Randonneur Bike #4-2, originally uploaded by Xvelo Designs.

Frame, fork and fenders came home from powdercoat yesterday. Had to hang some parts to see how it’ll eventually look. I’m out for the rest of the week, i’ll be back at it hopefully it’ll be finished late this weekend and ready to roll…I’m dying to pedal bikes!

Rocky Mountain Homebrew Club Challenge, originally uploaded by Xvelo Designs.

Hanging with the beer geeks for a snowy Saturday in Denver. Falling Rock Taphouse hosted the 2011 Rocky Mountain Homebrew Club Challenge. I was a judge for the Light Lager and Pilsner category in the morning session and the Scottish Ale group in the afternoon session. My man and senior Lebrewski Jamie won a bronze for his Belgium IPA and kicked ass with his famous Christmas beer bringing in a gold for the spiced beer category. A good time was had by all, I don’t know that I can commit to that level of geekery on another hobby but I’ll certainly make some more beer! Cheers…

Randonneur (Bike #4), originally uploaded by Xvelo Designs.

First attempt at internal routing for the rear brake on my Randonneur. Technique wise, I’ve seen enough of them done by real bicycle builders so it went smoothly enough. Note to self: don’t use brass internal tubing (even though it was all you could find local) as it has the same melting temp as the rod you’re using to braze with. This was also my first time using the Henry James brass and Gas Flux flux. It was a different curve than what I had been using but i’m much more comfortable with it now.

The bike is coming along really well, the fork is 95% put-together with only some finishing work to go. I’ll have more pics in the coming days as the snow is flying here in Denver and I have 3 days off! The gas tanks are new, i have several ounces of silver and 2 lbs of brass with plenty of flux to go around, i’m gonna have fun!

Sweet Tools, originally uploaded by Xvelo Designs.

Some times things just work out. It was sad to see the Denver Spoke go away but at the same time it’s cool that the new owners are setting about on their own journey. Build their own history and make once great space, great again.
I ended up with the pile of tools you see here along with a Park stand. Some stuff might be considered obscure (3 1″ Campagnolo Crown Race Cutters and a Hozan 1 1/4″ threader) but it’s still neat to have. I was just grabbing everything that looked like a cutting tool and didn’t pay nearly as much as you would expect. So a good time was had by all….

Bike #4 Mitering-2, originally uploaded by Xvelo Designs.

Unfortunately there seems to be no go between. Either you make miters with a saw and file or you have a Bridgeport. The in between sucks. I’ve spent more time fixing what this thing does than if I was cutting and filing. If you’re a roll-cage kinda guy, I’ll sell this one cheap.
Tomorrow is hanging out with DR while he makes a bike in the garage, I’ll probably make pictures of that too.

Bike #3 after inaugural ride around the block, originally uploaded by Xvelo Designs.

As the title says, bike three is on the streets. So far so good, will pedal the thing to work later this week and I’ll have more of an opinion. Click through to see the shots of DR’s first bike build. Cheers,
Steve

Rookie CleanUp, originally uploaded by Xvelo Designs.

Made the step up and got a new “real” camera. I’ve got the Nikon D7000 and I’m loving it. It’s amazing what you really can do with a 50mm 1.4 that the point and shoot can not do. As far as bike building goes…I’m working on cleaning up the lug lines before i send this one off to the bead blast. Bike #3 here will be powder coated whitish brown with raw panels, with stickers applied and then clear coated. We’ll wait and see how it comes out. All for now…

Cheers!