Small Ristras

These small chili pepper ristras where hanging across a shop window.

The One and Only 'Constance'! a Mixte by Royal H. Cycles

Trying to write a definitive post about the completion of my custom mixte (whom I have named "Constance") has been overwhelming, but I am forcing myself to do itbefore too much time goes by. Perhaps it will help if I try to cut down on the sappy stuff and just write about it briefly, matter-of-factly. After all, it's just a bike forgoddsake... Right!

In September of last year I met Bryan Hollingsworth, who is the framebuilder behind Royal H. Cycles, and asked him to make me a custom mixte frame in the tradition of theFrench constructeurs. The frame was finished on my birthday this February. One by one, I purchased all the components, and the Co-Habitant and I put the bike together at the end of the summer. The bicycle was complete in September , about a year after its inception. If you are interested in the step by step details of the process, you can read all about it by scrolling through these posts; they document the bike from the initial stages of frame design to tweaking the component choices.



To start with a basic description of the bicycle, it is a classic, fully lugged mixte frame with twin lateral stays.The tubing is eclectic, designed with comfort and strength as the main priorities: The downtube and seat stays areColumbus. The seat tube isNova. The chainstays areVitus. And the twin stays are domestic 4130 straight gauge.



The 52cm frame has a 54cm virtual top tube, 73°seat tube angle, 72°head tube angle, 53mmfork rake, 54.5mm trail, and 430mm chainstays.



The liquid paint and lug outlining were done byCircle A Cyclesin Providence, RI.



The "dusty mint" colour was matched to a swatch I provided. The Royal H. insignia and lug outlining were done in copper.



As far as construction goes, several neat features make the bicycle special. To start with, it is nearly impossible to have a fully lugged mixte built nowadays, because the twin headtube lugs are no longer made. These were procured new old stock.



The "bullet" style seat stay caps were the framebuilder's idea and I was not sure I wanted them at first, but they look spectacular.



The flat-top fork crown has a small custom embellishment, and notice the little lugged braze-on for the shifter boss. I should mention that this bicycle has clearances for 35mm+ tires plus fenders...



Everything that could possibly be lugged on this mixte, is!



- including these amazing triple sockets on the rear dropouts. Read more about them, and other aspects of the lugwork here(not to mention the custom stainless steel kickstand plate!).

There are braze-ons for both front and rear racks, and the bicycle was built to accommodate reasonable front and rear loads.



If you are interested in a full technical description of the components, you can find thathere. But for those who just want the main points of interest, I will describe a few.



The 700C wheels were built by Peter White, with a Schmidt SON dynohub to power the lights. The headlight and tail light are the same as on my Rivendell, and you can read about them here.



Braze-ons along the inside of the fork accommodate the wiring for the headlight.



The handlebars are the Velo OrangePorteurbars, used with a 10mm stem, inverse brake levers, and Silver shifters inserted into Paul thumbies - which were heavily modified for the purpose.



The bicycle was built to accommodate centerpull brakes, as this is my preferred style of brakes. The brakes are Dia Compe centerpulls from VO - which function great, but had to be slightly modified to fit properly (which, as I understand, is a problem other have had as well).



The crankset is a Sugino Alpina double. You can't tell in this picture, but there is a neat braze-on for the front derailleur.



The rear derailleur is the Shimano XT "Shadow". I love this derailleur, because it tucks in closely to the wheel, so that it is less likely to get dinged if you are riding off-road, or even if the bike gets slammed by a door. Given that I have nearly destroyed the rear derailleur on my Rivendell in half a year's time, I think the "Shadow" was made for me. Oh, and if you are wondering what that monstrous-looking cassette is, that is a Sheldon Brown custom touring cassette.Please be honest about this one: how bad does this look? I considered switching the biggest ring (currently a 34t) to a slightly smaller one, so that it blends in with the others visually - though over time the weirdness of it has grown on me.



The bicycle is fitted with the beautiful Honjo"Le Paon" fenders (similar to the VO "Zeppelins" I have on my Rivendell, but shinier and somehow more elegant), and the front rack is a VO Randonneur.



The rear rack is a VO Constructeur, which is small but can nonetheless fit a standard Dutch-size pannier. Oh, and the tires are (big surprise!) Schwalbe Delta Cruisers, 700C x 35mm. And I think I will stop now with the components, before I put everybody to sleep! If you have questions after reading this post and the spec list here, please ask in the comments and I will be glad to answer.



