, but this is something that for reals only happens with a custom – 1″ steer tube 31.8mm clamp diameter removeable faceplate integrated hanger steel stem. Keeping it realreal. And I also made up those faceplate binders on the lathe for 5mm bolts.

Soaking to get the flux off the binders, I’ll clean it up and have some glamor shots for you tomorrow.

Alright.  So.  New builder.  NAHBS 2012.  Gonna be killer.

The design is all done for Andres’ SS CX disc race machine that I’ll be showing at, well, the show.  Work starts when the orders are all in, close oh so close.  So today oh today.  Got this up and running, packages, design work, more design work.

Here’s what we got on the plate for the rest of January: David’s street tracko, Will’s road racer Chica Sexy style, and Andres’ SS CX disc machine.  All the materials have almost been ordered, packages flying at me from all directions at once. Man.

I’m amped up to show at NAHBS, meet the builders and makers who I look up to, talk shop, drink beer, hopefully get up to some antics.

I did take some pics today too – some new clothes for the light tourer, a lovely lady whom I’m rapidly falling in love with.  Beautiful, yes, and strong.

Let’s make work.

ISP.  Lobster stays.  Lightweight and badass.

Raphael Cycles Randonee / Light Tourer.

Fillet brazed, bilaminate seat tube sleeve, low trail geometry.  A true love in the making.