You call that a bicycle saddle?

I was checking out a couple of bicycle saddle companies in order to talk to someone about my idea for the saddle with the integrated lights and here are a few of the stranger saddles I came across.

This is the Spider-Flex.  The name fits and it looks like it would accommodate most bums.  I'm not sure if this is the racing model.

Its custom alright, custom mistake. You baked it too long chief at too high a temperature.

This one is called the Plywood, or you could call it the Dugout because I imagine you could fit about 3 Yankee players on it.  I could use that seat as a workbench in my shop.  If you need a saddle like this to fit your bum on...., well, ah- forget it, at least you're riding a bicycle and thats good news.  

I would just like to sit on this to see what it feels like.

This is just schweet!  Nice work.

Wurster Road Racer

On Thursday I got started on Mike Wurster's road frame.  Mike is from Chicago and works at the oldest bike shop in the area.  Beverly Bike and Ski, www.beverlyallseasons.com/, opened in 1921 and is still going strong.  Think about it, thats over 90 years. Pretty impressive. Can you even begin to imagine all the different types of bikes that have rolled in and out of that place.  You could pretty much assume they've seen it all.

Start straight in order to finish straight.  

Tried some different settings on the camera.  It worked out all right on these shots however if you noticed the first photo with the tubes and the drawing you can't make out the drawing at all, its there though.  I could probably build a frame without the drawing but its always nice to start out with a plan.

All cut and fit, just waiting on the bb shell to be engraved and then we'll tack this thing up.

This wasn't planned.  This is Dizzy and he's the result of watching some tv show with my wife about dogs with no home.  The next day she went to one of the local shelters, Gayle's Second Chance Pets outside of Mountain Home, and picked him up.  His name was LB, Left Behind, but we thought that was a little negative and decided to give him a fresh new name.  I was gonna change it to MOU, Moving On Up, you know like The Jeffersons.  I grew up watching George Jefferson, Archie Bunker, and Sanford and Son, shows before the 'politically correct' era.  I still love to watch Fred Sanford ream people.  I have the Sanford & Son theme song on my iPod.  When I'm out in the shop building I just put it on shuffle and every once in a while it  just rolls on out of nowhere.  It immediately grabs your attention and puts you in a lighter mood.  Dizzy changes the mood also.  He's 100% pure energy.  Its been a long time since I've had a puppy and I don't remember 'em going this hard.  Oh if I could bottle just a little of that energy.  He's got all the other animals a little on edge.  Pinky the shih-tzu is lazier than the Big Lebowski, and the two cats, Louie and Smokey did enjoy their peace, and Dizzy is like a drill sergeant.  He's having none of this laying around crap.  Maybe in a few days things will start to settle a little.  My fingers are crossed.

New Lazer Helmet

Just spotted this on Velonews.  The new Lazer Helium helmet now comes with a blinky-light integrated into it.  It may seem a little cheesey however its very innovative and it is for a rider's safety and you'll never have to worry about forgetting your "blink." Imagine having a nighttime crit and there being a pack of about 151 blinky lights sprinting.  And now imagine a crash and theres about 30 blinky lights not moving at all, just sort of floundering around in a big pile on the last corner.  If nothing else, its cooler than having a red flag sticking out of your butt.  I had an idea for a blinky light that was integrated into the saddle.  It would be like a narrow light that ran around the back contour of the saddle and the battery pack would fit nice and proper up under the saddle.  Just reach under the saddle and hit the button.  I would rather have the light on my saddle than my helmet, and if they can make it light enough to go into your helmet the weight would be next to nothing.  I may have to make some calls.

I've been out of town for a few days but finally got back and trying to get back into the bike building groove again.  Got a new road racer in the works and should have some pics up this weekend.  Le Tour is only a week away.  Get some popcorn and Red Bull ready.  I actually have an idea for a new energy drink called "Tiger Jizz."  I actually don't have any ideas for an energy drink other than the gross name "Tiger Jizz." Sounds mean though doesn't it?  Just not sure it sounds good.  I doubt Red Bull needs to worry. Yesterday I wrote on here that my dark-horse favorite for the tour was Robert Gesink but I had some of my names mixed up.  Who I really meant was Thomas Degendt of Vacansoleil who moved up in the Giro pretty handily.  I'm not even sure if he's racing the tour after doing Italy.  Robert Gesink is probably a better pick.  I'm always hopeful for my man Roman Kreuziger but he always seems to crack on the most important stage.  Maybe he'll break through one day.

