My singlespeed

When I signed up for Le Cirque du Cyclisme back in April I saw the fixed gear ride on the schedule and decided it was finally time to build myself one. I managed to get my hands on some old SLX tubing and I had most of the lugs, so here's what I came up with. I had to hold back on the lug carving, as I wanted this to be a clean, simple design. I haven't totally committed to the "fixed" setup, right now I'm getting used to the bike with a freewheel and brakes.

I wanted the rear brake cable to be hidden as much as possible so I routed it internally and it exits the top tube at the 6 o'clock position. This way if I decide to go without the rear brake later I don't have split guides sticking out.

I've had this set of Dia-Compe aero brakes for years and have never had a bike with short enough reach to work with them. I think they work really nice on this bike.

Splurged a bit and went with the vintage Campy track crank, looks as good as it did on Eddy's bike.

Pacenti dropouts, I love the way track dropouts look with long reveals along the chain stays and seat stays and a smoooooth blend into the dropout.


Well, that's the new ride, I managed to get a couple rides in while at the Cirque and a few more since I got home. Really liking the ride of this one, not super stiff, but nice and smooth.

Randoneering rack

Spent the day working on the front rack for Travis' rando bike. I've been cogitating about this project for quite awhile, and here's what I came up with.

I bent the main tubes of the rack platform on my fork bending ramp, then mitered the ends and brazed it flat with the tips overhanging the bench. I made some struts, mitered them and now it's fluxed and ready to braze.

Here's a detail shot of the struts,

I finished the ends the same way

I finish my dropouts.

Here it is with the struts brazed in and waiting for the back "tongue".

Fully brazed up with the light mount, wiring guides and fender mount at the tip.

After some finishing.

A front view, I think it has a Gothic

look to the arch, I'm pretty pleased

with the final product.

Ellis #1 Build Video

Here's a video my brother Steve put together.

Ellis at Cirque

Had a great time at Le Cirque du Cyclisme in VA this past weekend, glad I made the trip. Despite the heat, I really enjoyed meeting all the vintage folks and checking out some really cool old bikes.


Just got Todd's stainless lugged fixie done in time, and I'm pleased to announce it won for best Track / Singlespeed in the craftsman division. Below is a shot of it just after the build up in Ben's new shop with the cream city brick for a backdrop. Kinda fitting.







Here's a couple of close ups of the head lugs and stem.

The seat lug.

I found this one on Flickr, looks like I'm about to pass out from the heat.

Travis' rando bike in the foreground got alot of admiring looks as well.

T-shirts are here!!

The Ellis t-shirts are finished. I was nervous about the colors, the samples on Gildan's web page are not the most helpful, but I'm really happy with my choices. The top is Cedar Red, and the bottom Metro Blue.

Anyone who's interested in one they are $20 including shipping in the continental US. I'll also be offering them at the Cirque de Cyclisme in Virginia in a couple of weeks. $15 at the show.

I just got done making hotel reservations for the weekend of Cirque, and I'm trying to figure out what other things I need to get done before then. Have to get a sign or banner made with the logo. Also want to print a bunch of old lug photos for an album of cool lug designs I've done up till now.

Got the old Honda tuned up and it's ready to do the 12 hour haul to VA. It's actually running as well as it ever has, I've been getting about 38 mph lately. Sweet! Now I just have to figure out how to pack all the crap I'm bringing in there.

Recent News, Frame #4

Well, I've been neglecting the blog for too long, here's some of the happenings at Ellis Cycles.


I'm making the trek to Cirque de Cyclisme in Leesburg, VA on June 6, 7 and 8. http://www.cirqueducyclisme.com/ I've reserved a table for Sunday's show and hope to display the stainless track bike, Ellis #2. Henrik hasn't decided yet if he'll drive down with #1, but it would be cool. I may bring bike #4 Travis' rando frame, but it won't be painted. Pictures to follow.


Confirmed an order for 100 Ellis Cycles t-shirts on Monday, I'm excited to see them and I'll post pictures for sale on the website when I get them. Mainly I wanted to have something to sell at the Cirque, hopefully recoup some of the travel expenses. They will be Metro Blue and Cedar with white lettering, if you want to see the colors go to: http://gildan.com/distributors/colorpalette/.

Still working on the head tube logo. Anyone who visited the website in the last couple weeks may have seen the survey, well the majority liked the iris logo, but I still think it needs some work. I'm thinking of changing the color of the iris to white with yellow falls, then making the banners white and including CYCLES under the ELLIS. I think it also needs to have a black outline around the laurels and banners to give it some definition from the background. Originally I had imagined having 2 or 3 different colors of iris to go with different paint schemes, but in the short term I think white will be the most universal. Maybe when things are busier I will expand the color choices.


OK, so on to the frame, I started frame #4 last week and have made steady progress. It's a randoneering frame for Travis, and it'll be my first custom rack. He sent the Berthoud front bag and now I need to design the rack to fit it and accommodate his light. Here's some pics.


Here's the beginnings, I raked out the fork blades really low. Finally found some Columbus blades that rake the way I like and don't have a huge minor end.









A close up of the front dropouts, tidy and neat.










All the tubes are mitered and the fork brazed up. If you look close you cna see the internal brake routing in the top tube.








Fluxed and tacked on the new fixture, very nice...








BB shell after brazing and soaking.

Head lugs.

After some time with files and emery.

I'll post more soon, especially the front rack as it comes together. I've got the seatstays ready to braze on as soon as I machine the BB shell and align the front end.

Also, stay tuned for a top secret project bike I hope to bring to the Cirque, I haven't decided if I'll post pics before then, but it should be cool.

Ellis #3

Well, I've been busy the last few days working on my own frame. I got my dropouts last Friday and set to work putting it all together. Here's a shot of the dropouts fresh from the cutter.

I have to give a special thanks to Scott M. for the CAD work he did, nice job translating my pencil sketch into the final product.

I didn't take many process photos, but here's one of the chain stays prepared for brazing. I carefully filed down a groove in the drive side dropout for internal cable routing.

Here's the finished dropouts. If you look closely, you can see the recessed hole for the derailleur housing. Don't worry, it has a brass tube running inside the chain stay to guide the cable. I've worked on enough old bikes without this feature to know what a pain routing the cables can be.

Here's the other end of the internal routing. The cables will run along the down tube and only be internal for the chain stay. The brass tube pops into the chain stay just past the threads on the BB shell and runs all the way to the dropout stop.

The seat lug, doesn't look much like it did out of the box, but very minimal and smooth. Just ahead the internal brake cable exiting the top tube.

The lower head lug...

...and the upper head lug. I'm excited to get it painted and ready to ride, I've been riding my cross bike with road tires in the mean time since all my other Waterford's have been sold to finance the business.