Thursday, January 30, 2014

New Fork started and a MEGA TASTY NOS vintage Shimano Dura Ace Track group!

I was WAY to excited on the new LAN71 crown and had to work on it right away. After I stab someone with it tho as it looks like some proper medieval shit right here:

Drilling the hole for the fender mount:

Drilled and mocked up rack mounts:

Made some larger spear point lug add ons:

Mocked up on the fork:

Next time I'm in the shop I'll braze the mofo up!

Then, in other exciting news I scored a complete NOS vintage Dura Ace Track group:







SO.

AMPED!!

I've been wanting that group FOREVER now!

It's going to be SUPER SICK building up a frame from scratch with this group AND dropouts!!

I'll have some proper photos of that shizz as soon as it shows up at my door..

More soon!!



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Monday, January 27, 2014

Some progress, new parts and the FREAK BIKE that never was..

Stopped by to check out Rosko's new shop the other night to pick up some sexy curved seat tubes:



1: One of many True Temper ST's I have, and the ones I got from him- 2: KHS aero ST, 3&4: Columbus ST's..

Wicked stoked on the Columbus ST's as they make for hella sensual TT's, lol..

Talk about a righteous pain in the balls:


1: outline, 2: rough cut, 3: finished, 4: stab g-dubz in the face..

Some ninja star steez:


Then I got some new stuff in from Ceeway which I'm super stoked on..

Boss as H2O bosses:


Some nice seat stay caps and aero brake bridge..


MAX style aero fork blades and socket dropouts:


The LAN71 touring crown I've been anticipating:



Super, super amped on finally getting to see the crown in person- so fraking dope!

I have three days off this work week so I'm def gonna go to town on that shizz \m/

Lastly, I spent last Saturday cleaning and reorganizing in the shop when I stumbled across this abandoned carbon fiber tall bike project from forever ago:


 Jigsaw puzzled together from various broken frames it would've been incredibly light, ugly and scary as fuck to ride. As much as I miss those early days I'm happy to have moved on..

That's all for now- more soon!


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Wednesday, January 22, 2014

This is so fucking SICK!! ..oh and some nice bikes for sale

Check out how retardedly, redonkulously, amazeballz this bicycle shop doll house is:






I mean, C'MON right?!!

This shit took me like 2 hours and was a bitch to hold properly at times:

I don't even want to think about making a hella mini chain:


nnnNO THX!

Fucking incredible tho..


Then apparently some dude is passing on some nice jamz for those of us who are like 6' 2" and up:

HETCHINS Vade Mecum 1969  serial # H9062 I bought this frame, which had been repainted, and built it up. Gorgeous rose color, beautiful detail, straight chain stays, all Cinelli and Campy NR and Valentino. 59 cm c-c seat tube, 57 cm top tube $1500


CUEVAS signature model, purchased from Mike Fraysse who still works for the family. Mike told me this was the last bike built by Francisco, for his grandson, before he retired to Spain--around 1990. Hand cut lugs, bb, dropouts, etc. Fabulous paint. 61 cm c-c seat tube; 57 cm top tube. $1500


SOMEC (Societa Mechanica) Very snazzy Italian racer in dark burgundy with lots of yellow trim and details including pantographed shift levers, panto'd fork crown, chrome fork and stays. This bike dates from the '90s and is in excellent condition, including a beautiful Campy C Record gruppo, 3t handlebar and stem, and Selle San Marco Rolls saddle. Seat tube 61 cm c-c, top tube 59 cm $1100

..and my personal fav:


JACK TAYLOR Tour of England serial # 7190 which I believe dates it to 1971; original orange paint with white box lining, 'Mondrian' decals, all Campy NR, Silca pump, 24" c-c seat tube, 22.5" top tube, $1200

Now I'm not sure if those are complete or frame only but I'm assuming it's for the complete since it doesn't say otherwise. In which case those are some HELLA nice dealz so scoope em up or pass them on to the tall and lanky bastards in your life..



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Tuesday, January 21, 2014

BE SURE to watch this full screen..

..at 1080 cause the cinematography is killer! Tune ain't bad neither..



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Monday, January 20, 2014

Want a real challenge..?

Try watching more than 10 seconds of each video:



..cause I couldn't :-P

Also, google image search 'ATARI BREAKOUT' right now 8)

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Some detail work on the new frame!

I'm currently waiting on an order from Nova so I decided to work on some detail BS in the meantime..

Came up with this design the other day to schmancy up the lugs on the new frame:


Was thinking of adding a bit more to the side:


A few snaps from having to replicate the lug design. 1: outline, 2: Initial rotary tool cuts, 3: halfway done, 4: 95% done- just needs a little more sanding and the holes drilled..

Here's a preview of the new pieces on the frame:


Gonna dress up the other lugs a bit too (hole needs to be a hair larger):


More soon..


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Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Mind Blown..


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Monday, January 13, 2014

Little more progress on the frame..


