Dave's (that's me) Show bike!

OK, let me begin by saying, I sometimes get involved in building and forget to stop and take pictures. So as you can see below, I've got the lugs for my personal bike all carved and ready...

And then the bike is brazed and finished! Sure I missed a couple steps, but who wants to see a frame all covered in flux. Once you've seen one, you've seen them all!

The chain stays and seat stays are polished 953, so I've left the dropout points proud of the stays.

Polished seat stays meet painted seat lug. Going to be some careful masking for Jason.

Now, a short story about this bike. When I was just getting into cycling in the late 80's, I lusted after Campy C-Record parts. I used to draw intricate bikes for my high school art classes with detailed parts down to the chain links and spoke nipples. I watched as Greg LeMond, Stephen Roche and Pedro Delgado won Tour's de France on bikes that I dreamed of...

Fast forward to 2009. I'm working at Ben's Cycle in Milwaukee while Ellis Cycles gets going and Ben's does a ton of business with Euro Asia imports. We just so happen to have a full Campy Record kit with Delta brakes. Don't even get me started on these brakes, I know they don't have the best reputation for function, they're heavy, but DAMN do they look cool! Form over function in this case. OK, so after getting the Record kit back fr0m some nutty customer, the folks in Ben's web sales were ready to send the whole shebang back to Euro Asia. I decided it time to build my 1991 dream bike, so I plunked down a bunch of my hard earned cash!

Campy parts, I've got the hubs built into wheels with an Ambrosio Synthesis Durex in the back and Crono Durex in the front. More NOS parts from Ben's! Also a classic non anatomic set of Nitto handlebars.

I got it back from the polisher, cleaned it off and then I just had to hang some parts on it! Sat in the basement for about 10 minutes just looking at it before Lisa got home and I made her look at it too! I love her for humoring me!

Thanks also go to Jason P. for the almost mint Turbo Special saddle. Once the bike's done I'll get that stem, (also custom made), down a little lower. Talked to Jason about paint and we're thinking of white with just the head tube logo and down tube logo in a gunmetal gray/blue to match the "Century" finish on the parts. The seat stays and chain stays will be fully polished and the fork is chromed.

I can't wait to get it built up! Maybe you can go home again?

Cheers,

Dave

Patrick's 953 Frame

Patrick's frame is another one I'm planning to display at the upcoming NAHBS in Richmond. It's a mostly 953 frame with the exception of the seat tube, head tube and a plain steel bottom bracket instead of stainless. All the stainless will be polished with a painted seat, head tube and fork blades. Very similar to the 953 Ellis I built for Mike S. last year. I was hoping to have that one done for the show, but we were held up by a stainless fork crown, this year there shouldn't be any problems.

Above, all the parts prepped and ready to for the fixture.

Here I've got the complete bike set up so I can cut the seat stays to length and get the stainless caps welded and finished. I have to thank the guys at Waterford for helping with that quick bit of stainless welding!

A couple detail shots of the 953 chain stays and my new dropouts. I extended the tabs just a bit so I have more contact area for silver brazing. When I prepare the dropouts for a 953 bike, I finish the tabs to a point and then slot my stays to fit that point. What I'm looking to do is leave the points slightly raised from the stays so when the frame is polished, the silver braze doesn't get undercut around the dropouts. Plus it looks kinda cool too!

The head lugs after brazing.

Head lugs after a soak and some finishing. I really like the detail of the points almost touching on the back of the head tube. Just a geeky frame builder thing.

The frame, fork and stem all ready for final polish and then paint. I've started working with Jason to have him prime the fork and stem before polish so the sealer gets right into the lug edges. He'll have to touch things up after polish, but it's been working well, and it makes the polisher a bit more careful of the edges as well.

A closer shot of the head lugs, fork crown and stainless lugged stem.

A couple detail shots of the brake bridge, (it really mitered up tight and brazed nicely), and the rear dropouts.

Finally, the seat lug with the side tack 953 seat stays.

Tomorrow, I'll post some shots of my personal road frame that's also destined for the NAHBS show!

Cheers,

Chad's Tri Frame

Once again, I'm really falling behind on my blog entries, I'm gonna try to get one up every day for a few days to get everyone up to date.

Chad contacted me last summer and wondered if I could make him a steel triathlon frame that would be unique and not just a cookie cutter version of all the typical carbon tri frames. Well, even with a simple paint job, this frame would stand out, but Chad took it one step further and had Jason paint it the classic Richard Petty NASCAR scheme. Honestly, the photos don't even do the orange justice, it's full on day glo!

