Having had a night with a few like minded friends I got round to building my bamboo frame up today. The Bamboobee frame comes as a kit with the box making the jig. All worked out ok with the need for a few adjustments of some dodgy joints. I decided to use some black pigment to colour the hemp used in the kit. It did make it look extra messy! Just needs 48 hours to set but looking forward to getting it out of the jig. Can’t wait to see how it rides.
A lush choice of clay puddle grey/green from Armoutex came out really nice.
I wanted a small rack for carrying tent or sleeping bag on the front forks of my 29er. Knocked this up out of stainless to go on my new 29er bikepacker.
I wanted to create a 29er that could run biggish tyres, single speed or geared. This can easily take up to 2.5 tyres with as short a rear end as I could squeeze in to reduce overall length. The forks are modified Surlys to take a Salsa Anything cage and a front luggage rack. Just about ready to go to paint – just need to decide on the colour!
I finally finished my prototype folder. A fairly simple design, really to test the folding mechanism and the geometry. The first version requires the front wheel to be removed to fold it, mainly because it was easier to do it that way. The BB in the rear triangle means there’s no chain issues when folding. 20 inch wheels means it rolls a bit better than my Brommy. I need to put an extra spacer in the frame joint to raise the read a little and have changed the seatpost to one with less layback and suitable amount of seat adjustment. The cable routing seems to work ok with the folding action so far. The next version should enable the front wheel to say in when folding. On the first trip to London found this cool lit bridge with 406 which is coincidentally the tyre size on the bike.
I love my Brompton but wanted something I could ride a little further and faster in comfort. I wanted slightly larger wheels and full size frame so came up with this. Nearly ready for a first test.
Had the pleasure of taking the Triumph bike down to Jack Lilley Triumph in Ashford for some photos. Big thanks to Hugh and boys for the warm welcome. Bagged some pictures with their 
lovely Triumph Thruxton, 675 and Scrambler.
First few handlebars from the Spin London orders delivered this week. Jason and Nicky received theirs and JAson even got his on the bike on the same day. Good work fella.
And now for something completely different. When browsing Kickstarter one day, we came across a really neat looking Bamboo frame idea. Self build Bamboo frames with the box it’s sent in becoming the frame jig. I always fancied building one and was fortunate enough to find another 3 willing victims. The kits look great – just need the other two of the four to turn up now! A weekend of epoxy, beer and pizza coming up me thinks.
I stumbled over this on t’internet. Not one of my bikes (it’s built by Motorless City Bike Co in Detroit) but I love it and good coffee. Might have to book a trip to Detroit!
One of the most fabulous looking products at the Spin Show was the Velowland finishing metal and wood effects. For me the copper and brass coatings looked the business. They are great guys and we seemed to have very similar ideas. I have had a project in mind with a friend for some time and their work will be perfect for it.
I look forward to a very exciting collaboration with these guys.
By the time we got home the sun was going down but just had enough time to fit this brass seat to the conrod bike and let it shine in the fading light. It looks bloomin awesome! Thanks guys.
I knew I was in trouble on the first day at the Spin show. Lots of lovely bag products around. Sire enough Lisy tracked down the lovely people at the Trakke bag stand and fleeced me for a very nice small courier bag. It did look fantastic so hopefully a brownie point gained for all the up coming shed time.
Thanks Trakke. Keep up the beautiful work.
I loved the look of the new Hiplock belt locks. They are really comfortable to wear and a good range of price/performance to choose from. Had a quick chat with the guys on their stand and a deal was done. This stool won’t be going anywhere in a hurry now.
We were very pleased to have the stools over the weekend. Legs are aching a bit and it was great to take the weight off for a bit. We also had a few enquiries about supplying them we’ll be more than happy to do. There’s something pretty cool about Columbus tubed, fillet brazed bike stool.
Many thanks Hiplock.
