Winter Training Camps Presented by Velonews

http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/02/video/video-10-training-camp-locales-you-should-book_317978

Recent Work on Jam's New Frame

I just finished Jam's road frame yesterday but I still need to build the fork.  Hopefully the front dropouts will be here this week and you can view the completed frameset shortly. 

Thanks for checking it out.

Sven Marx - Cycling Against My Cancer From being disabled to cycling the...

Here is a short video about a man from Germany named Sven Marx.  I do not know him personally but was recently contacted by him via Facebook and he asked me if I would share his story.  He has a dream of cycling around the world and he seems to have endured quite a few obstacles in his life however it seems that they have failed to slow him down.  I wish him good luck on his quest.

Check This Test Out

I'm not sure that this really proves much in the bicycle world however its an interesting video to watch.  I personally had no idea that carbon fiber was this strong.
http://www.bikerumor.com/2014/02/13/video-just-how-much-stronger-than-steel-is-carbon/

New Focus Cross Bike

http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/02/bikes-and-tech/first-look-new-focus-mares-cx-and-its-innovative-thru-axles_316278

Finally Finished, Almost

Its been a long time coming.  For anyone who may follow this blog at all, you know I've been working on this carbon frame forever.  For whatever reason its taken me this long but its done now, everything except maybe a few brush strokes to enhance the overall look.  I work with a guy at the bistro who does hand pin-striping and I may let him play with this frame a bit and see what he comes up with.  This photo here just shows the fit of the integrated bearing and it came out nice.  I got to use my integrated head tube cutters, I love 'em.

I didn't really do any pre-planning for the seatpost but it turned out that a 31.6mm post fit perfectly.

The brake bridge will get improved on the next frame.  This wasn't thought about too much beforehand and I just kinda threw this idea together on the fly.  Its a piece of steel tubing compressed and then wrapped in carbon.  Its sufficient but I plan on doing better.

I built this frame Di2 compatible but I'll just be using my same old Campy groupset that I've had for the last few years.  I didn't enjoy cutting holes in the chainstay on two sides but I think its gonna be ok.  I guess we'll find out.  I was gonna wrap some extra carbon or even kevlar around the right stay in order to beef it up but I just decided to roll with it as it. I can still do it if I need to but i think I'm just gonna give it a dig and see where I'm at with it.

I could've used some flat-head screws for this and it would've been a bit more pleasing to the eye.  Oh well, its a prototype.

I tried to create as much room in the bb shell for housing all the wiring and so forth.  Hopefully its sufficient.

This is it.

The last few days have been pretty cold here in Mountain Home, both inside and out.  We recently got about 2-3 inches of ice and snow here and the temp has dropped dramatically.  "Why is it cold inside D?  Did you leave a window open?"  Well, kind of.  Those last couple of blog posts didn't sit well with some folks.  I got a bit of an earfull on a couple of fronts.  I got called a racist by one guy.  I've been called a lot of things by people in my time, mainly people in cars passing me on the road, but never a racist.  I've managed to live for 46 years without being called that one and truthfully I would've liked to live another 46 without hearing it, but the run is over.  I'm not gonna lie, it hurt.  My first thought was, "Oh no, am I gonna be put in a boat with Mel Gibson and Paula Deen?"  I can't stand Mel Gibson, and I don't care for Paula Deen much either, but maybe she'll bring some of that cobbler that she makes with Krispy Kreme donuts.  My fingers were crossed.  And then I thought, "Maybe Axl Rose will be sitting somewhere close."  I always thought he had an interesting personality.  In the song "One in a Million", Axl managed to insult immigrants, homosexuals, African-Americans, and the cops.  He must be a multi-tasker.  I'm not that good yet. My Greek grandparents came over from Greece in the early 1900's but I wasn't offended. He'll probably get a seat in first-class since he is so accomplished.  Then I started wondering, "Am I gonna go to Hell?" Oh well, at least it'll be warm there.  Anything to get me out of this ice and snow.   "Come on kids, get your swimsuits and sand buckets, this year we're going to Hell."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imdWX-Ha2rU

That first night I didn't get much sleep.  I kept thinking, "Am I a racist?"  I never thought I was.  I always hated the Ku Klux Klan and thought they were a big joke.  I've never told anyone this before but I've always imagined me and some friends ambushing a KKK rally with paintball guns, you know, just come out of the bushes firing, paint their arses about 10 different colors, send 'em home looking like a bowl of Skittles.  I could see the ol'boy walking in the house with his tail between his legs with a handful of sheets and pillow cases looking like they'd been tye-dyed by a bunch of hippies.  His wife would scream, "VERN, you've ruined our best sheets again!"  Just for the record, not all people named Vern are in the KKK.  I just wanted to clear that up.

