#1- royal h track

this one was fun. classic track geometry and clearances. the frame is based around a columbus zona ‘mega’ downtube. i found a bottom bracket lug that worked with the super large tube (45x32mm airfoil shaped) and went from there. super clean chrome job from south shore plating company underneath a candy clearcoat applied by tim dixon at classic colors east. h+sun rims laced 3 leading/3 trailing to phil wood hubs and a polished mavic starfish track crank complete the shiniest build ever. custom royal h stainless steel stem, again, polished. it’s a show, c’mon!

#2- royal h time trial

this one was also fun. it came together piece by piece over the course of the last few years. bought the vitus superarcor aero main tubes and bb shell from another local builder, and got the idea for the twin top tubes after looking at about 1000 old time trial bikes from the ’80s and ’90s on velospace. the custom painted zipp disc is so loud- acoustically and visually. wanted to stay on the vintage theme, so i tracked down some dura ace ax componentry. it’s a six speed 13-18t straight block with a single 53t chainring up front. built to go fast on flat surfaces. perhaps slightly downhill. on windless days. the look ergostem provokes strong reactions, but i love it. it’s weird and wonderful. mavic bullhorns and a polished ax aero profile seatpost with flight saddle are also nice throwbacks. the rear brake is mounted, true time trial style, under the chainstay bridge. leaves the rear monostay (built out of oval chainstays) looking uncluttered, and, most importantly, aerodynamic. all i need now is a skin suit.

#3- royal h 650b touring

all these bikes were fun! this one is special because it’s for my mom. she already has a nice bike and wanted something that could take some real touring abuse. this is built for it- s&s couplers and 650b wheel size allow for the disassembled bike to be stored in the smallest compartments for travel or shipping. the drivetrain is a 14 speed rohloff internal driven by paul cranks. it’s bombproof and super easy to travel with- like traveling with a single speed. a single speed whose hub is made up of twenty thousand parts. the exploded diagrams of these things are terrifying. the lugs on this bike are interesting too- vintage nervex head tube lugs are just awesome. the bb shell is the same as was used on old ’70s trek bikes (like the 420 my mom rode across the country). seatstay caps are curved and meet at a point in the style of older raleigh frames (like my mom’s first ten speed). not a matching set, but they work together and tell an interesting story. the dropouts are cool as well- NOS vitus semi horizontals. i have never seen another pair of these, but i’m sure they are out there somewhere. minimal and cool. the paul brakes also stop like no other rim brake i’ve ever used. good for slowing down a fully loaded touring bike. rack and pannier mounts abound as well for variable touring setups. has been continually field tested since it was built up, and is going strong.

so that’s it. apologies for the continual show related postings. i think this should do it for philadelphia. it was a great show and i met a ton of awesome builders who are all fighting the good fight with bastard half rounds and oxy-acetylene. looking forward to next year. in the meanwhile, will attempt to stay in business building customer frames… which have been looking pretty awesome as well. stay tuned.