Caesar's Frame Ready For Paint

Finally got the clean-up work done on Caesar's frame and with a little luck I should be able to prime it later today or tomorrow.  Anyway, here are a couple of pics in the raw.

New brake bridge, courtesy of Ceeway in Britain.  They have some pretty cool stuff that you can't find here in the states.  Its nice to change things up from time to time, keep it fresh.  I really like the profile of it.

New seat lug as well, sort of.  Its the same one I always order only this time it showed up looking a little different.  Thats ok with me.  It looks a little hairy in this pic but thats just the shaving after cleaning up the cutout.

Nairo Quintana won the time trial today in the Giro and looks to be on his way to taking the Maglia Rosa back to Columbia.  When he was a kid, his family bought him a bicycle in order to ride home from school everyday, he probably rode to school as well but I didn't hear about that part. So anyway, apparently his house was 16km away from the school, uphill from the school that is.  So everyday after school this kid had to ride home up a mountain tougher than many of us have experienced. "What if it snowed?"  No problem.  You saw how he handled Stage 16 didn't you? Want your kid to be a climber?  Move uphill and tell him he better not be late for dinner or it'll all be gone. He's cool and I'm happy for him.  The Columbians have been lighting it up here recently.  Viva los Columbianos!  Bravo!

Here's another new face to watch out for.  Fabio Aru of Italy looked like he was gonna win the time trial until Quintana gassed it in the final 2-3 kilometros.  

Thanks for stopping by.

Final Stages of Giro de Italia

The Tour of Italy is down to the last two significant stages that will show who the winner of the pink jersey is.  Its been going on for nearly three weeks now but it seems like it just started.  Try telling that to the racers of the Giro.  Today is a crazy long, mountain time-trial that you'd think would decide the overall, but after reading this little clip out of velonews this morning about the final climb on stage 20, you'll realize it won't be over until this stage is finished.  I haven't posted anything about the Giro but I've been paying attention to it a little, checking the results after each important stage.  Anyway, imagine having to do a 2ok mountain time-trial, that only has 7 km of flat, that could give you the biggest win of your life, and then waking up the next day to be faced with this:

Ehh, big deal, doesn't look all that bad. 

This is probably trick photography, you know, tilting the camera to make it look steeper than it really is.

This guy is walking on a flat road as far as I'm concerned, and it could use a little resurfacing in my opinion.

From Ovaro, the Zoncolan would be a punch in the face any day, let alone at the tail end of a cold, demanding grand tour like this. Relative to, say, Mont Ventoux, it’s short. But think of it like grain alcohol compared to a glass of wine. It’s 10.1 kilometers long at a 12 percent average, with a maximum pitch of 22 percent. If that sounds bad, consider this: the road disappears into the forest and gains 3,000 feet in 6 kilometers. The final 3.5 kilometers tilt toward the sun at 14 percent, roughly, with ramps of 23 percent.
Read more at http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/05/news/guns-blazing-two-shots-win-giro_330021#BGKSA3GskOdoIiFS.99

If this was waiting for you at the top, do you think you could push it just a little harder?

Enjoy.

Sir Bradley Wiggins Takes California

Bradley Wiggins cruised in the Tour of California this past week.  I watched 4 or 5 stages on the tele and he didn't appear to even break a sweat.  The field looked like it lacked competition to me but maybe he just made it appear that way.  Oh well, he set a goal, trained for it, and achieved it.  You gotta respect that.  The last few years I've hardly been able to watch a time trial, but I enjoyed watching him and Taylor Phinney in this race.  

Stumbled onto this photo of Brad while looking through some other stuff.  Wiggins has personality.  I never paid much attention to him until I realized how well he handles the media.  I love anyone who can spin the table on stupid questions.  Return to sender!  He looks the front man of a punk rock band here.  Check this next photo out.

What a body!  If it wasn't for his legs I would guess that he was a heroin addict.  Check that vein out on the left leg.  Geez, that thing is begging for a needle.  I think he rides clean, but then how would I know. Hey, he's a badass professional cyclist, who's won some big races, has Olympic gold, owns a yellow jersey, and he's been knighted by the queen.  Yes Sir takes on a whole new meaning.  I hope he gets to ride in the Tour this year. Adieu.