1976 Schwinn Scrambler Model BX1-6

Someone just sent me an email inquiring about possibly building a BMX frame similar to an older Schwinn model and it just got the juices flowing about my first new bicycle as a kid.  After searching through hundreds of Schwinn images and not finding my bike, I about fell out when this image popped up.  This was my exact bike.  This is where it all began. I remember being at Jimmy's Bike Shop in old downtown Jonesboro and admiring it while sitting on it.  It was $125 and I remember thinking that there is no way I'll ever get that bike.  My mom told me, "I don't know, maybe for a birthday present."  When I came home one day and saw this thing sitting in the driveway I couldn't believe it.  It was a miracle.  I rode the wheels off of this thing.  We rode wheelies, jumped ramps, and were mountain biking when mountain biking was just  called 'playing.'  Just seeing this picture blows me away.  We would build a ramp and jump over each other.  Sometimes we would have 3-4 of us laying down behind the ramp and totally trusting that the stuntman was gonna clear us all.  You always wanted to be the kid closest to the ramp because you knew you were probably gonna walk away, but if you were that last kid you were always a little sketched out and usually had your hands over your balls. Rightly so huh? When you were 8 yrs. old,  jumping ramps is what balls were for.  As far as I'm concerned, thats what they're still for.

Jonathan's Road Racer

Got JR's road frame painted and the clear is curing.  This one is a bit unique and a little extra special to me in that Jonathan was the first customer to have me paint their frame for them.  Everyone knows I normally have Paul and Wayne from Ace's Wild Custom do all the painting but here recently I have been practicing.  I've learned a lot in just a short while and I'm truly enjoying learning something new.  Painting a fence is one thing but painting a bike frame is totally different.  I have new respect for all the painters out there and I tip my hat to you all.  This was the fourth frame that I've painted and I couldn't be any happier with how it turned out.  "Is it perfect Meech?"  No Virgina, its not perfect.  However the imperfections are very small and most were easily touched up.  The fork turned out really well.  We were not only able to save the Enve logo but somehow managed to make it look good.  Even the little 2.0 Road logo around the dropouts turned out nice.

Some tight fillet-brazing as usual.  JR wanted some double-barrel adjusters for on the fly adjustments so I did what any builder would do and put 'em there for him.

This little point was where one of the imperfections was.  A little paint got under the tape where the two pieces met but with a little work I was able to make it look a little tighter.

Ok, I've been doing this little seat cap number for a while now so I'm not gonna say anything else about it.

It looks good doesn't it Virgina?  "Yeah but there is a spec of dust or something on it."  Don't worry, it wiped off.

Kinda hard to make out the engraving in the brake bridge.  It would've been really sweet to have the "M" outlined in black, problem is I'm not quite sure how to do it yet, and since the paint job turned out much better than I anticipated I wasn't about to take a chance that could  mess it up.  On down the road I may give it a shot.  You know I'm gonna.

Now thats a tight ass.  "What did you just say?"  Sorry mother, I'm only teasing, I take it back.  No I don't, because thats a really  tight ass.  We put the MEECH logo on the seat tube on a 45 to try something a little different.

Handmade right here in beautiful Mountain Home, Arkansas.  Come visit and I'll take you on a ride.  We'll head out to Push Mountain.  I'll probably be riding the broom wagon back home but I'll hand you guys water bottles and cupcakes all the way back and you can motor pace if you like.  There is some really good training around this area and when you get done with the ride you can jump in the lake.  Arkansas is great.  Love it!

Now thats a tight down tube and I'm not taking that back.

I like it alot and I'm glad to have worked with Jonathan on this build.  Thanks for being the first customer to allow me to paint their frame.  Now go race the paint off of it.  Thanks for checking out my stuff.

MEECH Custom Bicycles

Mountain Home, Arkansas

(870)897-6703

www.meechcustombicycles.com

Zanibar Aliens - Don't bring me down (original)

Stumbled onto these guys last night.  These kids can jam.  Very Zeppelin like.

