Aaaand... we're out.

And just in time. Ugh. It's supposed to be 114 in St. George this weekend!

For those who are curious, this week was devoted to fulfilling my promise of a wedding tandem to Redcoat and Smoyle, who got married a little over a year ago. Logistics (they live in Switzerland) and inertia kept it from happening until now, but I'm finally (almost) done. Yes, it's coupled to fit in an S&S case.

Bungee cords are crucial when figuring out where to put the couplers to fit into a case...

Note that I will only sell tandems to WW frame owners (ie repeat customers) and UT locals. I am FAR from a tandem expert and in many cases talking to Santana or Davinci is a better plan but I am pretty happy with how this one came out and I'd be comfortable selling you one if you're interested. Cost for a frame will be around $3000 but will depend on details so please call or email for a quote.

I'll try to get one more photo tonight of the finished frame.

We'll be back from VT on the 8th of July, don't expect quick (or any) replies to email/phone until then.

Photos and unsolicited ego boost from Matt

Hey Walt –

I just wanted to drop a note and say thanks.  I love the new frame, it rides exactly like it should.  I’ve put a few hundred miles on it in the past two months, rode a 24 hr race, spent hours cruising buffalo creek, typical front range stuff, and I’ve been kicking the crap out of my buddies on our regular rides (which is easily the most satisfying thing about this bike).

Going from a frame where every aspect felt just a bit off, to this one, has really opened my eyes to the importance of geometry and the major differences subtle changes could make.  I probably should have pushed for short as short can be chain stays and let you talk me into a shallower head tube angle, but that’s fine tuning more than necessity.  It’s going to be difficult to consider a non-custom frame when it’s time to update my full suspension rig.

Something that stuck with me from one of our conversations was when you said I probably wouldn’t be able to fit a regular waterbottle on the seat tube.  I’m not someone who likes to leave things to chance, nor take proper riding nutrition lightly, I think waterbottle would fit but I'm not going to risk it, so I just stick a beer in there for rides where I don’t carry a pack. Beer will always fit! I threw in some terrible pictures, just so you can see the full build.  

King of Spacers: Daniel

Bars higher than we designed for (I think he's just experimenting with position)? Check.
Zero rise stem? Check.
Flat bar? Check.

Result: the biggest stack of spacers ever, possibly. The next step might be some upside-down drop bars or something...

More on Daniel's bike here and here if you're bored/curious.

Eric - 99% done

I've spent too much time riding this week and kinda dug myself a hole, so I'm probably not going to reassemble this frame for pictures until it's back from powder. ISCG mount yet to go on, seat tube needs slotting... otherwise, she's done.

Now, for the geometry nerds:
-140mm travel in the rear (Eric can go up to 155mm with a rocker swap) and 140mm in front (or 150mm will work fine too). Squishy.
-67 HTA, 71cm front center, 63.2cm ETT, 104mm trail. Well into freeride territory, maybe even DH.
-43cm chainstays.
-13.6" (unsprung) BB height. Low (at least for this amount of travel) and aggro.
-True Temper Supertherm pipes throughout. Frame weight is about 7.5# with the shock (when I add the ISCG tab that'll add a little more weight).

This should be a killer bike on rough terrain, and capable enough to be pedaled up as well (though it won't be especially quick on the climbs). Fun times. Now if I can just get *my* freeride bike put back together...

Early Progress on Eric; Salvaged tools

First picture (doesn't look like much yet) of Eric's short-ish chainstay 140mm trail 29er. Lots more to come on that:

In the process of tightening down the main pivot, I managed to destroy my "GorillaGrip" allen wrench set. And I didn't have another 10mm anywhere, so I had decide if I was going to take 20 minutes to go to the hardware store, or be a redneck and make this:

Happy father's day!

Presented for your enjoyment (or not): Bean successfully using a spoon for the first time, and the aftermath of 5 minutes of inexpert spoon work (his father's day gift to me: covering himself in cashew sauce).

Happy father's day to all the dads out there!

Yes, that is a sweet vintage "Ice Cream Soup" Pee-Wee Herman t-shirt that belonged to Sarah's brother.

Curry-sixer!

Mitch - done

Man, I wanted to have this done a lot sooner but 4 hours is apparently enough of a time difference to give the whole family terrible jet lag. Wow, we are pathetic!

650b goodness

Anyhow, I've finished Mitch's 650b frame and fork. Vital stats:
-69 degree HTA, 45mm offset fork for 88mm of trail and a 62cm front center.
-73 STA
-42cm chainstays and 12.1"/307mm BB height. Plenty of room for a 2.4 tire.
-Single ring only!
-Paragon rockers!
-S-bends everywhere plus a swoopty toptube for cool factor.
-Built for a 44cm rigid fork or 80mm travel 650b fork down the road, future proofed for a tapered steerer if needed. The fork is built for a 15mm axle (dropouts just barely visible in the grass).
-Full housing and brake hose routed down the downtube (we've come full circle back to mountain bikes of the 80s!)

This is an all-arounder for Boulder CO and also for Mitch's side job doing bicycle safety instruction for public employees. Should be fun going around orange cones or out doing laps at Betasso.

Back!

I'm slowly working through emails. Jet lag sucks. Expect a slow spinup back to regular work schedule but feel free to call me and expect to get me as of tomorrow.

Random thoughts on our trip:
-The North Shore is just as rad as everyone says it is (even though we were there in summer). We lucked out and there were some 2-5 foot (Hawaii measurement) waves so we surfed at least 2 hours a day and also did a bunch of paddling/swimming/just sitting on the beach. Good stuff.
-If you don't know where all the reefs are and it's dusk, wear some booties. My feet got pretty skinned up.
-Weirdly enough, beer is pretty cheap (same price as anywhere normal) on Oahu and everything else is really expensive.
-Sarah is a much, much better surfer than me. She was up on her *first try* (and I'm not talking about some surf school crap - we just grabbed some longboards from the garage and paddled out) and catching everything after a day or two of figuring out where to be. I, on the other hand, generally made a fool of myself despite the fact that I should still have some muscle memory from surfing in Santa Cruz when I was a college student.
-Luckily my thrashed longboard, Under Armor "rashguard" (ie spandex shirt) and pleated Banana Republic khaki shorts (the pockets turn inside out and fill with sand, it's a great look) warned the other beginners to watch out for my idiocy.
-I realized mid-trip that I was surfing at a spot mentioned in a Beachboys song (Sunset) and thought that was pretty neat.
-Our place was apparently (who knew?) right by pretty much all of the best mountain bike trails on the island. I'll have to build some bikes to leave out there.

And we're outta here!

Back on June 11th. I'll be checking email occasionally but probably not in telephone contact.

Random pictures thanks to Martha!