OMG! What an amazing time we had this weekend. So many thanks to all the lovely people we met and talked to, the other suppliers and the guys from Spin. Such an enjoyable weekend, we’re on a complete high. We got our first confirmed sales from the show this morning, which was brilliant. The stand seem to work pretty well and we had lots of positive comments about the bikes, handlebars and even the stools! We could do with some sales to get back to evens after Lisy visited the fabulous Trakke Bags stand.
Big up to our near neighbours Bobbins, Erenpreiss, Gi Bike, Vel-oh, Velowland, Hiplock, Arcc, Malcolm who made it a very sociable weekend. Lovely people you are and everyone we spoke to were just great.
We also came aware 3 amazing opportunities for collaboration with some great companies. Bring on the dawn, we’re up for it.
All set-up completed last night, ready for the Spin London Urban Cycle Show this weekend.
This is my first show so should be interesting to get some feedback and hopefully drink some really good coffee. We ended squeezing 4 bikes onto the stand. My cyclocross bike, Lisy’s Mixte, my single(double) speed and the new 20 inch wheel bike.
I also finished a couple of bike frame stools as standing up for 3 days is probably going to be tiring. I added a rack to one of them so I has somewhere to put some business cards.
For the Spin London Cycle Show I needed to have some stands to show off the bikes. We did a bit of research at the Bespoked show in April to see what looked good. Having worked out how many bikes I can fit into (quite a small) stand we decided to have something to raise the bikes slightly off the ground and holds them in a stable way.
I also got the plasma cutter out to make a few Tomo signs.
Something very orange is stirring in preparation for the Spin London Cycle Show. Only a few days to complete the build so fingers crossed.
I’ve just been lucky enough to spend the last two evenings with Alex at London Bike Kitchen learning how to build wheels properly. Can’t wait to get some bits together and get building. The winter evenings will never be the same.
Checkout – http://lbk.org.uk/
Nice classic Kona jumper too!
This will be my first show so will be a good chance to get some feedback, meet some folks and have a good weekend.
Pretty excited as it’s not very far away. A couple of projects to try and finish before then so will be a busy few weeks.
Lisy needed a rack for her Mixte so it was a chance to make a stainless one. Got a new Ridgid tube bender, some 10mm tubing and 4mm plate and bobs your uncle. I’ve tried using cheaper tube benders before but this made the job much easier. Solid handles, with flat sides to easily lock in the vice. Angle marker made it much easier to get the angles close to that desired.
New T-shirt turned up this week. Came out nice.
Before I delivered Ben’s bike up to Newcastle, we thought it would be good nice to take all the current flock out wit some friends. It was also a good chance to take a few photos. It was a lovely ride and a good laugh was had, even if it was a bit chilly for hanging around taking photos.
Two firsts today. It stayed dry long enough for my wife to try out her new Mixte. Nexus 8 hub, coaster brake for ease of use and maintenance! We went for an Alfine trigger shifter and it has a better feed for the cable than the Nexus twist grip. It also meant we could use the leather style grips which are really comfortable and look great. First trip was obviously to the local Italian for coffee. Job done!
I’ve been aching to get out and try my new single speed bike. I say single speed but it’s got a Sturmey Archer S2C duomatic with a coaster brake. It was also the first ride for the truss forks and the ace bars. First thing to notice was the bars. Quite low, narrow and close but the hands felt in a really comfortable position with straightish arms. Might try a slightly longer stem but to see how that feels.
Second thing to notice was the coaster brake. It makes sense really but having means you can’t back pedal to align your cranks. Like riding a fixie but you can freewheel just can’t turn backwards.
Next up try changing gear. Having only read about the hub operation I was keen to try it. Sure enough a quick backpedal and it changed up into a higher gear. Trying it a few times it was a bit too easy to engage the back brake whilst trying to change gear but no biggy, it’s not a setup for maximum speed. Just helps to stop the knee popping at the multitude of lights on my commute.