My impression of the mixte is multi-layered, but all the layers can be placed firmly in the category of "love". The bicycle handles differently than I had imagined, but only because I had no way of imagining something I had never experienced before. It is freakishly light, and luxuriously, almost abnormally comfortable while at the same time being faster and more responsive than any upright bicycle I have ridden before. It is more responsive than the vintage mixte, "Marianne," I used to own, which I had complained was "twitchy". Somehow, on the Royal H.the responsiveness does not feel scary; I can control it. No idea how this all works, but I am certainly happy about it.



The fit of the mixte is just perfect for me, and I can feel that my proportions have been taken into consideration - everything just feels "right". The bicycle handles best with a 10cm stem, with the handlebars close to level with the saddle, and with the saddle pushed back a bit.



I have ridden the mixte all over town since early September, and have taken it on two longish rides (40 miles and 30 miles). Everything is beyond perfect and there is zero pain. I have tried to describe the ride quality here and here if you are interested in the details. One thing I love that I would never have expected to love, is the high bottom bracket. I feel almost majestically tall on this bicycle, even when leaned over and holding the front of the bars.



Given that this is a custom bicycle, I should probably conclude with a few words about the framebuilder. BryanHollingsworth is a young builder with considerable experience working for the world-famous Seven Cycles. He is a knowledgeable, enthusiastic, easy-going, and genuinely nice person. I knew that Bryan was the right builder for me, because he immediately understood the kind of bicycle I wanted, and got excited about building it. He was surprisingly pro-active about design solutions and pointed out possibilities that even my detail-obsessed imagination had not considered. As a result, my frame has some unique features that I cannot take any credit for what so ever; they were Bryan's idea! Additionally, now that I am actually riding the bicycle, it is clear that Bryan had put a lot of thought into making it comfortable for me, while, at the same time, giving it a degree of fiestiness that I had not expected.



I will also address price and affordability, since some have already been asking about this. I would rather not disclose the cost of my frame - mainly because that figure will no longer be of use to anyone. When I met Bryan, he had only just begun building custom frames under his own name, and that is how I was able to afford the project. A year later, Royal H. has taken off like a rocket, and, naturally, the price structure has changed somewhat. As for affordability, my advice would be to find a frame builder you like, and then discuss the possibility of breaking up the payment into several installments. This makes paying for the frame considerably easier. Furthermore, no one says that you must buy all the components immediately, and all at once. I saved up for them gradually, which is why it took nearly a year for my bicycle to reach completion. And yes, it was worth it!



I named this bicycle "Constance", because I hope she always remains in my life. Thank you to everyone who made my custom mixte possible, both directly and indirectly.

Skis reviews at ?

The way Cold Thistle started was me going on the hunt for a decent down jacket. I learned a few things in the process. Mostly what I wanted, wasn't want most people bought.



Skiing has been important in my life off and on. Not really all that important now but I still don't want what most people buy. A lot of reasons for that and likely not all of them good or relevant to you. But I am finding some issues I might consider serious flaws, if only I knew more about the subject. So what you'll get is some opinion. Not all based in fact, just my experience.



Not the first time I have gotten to this point, when what I would have thought were reliableresources I have been reading on the Internet come up with totally difference conclusions than I do.



But no matter :-) I'll be writing some ski reviews shortly. Boots and bindings as well at some point.



Here is a teaser as towhat skis you will have a chance to read in depth reviews on.





















A quick shotof what will be reviewed should look like this:

Black Diamond

Aspect



La Sportiva

Lo5

Hi5

GTR



More on La sportiva skis..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fbinjGpIvI



Dynafit

SevenSummit

Broad Peak

Huascaran @177cm and196cm



more here on the Huascaran

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6Bf35O81GU





DPS

Wailer 99 Pure

Wailer 112 RP Pure

Wailer 112 RPC Pure

Lotus 138, Pure, 3.2 rocker version



more here on the 112s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hq2VAjV8bJo





Rossi Series for /14

Soul 7

Squad 7

Super 7



More here on the 7s.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA4OM4Wzbyo

While We're Still In Northeast

(From left to right-standing: Nick& Kiki Kendros, Pota& Peter Cokinos, Kalliope Cokinos)

Middle Row-Catherine Cokinos w/big bow, little George Cokinos

Seated:Bill Maofis and Harry Tagalos)



So I was looking in old photo albums when I found a picture of the Kendros and Cokinos families. Dad's been reading a bunch of crime books by a certain local writer with a Greek background, and it came back to him that our families have crossed paths and were all part of that H street scene.



