San Diego Redux
Flame job by the master: Joe Bell
For the last week I’ve been trying to put together a massive image dump of a goodly portion of my 200 or so images I shot at the San Diego Custom Bicycle Show. As it turns out, there can be too much of a good thing. I crashed WordPress on three occasions by uploading too many images; I was too impatient to try to do another three or four posts.
What follows is a further edited group of favorite shots/bikes/cool stuff.
Vendetta showed off this Columbus Max-tubed track bike. Seems the perfect use for Max to me.
You can see the ovalized tube profiles clearly at the bottom bracket. The emerald green paint candied the bike to the point of delicious.
The hand-painted details on this bike were stunning and the guys at Vendetta have an exclusive agreement with the painter. Want something this gorgeous? Order a Vendetta.
This bike by Mark Nobilette features hand-cut lugs that evoke one of my favorite superheroes: Spider Man.
This Bohemian has some of the most elaborate lug work I saw at the show.
This bike would be much less interesting were it not for the lugs being painted a third color to add contrast to the two colors already used on the tubes and in the windows.
This Soulcraft Randonneur bike enjoyed a really clean brake setup that used a Paul Components U-Brake to supply great stopping power while clearing the fender.
Builder Greg Townsend shows a lug with a piece of cut tubing that he will braze in place so that he can cut a new point for this lug. It’s time consuming work, but offers a great opportunity to make a fresh statement with a lug.
More trick work from Townsend. Note the small fillet he added to the lug at the top and bottom to smooth the transitions to the points and spoons.
This frame features a Pacenti seat lug he reworked with a longer lower point.
Jeff of Monkey Like Shiny showed off this insanely tall high-wheeler. Call it a half-dollar farthing.
The Monkey Like Shiny gravity bike featured a mono-arm fork as well as mono stays.
Dave Ybarrola showed off this Pereschini with classic lug work and from the look of it, some added fillets.
Winter’s Eric Estlund’s taste for bi-laminate building resulted in this subtle half lug for the seat clamp.
Bruce Gordon’s work in titanium rivals what many builders struggle to do in steel. Off. The. Hook.
Santana Cycles has been perfecting a foam cutout packing system for tandems for some 10 years now. They seem to have it down. The system not only packs the tandem safely, it makes the process nearly foolproof.
Mark DiNucci’s city bike was one of my favorites at the show thanks to this lug work.
DiNucci crafted this adjustable aluminum chain guide from scratch. The bolts that secure the clamp also pinch the arm in place to keep the guide from moving. Ultra clean.
