rider's cycles blog, bike shops victoria, bicycle victoria, mountain bike, cyclocross

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Custom framebuilders

Having a bit of a hard time finding a bike that fits you just right? Lets say, oh I don't know, maybe a 63cm track bike.
Perhaps a custom built bike would be your solution. I stumbled across this list of framebuilders on the net the other day and I thought some people would be interested. I got the list through a supplier of the S and S frame couplings, so the list is far from being complete but there are some options there:

http://www.sandsmachine.com/fbplist.htm

USA and Foreign Framebuilder Lists

View Builder Logos

Framebuilders Located in the USA

Products & Services with S and S Couplings

New Bicycles or Frames

Existing Bicycles

Frame
Geometry
Available:
Standard
a=Available
i=In Stock
& / or
Custom

Materials
Offered

Models offered

Retrofit Services

Contact Information
Click on a framebuilder's name
for more detailed information.

Materials:
Steel,
Ti,
Carbon F
or
Aluminum

Conventional
Bikes:
Single,
Tandem
or
Convertible

Recum-
bent:
Bikes:
Single
or
Tandem

Materials
Retrofit:
Steel,
Titanium
or
Carbon
Fiber

Any
Brand

Weeks
Wait:

Company

City

State

Phone

Std

Cust

sgl

tnd

cnv

sgl

tnd

Anvil Bikeworks, Inc.

Littleton

303-471-7533

cst

sgl

Barcroft Cyclse

Falls Church

703-750-1945

tnd

Bilenky Cycle Works

Philadelphia

800-213-6388

cst

sgl

tnd

cnv

tnd

yes

1-5

Bob Brown Cycles

St. Paul

651-730-7596

cst

sgl

tnd

yes

4-6

Bohemian Bicycles

Tucson

520-440-3094

cst

sgl

tnd

yes

Borthwick Framesets Inc.

Grinnell

641-236-0968

cst

sgl

tnd

Brew Racing Frames

Creston

336-246-8555

cst

sgl

Burley

Eugene

800-311-5294

tnd

Burro Bikes

Big Bear Lake

909- 866-6588

cst

sgl

Bushnell Cycle Designs

Auburn

253-826-2233

cst

yes

Calfee Design

La Selva Beach

831-728-1859

cst

sgl

tnd

cnv

sgl

Calhoun Cycle

Minneapolis

612- 827-8000

sgl

yes

Cherry Bicycles

LaFayette

756-423-4488

cst

sgl

yes

Co-Motion Cycles, Inc.

Eugene

541-342-4583

cst

sgl

tnd

cnv

Columbine Cycle Works

Bellevue

970-356-7617

cst

sgl

yes

Concept Technology

San Diego

858-292-4255

cst

sgl

tnd

yes

Cyclart

Vista

760-599-1015

yes

Cycle Dynamics

Santa Rosa

707-545-2453

cst

sgl

yes

6-10

Cycles Gaansari

Springboro

937-748-8862

sgl

Cycles LaMoure

Sequim

360-477-0257

cst

sgl

tnd

yes

da Vinci Designs

Denver

800-873-3214

cst

tnd

Davidson Handbuilt Bicycles

Seattle

800-292-5374

cst

sgl

tnd

yes

DEAN USA

Boulder

303-530-3091

cst

sgl

DeSalvo Custom Cycles

Ashland

541-621-8408

cst

sgl

yes

4-6

Erickson Cycles

Seattle

206-527-5259

cst

sgl

tnd

yes

Gunnar Cycles

Waterford

262-534-4190

cst

sgl

H. H. Racing Group

Media

610-565-6023

cst

sgl

Holland Cycles, Inc.

Spring Valley

619-469-1772

cst

sgl

Hujsak Bicycles

Wimberley

512-847-5639

cst

sgl

tnd

yes

call

Independent Fabrication

Sommerville

617-666-3609

cst

sgl

J.P. Weigle Cycles

Lyme

860-434-0700

cst

sgl

yes

Landshark

Medford

541-535-4516

cst

sgl

tnd

Lightfoot Cycles

Darby

406-821-4750

cst

sgl

tnd

yes

Lightning Cycle Dynamics

Lompoc

805-736-0700

cst

sgl

Longbikes

Lakewood

303-986-9300

cst

tnd

sgl

tnd

Merlin Metalworks, Inc.