So anyway, now I'm a racist. Its hard being a racist, well, its easy to become a racist, you might be one and not even know it, that was the case with me.  I've only been a racist for about 36 hours now but its been rough.  I didn't really want to leave the house all day but then I needed to run to Lowe's and so I was forced to.  I warmed my truck up and put my boots on. I laced 'em up pretty tight because I was thinking I might run into some trouble, I mean people don't take kindly to racist.  I felt like I had racist written on the back of my shirt, you know, like a football jersey with a big number and across the back it said, "RACIST".  When I pulled up into the parking lot at Lowe's I just kinda sat there for a minute and looked around.  I was afraid someone might throw eggs or tomatos at me, like uncooked ones, but everything looked pretty safe.  I pulled my hat down over my eyes a bit and kept my shades on and didn't make eye contact with anyone and I managed to get in and out without any trouble.  "Whooosh, that was close."

I'm feeling a bit better today.  I've decided to accept my racism.  When I initially got called a racist I was hurt and offended, but after thinking about it a bit, I thought, "Wait a minute, I've played this game before.  I call you a name and you get mad, so you call me a name and I get mad.  This is a kid's game."  I remembered something I read in an Eckhart Tolle book.  It said when you experience something that hurts you, to not react with emotions quickly but rather be accepting of it and embrace it.  Feel it, let it soak in deep and you'll find strength in it.  So I did, and I feel better.  I've already started my Racist Rehabilitation program.  I want to embrace the Jewish community.  Mr. Richard Sachs told me that he attended a Yeshiva for eight years.  I don't know what that is but it sounds fun.  I imagine they'll have live music and lots of food kinda like a Greek Festival.  I went to Lollapalooza once but it was only 2 days,  Janes Addiction headlined.  They're my favorite band of all time,  Perry Farrell is Jewish you know.  He sang one song about Whores and another about Summertime.  It was a good time. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX9lFKG9AY4

So anyway, there isn't a Yeshiva in Mountain Home to help me and so I just decided to start finding famous Jewish people that I like because I knew I didn't dislike all of them, just a few of them.  So below I've picked out some of my favorite Jews of all time.  I actually had no idea that half of them were Jewish.

Billy Crystal  He's alright, very entertaining, pretty funny, and I like some of the stuff he's done.  He was in City Slickers and a few other movies.  Most of all i like his upbeat personality.

Gwyneth Paltrow.  Great looking, a really classy women.  Nobody can not like her.

Ben Stiller.  Good looking man, great smile.  He was in "Theres Something About Mary" and he had a bunch of jizz in his ears.  His dad is also very entertaining.  Like 'em both.

Julia Louis-Dryfess.  Another super-classy Jewish girl.  She played Elaine on Seinfeld.  Love her. I loved that whole cast and still watch reruns constantly.  Its on the TV right now.

I forgot this girl's name.  Silverspoon or Silverton, who knows.  I don't care that much for her really.  She's just some slut on Comedy Central.  I'm sure her dad is proud.

Adam Sandler.  Great smile, very funny to some.  I personally don't find him that funny.  I thought his best movie was "Funny People" with Seth Rogan.  He seems like a very personable and likeable Jewish man. Very cool.

Seth Rogan.  Love him and all his pot-smoking movies.  "Super Bad"  was an excellent movie as was "Pineapple Express". Seems like he would be a blast to hang out with.  That reminds me.  One Thanksgiving night a couple of years ago my wife had to work and my mother-in-law put the movie "Knocked Up" in and I had forgot about all the dirty scenes in it.  Needless to say, long movie.  I was also a huge fan of the show "Freaks and Geeks" in his early years.

This is Peter Faulk.  I always thought he was cool but I'm not sure what he did.  Maybe he was in some show called "Get Smart".  It doesn't look like he ever did.

Paul Rudd.  This guy has been in so many movies over the past 10 years I honestly don't know how he keeps track of his lines.  Another good-looking guy, great smile.  Love him!

Aayyyyyeeeee!  The Fonz. Super-cool guy!  Everyone loves the Fonz.  He was on "Happy Days" and jumped his motorcycle over 13 garbage cans.  Thats not bad, but I know of at least 3 MEECH team riders that can jump further than that on their cross bikes. This show takes me back to when I was a kid and me and my family would sit around watching TV together.  I miss those days.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNl-J7rj488  

This is one of the most famous Jewish men of all time, Albert Einstein.  He discovered the Theory of Relativity and was the first man to ride a bicycle in outer space. 