Clean Rider's POV

http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Whistler+cyclist+Will+Routley+says+competitors+used+PEDs+aren+just+cheaters+they+criminals/7502237/story.html

Caesar's Di2 Road Racer

Got started on a new road racing frame a few days ago for Caesar.  Gonna go light and tight on this one with a couple ports for Di2.  I decided to put a little bi-oval look into the  34.9mm down tube and the seat tube is ovalized as well at the bottom bracket.  This is gonna be a 52cm with a slightly sloping top tube so stiffness will not be a problem.  You couldn't flex those chainstays even if you wanted to.  Go ahead, try.  See, told you.  I think all these stiffness issues that every company is trying to address is a bit overkill.  It all depends on what you like I guess but I can't help but to laugh when I see these new carbon frames with

3 1/2" down tubes, however they're really nice for when you're riding through puddles and you want to put you feet up higher to keep them dry.  I saw Alejandro Valverde do that once while going uphill and he still one the sprint.  "What?"  That's right!  Uphill sprint, through a puddle, with his feet (dry mind you) up on the down tube, and his arms raised.  The guy who got runner-up is still crying.  I've got a new favorite racer.  Give me a couple of days and I'll tell you all about him.  Lets move on.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words and I'm glad because I can't think of a thousand words to say about this picture.  I'm not even sure if I have a thousand words in my vocabulary, but I've got a thousand images in my head at any given moment so do the math on that one while the rest of us look at some more pictures. I failed Trigonometry in college, twice.  The sad part is I never even had to take it in the first place, I just signed up for it one semester to see what it was like.  After failing it the first time I had to take it again to get the "F" off my report card. Now I got two "F's" on it, all because I couldn't figure out how to draw an apple with a calculator.  WTF!  I blame the professor for not teaching me correctly, and that Zoology professor can kiss my arse also.  I didn't see one animal in that class all semester long unless you count that dog the blind girl brought in and she was in the wrong class that day. "Dissect a grasshopper, are you kidding me? I just stepped on it, I don't care what's in it. And this book is heavy, where can I get the cliff notes?"

I was just trying to come up with some new pictures for you.  Use your illusions. Isn't that a GnR record? "Oh no, you're not gonna play some old, lame GnR video from the 90's are you?"

Well I was, but I'll try to find something else.  Let's see.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dGoKgSknuk

I always like to throw a level on the chainstays to make sure my miters are centered.

I still have a couple more things to do but for the most part its ready to tack. 

I tried to make the wire transfer openings as large and clean as possible because sometimes internal can be a real pain.  This cutout is around an inch wide so hopefully that'll make things a little easier.

You can see the chainstay access opening through the down tube here.

Making sure the grommets fit nice and tight without issue.  

I had to know how difficult it was gonna be to feed the wire through so I did a little test run.

It only took a couple of tries.  After trying to run the wire straight through without luck I took a piece of stiff, bendable wire and fed it through and then taped it to the shifter wire and  it pulled through nice and easy.  This is actually the bottom of the chainstay and not the top.  I got everything tacked in place and tomorrow morning I'll braze it up.  Thanks for stopping by.

Luck of the Irish

This might be classified under the heading "Nice Save".
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/huge-bomb-found-as-giro-ditalia-party-hits-town-30265425.html

Stumbled onto this brand Miche SuperType

Last night I was surfing around looking for some medium-long reach brake calipers for a bike project I have in mind and stumbled onto a brand that I was unfamiliar with.  Apparently this company Miche has been around forever and apparently I don't get out enough.  Looks like some nice stuff and the reviews I've read seem positive for the most part.  Some of the stuff is really expensive however they have some longer reach brake calipers for only a nickel. Most of the components appear a bit like knock-offs of other more popular brands but if you're looking for something that not everyone has its an option.

These only cost one nickel.

These are quite a bit more.

I would take one of these in red or gold.