Zanibar Aliens - Rampage (original)

Carbon Repair

A couple of quick pics of some carbon repair work I did on a frame.  I've been working for two different Jonathans here lately, one from Pennsylvania and the other from here in Arkansas.  Here are the only supplies I needed for this repair.  I used some pretty heavy uni-directional for the first wrap and then a couple pieces of plain weave in order to try and match the frame.  

I first just filled in the cracks with some epoxy to get a smooth surface.  I actually had a good idea of how to start this repair after watching a video by The Project Junkie on You Tube.  I'll post a link later.  I believe his name is Mark and he does some interesting work, nice carbon repairs.  I've built a carbon frame but thats not necessarily the same work as fixing busted carbon.  I think if someone is good at fixing broken carbon frames they'll be able to build a pretty solid carbon frame.

The seams of the patch are visible.  I've seen some repairs done by professionals that you can't even tell anything has been done.  All I can say about that is I hope to learn how.  This finish work is completely raw and if this had a couple  coats of clear on it I think it would blend a little better, not quite as noticeable.

The underside of the tube.

My primary concern wasn't being able to fix the tube, I was confident I could do that, but I wanted it to look good as well.  I was worried about there being a bulge in the middle of the tube after the laminate was laid up.  Even though you can feel a little rise when running your fingers across it I was pleasantly surprised to see that everything laid down as good as it did.  This is 3 layers of carbon and the uni was some pretty beefy fabric. This should be good and solid.  Jonathan was wanting to leave everything in the raw as he's only concerned with it being rideable but if you were gonna do a complete repair with paint and all you can feather those seams out with some filler and then paint it, add some new decals, and then some clear would make this repair unnoticeable.  This was my first carbon repair job and I'm hoping to get some more.  If anyone has any broken carbon frames you want to get back on the road.  Send me some pics.  Thanks for checking things out.

Wet Paint

Here is a quick pic of Jonathan's frame as the clear is drying.  It turned out very nice and I'm happy with it.  This is the first frame that I have painted myself for a customer so i was a little nervous, you know wanting it to look as good as possible for both of us.  Black and white seems simple enough but it was a little difficult as well because the contrast are so sharp. Any thing white shows on the black and a little black can destroy white real quick but I got through it fairly well.  There was a small fingerprint like mark on the inside of one of the dropouts, which I truly don't know how it got there because I never touch it around there, but I guess I did.  A quick touch-up should put us on par.

I don't have the full blown pro paint setup yet.  I've been waiting and practicing to see if its something I would like to invest in or if I was just gonna give it a try and then take things back to Paul.  I'm truly enjoying it right now and I want to get better so I'll probably invest a little at a time as I get the money.  Up until this frame, i was using a professional grade clear from a rattle can that I buy at a local auto paint store but on this one I tried out this little aerosol sprayer that they sell.  Just pour in your clearcoat or paint and screw the aerosol sprayer on and you're painting.  It worked pretty good.  It doesn't have a lot of pressure so its kinda slow going but the advantage to this is that there is not a ton of excess wasted and floating around in the air.  You can pinpoint it a little better.  The canisters are small and I was worried they would run out quickly but one of them lasted me for the entire frame with plenty left over.  Just keep an extra canister around if you run out and it only takes about a minute to be shooting again.  I'm gonna try painting the next frame with it.  Check back for photos of the complete frameset in a bit after I wet sand it and clean it up a little.

Painting Prep

I got Jonathan's frame and fork all primed and prepped and hopefully this afternoon I will get to do some painting.  Its been really hot and dry around the whole area for quite a while and then this week the rain moved in and it got cooler, less than ideal painting conditions as I don't have a professional paint booth.  I've been transforming our shed out back into one.  I've been collecting every little bit of info I can get, from every painter this side of the Mississippi, and the other, trying to get a speed-degree in Painting 101.  When I get into something I start reading, researching, and asking a million questions to whomever may know something.  If somebody told me there was a hillbilly 20 miles outside of town that knew everything I needed to know about painting, but he carried a shotgun and didn't like bicycles, I would probably still try to find some peace offering and go up there to pick his brain.  Some of those guys freak me out though.  