I had to come back because i forgot Gene Wilder.  How could I leave out one of my favorite actors of all time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNbZcT8RXgE

And I almost forgot the most famous Jew of all time, Jesus Christ.  Its funny though, when I look at Jesus Christ I don't see Jesus the Jew, I just see Jesus, and I think thats the way we're probably supposed to view one another.

Thanks for checking out my stuff.

Now, back to building bicycle frames.

Dimitri

I Would Like The Crow con Salsa Verde

A couple of days ago I did one of my weekly blog posts just sort of touching base with you guys and letting you know what I was working on.  There wasn't anything really special happening, nothing you hadn't already seen before so in typical Meech fashion I tried to add a little humor to the post as to not bore you guys completely to death.  I said some things, as I do on occasion, that could offend some people.  I called Richard Sachs, whom I've never met personally, a "dick" and I also made some references to Jews that very well could be frowned on by some.  I also joked about Bill Clinton, Monica Lewinsky, and who knows what else.

Over the past 5 years, give or take, that I've been blogging I've said some derogatory things about a handful of subjects that some people could take the wrong way.  I've joked about random people, their habits, certain countries, religions, Jesus, the blind, etc., sometimes knowing that it might create a spark, but at the same time I felt that nobody would really take it that serious.  I guess I assume that you guys know how I am and that you probably are just thinking, "Dimitri is chattering a bunch of nonsense again."  I try not to take myself too serious on this blog and I hope that you guys don't either.  My main concern is that the photos of my work show that I am indeed serious about frame building.

So anyway, not long after I posted that last post I get an email from non other than Richard Sachs.  Turns out he has some sort of low-lying, high-end radar system on his website that picks up anything that is said about him or his frames.  He was very polite to me and simply said that my blog showed up on his website's Sitemeter, so he read it and asked me if I had a problem I wanted to discuss and that he was open-minded.  After exchanging a couple of emails we both agreed that this conversation was of no further significance to either of us and to just let it go.  He kindly told me that he wasn't asking for an apology or a retraction of what I said and thats the way it stands today.  

The reason I am writing this now is for anyone else out there who has visited my blog and read something that offended them.  I have included the first email that I sent to Richard Sachs because it tells a little about me and my blogging style.  I put a lot of thought into it as this was important to me and I hope that it will help clarify some things to anyone I may have offended.  Its quite long and you're probably already bored reading this but oh well, this makes me feel a little better.

Hey Richard,

First off, I wanna say that I do not have a problem with you, as I don't personally know you.  I'm really surprised that you read my blog post

and I'm glad that you're open-minded because I stand more of a chance of clarifying my semi-belligerent blogging style.  Where do I even start

to explain a rant like that?  Let me try.

If you read the whole thing then I'm sure you know that there is no rhyme or reason to any of it.  Its really nothing more than a second-rate

stand-up act, and I know that some of it is tasteless but I never really think anyone is taking it serious. When I'm writing, one thought sparks another, and then another,

and before I know it my mind has bounced around like a tornado.  Sometimes my posts  originate from my imagination while other times it comes from past occurences.

On occasion, pretty frequently actually, my mind drifts into subjects that may be touchy and very well could offend people.  It seems difficult for me

to avoid saying some things just because someone may be offended, so I normally go ahead and say it even if I know there will be repercusions.  Its kind of like

not being afraid of a confrontation, because normally not much comes of confrontations, but should something come of it I'm willing to take the licks that I deserve.

Also, you probably noticed that sometimes I talk from another's perspective.  Thats just me reacting to something that i've just said in a way that I think someone else

might react.

Where this post is a bit different from most others is that instead of just general thoughts and observations I actually used some real names, your's of course as

well as others.  I doubt Bill or Monica have read this post.  I called you a "dick" in the post and it seems worse now than it did at the time.  I said that based on some

of the comments that I've read from you from time to time on forums.  You seem to say things the way you see fit and I don't think you really worry about what others may

think.  I actually like that about you even though I may not like the exact thing that you say.  Its not appropriate for me to call someone a name when I've never actually met them

and I know better.  Sometimes I try to add a little humor (if you could even call it that) to my blog posts so that its not just the same old boring posts about me building another

frame.  I try to add a little something extra or a little flare for anyone who might be checking out my stuff.  Some may like it and some may say, "I don't want this jerk to build my frame."

Its possible I've lost some business because of certain blog posts however I can't worry about that because I'm being me and speaking from the heart.