...cranks to match?

http://www.totalbike.com/web/articles/miche.html

Prototype Campy at Giro

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/prototype-campagnolo-group-spotted-at-giro-ditalia

Most Recent

I'm running a little behind again.  Last week I had a head cold that robbed me of three good days work so I'm just now getting things back rolling in the right direction.  Here are a couple of pics of the stem I finished up for Mike.  I've had these for a week now but just never got them posted up.  He's already got the stem on a bike.  It turned out pretty nice and I think he's happy with it so all is well.  "Good, then try to keep it going, and keep on time!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgmsTJhjWII

Last night I started throwing parts on the carbon frame and got it all put together.  I wasn't shooting for any particular look with this frame as its only the second carbon frame I've built, I just wanted a good solid frame with some nice layup around the joints.  Then I decided to let a buddy of mine do some hand pinstriping on it just so that it wouldn't look like raw carbon.  I'm pretty tired of that look.  I took the fork off my other frame and wasn't gonna paint it but I decided to go ahead since painting a fork is rather easy.  The fork turned out so glossy looking from the clear coat that I decided I needed to clear the frame just so they would look a bit uniform.  After thinking for way too long about how to paint the fork, I just scratched every idea and completed winged it.  All that work and all I wanted to do was test ride it.  Oh well, I'll probably be riding this bike for a long time as I don't switch'em out as often as I used to.  Decided to roll the 'silla amarillo' Avocet on this one.

I put my Chinese wheels on this frame.  Check out those skewers.  If thats not Chinese I don't know what is. 

I was gonna paint the stem yellow but had to draw the line somewhere, besides the hubs are red.  They're not an exact match but I don't want to be a super-dork, afterall this is a prototype.

Finally got a much needed rear derailleur.  The other one was kinda hangin at a 45, making my shifting a little unprecise.  I got some new treads also, Vredestein Gran Fondos.  You're in trouble now.

"Oh no! What is that? Did someone throw up on your fork?"

I know. Like I said, I totally winged it and it turned out looking like something crapped circus on it.  Its totally Rock Star and way ahead of its time.  Thats a cool name for a custom frame right there, ROCK STAR frames.  You saw it here first.  Who says that?  Thats just one name, I've got plenty more.  Are you a new frame builder and looking for a name?  Well lets see if I can help you out.  MOTO-BICI? No, I've already been there.  How bout SOUL KATT?  Don't even think about it, I've got the trademark pending on that one. You can have LOVE if you want it.  MAMACITA? How bout DRAGON LADY? CHAVA? FLY? YO DADDY? ARMSTRONG?  Gotcha!  Might as well use TITANTIC or TRASH CANN.

"What kind of frame is that?"  

"Its a TRASH CANN, and thats with two N's, not one."

How bout KINGSHEAD? FUKKA SUKKA? SWANK?  Don't try to use any indian names or those Redskins will be breaking out the war paint and doing a rain dance on your company's arse.  Ahh, the perfect name, STUPID INDIAN.  Well, I'm outta names at the moment but I'll try and think of some more later.  I'm afraid I broke the promise I made to myself, the one where I told myself I would try not to offend any more people on this blog.  Luckily there are only about 9 indians left in the world so at least I didn't offend too many people, unless you count all those people that are part indian and then I might be in trouble again. Actually I didn't promise myself that as I don't make promises, but if I do I'll keep it. STUPID INDIAN is probably not a very good name to use on your frames anyway, its too long and wouldn't fit very well on the down tube, but it does have a ring to it.  Just for the record, I don't have anything against indians except for the fact that they can't hold their liquor very well. "What kind of bike is that guy riding?"  Its a STUPID INDIAN. Talk about screaming custom.  How bout  a frame called JOSEY WALES?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF8ETyOcDCE

This surprised me a bit.  I know there are lighter bikes out there but I wasn't even going for weight on this one.  This is the lightest bike I've owned. Just 'weight' until I start using titanium in them. 

This really surprised me.  The other day Mike Wurster texted me that I had a plug in Road Bike Action magazine.  Its from my buddy Steve Hanchett, who I built a frame for last year.  Its great to get some exposure and have my name amongst all those other great frame builders. I'll try not to let the fame go to my head.  If I was really famous, I would go speeding around town in my Lamborghini all jacked up on smack, and maybe wrap it around a telephone pole or something, you know, like a true rock star.  But for now, I'll have to settle for driving over the curb at the local Dairy Queen drive-thru in my Nissan Frontier.  They love it when I do that.

Thanks Steve!