Spring 2020 Update

Hi friends! It's been awhile since I've posted an update, my apologies. Life has changed a lot for me lately, and due to a lack of time and resources, I closed my space at Cycles for Change, and have been working in my spare time out of the Hack Factory and/or my home shop. I am busy working full time in the Local 322 Carpenter's Union, and taking classes at MCTC. Between that and co-parenting two (amazing) kids, I am only working on projects in my spare time. This doesn't mean that I won't take anything on, but it does mean that I cannot guarantee a finish date on anything, I will work on it in my spare time, make sure it is done well and not hurried, and it will be done when it is done. I understand that does not work for everyone, so I want to make sure that I put that out there. If you want to set up a repair or build, email me at blackshipcycles@gmail.com! That being said, in the last while, I have taken on a few great repairs and I'm finishing up a full custom build that I am excited about. I will post pictures when it is finished. I hope you are all staying safe at home out there, thanks friends!!

We've moved! Opening September 13th...

We've moved! The new shop is getting set up, and I've started doing some repairs and builds that have been piling up from the down time in between packing up the old shop, getting the new shop ready, and setting up the new space. I will be in the shop on Wednesdays, as well as by appointment some mornings or evenings, starting September 13th in the 2525 East Franklin Building. You'll hve to enter on the 26th St. side through Cycles for Change.

Spring 2017 Update - The Black Ship shop is Moving!

Our time at the "Shasta Building" in Longfellow has come to an end

The building is getting torn down to be rebuilt into a school (here's the full article), and that means we are setting up shop at new location! I'm stoked on the potential at the new spot and as soon as it is all solidified, I will be stoked to announce it next month. The only bad news it that the shop will not be reopening until sometime in July once everything is moved and set back up. Keep an eye on the blog, website, and social media accounts for the announcement and opening party.  

I will still be available via phone and email to set up Custom Frame Builds, Modifications, and Repairs in the new queue, so keep in touch via blackshipcycles@gmail.com or 612-424-1773. 

See ya then!

Brief History of the Building at 3530 E 28th Ave via Hennepin County Library's blog:

"New Plans for Old Canada Dry Bottling Plant
At the corner of 28th St. E and 36th Ave. S, in the Longfellow neighborhood, sits a cream brick building with a beautifully curved glass block entrance. The building, designed by Walter M. Cory of New York and built by Fred R. Comb Co. of Minneapolis and the George J. Grant Construction Co. of St. Paul, was completed in 1946 as a bottling plant for the Canada Dry Ginger Ale, Inc. The plant, which served a newly formed Minneapolis Division for the firm, provided 70,000 sq ft of floor space for the bottling of ginger ale, sparkling water, cola, lemon drinks, and other carbonated beverages, and employed 60 people. 

In 1948 the building was sold to the Mutual Life Insurance Co. of New York, but was leased by Canada Dry through 1970. From 1971-1979 the building was leased by Shasta Beverages, another American soft drink manufacturer.

Following use by the bottling companies, the building was occupied by Western Electric Co. from 1981-1986 and then by a multitude of small businesses and artists studios including graphic designers, blacksmiths, and musicians, which is how the building remains in use today.

Recently, Hiawatha Academies, a Minneapolis charter school, purchased the building. This summer they plan to start construction on a new high school, for which they plan to reuse close to half of the existing building, including the glass block entrance."

Winter Biking - My firsthand experiances and tips (in progress)

Background: I grew up partly in the Midwest, and rode a bmx through the snow during the long winters. Often though, no set of wheels could have gotten me through the several feet of lake effect snow we'd get most winters, so I did spend many days walking, yes, uphill in the snow, 2 miles to school. As an adult I lived in Milwaukee and wiped out on the ice on my way to work at 6am in 0 degree weather. Many years after that I spent in the south, mostly riding a road bike year round and making up for as much smooth flat pavement as I could.

My first winter of commuting was in 2012, I had a job at a coffee shop about a mile and a half from our house. I bought an old Diamondback Ascent frame, from the bike shop that I later worked three plus seasons at, and outfitted it for the snow, ice, melt, and debris. The strategy was like a true all terrain bike, the original purpose of these frames, slower but steady, bigger tires and lots of clearance.
Also, since the weather would do an enormous amount of wear and tear, I opted for all used parts. Besides, you don't fell much difference when you are pushing through the snow and ice, and I didn't have that far of a ride, so I wasn't too concerned with longevity.