I wanted to know more. (What else is new?) so I hooked Dad up with Ruby Kendros Pelecanos who is sharp as a tack, and sort of a cousin. She was born right around the corner from our family at 808 K Street. Her Dad, Nick Kendros, had the Woodward Sandwich Shop at 1422 H Street in the 1920s. She also remembered Bill Maofis who had a dry cleaner across H from our family's candy shop. Bill was godfather to my Uncle Nick and to Ruby as well. Her maternal grandfather, Harry Tagalos was great friends with our grandfather, Peter Cokinos, and her paternal grandmother, Economia was first cousins with him as well. (Peter that is) (Yep, my head hurts,too) And a lot of them made the trip from the tiny hamlet of Agoulnitsa, Greece all the way over here, so along with George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, they got this city rolling. Hats off to those urban pioneers.

Redefining "Shoe Tree"

Wednesday, October 13th - - Several times in southern Oregon I saw trees like this one - out in the middle of nowhere, miles from any town, with shoes strung through some branches and dangling from others. This “Shoe Tree” happened to be situated near a pull out so I could safely stop. It was about 50 miles east of Fallon, Nevada along U.S. 50 midway between the junctions of Nevada highways 361 and 372. Proclaimed on billboards in Austin and Eureka - the only towns in the 250-mile stretch of U.S. 50 between Fallon and Ely - as “the loneliest highway in America.”

The significance of it all? I haven't got a clue... but it sure is lotsa shoes! And, aside from the two towns, it was the most interesting thing along the way...

Gunks Routes: MF (5.9)

(Photo: Approaching crux # 1 of MF (5.9) in the fog. Is there a climber up there?)



The weather gods have been joking around with me.



Thanksgiving weekend was stunning. We had record highs, in the sixties and seventies, and abundant sunshine. I had a full agenda of stuff going on. This was joyous, important, family stuff. Stuff that I wouldn't dream of missing, it goes without saying.



So there was no way I could go climbing over this beautiful weekend. But I had to take advantage of the warm-weather window somehow. It was killing me to let it just roll by; this could be our last good climbing weather until next Spring. Surely, I thought, there must be something I could do?



I decided to take a vacation day on Tuesday to go to the Gunks.



The only problem was that it was expected to rain. After reviewing the forecast, I decided to go for it anyway. It was going to be warm, and the rain wasn't supposed to come until the late afternoon. A pretty full day was possible, even likely, I told myself. And the weather report for the following days called for deteriorating conditions: more rain and then colder temperatures. My obsessed mind saw Tuesday as my final chance of the year.



Parker agreed to meet me. We'd climbed together once before, in early summer. Back then we were both leading similar climbs but since that time Parker had been climbing a lot, and it sounded like he'd been ripping it up. I was eager to see what he could do. I told him I wanted to climb MF, one of my big goals for . He wanted to do Amber Waves of Pain (5.10a), which I was really excited about climbing (as a second) as well.



When I got up on Tuesday morning it was pretty gloomy out. During the drive up from the city I grew concerned about how foggy it was. The air felt damp. I worried that the cliffs would be coated in a slick, wet mist. It was an unpleasant experience I'd had before.



Then at the Sloatsburg rest stop, as I stood there pumping gas, I detected rain. Not just wet fog, but actual rain.



I paused to search the sky. Were these really drops of rain, falling from the heavens to the earth?



Yes, it was definitely raining.



It grew heavier as I stood there.



This wasn't supposed to happen! Not until later.



I was furious. I started yelling into the air. "Stop it! Stop raining!"



I'm sure I resembled a crazy person.



I got back in my car and started driving faster than before. I'm not sure why-- was I trying to outrun the rain? I kept hoping it wouldn't be like this in New Paltz.



The rain stopped, thankfully, before I got to Exit 18. I couldn't tell whether the cliffs had seen any precipitation. Actually, I couldn't tell whether the cliffs were even there. They were invisible, hidden by dense fog. This was not a good sign.



As I drove to the stairmaster parking lot I saw that the roads were wet. Also not a good sign. If the roads were wet, the rock was likely wet too.



Upon his arrival at the empty parking lot, Parker remarked that we seemed to be the only idiots intent on climbing. But since we were already at the cliffs, we decided we might as well go see if the rock was, by some miracle, dry.