To show you how this post came to be is really simple.  When I was writing and I mentioned "feeling rusty", I immediately thought about people who always say that

steel frames rust.  Then I thought, "Who would be the best person to respond to one of those rust accusations?"  You immediately came to mind because you are one

 of the premier steel frame builders and I'm sure you've answered that question more times than you care to.  Then of course I inappropriately called you a "dick" based

 on my past impressions of whatever comments I may have read.  I also made reference to ATMO because you do seem to say that a lot in my opinion.  And lastly,

I said something about "good luck buying PegoRitchie products", and my thinking was, you'd never sell anything to me now after I've almost certainly offended you.

Now that I've done the best that I can to explain myself and this blog post I would like to tell you that I really do respect you and your work.  I've always known

that you were a great frame builder, your work is first-class.  I just recently saw one of your frames for the first time at the Arkansas Cross Championships and it was a very nice looking 

bike, very classy indeed.  And while I have respect for any great frame builder I have even more respect for the fact that you've built a business from the ground

up and made a living building bike frames.  Thats an amazing feat in my mind and I would love to one day be doing something similar.  

I'll probably issue you a formal apology on my blog because you deserve it.  I said some things that may or may not have touched on your business side of things

and that wasn't my intentions, however I doubt that I could ever say anything that would affect your business.  I think you're pretty solid.

You may prefer that I don't issue you an apology and that I just let it sit there and teach me a lesson.  I owe you that much.

I would also like to call you and talk to you personally just so you know I'm not hiding behind emails and blog posts, and if I ever meet you in person I would

be glad to buy you a steak and a beer or whatever your taste is.

I'm sorry for the super-long email. My only hope is that you will give this a quick read as this is much more sincere than my blog post was.

sincerely

Dimitri Harris

MEECH Custom Bicycles

p.s.- I hope you're not Jewish.

I wrote this little "p.s." simply as a joke because after inappropriately calling him a name I thought, "Man, I hope he's not Jewish as well because then i would've offended him even more so.  It turns out that Richard Sachs is indeed Jewish and attended a Yeshiva for 8 years.  I didn't know what that was and had to research it and so basically Richard taught me something new, and I always enjoy learning new things, so thank you Mr. Sachs.

When I write these blog posts I really have no idea where all these thoughts come from, they just sort of appear.  Once I read a book about the great Spanish artist Salvador Dali and they were talking about the references that people make about his paintings.  His reply was, "How could they possibly know what these images mean when i myself don't even know." I'm not anything like Salvador Dali but you understand what I'm getting at. Sometimes I write a post and then go for a walk with the dog and I think of something that may or may not enhance the post a little, and so I'll add it later, hoping that it does make it more interesting.  This is all done for the sake of a little entertainment and I sincerely hope that nobody takes any of this too serious.  I try to make fun of myself as well because I feel like we're all created equal. In regards to my frame building, i do take that serious.  When someone asks me to build them a frame I take the work that I do for them and their safety very seriously.

If you managed to stay awake reading all of this I appreciate your time and now I better get back to building some frames.

sincerely

Dimitri

This man has no reason to like me but I can't help but to like him.

A Little Progress

Whats up?  I know, I've been a absentee blogger.  It couldn't be helped, or at least it felt like it couldn't.  Yesterday was the first opportunity I've had to get something done on my carbon frame.  I'm beginning to wonder how long its actually gonna take.  It'll have to be soon because I've got some orders that I need to get started on.  Actually I've already started on them and I'm trying to get this done on the side.  My goal is to be test riding this thing in the spring time.  There have been some extremely cold days here in northern Arkansas.  I'm handling them about as good as can be expected (not good at all).  I move slower, get less done, not to mention that during the winter I feel old.  My face seems more tense, my body aches more, and my legs don't want to spin on the bike, and thats if I manage to make myself get on it at all.  How do you folks from the North do it?  I'm in admiration.  I really wouldn't mind moving to Florida, although I don't think the salty air is good for steel frames.  Thats ok, we're talking carbon right now.  I laid a cosmetic layer down on the head tube and it turned out pretty good.  This 12K weave is a bit difficult to make look good but overall this wasn't too bad.  Here are a couple of shots taken right out of the bag and a couple more after it was sanded.

It turned out a little better than anticipated although it did have a couple of small wrinkles that needed to be smoothed out.

Here is the seam up close. Instead of trying to cut release film to fit around each tube I just took one big piece and folded it over the complete area just like I do the breather cloth and bagged it and waited to see how it came out.  I'm curious to see how some clear coat will make this appear.  It won't hide anything I'm sure, and if its anything like paint it will only make it stand out more.  I'm honestly not too worried with that at this time.  This frame is all about developing a technique and becoming comfortable with it.  The aesthetics will have to come from practice.