 These were the aspects I focused on for the build:

• Large frame with ATB geometry and lots of clearance
• Wide, knobby, studded tires
• Plastic bolt on fenders
• Sealed bottom bracket
• Large gear ratio/range
• Thumb shifters , easy to use with gloves
• High and close handlebars and stem
• Wide pedals
• Used quality components

Although I felt I would notice a difference between department store quality parts (and reliability) I didn't feel I would notice a difference between high and low end shop quality, so I mostly went with late 90's shimano parts. The click thumbies that generally came with these mtb sets worked well with my ski gloves, and I could get a triple up front and 9 speed rear for pretty cheap. (that winter I took off the front der. and made it a 1x the next winter)
   I scored a set of used studded tires and popped those on front and back, as I had already slipped out trying none or one. Being in the south for long, I certainly had a hard time staying upright on the half inch shelf of ice that was once our street.

Blog Update

I'm experimenting with moving the Blog to my website via Weebly! Find it here----------->http://www.blackshipcycles.com/news--updates
Cheers!

Spring 2016 Update

Spring was quiet at the shop. I finished the Porter rack and rode it to the brewery many Monday nights to fill growlers just to make sure it worked ;), and did a few frame repairs for some great people.

I plan on posting photos from those processes, as well as updating the website.

Summer is pretty much here, and I am excited about some new tools and new builds. I'll be updating more often. Watch the Instagram for current photos from in the shop!

October shop news & schedule

We finished the move!

The workshop is still at 3530 E 28th St off the greenway.

I'll be in the shop everyday this week, working on Jamison's single wheel touring trailer, David's Icebreaker front and rear racks, and bike locking racks for the new Gamut Gallery!

If you have a repair or mod, project you want to discuss, a custom Icebreaker, or other winter bike this season, stop in!

Our new home office/mailing address is 1042 27th Ave SE, Apt C, 55414

Cheers!

Building the Black Ship Monster X Cross with Campy Athena EPS

Oh bother. This post was started months ago and got erased in the cyber-nethers. Let's crack a beer and see what happens:

Unassuming pile of Chromoly tubing

Monster X Cross

 (Or how to turn an unassuming pile of chromoly tubing into a sweet ride)

Design and Drafting: David and I collaborated on the design for this one. As an avid rider and owner of many custom bikes, he could tell me exactly what he wanted out of  the frame. in this case, fast, aggressive but still comfy position in drop bars with Campy Athena EPS.

After drafting the soon to be frame, the appropriate tube set is ordered. in this case, Nova Cycles made a custom Monster Cross kit for Black Ship Cycles that used lighter 29er tubing with the same rear triangle as the Icebreaker.

Part 1 - Cutting, Fitting, Welding: Once the tubing showed up, the cutting and filing began. Rough cutting main tubes began with a chop saw, then mitered with bi-metal hole saws in the vertical mill. Once the tubes were notched, I perfected the fitting by hand filing and cleaning the joint. This was also a good time to drill out the enlarged bottom bracket holes to accommodate the electronic shifting wiring.

We marked all of our spots for the EPS wiring and drilled them out, then cleaned'em up with a hand file. This took a while, as neither one of us was very familiar with the group, but we found all the info we needed and it was a rewarding accomplishment to put a sweet custom spin on this bike.

As soon as everything fit up properly and snug in the fixture, the front triangle is tack welded into place in sequence.

The piece then comes out of the fixture and onto the table for the finish welding, also done in sequence to prevent heat warpage and misalignment.

Once the front triangle is check on the alignment table, the rear triangle gets cut and fit, same as the front. The tubes are slotted for dropouts using a rotary cutting wheel and hand file, then the dropouts are inserted and aligned. Everything is tacked in the frame then welded in sequence on the table. The frame is then checked for alignment and clearance.

The next step is to cut, fit, and weld in the fender mounts. After that, the brazing will begin.














Part 2 - Brazing, Finishing: First, all of the brazed on small parts get dry fit and marked on the frame with sharpie. Holes are drilled for threaded mounts and other mounts are filed to match the curve of the tube. Once they are all set up and clean, each piece is clamped, fluxed, and brazed into place with either silver or bronze using an oxy/acetylene torch. The flux is cleaned of and all braze-ons are thoroughly checked, any adjustements are made.

Finally, the seat tube is notched and reamed, any inconsistencies are filed down, then the final alignment and quality check is done. Once everything passes inspection, it's off to the paint shop! 

The Monster X Cross!

Bike Night 2015 at the MIA

Black Ship Cycles

I'll have a couple few frames on had to show and answer questions about. Come join the fun!
 
Riding through the doors of Minneapolis Institute of Arts for ‪#‎BikeNightMIA‬ Tomorrow!
Join us from 6-9 p.m. for a FREE night of art + bikes + brews.
RSVP and invites here: http://on.fb.me/1GuESVo

Follow Black Ship on Instagram!

Updates from the shop, rides, new builds, works in progress, fun tools, dangerous! tools, new items, good beers, fun times, scattered with an occasional pic of really cute kids, dogs, and cats. See your bike or wallet being made!

BLACK SHIP INSTAGRAM!!
CLICK HERE!!