We went straight up to the Mac Wall to look at MF. Described by Dick Williams as "THE standard for 5.9 in the Gunks," MF has a reputation as a tough climb. (As you might have guessed, the letters in the name stand for "Mother F**ker.") The first pitch has two cruxes, the first coming at an awkward, scary move around a corner, and the second involving some thin moves over a bulge. Pitch two has just one crux: a big roof.



I've been working up to MF all year-- all my climbing life, really. I knew on Tuesday as I stood before the route that this could be my last chance to climb it before the end of the season. But I was scared to try it if the rock was damp. Hell, I was scared to try it, period. Even in perfect conditions. Maybe in this iffy weather it was beyond scary. Maybe it was a stupid idea.



But Parker touched the rock and said he thought we were okay. It seemed dry to him. "Feel it," he said. "There's plenty of friction!"



I wanted this climb. Badly. I put my hand on the rock, and it appeared Parker was right. Even though we were surrounded by mist, the rock felt fine. I decided to do the climb. I could always bail if it started really raining. It's only gear, I figured. Who cares if I leave a piece or two behind? Don't I have a catchphrase that covers this situation?



Yes I do: Carpe Diem, bitches.



I tied in and headed upward.



The early going on pitch one is tricky. There is a steep bit right off the ground, and you have to make a few moves before you get any pro in. Maybe this part of the climb just seemed hard to me because I was a bundle of nerves. The conditions were making me jittery. I stepped off the route, back to the ground, just after I started because the fog suddenly turned to rain. But then in a minute it turned back to fog again.



I went back at it, placing two pieces at the first opportunity.



After the initial moves the pitch jogs left, then back right to the big overhang. I moved slowly, checking each foothold, fearful I'd pop off. I placed a ton of pro. As I approached crux one, it seemed much more intimidating and difficult than it did from the ground. It is steep there. It is pumpy to hold on. You can see the horn thingy that you need to grab as well as the foothold that will bring you around the corner, but it seems kind of improbable that this move will work out well.



On the bright side, the pro is great. There's a pin just where you want it and another piece can be put there to back it up. The fall is clean. The holds are good. You can stand there for a good long while, shaking out each hand in turn as you reflect on the life you've lived, and the leap you're about to take.



I hemmed and hawed there a long time, but in the end I found no real trick to the move. You just have to commit. Grab the horn, get your right foot on that hold, and go. And then it's about balance. Shift slowly to the right foot and keep inching to the right. The holds are further around the corner than you want them to be, but they exist, trust me!





(Photo: Having placed pro, I'm getting ready to move through the bulging crux # 2 on pitch one of MF (5.9).)



I spent even longer hemming and hawing over the second crux. I didn't want to blow it. My flash of MF was within reach, yet still so far away. Luckily there's a good stance below the bulge from which you can think over the moves as much as you like. Again the pro is good. There is a horizontal right below the bulge (quite slimy on Tuesday, but it took a cam), and an irregular pod/handhold up in the bulge in which I managed to seat a solid green Alien. This last placement made me feel really good. I clipped the piece direct and knew if I fell I wouldn't go far.



When I finally went for it the moves were not bad. The holds were small but positive, and before I knew it I had the jugs.



As I hit the chains I was thrilled. It had been a slow lead, a methodical lead, but it had been a successful onsight lead of MF. I was no longer breaking into 5.9. I felt solid in the grade. I couldn't ask for anything more.



Parker started following me up pitch one. I heard him say something about a nut.



"Did I place a crummy nut?" I asked.



"No!" he replied. "I said YOU'RE nuts! I can't believe you did this pitch. The rock feels so slimy!"



So much for Mr. "Go For It, There's Plenty of Friction!"



I tried to remind Parker that his enthusiasm is what got me to climb the route in the first place, but he wasn't accepting the blame. For some reason, he was convinced that I was the crazy one.



I have to say it didn't feel so slimy to me. By the time the pitch was over I'd forgotten all about the weather. I thought the rock was okay, and I really wanted to continue and do pitch two. Parker said if we kept going I'd be leading. He'd led the pitch before and he had no ambition to lead any longer, given the conditions.





(Photo: Examining the roof on pitch two of MF (5.9).)



Pitch two begins with easy moves directly to the right from the bolted anchor, around a small corner. Then it's straight up to the roof. Just beneath the roof is a pin. After clipping the pin I spent a lot of time experimenting and feeling around, trying to find some holds, any holds, that I could use to get up to the obvious horizontal that was out of reach a few feet above the roof.



