Current Work

Tour withdrawal

The last week of the tour was good but not as great as the first two weeks.

This past week Phil and Paul let their emotions get the best of them and said some stuff that just seemed crazy. I still love hearing them since they mesh so well together and the random French facts are great but that time trial was a joke. Schleck hardly got a good time trial and they said it was the ride of his life. Sanchez lost 3rd with a time that was better than Schleck. Menchov is the man and he was the best finisher from the top 10 by minutes. On the 2 Tourmalet stages they just would not stop saying all the same stuff and most of it was rubbish. That is OK, it was great and I look forward to next year.

Got the drop outs today and got right to work on Tobias's cross bike. Should have it done this week and then onto Pav's road bike next week.

After Pav's bike I will be getting to work on a possible new offering. I will be making two Ti beta bikes (as well as 1 steel bike with the same aesthetic as the Ti bikes). If they go well I will build a 3rd one for myself and possibly have it at NAHBS in Austin. If my baby comes ahead of schedule it will put a damper on the program so we will see.

Here are some photos of Tobias's bike after the drop outs arrived:

Cheers,
Drew

Shop additions

I had a week of waiting for some drop outs and made the best of it.

I have 2 bikes in a row that need stainless drop outs and Mark at Paragon is doing his best to get me them ASAP. This week in limbo I made a bunch of stuff that has been on my mind for some time now. I also am making Shai a fork I had told him I would build if I had extra time (which I usually do not).

First I made some major improvements on my unicrown mitering fixture. Here is the end result.

Next I made a new pedestal for my BB stamping machine which currently lives on a bench. This is way more rigid and will allow me to tuck it into a corner.

This is a pedestal and base I made for a small tube bender I had. The original design was crap and was not rigid enough. The new design is ultimately going to be a DiAcro 1A. I am kind of psyched with the end result. I also made some additions to my DiAcro #2 bender but I will be keeping those additions to myself since some things need to be secret.

Got the tracking # today for the drop outs so all will be back on schedule very soon.

Cheers,
Drew

Customer Comments part II

I got a few e-mails from people and felt they needed to be quoted on the interweb.

First up is a bicycle that was delivered last year that has had some great use and I am excited to get this e-mail after one year:

"Today is the first birthday of my Engin, so I thought I'd let you know how she is doing. She is great! I've ridden about 3500 miles in the past year, and my Engin is going strong. I've replaced the tires and chain, but everything else is original. Thanks for making this beautiful bike for me. I look forward to many more years of riding."

Next up is a quote about a bike that was recently delivered and in fact the first ride was a race. The owner later sent me this comment and I felt is was a real compliment and I really appreciated it:

"Most of us have to work and while at work produce some sort of work product. When a work product far exceeds expectations it can only be a result of passion. Congratulations on finding your life passion and thank you for sharing the passion through Engin Cycles.

Sincerely,
Chris"

That made my week.

Here is a bike that was picked up this week and I hope he sends me a similar comment since I feel this bike is one of the first bikes Dylan has owned that truly fits him:

That has the eggshell finish and I think it really looks great with the black.

The cross bikes are moving along and I anticipate getting them all done before the end of the month.

On a different topic I LOVE THE TOUR DE FRANCE. Riddled with all its issues over the years, I still come back each July with excitement. I had a few low years after Jan Ullrich left on day zero and it was issue after issue, but once again I look forward to each day and can watch it from start to finish and never get bored of Paul and Phil. They are the best announcers in the world of sport. All sport. True class act. Looking forward to tomorrow's semi-mountain stage.

Have a great weekend.

Cheers,
Drew

Comments

Le Tour

Submitted by nickuni on Sat, 07/10/2010 - 9:45pm.

Definitely a good tour this year. Have you been playing the Phil Liggett drinking game? Every time he mentions George Hincapie you drink. You'll need a new liver by the end of the tour.

UCI and cross bikes

I am not sure how to comment on the UCI.

The way the rules work is kind of odd. Disc brakes are what this is about so I will use them as my example.

Maybe 5 years ago Avid introduced a cable actuated caliper that works with the cable pull of a STI/ERGO shifter. This caused a big to do in the cross scene and quickly the UCI said you can not use disc brakes in a UCI event (that is Elite and for some races Elite masters). The odd part is it was not illegal to use the disc brakes but since they were never officially approved you could not use them. It required a company to pony up the money for the UCI to conduct a test that would legalize (or ban) the brakes for the events. Sounds odd right? Well, last week they approved the brakes. I don't think it will change much personally (even though less than one week in and here I am building a disc brake cross bike). Shai had been on the fence about wanting disc brakes but I talked him out of it. The UCI last week changed his mind back, and I agree this new rule will hopefully prompt new equipment and more options.

The one part of the equation I was stuck on was rear wheel spacing. I personally think 135mm is needed to run disc brakes. If this is going to catch on, people are going to need to make cross specific cranks (not normal cranks with different chainrings). These cranks need to allow for 135 rear spacing, tire clearance and the use of 10 (and 11) speed road/cross chainrings. The 130mm spacing makes for a lame hub selection, rotor clearance issues and, lastly, a weaker wheel. Shai's bike will get 135mm and he is accepting that he will not be able to use current (external bearing) road cranks. I think in the end this will be a rather cool bike.

The fork also requires some thicker blades for the disc option and the drop outs will be the low mount style for a cleaner look. Here are some shots of me working on the bike: