Spring Projects, 2013

We’re pushing the tail end of spring, and it’s starting to feel a lot like summer. I've been busy with a lot of unique projects. A lot of bikes with a lot of racks. Meaning big, elaborate racks. Quite a few of them are integrated into the frame, meaning they're brazed on, and are a part of the bike. I love that sort of devotion.  

Double Seat StaysLillian's Mid-tailI’ve just finished another mid-tail that is on its way to the powder coater. The last mid-tail I built was for a very tall man, and this one is for a shorter woman, so the design is similar, but the proportions have changed. This bike is scheduled to go on a year-long world tour. 

I am most of the way through a crazy commuter with a 24” front wheel and a 28” rear, very similar in design to the bike I built for the Oregon Manifest a couple of years back. It has a basket that bolts to the head tube, and a couple of different places for frame bags to be mounted. It’s one of the coolest and most generally useful bikes that I think I’ve ever built. Maybe I say that only because it’s the one I’m working on right now, which always seems to be my favorite bike. All-round Bad Ass Commuter

Also this spring I made my first attempt at double seat stays, which came out looking bad ass, if I do say so myself. These are on a single speed cross bike with disc brakes that should be coming back from the powder coater in a week or so. 

Another bike I want to mention is a step-through commuter bike with the rear basket integrated into the frame. So many tubes, and it came out to be such a gorgeous bike. I’ll post a full photo run of the finished bike soon. 

 Here are photo highlights from some of the projects I’ve mentioned here. 

Enjoy!

A Typical Afternoon in the Shop with Mitch

Here's the newest time-lapse video in the shop. This is what a day in the shop kind of looks like -- cutting, filing, sanding, brazing, etc. Here's what I first wrote about the video:

This is what a very typical day in the shop looks like for Mitch of MAP Bicycles and myself. He is working on some front racks, and I'm working on a fork and racks. It's really good to be able to talk through ideas with someone else, and I think we do a pretty good job of helping each other figure things out. We both have our stylistic differences, obviously, but there are often several ways to approach a problem, and to get insight into it, I think, makes each of us a little bit better at what we do. I've come to value that shared insight.

This is true in so many ways. Frame building can be, in many ways, a very isolated and isolating existence. Having another person there to bounce ideas off of, and just to talk with, is good sometimes. There are plenty of days in the shop when few words are spoken, but just the simple act of sharing lunch usually breaks up the day and brings a little peace to the head-space.

I hope you enjoy the video.

A typical afternoon in the shop with Mitch. from Joseph Ahearne on Vimeo.