Chattanooga

423.238-4923

cst

sgl

Moots Cycles

Steamboat Springs

970-879-7546

cst

sgl

Ogle Bicycle Works

Berkley

510-527-0095

cst

sgl

Peter Mooney Cycles

Belmont

617-489-3577

cst

sgl

yes

Pfeiffer Pframes

Clemson

864-639-1194

cst

sgl

yes

Powers Design Quality

Cedar Falls

319-277-1002

cst

sgl

tnd

yes

3-4

Ramblumtick Bikes LLC

Missoula

406-829-6339

cst

sgl

Rans

Hays

785-625-6346

tnd

call

Ravello Bikes

San Diego

858 274-2055

cst

sgl

tnd

yes

Rex Cycles

Sacramento

916-446-5706

cst

sgl

tnd

yes

Richard Sachs Cycles

Chester

860-526-2059

cst

sgl

yes

2-3

Rivendell Bicycle Works

Walnut Creek

925-933-7304

cst

sgl

Roark Custom Titanium B.

Brownsburg

317-852-3163

cst

sgl

Rock Lobster Cycles

Santa Cruz

831-429-1356

cst

sgl

tnd

yes

Rodriguez Bicycles

Seattle

206-527-4822

cust

sgl

tnd

yes

Ryan (Now by Longbikes)

Sano Cycle Works

Huntsville

877-963-7266

cst

sgl

tnd

yes

2-3

Santana Cycles, Inc.

La Verne

909-596-7570

cst

tnd

Serotta Competition Bicycles

South Glens Falls

518-747-8620

cst

sgl

Seven Cycles Inc.

Watertown

617-923-7774

cst

sgl

tnd

Spectrum Cycles, Inc.

Breinigsville

610-398-1986

cst

sgl

tnd

Solo Velo

Albany

510-220-6087

cst

stl

sgl

Steelman Cycles

Redwood City

650-364-3939

cst

stl

sgl

Strong Frames

Bozeman

800 586-1105

cst

stl

sgl

yes

Sycip Designs

Santa Rosa

707-542-6359

cst

stl

sgl

tnd

yes

Tallerico Bicycles

Los Altos

650-464-9085

cst

stl

sgl

yes

call

Ted Wojcik Custom Bicycles

Hampstead

603-329-8057

cst

stl

sgl

yes

Terra Cycles

Portland

503-231-9798

cst

stl

sgl

Ti CYCLES

Portland

503-621-9670

cst

stl

sgl

tnd

yes

Ventana Mountain Bikes

Rancho Cordova

916-631-0544

cst

stl

tnd

Waterford Precision Cycles

Waterford

262-534-4190

cst

stl

sgl

yes

WizWheelz

Hastings

269-945-5581

stl

sgl

tnd

Zinn Cycles, Inc.

Boulder

303-499-4349

cst

stl

sgl

tnd

yes

call

Foreign Framebuilders (Located Outside the USA)

Products & Services with S and S Couplings

New Bicycles or Frames

Existing Bicycles

Frame
Geometry
Available:
Standard
a=Available
i=In Stock
& / or
Custom

Material

Models offered

Retrofit Services

Contact Information
Click on a framebuilder's name
for more detailed information.

Materials:
Steel
Titanium
Carbon F.
Aluminum

Conventional
Bikes:
Single,
Tandem
or
Convertible

Recum-
bent:
Bikes:
Single
or
Tandem

Materials
Retrofit:
Steel
Titanium
Carbon F

Any
Brand

Weeks
Wait

Company

City

State/Area

Country

Phone

std

cust

sgl

tnd

cnv

sgl

tnd

any

weeks

Agresti Fahrrader

Ahlhorn

Germany

04435/ 971257

cst

sgl

tnd

yes

Arvon Cycles

Tofield

Alberta

Canada

780-662-2842

cst

sgl

tnd

yes

2-3

Bob Jackson Cycles

Bramley

Leeds

0113 255 1144

cst

sgl

tnd

yes

Brodie Research and Tech.

Vancouver

B.C.

Canada

604-325-2033

cst

sgl

Dietmar Hertel Rahmenbau

Erftstadt

Germany

02235 799472

cst

sgl

yes

Fateba

Winterthur

Switzerland

41-52-212-6911

cst

sgl

yes

Gleiss Rahmenbau

Pattensen

Germany

05101 916460

cst

sgl

tnd

yes

GREENSPEED

Ferntree Gully

Australia

+61 3 9758 5541

cst

sgl

tnd

yes

Hardo Wagner Rahmenbau

Lübeck

Germany

+49 0451 8132043

cst

sgl

Hillbrick Racing Frames

Minto

Australia

(02) 9820 4011

cst

sgl

yes

call

JESTER Hand Built Bicycles

Welland

Ontario

Canada

905-788-1497

cst

sgl

tnd

yes

Kinetics Cycles

Glasgow

+44 141 942 2552

cst

sgl

tnd

yes

Holger Koch Fahrradrahmenbau

Kaufungen

Germany

05605 5665

cst

sgl

tnd

yes

La Bicicleteria

Guadalajara

Jalisco

Mexico

52(3)823 65 99

cst

sgl

yes

Langenberg Fahrradmanufaktur

Baunatal

Germany

0561 49 5155

cst

yes

Lee Cooper Cycles

Coventry

024 76304723

cst

sgl

tmd

yes

4-8

LoGo Trikes

Spearwood W.