It's tricky because you can't really see what's just over the roof, and there are no footholds right under the pin. So you paw around over your head, finding nothing. Then you paw around to your left, finding nothing. Then you retreat to the stance to the right of the pin, shake out, and get ready to do it all over again.



I found some really poor crimps around the pin, and kept trying to contrive a way to use them to reach the horizontal over the roof. But it wasn't working out.



After a while I looked at Parker, who was standing just a few feet to my left. I said "I'm about to have you take so I can hang on this stupid pin."



"Dude, your feet are, like, on a ledge," he replied.



"Yeah, but I'm getting frustrated."



I was tired of going back and forth. I wanted to rest and look it over. But just in time I finally found the crucial hold. I'm not going to spoil the details. It makes reaching the horizontal a breeze! And it's hiding right there, in front of your face.



As soon as I had that hold, I stepped right up to the horizontal and clipped the second pin. Then I placed a cam to back it up, even though I was already feeling the pump clock ticking away. Above me I could see the creaky little flake mentioned by Dick in his guidebook. It was the next hold. The path was obvious. It was time to go. A couple quick, pumpy moves and I was through the crux, standing at the big horizontal that heads left. Pitch two was basically in the bag.



Although I really enjoyed the crux, I didn't think the rest of the pitch was nearly as nice. The difficulty level decreases greatly and there's some questionable rock. After traversing left, the pitch follows an obvious corner to the GT Ledge, but it seems numerous other paths can be taken to the finish. It all goes through similar, moderate territory.





(Photo: Parker coming up the final bits of pitch two of MF (5.9).)



Parker reached me on the GT Ledge just as a real storm started to roll in. We could see the rain falling over New Paltz as we set up to rappel and by the time we got to the ground it had reached the cliff. Our climbing day was over after just two pitches.



Ah, but what a pair of pitches.



I realize this particular trip to the Gunks was a waste of a vacation day. I know I've been clinging to summer, to the climbing season. It's been good and I don't want it to end. I probably should have gotten out of bed on Tuesday, looked out the window, and called it off. That would have been the sensible thing to do.



But then I would have missed MF.



And MF I will cherish. It's so nice to have my last climbs of the season confirm that I've made progress. Maybe I'll still be able to squeeze one more milestone into the year. And maybe not. It doesn't matter. It's been a great year either way.

Hand Brazing a Bicycle Frame

I was visiting Bryan at Royal H Cycles yesterday and was able to get some shots of the brazing process in action. Please don't interpret this as step-by-step instructions, but here is my attempt to explain how it's done:



The frame being built here is a lugged stainless steel beauty ordered by JP. The "main triangle" (seat tube, head tube, top tube and downtube) had already been finished before my visit, and Bryan was working on attaching the seat stays - the thin parallel tubes that connect the seat tube to the dropouts.



Here are the dropouts without the seat stays.



And here is Bryan applying flux to the dropout sockets, where they will connect to the stays. "Flux" is a protective chemical mixture that is part of the brazing process, and it is applied to the joints beforehand.



The dropouts are ready for the seat stays.



The seat stays are prepared.

And attached, with more flux added.

The same is done with the seat cluster.

Here is Bryan carefully arranging everything so that it stays in place.

It is crucial that everything is aligned perfectly.

Really perfectly.

More perfectly still.

And there we go.

With more flux added for good measure.

But now, the good part. Fire!

The joint is heated with a hand-held torch, then brazed together using silver or brass (silver is shown here).

Close-up of the process.

That little wire you see is the silver; it is melted into the joint by the torch.

Same procedure for the dropouts.

The process is quite beautiful - though best observed through a camera lens that allows you to stand back while enjoying a close-up view.

I lose track of time when absorbed in something like this, but the brazing did not take long. The key is precision - having steady hands and a good eye, so as to align all the parts perfectly, heat the joint evenly and distribute the silver properly.

The dropouts post brazing. There is still a lot to do here, such as cleaning and finishing work, but this is the joint. This bicycle will have an internally geared hub, so these are technically "fork ends" rather than dropouts - but nice either way.

I hope this gives you some idea of how lugged steel frames are built, and a Thank You to Bryan for allowing me to photograph him working. If you want to learn more about the hand brazing process, a good place to start is here, as well as this nice video from MAP Cycles. There is also a Framebuilders subforum on bikeforums that is quite helpful. While I have no plans to build frames myself, I enjoy learning how it is done and seeing the process up close.