Summertime Scheduling at the Shop

Summer is nearing: Updates and the summer schedule
 

As of this month, I am working at a new day job, 40hrs a week, welding in a small production shop. I have had to spend some extra time transitioning, but, David's Monster Cross is finished, bikes are getting painted, and repairs are still rolling through.

In the shop queue, I have a single wheel touring trailer, as well as racks for the Icebreaker, in the design stage that will hopefully come together over the next month or so. Mayday Cafe asked for a fifth rack for bikes out front so I will be working on that also.

As for frame builds, I will be accepting two more custom builds before fall, then I will most likely not be taking new customers as my partner will be in the U of M MSW program for the next year and a half. Of course, it's not that I don't want to be building, more realistically I won't be able to turn anything around in a timely manner.

That means that if you want to get in a summer track/road bike, fall cross ride or Icebreaker winter commuter, you'll need to get a deposit down and a spot in the queue in the next month or so to make sure you 'll have a spot and can get the tubes ordered and get it to the painter before the end of summer.


Also, a big shout out to Anthony at AP-Paints, always doing a bang up job, Ynez for letting me take care of her TIG welder, and David, Jamison, Alex, Natalie and all the encouraging friends and family for the support. It takes a community. Y'all rule.

Modern Drop Bar Bicycle Geometry, Explained!

The bike industry has been changing road bikes over the last decade to better suit the different styles of riding that exist.  We have been hearing all sorts of new terms for them but we haven't really had those all explained in one easy place.  That's what this write-up is about. 

Road

This is what started them all... Its a fast bike with minimal tire clearance, lower handlebar position, caliper style brakes and is the lightest of the bunch.  Most of them will come with 23mm tires but can fit 25mm tires.  They are great for road-only, longer rides, intense paced riding, group rides.  The customers that are looking at these are looking for the lightest and fastest bikes out there.

Cyclocross

These are closely bread from road bikes, the first ones where road bike with different brake mounts installed for canti brakes with mud clearance in a time when road bikes where steel and had more tire room (the 60s-70s).  They changed into their own style of bike in the 90s because road bikes no longer had clearance for the tires and the style of racing grew.  Now the differences are ability to fit at least a 32mm tire, disk or canti brakes, higher bb height (for tight off-road cornering).  Many have fender and rack mounts to make them more versatile but they do generally have a pretty aggressive road fit and pretty quick handling, often the same as a road bike.

Touring

These bikes have been around for a long long time.  They resemble a cyclocross bike however they have many geometry differences.  Mainly they are designed for going in a straight line for a long distance so their chainstays are much longer (also gives more heal clearance for panniers), the headtubes are usually a slacker angle, a lower bb height and the handle bar height is higher, often as high as the saddle. They have all the rack and fender mounts (front and rear) and have a bit stiffer frame for the added weight of touring.

Randonneur

This is a bike that has also been around for a while (some call it a light-touring).  The simplest way to describe them is a touring bike with lighter tubing for a better ride quality. The fashion for these have been to add shiny fenders and a front rack/bag.  Its name comes from a style of racing/riding that is a long distance over one or two days that is fully self supported

Endurance

This is a bike that branches out from a road bike.  It's designed to have a higher handlebar height, more tire clearance (28mm-32mm) and a little bit more predictable handling (slacker angles). Most of the road bikes we sell are this style.  They have gone a few steps further with some brands and include disk brakes and even more tire clearance (32mm-38mm).  These are very well balanced bike and work very well for many people, they are getting a little ambiguous in that some are coming with rack/fender mounts for even more utility and can resemble cyclocross bikes. 

Gravel

These where born from the gravel races that all the kids are doing these days.  They look very similar to a cyclocross bike however they have a few small but important differences.  The main ones being longer chainstays and a shorter bb height (back to road bike height with light touring chainstay lengths).  These are important in that they make the bike much more stable for high speed gravel descents.  They also have more tire clearance which can be crucial for gravel, lessening the deflection caused by the rocks that make up gravel roads.

Adventure

This is the most ambiguous term we have for the bike market right now.  It can mean any of the above plus many different mtn bikes and even a few fatbikes.  It was brought into the market by Salsa cycles to describe their style or riding but has expanded to other companies or simply a way of describing how a bike is used. The key features are having more durable wheels, more predictable handling, and lots of room for stuff on the bike, but not necessarily using racks.  Because they are used off road/gravel quite a bit people prefer to have frame bags, handlebar bags and large seatbags.  These bags tend to be lighter and easier to handle in off-road situations, they also bounce around a lot less.

c/o David Meyer | Sales, Service, Fit Tech, Worker-Owner
The Hub Bike Co-op
david at thehubbikecoop dot biz

March 2015: What's new in the shop?!

