Caitlin's Finished Bike

I've mentioned before that Caitlin was nice enough to let me hold onto her frame for a couple extra weeks so I could show it at the NAHBS in Richmond. Well, we're back, and she made the trip from Madison on Sat. to pick up her new Ellis. Didn't waste any time getting it built up either! I'm looking forward to a ride report soon.

As you can see, Caitlin has her own version of the Ellis Cycles "Inspector".

Cheers,

Dave

2010 NAHBS Notes

I've had a couple days to recover and I thought I'd try to share some of my impressions of the NAHBS in Richmond. Firstly, a huge thanks to Don Walker for all the time and effort that goes into planning and putting on what has become the premier show for small builders.

I talked to so many people over the 3 days of NAHBS, and got such great feedback on my frames. Folks commented on how clean, simple and classic they looked, and that's exactly what I'm going for every time I start a frame. I'm honored that the judges felt my frame was "Best in Show", but I'm sure there were at least a dozen other frames that could easily have won in it's place.

Another cool part of winning the award was the fact that Patrick, the owner of the winning bike, had flown in from San Francisco the day before to see his new bike and look around the show. I'd never met him in person before, and when he saw his bike for the first time and introduced himself, he was beaming with excitement. This is really what makes building frames on my own worthwhile. Meeting the customers face to face and getting all the feedback on my frames has been amazing. I also got to meet Chad, the owner of the Richard Petty tri bike. He was nice enough to drive it up from NC on Friday morning and then make another trip to pick it up on Sun. He's a heckuva nice guy too and was excited to get some miles in before his first triathlon in a couple weeks. I can't wait to hear how the new Ellis works for him.

I can't end the post without thanking my painter, Jason Sanchez as well. Without his huge effort over the last couple weeks before the show, I might have only had one or two bikes to show instead of the four that finally made it.

And finally, a huge thank you to my wife for putting up me during the weeks leading up to the show and all the stress that comes with it! I really truly couldn't do what I do without her.

NAHBS Retro Bike part 2

It doesn't get any prettier than this!



















Some of the small details around the front derailleur




















I must say, setting up the notoriously difficult brakes wasn't as hard as I had expected.

Threading the cable into the brake lever was probably the trickiest bit.




















The glamour shot in the hallway of the hotel!

NAHBS Retro Bike

Jason worked his butt off to get this one done in time for the show, but it didn't quite make it by our early Wednesday morning departure.














He finished it up on Thurs. and got it over to Ben's where they packed the heck out of it and sent it overnight to the hotel in Richmond.














We got back to the hotel room after the first day on Fri. and the frame was waiting for us.















Getting the bottom bracket installed, and below, the gorgeous Delta brakes!

Caitlin's Ellis

Just got this photo back from Drew, it's Caitlin's road frame. She's graciously allowed me to hang onto it for a couple weeks extra, and I'll have it on display at the Handbuilt show later this week.

Paul's Modern Classic, Finished.

Paul wanted his Ellis to be a light touring frame with the same look as last year's NAHBS winning frame. I was hesitant to use 953 for the rear end if he was going to be carrying a load, so instead I'm going to have the chain stays and seat stays chromed along with the fork. The lugs are all carved, and the head lugs will be polished stainless.

I used the Pacenti Artisan lugs for the head tube and had a bit more length on the points to work with. I still need to braze on the head tube cable guides after the lugs are polished.

Nice clean fastback seat lug.

Seat stays are sleeved and carved. This way I can use a heavier lower stay and still have the clean fastback at the top.


The new Ellis double eyelet dropouts. These are 4130 steel,,rather than 17/4 stainless so they can accept chrome.

The Inspector / Show Displays!

We've had a couple sunny but cold days here after 10-12" of snow on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Inspector managed to sneak out and check out the damage while I dragged one of my show displays out for pictures.

After much woodworking and finishing, the displays are done. Each one will accommodate two bikes, one on either side with the drive sides facing out. The lug design on the front was tedious, but I think it turned out pretty cool.

Just talked to Jason and 2 of the frames for the show are almost done. Hopefully he can squeak out my frame for the vintage Campy parts, but if not, it'll have to wait for the Cirque in June.

More soon,

Dave