Lastly the fork. To be honest I didn’t notice it, which I think is a good thing. Felt plenty rigid and not too firm. The skinny legs look great and i’m happy to take them further a field now for a longer test so will be looking for some big bumps. Fortunately the state of out local roads means those are easy to find.
Finally built up with S2C hub, so not a single speed at all really. Suitably steam punk in clear lacquer over the blasted steel. Coaster brake so minimum of braze ons or cables. Just waiting for the snow to melt to give it a try. Can’t wait to try the bars out too. They feel really comfortable when stationary. Very natural hand/wrist position. Let’s see how they work.
Finally finished my wife’s Mixte. Nexus 8 speed with coaster brake to for ease of use.
After a long time in the planning Ben’s Uni Bike finally emerges from cover and now taking pride of place in the student kitchen.
After looking at the terrain in and around Newcastle the idea of a fixie was binned in exchange for some gears and town proof tyre size. Just about enough room to run 29er tyres if needed (with a different fork). Hopefully this will make his commute to Uni easier and more enjoyable (and leave more time for work and play).
I wanted to create some custom handlebars. Narrow enough for riding in London commuter traffic, big angle for comfort on the wrists. Inspired from old Ace Bars I used have my RD250LC I came up with these.
I wanted to try a clear laquer finish to see what that would look like. It always seems such a shame to cover up the brass. The steel goes kinda gunmetal colour and the brass looks a bit like mustard but it looks pretty cool. Will be intersting to see how it lasts.
We got Lisy’s frame back from the powder coater last week. Must admit I wasn’t that sure on the on the colourbefore but it looks nice and old school in the flesh.
I wanted to build myself a new singlespeed frame to replace my Cooper Sebring. As one of the bikes I ride the most I wanted something a little different so designed in a wishbone rear stay using a Triumph conrod which was pretty heavily cut back to form the wishbone and the front fork crown. I think it looks pretty cool and certainly never seen one before.
Should be off to the powder coaters this week so just need to choose a colour….
Having seen the rest of the household with new frames my wife wanted in on the game. She was struggling with her old shopping bike so we decided on a Mixte style for lighter work of the school run and the chance for some fun on the weekend. I went for some skinny seatstays slightly curved in at the top and waisted the toptubes to try and give it some nice lines. It’s got enough room for some 28c tyres and mudguards and stainless rack mounts.
Fortunately I have outsourced the colour to choice to the rider. I thought I was bad!!
I wanted to and make some interesting forks to go on my Conrod single speed frame. I found a way of using the bottom of the rod in the fork as the front crown. so the frame and fork have a styling connection.
Being a motorcycle fan I wanted to include some moto style into a bike frame. Whilst considering wishbone stays I figured a smallish moto conrod could possibly do the job. A lot of them, particularly modern jap ones, are pretty ugly. A few look a bit better and these Triumph ones have Triumph embossed into them and are about the right size. Cut some plugs into the base that will fit into 14mm stays, carve out most of the underside, the small end to fit the seat tube and bobs your uncle.
Built out of Columbus Spirit tubing, disk only, lime candy with some sparkle. New white panel stickers too.
I wanted to try and use some curved tubes in the frame. These were bent using a tube roller. It worked really nicely. Different radius curves, different length bends
I’m having a go building some forks for my single speed project. Drop outs nearly finished. Slightly over engineered first set for testing. Next job is to finish off bending the legs and brazing it all together.
I’ve started on my new Singlespeed frame, to replace my Cooper. Columbus Chromor tuning and a few individual details to follow.
At last, i’ve finished Raf’s custom mountain bike. It fits just right and he loves it.
Small enough so he can reach the floor easily and be confident but using 26 inch wheels. As he grows we can throw in a longer stem, sus forks, risers and longer seat post so it will hopefully last him longer than the 24 inch bikes that are aimed at his age group.
After chatting with Oli from DMO frameworks at Bespoked in April, I made some changes to my tube bender. Basically milling the slot deeper to try and reduce the amount the tube flattens. The initial test looks better so i’ll give it a further test and then look to recreate it in aluminium
