English Cycles

Garage sale!

admin — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 01:12:04 +0000

Spring cleaning time! Amid the madness of preparing for NAHBS I have put this list of parts together, let me know if you have any questions.

NAHBS coming up!

admin — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 05:28:57 +0000

I am very excited about my debut at the North American Handbuilt Bike Show, which is coming up quickly; I have been working on some special bikes to show since November. If you are able to make it along then it would be great to meet you at booth 632! The venue for the three day show, March 2-4, is the Sacramento Convention Center, in the heart of downtown Sacramento. Apparently the quietest times are Friday and Sunday morning, so please come by and say hi!

It was hard deciding what to show when I only have room for five bikes, but they have finally been chosen: I will be showing a couple of previously shown bikes – the belt drive 29er and the Nuvinci Cruiser, and then three new creations – all road bikes but all very different executions of the breed!

Well, back to it, lots to do before the show!

12 February 2012

admin — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 05:27:09 +0000

Some very shiny wheels! These are for a 650B randoneering bicycle that has a chrome finish, and needed a lightweight pair of wheels to match. The rims are NoTubes ZTR355, which I de-anodised and polished, with cx-ray spokes and aluminim nipples laced to a Tune Mag 170 rear hub and a Son dynamo front hub.

9 February 2012

admin — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:31:56 +0000

Today we have finished pictures of Stephan’s fork and stem – the commission had mostly aesthetic considerations, so I was pleased with the weights: 448g for the fork and 426g for the stem/steerer.

Secondly, a very light set of 650C clinchers – Velocity 24h aerohead rims with sapim cx-ray spokes and Soul Kozak hubs, coming in at just 1236g.

8 February 2012

admin — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:09:48 +0000

Paint! Here is Geoff McFetridge working on the custom artwork for the RIGHT project. More about Geoff’s work with Fairwheel bikes on their blog

I should have the frame back for assembly soon – then it will be finally unveiled at NAHBS in a few weeks time.

7 February 2012

admin — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 06:06:29 +0000

Stephan’s fork and stem project is almost done – just a bit of finishing work and paint to go! Here it is installed into his Renovo frame (if you haven’t come across these before, they are beautiful custom wooden frames made in Portland, Oregon), with a Chris King Titanium headset.

In other news, the RIGHT bike is almost done with paint! I’m excited to see what Geoff has come up with….

5 February 2012

admin — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:01:57 +0000

Preparation for NAHBS continues, but I have other projects in the works too. Here is the start of a custom fork and stem for Stephan’s Renovo wooden frame. The fork features ovalised, butted straight fork legs and socket style dropouts, and a bolted crown ready for a one-piece stem/steerer.

16 January 2012

admin — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 05:42:09 +0000

It has been busy here recently – I just finished up Davis’s TT build, and also all the finishing work on Fairwheel bikes RIGHT project.

Here are a few shots of some of the finished joints – plus one beforehand, showing the raw fillet. When I get them to flow this well in one pass, the cleanup required is very minimal!

Davis’s TT bike

admin — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 05:23:40 +0000

A custom time trial build for (hopefully!) winning stage races. I worked with Davis on his TT position – we did the best we could with his old bike, and got some improvement, but it was really too big for him. Being able to do completely custom geometry enabled his position to be optimised, with custom handlebars to match. The Simkins Design Egg brake fits under the chainstays, with of course internal cable routing. The handlebar has a 10 degree upslope for the adjustable extensions, and Deda armrest and pads. The complete bar assembly as shown weighs 830g, and has built in internal cable routing. The fork will be a 3T Funda Team, which has white and red highlights to match the rest of the livery. I also supplied a front wheel, featuring an English Aero front hub, built with Sapim CX-ray spokes onto an Enve 6 rim. Pictures of the complete bike to follow!

6 January 2012

admin — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 04:52:58 +0000

With the new trend for extra wide rims amongst race wheels, last season I struggled a little with brake adjustments when swapping from training wheels to race wheels. The solution I needed was a wide training wheel – which I found with the Hed Belgium rims (23mm wide). I just built a pair up with English hubs – this is the 170g rear as shown on the hubs page, with a matching 55g full width front, of which I have a limited run. I used 20/24 spoking, and (a bit excessive for training wheels!) Sapim CX-ray spokes, and the pair came out at a pretty light 1368g.