Australia

+61 8 9418 2757

stl

sgl

M-Gineering

Kiel Windeweer

Netherlands

+31 598-491865

cst

stl

sgl

yes

8-10

M . Steel Cycles

Newcastle Upon Tyne

+ 44 (0)191 285 1251

cst

sgl

tnd

yes

Matsuda Bicycle Factory
(LEVEL)

Tokyo

Japan

Fax 81-3-3806 6091

cst

sgl

yes

call

Marschall Frameworks

Möhnesee

Germany

+49 (0) 2924 851532

cst

sgl

yes

1-2

Naked

Quadra Island

B.C.

Canada

250-285-3181

cst

sgl

tnd

sgl

yes

3-8

Pedalpower

Berlin

Germany

+49 (0)30 55153270

cst

sgl

tnd

yes

Recomboni - Cambie Cycles

Vancouver

B.C.

Canada

604-874-3616

sgl

tnd

Roberts Cycles

Croydon

Surrey

+44 (0)20-8684 3370

cst

sgl

tnd

yes

S.F.B.

Loenen a/d Vecht

Netherlands

+31 (0)294 231056

Simoncini-Italia

Gambassi Terme

Firenze

Italy

(39) 0571 632661

cst

sgl

tnd

yes

Stalla & Dittrich GmbH

Freiberg/Neckar

Germany

+49 (0)7141 73 37 3

Tandem Technology

Göderle Rahmenbau
Chemnitz

Germany

0371 5212870

cst

tnd

yes

Thorn

Bridgwater

Somerset

44-1278-423632

cst

sgl

tnd

yes

TOEI

Kawaguchi

Saitama

Japan

81 48 256 0390

cst

Velodrom-Rahmenbau

Köln

Germany

0221 4062486

cst

sgl

Wiesmann Rahmenbau

Freiburg

Germany

0761 507188

sgl

Friday, July 31, 2009

Cheap commuter bikes, ducks, and angry cyclists

You don't need a lot of cash to get yourself a commuter. My brother sent me some pictures of his latest project the other day and I thought I'd share them with the readers of this weblog: He got the frame for free, sanded it down, painted it green, and painted the forks, stem in white. The result is a pretty decent looking grocery getter/trailer tractor/urban tank. Pretty cool I think. In the very least, the price was right.

I almost got into a crash the other day: I was coming up the hill just before the Selkirk trestle on the Esquimalt side. At this point I want to pause because of the severity of the language my fellow cyclist chose to use, I will use "duck" instead of another word ending in "uck"
This was late at night and I had just recently killed my lights in an unfortunate zoobomb crash. So I was riding slow because I could barely see the trail, with moonlight as the only light source. Apparently someone else had the same limited brain function as myself, cause as I come around the turn up the hill there's a big Swooshhh!!! Another ninja bike with no light. This guy shows up from out of nowhere, coming the other direction, as he sees me he grabs a handful of front brake which sends him straight over the bars and then he slides on the gravel into the railing. I could feel the wind from him as his scrambling screaming hulk tumbled by me, but he missed me by about an inch or two. This was only the start of the whole incident. After letting out a little yelp of fear and surprise, I asked the guy if he was ok. His answer was a blunt one: "duck you you ducking idiot!" Slightly taken aback I asked him why he was calling ME an idiot (he's the one who could not control his bike after all, and ate shiskebab). "You're riding in the middle of the road!" he yelled. "No more than you were, buddy (not that it's a road but we'll let that slide)," I replied, "but are you ok?" At this point he was stumbling to his feet and I noticed that he had a bicycle wheel strapped to his back..."just get the duck out of here!" -"What?... Ok sure, but are you ok?" -"What the duck are you going to do, call me an ambulance?! just get lost!" He said and was surprisingly intimidating for his small frame. I was not going to get into any more altercations with this guy, specially since I had nothing invested in the whole scenario. I was fine, my bike was fine, whereas he was probably bleeding, and his pride had obviously taken a bit of a pounding as did "his" bike. So I Just got back on my steed, laughed at this poor guy and rode the rest of the way home extra carefully. But as I was riding, I could not help thinking about his reaction to the crash. Sure it's embarrassing to crash, but ...why did he want me out of there so quickly, why did he have a wheel on his back and, why did he not seem to be all that comfortable with his bike in the first place. Hmmm... perhaps he did not have an entirely clear conscience. Was it actually Karma that threw him off his bike since he stole it? I guess we will never know, but I have ordered some new lights, I wore off a bit of my luck that night and lady luck does not usually stick around for me for too long.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Tour, local road races and durian cup photos

