I have one show bike left for sale. I’ve lowered the price because I want to get it sold as quickly as I can. I don’t have any room for it in the shop and would like to convert it back into cash.  Also for anyone that is interested I will sell the frame/fork/headset separately for $1500.

This is “Mouse Grey” Extralite Blend Stage Race frame. The design schematic is below in the image gallery. See Sram Red build kit detail here:

http://www.strongframes.com/frames_&_pricing/road/build_kits/

Cranks are 172.5, Stem is 120mm, Bars are 44cm and cassette is 11/25

Regular Price:

Frame $1850

Paint $100 (custom decals)

Fork $480

Fork Paint $170

Build Kit $3224

Saddle Upgrade $35

Total Regular Price $5859

Sale Price $4000

Please contact me by phone or email with questions or to purchase: strong@strongframes.com or 800-586-1105

I think I may have been a little too optimistic about what I would get done in the weeks following the show. Tim, Andy and Ed, I am moving along but about a week back. So Tim, your frame is done, Andy’s frame will be done tomorrow and I’ll start Ed’s frame Thursday.  Marco, I should be on to your frame next week rather than this week and by that time Jeremy’s material will be in house and I’ll start yours and should be back on  schedule. I don’t ever rush work so it gets done when it gets done but  I try not to goof around either. I’ve also been receiving material that’s returning from the show and have to get one bike assembled and shipped and another shipped. So needless to say there aren’t enough hours in the day but I think a nice long weekend in the shop will get me back on top of the game and I can get back to my regular schedule.

One thing about this job is that if you get busy you can’t just hurry and get more done. The product is based on a quality standard that cannot be rushed. So if I get behind I either work more hours or stay behind. Fortunately, other than NAHBS I  don’t have a lot of interruption in my routine so this doesn’t happen often.

Below are images of Andy’s titanium belt drive single speed 29er. The weld shop is dropping off a new cylinder of argon at 7:00 and I’ll spend the rest of the day welding it together. Wait until you see this thing complete, it’s got a build kit that includes custom belt gears and Edge Carbon wheels built on to custom hubs. The owners son is a wheel builder and has a business called zencyclery.com, he went all out on the wheels and parts and they are going to make an incredible bike of this frame.

I’m going to try a new feature, video of the week. I like to cruise the net and check out videos so I thought is would be fun to post the vids that I thought were really cool once a week. They may be road or MTB, race cars, motorcycles or anything else I think is fun. I may even post some of my own stuff if I go somewhere really cool or see something interesting.  I’ll try to post once a week on no particular day. I’ll probably post when I have nothing to say. Today’s vid is a really cool MTB run at Whistler called “Detroit Rock City”. The guy with the camera rides really well and although the camera flattens the terrain you’ll see there are some serious rocks and roots. Pretty cool.

Finally back at the bench. I’ve been calling, emailing, packing, unpacking, flying, talking, assembling, selling, and just about anything but building the last three weeks. Yesterday I fired up the TIG machine and started working on Tim A’s adventure bike. Man did it feel good to start building a frame again. This frame is a titanium 700c with large tire capacity on it’s way to New Zealand. It will be mated with a steel fork that was built and sent to Spectrum before I left for the show. The owner is part of a company that has designed a very cleaver rack system which can be seen here.  Picture of the frame below.

We got back yesterday and man did we walk into a mess of activity. I spent the entire day responding to email and phone messages along with a few meetings. Today I’m caught up and ready to delve back into my routine. From here on out I should be working through my schedule and will start posting frame builds tomorrow.

The Richmond show was really good. We had a great time and met a lot of customers. We met some we’d never seen face to face and others we get to see only at these shows. We never get to pay enough attention to any one person because we are always being pulled in every different direction. This year was really active and I don’t think a minute passed on any of the three days when we didn’t have someone in the booth. I tried to get away and visit other builders an see their work but rarely got a chance to leave. If even the smallest opening occurred I went straight the bathroom. Thank goodness I have Loretta she really knows how to handle the booth traffic and without her I’m not sure the show would be nearly as successful for us as it is.

Erik showed his new brand Alliance in the new builder section and he had a beautiful “rain” bike  which was well received. He wasn’t there to sell as much as to share his development. He’ll be on the market soon so keep your eyes open. His tenure with me will end in October and by then he’ll have the chops to start selling frames. Frankly I think he’s ready now.

Below are pictures from our trip. Some are cool old buildings and builder friends along with a handful of customers we managed to get pictures of.

We’ll be closing the shop for the week mid day on the 23rd. We will be in Richmond VA for NAHBS through the first of March. If I have access to a connection I’ll post daily updates of the show while we’re there. I won’t be returning any email or phone calls until I return.

I wanted to let everyone know the Framebuilders Collective (TFC) has just taken in seven new members. We’re all very excited about it and look forward to working with these accomplished builders in continuing to move towards the TFC goals. You can see a list of the new members along with their statements here. There will be more to come over the next year. Logistically we can only bring in so many at one time. The order in which new members are invited has nothing to do out desire to have them. All builders that fit our mission will be invited and the order in which we contact them is a matter of practicality not qualification, quality or desirability.

Also, if you are a facebook user the TFC has a fan page here I encourage you to join and of course Strong Frames has a fan page here I hope you’ll join.

SOLD

Here is the second of the two show bikes I’m selling. They will be shipped from Richmond the day after the show unless the buyer wants to take them from the show at the end of Sunday.

This is Matte Black titanium Stage Race frame. The design schematic is below in the image gallery. See Sram Red build kit detail here:

http://www.strongframes.com/frames_&_pricing/road/build_kits/

Cranks are 172.5, Stem is 120mm, Bars are 44cm and cassette is 11/25

Regular Price:

Frame $2800

Paint $350 Custom decals and panels with bands.

Headbadge $200

Fork $480

Build Kit $3224

Edge Bar, Stem and Post upgrade $130

Edge Wheel/Tire upgrade $1665

Saddle Upgrade $30

Total Regular Price $8879

Sale Price $6800

I will also be willing to substitute the Edge wheels for less expensive DT Swiss 1450’s. for $5535

Please contact me by phone or email with questions or to purchase: strong@strongframes.com or 800-586-1105

Here is the first of the two show bikes I’m selling. They will be shipped from Richmond the day after the show unless the buyer wants to take them from the show at the end of Sunday.

This is “Mouse Grey” Extralite Blend Stage Race frame. The design schematic is below in the image gallery. See Sram Red build kit detail here:

http://www.strongframes.com/frames_&_pricing/road/build_kits/

Cranks are 172.5, Stem is 120mm, Bars are 44cm and cassette is 11/25

Regular Price:

Frame $1850

Paint $100 (custom decals)

Fork $480

Fork Paint $170

Build Kit $3224

Saddle Upgrade $35

Total Regular Price $5859

Sale Price $4800

Please contact me by phone or email with questions or to purchase: strong@strongframes.com or 800-586-1105

Here are a couple shots of a new modular dropout I’m testing for carbon frames. These are anodized black and red but once the design is finalized I’ll be offering them in a range of colors.