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..!