I've been away for a few days swimming and enjoying the sun at Shuswap lake. But now it's back to the grind and back on the bike. Being off it for a whole five days has been good, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss it. Tonight, there should be some street sprints happening in the city, and the weekend is filled with cycling events. Tomorrow morning everybody needs to get up early and watch the tour. Then there is a race in Sidney on saturday evening: http://www.sidneytwilightgp.com/mainpage.html This Criterium should be a blast to watch especially since it is raced on a figure eight course (although not quite like figure eight car racing, thankfully the race cource will not cross itself, that would be carnage!). It is also the final race in the BC cup which should add a little bit to the excitement.
On sunday there's another crit, this time in Oak bay, (see event here) so if you want to see some road racing action this would be the weekend to do it.
I had my old age confirmed to me last Thursday (the 18th) as a took the series win in the "Masters" (read oldman) category see below:

Picture courtesy of Dave Shiskoff

Me and my fellow winners got the very fancy durian cup trophies, of course made by Dave from reused wood, dried out Durian fruit husk and some paint he had lying around. Quite the craftsman, Dave is.

Durian Cup trophy

Friday, July 17, 2009

Durian cup and choppers with bike racks

I've often wondered if this would be possible, but I guess that if you can think of it, it can be done: Right, now I just need a motorcycle to put one of these on...hmmm where does that fit in the long list of priorities? Cross bike, track bike, dh/freeride bike, food... and somewhere down the line > motorcycle. I'll probably be one of those 65+ guys that gets their first bike in their old age and goes wobbling through the corners in a reflective vest.

Photo courtesy of Chris Schamp via Gabriel Amadeus

Portland has quite a bike scene, including a very successful summer short-track series. The picture above perfectly illustrates how you should commute to such an event. Not much room for luggage, but how much do you really need? Multi tool, pump, water bottle and a tube, all of which can fit in the back pockets of your jersey underneath the leather jacket. The coolness of this setup is substantial. Rock star points aplenty.

The last race of the Durian cup took place at Hartland last night. Me and Mitch made it out as we have for the last three weeks. This time it was the "Gravity Challenge." This race would take competitors from the tta up to the top of Jelly roll and then down the super-d course back to the tta. Deve Shiskoff's idea was that riders would do this in teams of two, that is, one would race to the top and the other from the top to the bottom. But as it turned out many racers did not have a partner or they simply wanted to challenge themselves and do the whole course solo. Mitch and I originally intended to do the race as a team but after some deliberations we decided to disband and race it solo. I knew this was a bad idea and would result in much pain, but it would be satisfying to do the race this way and since so many people were doing it solo, I felt kind of bad to race as a team. So we went ahead and did it solo, and yes it was painful but at the same time quite satisfying. Mitch won the race with an impressive time of 24:25 min, and I came in third with a time of 27:28. Rider's cycles with two placements in the top three! Yessss...
After the race we collected our customary draw prices and drank some beer and ate some vegan cupcakes. Good night of riding I'd say.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Durian Cup, Street sprints and other fun stuff

Mitch flying through the card collecting station

Yup that's me fixing a flat (which is becoming a rather unpleasant habit)

What a great time this is, in the cycling world. Grassroots racing happening every week at Hartland (Durian Cup), and underground sprint series on the streets of Victoria. People are on bikes everywhere, the weather is awesome, and to top it all off: The Tour De France!