Once I was driving back from Little Rock through the hills and there are like a hundred little antique stores along the way, they all look the same to me.  So anyway, I passed one little old looking shop out in the middle of nowhere, it was a cross between very run-down/unique. I kept thinking, "I bet that place has some cool stuff."  So even though I really wanted to get home I turned around and went back.  There was just one old car parked off to the side, the parking lot was just grown-up weeds, and there was no open sign or welcome mat or anything like that.  Just a half-open door and I could see a light on in the back. So I pushed the door open slowly and went in, kinda nervous. I felt a little like a mouse being teased with cheese. There was so much junk in this place I couldn't really focus on one thing, except that there was nobody around. Everything was covered in dust and cob webs.  I kept saying "hello", "anybody home".  Then I started noticing saws and axes on the wall, pitch-forks, ropes, etc., and I started getting a creepy feeling, and then through the window in the back I saw something move out in the woods and that was enough. I bailed, fast,very fast.  Didn't need anything, didn't want to talk.  It was probably just some old-timer with a l00 years of stuff but every since I saw Texas Chainsaw Massacre I don't hang out in places like that, especially alone. I was braver than usual just by getting out of my car, much less going in.  I didn't feel secure again until I was going 60 mph, and even then I kept looking in my rearview mirror.  Of all the scary movies made, not much of it scares me except the crazy hillbilly movies.  Ever watched Rob Zombies "Night of a 1000 Corpses?"  Not really scarey, just creepy sick.  I can live without that stuff.  Let's change the subject.  Think pretty girls and bicycle races.  Tour day France next month.  Thats more like it.

  

I prime the frames with a 2k epoxy primer and then hit the joints with a couple of shots of filler primer to smooth everything out just a little better, then sand the whole thing down super-smooth.

This is the stuff I'm using.  I think its just called Max epoxy primer.  Its not your everday primer that you get at Autozone.  Its made in Germany and it contains a catalyst that you break before shooting.  Its about $20 a can, which isn't cheap but its exactly the same stuff that a pro would shoot through a gun and you don't have to mix anything or dispose of leftovers in the appropriate manner.  Only catch is that once you break the catalyst you need to use it within a day or so because it won't last.  However they did tell me at the paint store where I buy it, that if you don't use it all up you can put it in the fridge and it will last up to a couple of weeks or so.  Not sure about that because I try to use it rather quickly.  I don't really want that stuff just sitting there next to my mustard and pasta sauce though.  Those little prep wipes are perfect for cleaning and degreasing the frame before shooting.  They're just a little cloth with something that smells like diesel or kerosene but they're convenient and only cost a buck and some change.  If you keep them in a ziplock you can get a couple of uses out them.

Here is my transformed shed/paint booth.  I need one more light and in the winter I'll need a heater.  Its got a couple of window to run air through and I keep the doors open to air it out.  A friend told me to paint it white and that helps out quite a bit.  I thought it was gonna just take a $20 gallon of paint and a couple of hours to do.  Nope, you're wrong, as always.  Two days and three gallons.  Its done now.  Please take your shoes off before entering and no food or beverages allowed inside.  

Frames awaiting my newly awakened painting passion.

I found him dead on the floor this morning.  He either had way too much to drink last night or the clear coat fumes got to him.  Paint fumes aren't good for you however the clear coat is actually the most dangerous.  I was told to cover your entire body before shooting clear.  I wear long pants, long-sleeves, hat, glasses, and a respirator.  When I started clearing the fork yesterday I forgot to put the respirator on and clearly I noticed something didn't seem right.  So when I realized I just pulled my shirt collar up over my face and finished that coat and then of course got my respirator.  But then later in the afternoon I kinda had a headache/fuzzy feeling all day and I started getting worried.  I went for a quick spin yesterday evening to try and clear my head but I think it may just be my ears are messed up from going swimming the other day.  I hope.  I am really enjoying painting the frames right now but I don't want to end up like this guy.   I thought roaches were supposed to withstand a nuclear attack.  Yeah nuclear, no problem, but this is clear coat.  Please don't keep the clear coat in your fridge, its probably not wise.

I did finish the fork yesterday.