I'm still here!!!

I have to apologize to the folks who've been checking in on the blog periodically. I haven't been updating as much as I should, but time marches on at Ellis Cycles.

I've been working on a couple projects that I hope you'll all find interesting, and now I'm awaiting a fresh shipment of tubes and lugs for some new bikes.

Here's a couple shots of a stem I built recently for Tom, he wanted something like the old steel Cinelli stems.

Also finished up Mike's 953 frame, I showed this one raw at the NAHBS, but I've been waiting for a few months for the stainless fork crowns to arrive. Finally showed up a couple weeks after the show, so now it's ready for final polishing and then paint. Stay tuned for finished pics of this one, it should be a pretty one.

Another NAHBS frame was Larry's fillet brazed S3 tubed frame. I just had to finish it up and get an Edge fork for it and it was off to Jason's for paint. He's been working on a special Baltimore Oriole inspired paint job (the bird, not the baseball team), so it should be interesting to see what Jason and he come up with.

A close up of the bi-laminate seat cluster.

More NAHBS photos

The pictures I promised are up, but I'm only putting one on the blog for now. You'll have to go to the website and check out the new galleries with this frame and the 29er.

http://elliscycles.com/index.html

















It's been busy keeping up with e-mails and other stuff, so I'm keeping this post brief. I'll post some more photos in the next day or two of my single speed frame which was also a show bike.

Finally, I have to give a big thanks to Drew at Ben's Cycle in Milwaukee. He's the man behind all the great studio shots of my frames. You may have noticed that my photos are usually from a funky basement and his look a tiny bit more professional. It's no accident and he deserves a lot of credit for making me look extra good!

Check out Ben's Cycle here; http://www.benscycle.com/. Lots of cool stuff.

Finished 29er

Here's some shots of the finished 29er that I showed in Indy. I need to take some photos of the complete bike out in the sunlight as well, the color really pops in natural light! The stem is just a Ritchey that I had Jason paint to match.



The Pacenti fork crown and filleted head tube.

Filleted bottom bracket, the guide on the chain stay is to keep the cable from rubbing the tire.

Front and rear view of the seat cluster. I custom bent a pair of 16mm double tapered seat stays so I could get the bends exactly where I wanted them. Also check out the rack and fender mounts for future touring use.

I threw in a Surly hub to show how my modified Tuggnut setup works with the vintage Campy dropouts. Those dropouts are also sporting and extra eyelet I added for fenders.

NAHBS 2009

We made it home last night in one piece in spite of some snow squalls around Chicago which threatened to bring traffic to a standstill. By the time we got to the northern suburbs the snow let up and thankfully the rest of the trip was uneventful.

It was an exciting weekend in Indianapolis! and I have to thank everyone who helped make it a success for Ellis Cycles. Paul was kind enough to bring his recently completed single speed so I could show it off on Fri. afternoon and Sat. and I got lots of complements on both the frame and his build. My brother Steve has worked really hard getting the website together, printing all my cards and putting together press kits and the photo book I had in the booth.

There were also lots of my Milwaukee and Wi. friends who made the trip and stopped by with support. Thanks, to Jon, Scott, Pete, Jaime, Russell, Rick, Andy and everyone else I can't remember now.

And finally, a special thanks to my wife Lisa for all her help schlepping boxes, taking photos, and generally putting up my bike show insanity over the last couple months. I hope I can repay here with some success and a little more stability in the upcoming months and years to come.

OK, enough the sappy acceptance speech! Here's my photo post win for the 2009 "Best Lugged Frame". I usually don't like photos of myself, but I'm alright with this one, maybe it's because the frame distracts from the goofy mug holding it!

I'll post more photos soon of the rest of the bikes I brought to the show, so stay tuned.

The Car is Packed, Tomorrow NAHBS!

I think everything is in the car..., but you never know, I'm sure I'll be halfway through Chicago and remember something I meant to bring. Oh well!

Tomorrow morning it's off to Indianapolis, we'll get the booth set up in the afternoon and then lay low until the festivities begin on Friday morning. I'm excited to meet people in person that I've only spoken to online or over the phone. Paul contacted me a few days ago to say he's coming over from NC and bringing his built up single speed (see below). I'm excited to have it in the booth and curious to see how it looks with parts on it. I'm sure I can trust Paul's artistic instincts. ;-)

That's all for now, keep tuning in, I'll post a bunch more pictures on the blog and website after the show. If you're coming to the show, stop by and say hi!

Cheers,

Dave

Unseasonal Wisconsin Warmth

After a snowy December and frigid January, we had a brief reprieve from winter this past week. I managed to squeeze in a few rides and I couldn't resist taking out the road bike in spite of the layers of grit and salt on our roads.

Here's a shot Drew took on Tues. after my ride in to Ben's. Not quite as dirty as it was after the ride in last Sat. but you get the idea. The best part of my ride in to Ben's was that both days I had a howling tailwind, so I was flying without the trouble of being in shape. To top it off, Lisa came and picked me up for the ride home, so no downside to the one way trip.

















I've resolved to only ride with tailwinds for the rest of the season, she'll just have to come and pick me up whatever direction the wind may take me. ;-)

Another shot of the drive train, gonna take some TLC to get that cleaned up.

NAHBS Preparations / Cirque Invitation

I was trolling around on the Cirque website last night and found this shot that Dale Brown took of me with Todd's bike at the 2008 Cirque.

Wayne Bingham, the current organizer of the Cirque, contacted me recently to ask if I would consider giving a brief talk about my experiences as frame builder. I was flattered and more than happy to accept, so look for me to be attending the Cirque again this year.

In other news, I haven't been updating the blog as much recently, but I've been pretty busy getting frames and bikes ready for the show. Stopped by Jason's today and saw both the 29'er and Steve's frame getting prepared for their paint. I'm really excited to see the color I choose for the 29'er on the bike, it's always tough to imagine the whole bike finished from the 1" x 2" color chip, but Jason assures me it'll be hot.

Here's a little teaser of Steve's frame, it's what I'm calling a "modern classic". I'll post more pics after the show, but if you can make it to Indy, stop in a check it out for yourself!