In addition, we went with polished 953 chain stays and a chromed fork. If you look back through the blog, you'll see some shots of the raw frame and the bi-laminate lugs for the head tube and seat lug.
Jason added Chad's name on the top tube so just in case there's another Richard Petty tri frame out there!

A shot of the bi laminate seat lug and huge aero seat stays attached as a fastback.

Chad already got the frame built up last Sat., it's an interesting mix of modern and classic looks.

If you stop my the Ellis booth at NAHBS in Richmond, Chad's bike will be on display, you can't miss it!

Cheers,

Dave

Rob's Complete Bike

Rob certainly didn't waste any time getting his new Christmas present put together. He sent along this photo of the bike and his "inspector". "Looks like everything is where it needs to be!"

I'm busy working on show frames and bikes for NAHBS, should have some more photos soon!

Rob's Christmas Frame!

I had to keep this one under wraps for a couple weeks so I wouldn't ruin the surprise!

This was the first Ellis I've ever built without ever talking to the intended rider. Rob's wife called me this past summer to see if I could build a frame as a surprise Christmas gift. It was a bit tough not being able to discuss the bike with him, but Sydney did a remarkable job of tracking down drawings from Rob's other frames and sometimes sending along his wish lists of ideas for future bikes. One of the notes Rob had made to another builder was his hope that the new frame would reflect what that builder's specialty was. Going on that, I built what I would consider an archetypal Ellis.

I submit it for your approval!

We decided early on to have the fork chromed like last year's NAHBS frame, I suggested that we do the chain stay in 953 to evoke the 80's chrome look without the cost of a full 953 rear end.

Of course the Ellis "team" paint scheme was a no brainer.

If you've been watching the blog, you may remember these lugs from Chad's tri frame post. I didn't want to let the cat out of the bag too early, so I just put up a couple close ups of the raw head lugs and seat lug as a teaser.

Jason's masking on the head tubes just keeps getting better, and he was no slouch to begin with!

I'm really starting to like this seat lug.

Polished 953 chain stay with a slight "bump" for chain ring clearance.

Check out the masking on the chain stay bridge reinforcement!

Eduardo's Ellis Built Up!

Dec. Happenings

Once again, I'm struggling to keep the blog up to date! I'll try to fill everyone in on the latest goings on at Ellis.

This past weekend I had a rare Sat. off from Ben's, so I decided to ride the Milwaukee Santa Rampage. I hooked up with Jason at his shop, and riding along were his friend Jay, and Jon (of Jonny Cycles) from Madison. I had the camera battery all charged up and ready, and I then proceeded to leave it in my backpack after getting all my warm clothes on. So, unfortunately, no pics Santa Rampage. Suffice it to say, it was a blast riding around Milwaukee with about 200 other folks all dressed as either Santa, elves, or other festive critters! I was the buzz kill guy in a red cycling jersey, as I hadn't planned ahead much for the ride and it ended up as a spur of the moment decision to ride. Next year!

As for Ellis Cycles, I finished up Caitlin's frame last week and dropped it off with Jason last Sat.

All the tubes mitered up and ready for the fixture. I hadn't done any work yet on the fork crown, and was noodling over how to make it hang with the frame stylistically. I worked out a cool pattern that's pictured below, and it ended up being one of my favorite details on this frame.

The head and seat lugs are a set of Silva? lugs I got from Ceeway a while back and I've been waiting for a project to use them on. They're for standard gauge tubes, and very minimalist, except for the bands on the head lugs. I carved them back a bit and added the circular cutouts that are becoming one of my favorite motifs.

Of course, the Inspector had to make an appearance to check things out.

A shot of the head lugs and fork crown. The crown is a Long Shen LC 17, and it starts out with two symmetrical points on the side. I decided to add the circular cutout and make the points a bit more asymmetrical to mimic the lower head lug. Unfortunately, I don't see this lug set listed at Ceeway any more, but I may have to ask if he can get them for me. For smaller frames, I really like this pattern and look.

Finally, the seat lug, with some tidy sidetack seat stays. If you look closely, you can see the stainless waterbottle boss I added on the inside of the stays for mounting a rack. Caitlin wanted the flexibility to run a rear rack, but this way when it's not mounted, the mounts are not nearly as noticeable. Plus the stainless bosses won't get chipped and rusty from taking the rack on and off. I added stainless washers on the dropout eyelets as well.

Cheers,

Dave