Rock 'n Road Ride Recap

Our group of eight, led by Mike Varley and Bruce Gordon, departed from Black Mountain Cycles in Point Reyes Station.  Conditions were a bit wet, a bit cold, but generally just bracing enough to get the blood pumping.  We started with a nice stretch of smooth paved blacktop.

 We passed through Inverness and then began our ascent of Mount Vision.  The ground here consisted of decomposed granite and pine needles, a nice chunky mix to test the capabilities of our new tires.

At this point, we rode some more fire roads and descended the breathtaking Inverness Ridge.  I was too busy riding with a big dumb grin on my face to take pictures at this point.   

Afterwards we sat around Mike's shop/museum and told stories, drank beer and hot toddies, and unabashedly ogled Bruce's new monstercross bike.

Thanks to everyone who showed up, it was a world-class group.  Check the Black Mountain Cycles blog for a more complete recap of our course. 

Retro-Future

Here is a classic Italian-American beauty made with vintage lugs and tubing from the golden era of cycling.  Bruce dialed the time machine back to 1979 and retrieved a stamped wave-shaped Cinelli lugset and Columbus SL tubing.  When he made it back to 2012, Bruce designed and built a roadbike with a touch of the past and a bit of the present. 

 

 

Cinelli lugs before: 

 

Cinelli + Bruce Gordon lugs after:

 This bicycle was built to accommodate a modern 130mm spaced rear wheel, so you don't have to get in a time machine to find period correct parts- in fact, we think it would look (and ride) great if you were to deck it out in modern components.  The geometry is designed for comfortable, all-day riding.  

Specs are below.

54cm Center to Center Seat Tube

54.5cm Center to Center Top Tube

73˚ Head Tube angle
73˚ Seat Tube angle

42cm Chainstays

  

This frame is currently for sale for $3000.  That's $800 less than our going rate for a custom frame with cutout lugs, and it comes with a very snazzy silver Ed Litton paint job.  Call the shop if you have any questions: (707) 762-5601. 

Short Notice Rock 'n Road Tire Shameless Self-Promotion Ride

To celebrate the arrival of the second coming of the Rock 'n Road tires, we are teaming up with Black Mountain Cycles for a group ride on Saturday, November 17th. We will meet at the shop in Point Reyes Station at 9am, depart at 9:30 to ride Mike Varley's favorite on-/off-road loop, and then return for warm drinks, food, and conversation.

The purpose of this ride is to show off the versatility of our new rubber, so bring your RnR-shod bikes to ride. If you don't yet have the Rock 'n Roads on your bike, you are welcome to come ride with us and see how capable these things are for pretty much any on- and off-road riding you might do.


If you have any questions, call the shop. If you'd like to order some RnR tires, go here.

Anticipation

Oh Boy - I'm getting a New Monster Cross Bike!!
with Bruce Gordon 700x43 Rock 'n Road Tires

The frame is being painted by Ed Litton.  The parts are here and I can't wait.

                                             

There is a prize of a Free SOPWAMTOS T-Shirt to the first person to identify the completely one of a kind part in the picture.  Steve P. is the winner, he saw the long-cage Dura-Ace derailleur.  Congratulations Steve, and thanks everyone for participating.

                     

The bike will be my sized version of the Monster Cross bike described in the May 17, 2012 post.

Pictured below: the red frame is still for sale as a frameset or a whole bike.

Check back.  I hope to have pictures of the latest build soon.            

       

Nearly Up to My Eyeballs in Tires!!

I'm nearly up to my eyeballs in tires, except that my nose keeps getting in the way.

Thanks to all who pre-ordered; I will pack up and ship those orders tomorrow.

Those who haven't ordered yet - go to the store on our web page http://brucegordoncycles.bigcartel.com/ to order.

Regards,

Bruce Gordon

An Update on Tires...and Why We Love Customs

First Things First - Some News About Tires

Some of you may have pre-ordered the Rock 'n Road tires (if you haven't, you can go here to check them out). We estimated they would be here around the first week of June, but that was only half correct. They are currently sitting in customs in Southern California and should be cleared by next week (hopefully). In the meantime, we're going to keep the free freight going until we have the tires in hand. We apologize for the hold up, but it's out of our hands at this point. In the meantime, check out the review on All Hail the Black Market.

Second Things Second - Some News About Bikes

Cyclecross Magazine loved our fillet brazed cross bike and so do we. So much so that we're going to be doing more fillet brazed frames - the seamlessness of brazed joints is just beautiful. We'll be bringing this red bike (and a few others) to Oakland in July for a ride around Lake Merritt. Details will follow so you can put it on your calendar. Count your pennies too - we'd like one of you to take this red bike home - we have too many bikes at the shop anyway.



That's all the updates that we have from the shop right now - hope you're enjoying this weather as much as we are.

Building a Bike in your Kitchen

Saw this video this morning and it reminded me of the bike I built in "My Kitchen".
Check out this video of Graeme Obree building his record attempt bike in "His Kitchen" - it is a Great Video
http://vimeo.com/humansinvent/httpvimeocomhand-buildingtheworldsfastestbicycle

I built my first Lugged Titanium frame in 2008 in my Kitchen because it was too cold in my shop for the epoxy to set up properly. 

By the way my bike won 2 huge trophies at the Portland NAHBS Show in 2008.

Check out more pictures on our web page at http://www.bgcycles.com/