It’s not too often that I get the opportunity to build a straight up road bike. The geometry of the modern road bike has been evolving over the years based on frame design and component trends. Tires are getting bigger and a lot of road bikes don’t have the clearances needed. Although this one has […]
So Nina’s father got her a Schwinn World Voyager when she was a child. Now, we all have a fondness of our first nice bike and I understand why she loved it. It was a combination of the chrome, the orange, and the overall presentation. So when she wanted me to build her a bike, […]
Ted came to me looking for a new bike. He wanted a randonneur with lights, fenders, rack, and he wanted it to be a travel friendly bike. The challenge immediately started as there is not a whole lot of room in the 26″x26″x10″ case. The bike has 650x42B tires that fit nicely in the case […]
Michael came to me looking for a touring bike with specific requirements for the racks. Michael is a custom bag maker with some serious skills out of San Francisco. He designed a set of panniers that hold onto the rack via a long flap with velcro. Because of this, a slot needed to be incorporated […]
It’s been a little while since I did my last 650B city bike. But judging by the upcoming builds on my list, it’s going to be a big year for the 650B wheel size. I’m not pushing the size one way or another, it just makes sense for certain applications. On this fillet brazed commuter, […]
I had made a trailer for myself a while back as a fun project and learned a lot from it. The goal this time was to build a trailer so smooth that you’d forget it was behind you while cruising down the street. To do that, I needed to make some design changes. For one, […]
I spent 15 years commuting by bike to jobs here in the Providence area. The longest commute that I ever had was about 16 miles round trip. I realized when that commute started that the single speed with just a backpack was not the ideal choice for the ride. I needed something with some gears […]
When this bike was on display at the Bike Cult Show in NYC in August, the first thing anyone did was reach for the brake levers. They are new levers based on an old style called guidonnet (from the French word “guidon” for handlebar). In conjunction with the brazed on MAFAC Racer brakes with modern […]
I have a special place in my heart for mixte frames. Specifically the French style sport mixtes where the lateral stays meet on the top tube. There are a lot of fun details that a framebuilder can incorporate into the mixte design. In the past, I’ve done unique rear brake cable routing inside the top […]
A Welsh Inspired City Bike
October 13, 2015
When Huw came to me for a city bike, he was not alone. He came with a crew of friends called the Bike Purchasing Committee (BPC)—two (originally) from Wales and two from state side. Although they say too many cooks spoil the broth, I was ultimately the cook catering specifically to Huw. I took the […]