Last Thursday Me and Mitch made it out for the Thursday nights Durian race. This time it was a poker run set up in a bit of a different way than usually. You collected cards for each lap you did around the short race track which included Little face, Emergency two, and Rolly Ridge. Then you could stop at the card playing stop and play your hand. Now this is where it got complicated for non-card players like myself. You could play everything from one card to five depending on what you felt like...I was not very good at this and that in conjunction with my new found fondness for flat tires resulted in a mediocre placing. Both Mitch and I had a blast however, even though we agreed that we would have liked to see the top half of Little face included in the race course, to add a little gnarlyness to the racecourse.
The day after we were both feeling the pain of the previous nights escapades. -Cross country racing is a painful sport. We did not have time to recover much though, because that night we had street sprints in Esquimalt. We had a good showing from the store with me, Mitch and Justin representing...The sprints were oodles of fun as always and Mitch took it upon himself to destroy everybody else, and thus retaining his title as the reigning sprint champ. I did not escape the humiliation of Mitch's speed and got crushed by him, not once, but twice. I did however, not manage to loose to anyone else so that placed me in second, after "The Destroyer".
Justin had some epic battles as well with a three series sprint race with Paul One of which was a spandex and no shirt affair on the part of Paul, and on his insistence Justin raced shirtless as well...This was strangely entertaining. But their first race was the best, as they switched the lead at least two times and crossed the line dead even. The first draw ever. In the end Justin sadly lost out to the aerodynamics of his spandex-clad competitor, something I'm sure he will try and avenge next time around.
Tonight we have a night ride at the dump, but since we have to attend a product knowledge seminar after work, this will be later than usually and we should be at the parking lot around 8:30-9. I'm going out anyway, and I'll see if I can drag anyone with me.
This will be a true night ride though, lights mandatory!

Friday, July 3, 2009

Durian cup orienteering race, Tour De France

The Map for the race and our ride marked in pink.

Me and Mitch made it out for the orienting part of the Durian Cup last night. After being coaxed into it we signed up for the A category. I wasn't feeling to fresh, perhaps paying for my indulges in alcoholic beverages oon Tuesday night. Mitch on the other hand was just flying. He was riding a xc/all mountain bike for the first time, and using clips for the first time and this combination resulted in an extremely fast flying Mitchell. He's used to climb on his Triple clamp Bullit, with a coil shock, road cassette and a 36t chainring. So he was laughing on the 30 pound Stumpjumper FSR and never even shifted out of the middle ring for the whole race. In fact the only way I could keep track of where he was ahead of me was by judging the distance according to the sound from his shrieks of enjoyment. Mitch is a very capable downhiller, but after seeing him flying up the Hartland hills, and destroying the street sprints, I'm starting to think there is not a single category of cycling where he would not be successful if he gave it a shot. He was kind enough to wait for me though, as I dragged my sweating, huffing, hulk up the hills in granny gear...He got plenty of time to enjoy the outdoors. In my defence, we did manage to make it back in time (at 55min we had 5 min to spare), and finished the race without any major crashes or injuries. That's always positive.
Talking of Racing, The Tour De France starts tomorrow, so set the timer on your coffeemaker to 6am and get up for the 6:30 start. First stage is an individual time trial in Monaco which should be a blast to watch. I'm currently building my virtual team on The Tour De France Online game so get ready to be crushed by my favorites. We have also invested in a nice flat screen for the store, and the idea is to watch the stages on that.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Durian Cup and bombs

Second round of the Durian cup mini mtb series is happening tonight at Hartland. Check out the race poster here. Tonight there will be an orienteering run. How that works, I have no idea but it should be fun. Looks like it's going to be a great day weatherwise so there's no reason not to show up. Three dollars is all you need if you have a bc race licence, and if you don't you can buy a day race licence for $10. The organic athlete people that organize these events also have some interesting swag at the end of each race...think: Vegan Cupcakes, climbing passes for Crag x, cookbooks etc. What more do you need? Come on out, it's a lot of fun.

Also, for you bike nuts out there:

Some of our staff will be going out for a zoobomb, or a vicbomb on Friday. There will be a pavement run and then a dirt time trial...So if you have your own bomb and would like to join feel free to do so. Just shoot us a line in the comment section and we'll let you know where this will be happening...prepare to be destroyed by "Little Missy."

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Custom framebuilders

Friday, July 31, 2009

Cheap commuter bikes, ducks, and angry cyclists

Friday, July 24, 2009

Tour, local road races and durian cup photos

Friday, July 17, 2009

Durian cup and choppers with bike racks

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Durian Cup, Street sprints and other fun stuff

Friday, July 3, 2009

Durian cup orienteering race, Tour De France

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Durian Cup and bombs

welcome to the Rider's blog

Rider's Cycles Website

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Rider's favorite links

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Saturday, August 1, 2009

Custom framebuilders

Friday, July 31, 2009

Cheap commuter bikes, ducks, and angry cyclists

Friday, July 24, 2009

Tour, local road races and durian cup photos

Friday, July 17, 2009

Durian cup and choppers with bike racks

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Durian Cup, Street sprints and other fun stuff

Friday, July 3, 2009

Durian cup orienteering race, Tour De France

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Durian Cup and bombs

welcome to the Rider's blog

Rider's Cycles Website

Rider's Facebook Group

Subscribe to Rider's Cycles

Rider's favorite links

Followers

Contributors

Blog Archive