Frame is looking pretty rad with the rear triangle mocked up now. Just have to figure on the kind of build itself. Was originally thinking Alfine 8 speed rear hub, 46ish tooth ring, flat bar trigger shifter commuter jammer but would also make for an incredibly ssswwweeeeet fixie and or straight up cross biek. Lots of people are saying cross so far but I'm still debating. Mostly because it would be tits if I ran internal cabling through the TT and SS which would keep it hella clean. Then again so would no brakes and a HED3 on da front lol!

Also thinking that I'll want to go with a proper paint job and logos with this one. Got some ideas already but again, let me know what all y'allz think..


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Thursday, January 9, 2014

I really wish..

..that I could update this automatically via instagram like everything else so I can continue being lazy as fuck lol!

In any case, I've got the front triangle nearly complete on the next steed so I figured I'd post a quick snap to update progress:


Finally startin' ta look like an actual bike now!

True Temper aero seat tube with Nova Double Oversized lugs and tubing. 73 degree ST, 72.5 degree HT, 57cm CTC ST, 56.5cm CTC TT. If you're scratching your head about how I got it to work it's because I cheated the ever living shit out of the BB and lower HT lug lol. I'm gonna have to get creative with the chain stays as well. Pretty stoked so far!

I'm going with some curved seat stays on the new frame which requires an extension to the standard 22" ones. I accomplish that by sleeving the two together with an insert. The holes are just windows to make sure the brazing material gets evenly dispersed before being filled in:


Welp, that's all for now. I'm working sitting in a chair looking at the internet for the next couple of days but hopefully I'll have some time this weekend to get some more progress going..

In the meantime, I mocked up the rear triangle and am pretty stoked on it. If you want to check it out and submit feedback, holler via instagram (alansikiric) and I'll send you a personal snap to hear your opinion and ignore it lol!





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Monday, January 6, 2014

Catching up a bit via my instagram..

..which you really ought to follow seeing as how I'm waaaay too lazy to update here as often these days.

Double taco bummer seen on street:


Another bummer seen on street:


Sweet lock up job:


lol, dumbass..

Worked on an easy socket style rear drop out swap for a friend:

1: Drop out cut 2: Removal 3: Test fit of replacement piece 4: All cleaned and braze rings set up 5: Brazing completed 6: All done! \m/

Another repair I worked on simultaneously with the drop out swap:

 I bought an NJS Bridgestone car impact track frame on eBay a few years back in need of a rear SS replacement for $76. Including the Hatta BB and HS :-D 1: original condition 2: SS removed 3: I was hoping it was a socket style SS cap but it wasn't. Time to make one from scratch 4: got the cap blank brazed, now I just have to carve out the proper shape and match it as best I can to the original.

Whoever came up with this way of capping off seat stays is a real piece of shit. Came out decent enough I suppose:


Just a little more cleaning and touch up filing to go and she'll be ready for the road once more :)


 If anyone's interested it's a 53.5 CTT ST & CTC TT squared frame. 52CTC ST. Comes with a Hatta HS and fork. There's a small dent in the TT which I can fill in if required. I can also install bottle and fenders mounts if desired. Will require a repaint, proper or rattlecan. Just shoot me an offer. Not looking to get a lot but not gonna let her go underpriced either..

Tripped the fuck out when I spotted this sweet new touring fork:


So dope! Still waiting to hear back about pricing etc..

Recently picked up a set of Nova's new double oversized lugs. Check out the difference between a standard lug 8-) 


So rad. Stoked to build em up!

Also stoked on these new lil tid bits from Nova:


 1: Internal cable guide reinforcer 2: Seat stay reinforcer 3: Totally killer pre-polished H2O boss with reinforcer built in. So wicked!

Then I realized something:


26 True Temper Seat Tubes: $156 dollars.. Nova Double Oversized Lugs: $55 dollars.. Realizing that the two are compatible.. Priceless.. granted there's sure to be some fanagling with the TT and BB but still, bloody fucking brilliant!!

I started building up a new frame with said lugs and aero ST earlier today. With any luck it'll come out cool so I won't be empty handed at NAHBS. Which I'm still up in the air about going to. More so because of work than anything else now that I'm living the freelance lifestyle. Not that I can't just split, but it just feels shitty taking a day off when I could be making money. Clearly I'm spoiled by salary gigs and paid vacation days :-/

Then theres how to get there. Part of me wants to just hop on a plane and be done with it. 10-11 hours driving vs like 2 on a plane. Another part wants to ride my motorcycle which would be rad. Then yet another part wants to grab my pops van, toss a couple of bikes and my moto in there. Check out the show and ride bikes etc. Then head over to the Tail of the Dragon a few hours away from Charlotte and shred some curves on the moto. Which would be hella rad..

Decisions, decisions..

Anyways, that's all for now..

Check out more frequent posts on Instagram @ alansikiric


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