March marks the beginning of the cycling season here in Minnesota, and thanks to the generally warmer weather, it is already a busy one! I went into the Hub Minnehaha store to help out for a few hours and we ran out of space to store bikes in for repairs and tune ups...

At the Black Ship Cycles shop, along with finishing up two repairs and a repaint, I have a Monster Cross frame in the queue, front and rear racks, as well as two road frames on deck!

 

I am already scheduling out for spring and summer, and have appointments available, so please hit me up within the next month to get your project in asap - blackshipcycles at gmail dot com.

And before you know it, we'll be grilling dogs in our lycra and looking for a shady spot to lean our favorite two wheel rides while we tip back our shades a reach for our coozies...

2015 Winter/Spring Prices

2015 Winter/Spring Custom and Repair Menus!

We updated the pricing to reflect changes. Of course, we aim to keep prices affordable and accept payment plans as an option to get you the frame that is just right for you.

Our mission is not to make only the most exclusive and unobtainable custom frames, but to make superb quality, lightweight, custom Minnesota handmade frames an option available to the more and more Minnesotans that are serious about not only biking and commuting, but also the precision machines they choose to ride on. True Minnesota Craft Bikery.

Here's to 2015! Define your ride!

-Black Ship Cycles

http://www.blackshipcycles.com

http://www.blackshipcycles.com/custom-frame-menu.html

#blackshipcycles #craftbikery #mnhandmade

Big O Manufacturing Fenders for 3" Knards

Big thanks to locals Big O Manufacturing for outfitting David's 29er+ Icebreaker with some sweet fenders:

Talk about full coverage! Next up, Custom front and rear racks!

ICEBREAKER with 26" x 2.25 tires

I finally got this build put together!

I'll post a demo of the dog leash loop asap.

Morgan (our aussie-collie) loves riding through the snow! The bottom bracket is high enough that I can still pedal with him through 3-4" of soft white fluff, and plow right through snow banks.

Right now it is a frankenstein of parts from my shop and the salvage yard at the HUB Bike Coop.

1x9, SRAM X5 Der, GXP BB, Tektro Lyra discs w/V-Brake levers, 26" Bontrager Disc Wheels, 2.25" Bontrager Jones XC Tires.

So fast, so sweet...

Introducing the ICEBREAKER Winter Specific Commuter!

David's 29er+ #2: How to Build a Full Custom Oversized Plus Frameset in Four Days

How to Build a Bike in 4 Days:
This was the second, and final, attempt at nailing down a the perfect frame with David's custom geometry and 3.0 Knards. It was a big (sic) challenge, but given the outcome of the last frame (BB too high and TT too short) and I had my reservations on the final product. Alas, I actually had the privileged to ride it yesterday, and it feels perfect. David commented that it rode so smooth on the road that it felt like a road bike. That was the idea! I'm stoked.

Since the first frame was off (it will actually fit me perfect 26" winter tires, more later...) I had to push to get this into the painter s soon as possible. With the last of the parts coming in on Thursday and the painter scheduled for Monday, that meant 4 days to put the whole thing together, start to finish.

Day 1: Pulled out the drawing sheet and rough cut all the tubes. Laid out the master drawing and
mitered the main triangle, with the help of the new tube notching clamp I picked up on sale. I also mitered out the chain stays and fork blades, mostly by hand, with a little help from the mill. Once everything fit together properly, I tacked it in the jig and welded most of the front triangle and fork.

Day 2: Worked on the rear Triangle, cutting, mitering, tacking, checking, and welding it all together. Given the complex geometry from the oversized tires and spacing, this took lots of measuring three times and mocking up tire clearances and spacing. But, It turned out great!


Day 3: Finished welding the fork joints,
and disc tab. Mitered bridges,
created the custom dog leash loop,
welded them in, then marked and cut all of the braze-ons.

Day 4: Brazed in all of the accessories; front and rear rack, fender, bottle and cable mounts, cleaned up the joints, and checked final alignment. All within tolerance. Tapped in the serial number. DONE!

November Shop Update; New posts to come!

Now that David Meyer's Custom Icebreaker 29er+ is finished and on the road, and AK's fork is finished and painted, it is officially 'catch up on blog posts' day. I'll do a post on AK's track fork build start to finish, and David's "How to build a complete oversized plus frameset in four days". Then probably a Fall/Winter Queue and Specials update. More to come..!

AK's 'Dirty Gold' Track Fork

Building AK's fork

   Designed for a 700c x 25 track style for a 2008 Giant Bowery. I used chromoly blades, a 1/8 steer tube and plug style dropouts from Nova. Everything went together really well, and, it was really fun working with those tight clearances.

Here are some shots of AK's fork after paint. AK picked the 'dirty gold' color. I love it.

Of course I had ran out get coffee right before she stopped in to pick it up!

painted by AP Paints