This is vacuum-bag art.  Don't kid yourself, this is valuable stuff.  If you would like to own a piece of art like this you can search Ebay and hope that you're the winning bidder, or should you choose to buy a MEECH Custom Carbon frameset I will just give it to you.  I spent a couple of hours last night staring into this thing trying to find something interesting like a constellation or Jesus riding a bicycle however I gave up after the thought came to me that it only looks like a wet diaper, but it is still for sell.  Thanks for stopping by and I'll get back as quick as possible.  Enjoy the weekend!  Road race season has officially begun.  

Cody "The Kid" Kaiser defies gravity and hops up the Belgian stairs at t...

Wrong! Do it Again.

Couple quick shots of the latest mess I've made.  Its not really that bad but its a little bit difficult to get the vacuum bag to pull tight perfectly around the bottom bracket shell area.  With roughly 5 tubes going in 5 different directions, several complex curvysome radial-diametrylloids,  and throw in a couple of invisible squellallellagrams, its kinda hard to get the peel ply and breather cloth to lay down flat, so you can't really tell which direction the bag is gonna pull.  It wasn't all bad though, it actually pulled things together it all the right places except for one.  Follow me.  

"Hey D, whats with all the different carbon patterns going on?"  Oh, well you see, thats part of MELP.  "What's MELP?"  Its the MEECH Experimental Laminate Process.  No seriously though, the stardard carbon weave pattern on top conforms really well to the complex shapes shown here and it lays down much better than the uni-directional carbon I have, which is really thick by the way.  The carbon cloth that has the big squares is some 12K weave that I bought because I like the way it looks and I'm wanting to use it as a cosmetic layer, think back to the Scott CR1.  Are you beginning to think that I'm stuck back in 2003?  If only.  Just kidding, I love my life now and wouldn't trade it for anything, except for maybe a time machine and a genie in a bottle.  "If you have a time machine what would you need with a genie?  Umm, ever see the show "I Dream of Jeannie?" You're not gonna make me explain this one are you? So anyway, at this point I was a bit frazzled with the way this layup had gone and since everything had gone awry I just threw a patch of this 12k weave on to see how it would turn out.  Let me tell you, this has got to be the most difficult carbon fabric to work with known to man.  It just wants to fall apart while your cutting it.  Forget trying to cut an experimental piece and see how it'll lay down.  The only way to work with it at all is to apply the resin while its still all together and then cut it, this way the resin kind of holds it together.  It has to get better from here.  Oddly enough though, the junctures around all the tubes and the bottom bracket are nice and snug, really solid.  All it needs is sanding and a cosmetic layer and it'll be good to go.

This is the bad spot I spoke of earlier.  See the air pocket?  I honestly don't know how that happened however I'm assuming as the vacuum bag pulled tight an air-pocket formed and it cured that way.  Anyone care to enlighten me more?

This Wrinkle Be Gone stuff works surprisely well.  I'm gonna need to put in a good supply.

Ahh, enlightenment!  A little pre-planning will go a long way.  I've learned that its best not to wait until after you've layed down the wet carbon to try and start figuring out how to cut the peel ply, so I tried to cut a few pieces that sort of fit the frame and be ready.  While these aren't a perfect fit (I don't think its possible) they are an improvement.  Just having a bit of a plan in place is an improvement over what I just did.  The more I play with this I think I'll eventually dial in the shapes.  Its definitely not easy making a flat piece of cloth lay down on a squellallellagram. Its a little like cutting paper-doll clothes, which I never did by the way.  I played with Evel Knievel and GI Joe with the kung-fu grip and his helicopter, which mine happened to be missing a couple of propeller blades because I climbed 30 feet up in a tree and tossed it.  "Houston, we have a problem."  Have you ever jumped out of tree holding a bubble-umbrella in a snow storm?  Don't do it.  Regardless of how much snow is on the ground the landing is not that soft. Did I ever tell you about the time I filled my Evel Knievel Sky Cycle up with gasoline and sent it flying across the ...., yeah I told you.  I'm running out of stories to tell. I need to make some more. Man, if you could've seen the look on my mom's face when she drove up to find the driveway in flames.  Some parents call their children a blessing, my parents used to refer to me as a nightmare with matches. The best way to describe me is to take a perfectly good bottle-rocket and break off the stick and then light the fuse.  Hope I never have any kids like me.  Uhh, guess what?  Nightmare!