OBCA This Weekend

This weekend, the Oregon Bicycle Constructors Association will be having it's annual show, displaying the latest work of Oregon's framebuilders. Stop by Sandbox Studio at 420 NE 9th Ave in Portland, where I'll have the 2010 NAHBS winning 'Best Lugged Frame' and a few pieces with the paint off so that you can look under the skin and see what really goes into my frames.

In the meantime, here is a video just posted by Road Bike Review of an interview that was done at the San Diego show this spring. See you at the show!

The Last 10%

Some time back I was able to pick up a late 70’s Merz cross bike and knowing Jim’s work, one thing stood out immediately - this was not Jim’s fork crown. Jim’s bikes are exceptionally well executed, with nicely shaped crisp lugs and flawless brazing. But Jim focused on purely functional machines without flourish, only what was needed to get the job done. ‘Workman like’ was how Jim often put it.

But this crown was anything but workman like. For one it appeared to be hogged out of solid material. There was never a stock crown with this much room between the blades nor could I recall one with such graceful lines. Despite the name ‘Merz’ on the downtube, this crown had ‘DiNucci’ written all over it.

Mark worked for Jim from the mid 70’s up until Jim left for Specialized in the early 80’s when Mark hung out his own shingle. He once told me that when he worked for Jim, he tried to work in Jim’s style, but apparently he couldn’t hold it back on this crown.

In showing it to Mark, he mentioned that he had modeled it after an old vagner crown, but substantially enlarged to achieve the clearances needed for a cross bike. Here you can see both the original and Mark’s version to get a sense of how similar the lines are and how different they are in scale.

Despite being absolutely huge, there is a certain grace about this crown in the shoulders. It is almost delicate. But it is the tang running down the inside of the blades that does it for me. Stripping away the paint, I expected to find the usual big fillet of brass, but here Mark torch welded on a piece of fork blade to get the extension he wanted then blended it perfectly into the bottom of the crown. There is no sign that they were ever two separate pieces of metal. The curves are all subtle and there is nothing to interrupt the flow as your eye follows the perfectly thinned edge around the socket.

These days someone would simply render this in 3D, send the file off for tool paths and then flip the switch on a CNC mill. But this was all done the old way, with a careful eye and by hand, leaving the soul of the craftsman in the work.

-Nelson

The Bench As Temple

I think it was Mark’s comment ‘This is my temple’ that stopped me short. Like everything he does, the details are not always apparent at first glance, but dig a little deeper and there are layers, lots of them.

Mark and I spent a lot of time in Japan in the 80’s when the bike biz was still there and we were lucky enough to be working near Kyoto, the former imperial capital of Japan and home to what for me, represents the high water mark in woodworking. On the surface, some of these ancient structures look so simple, until you happen upon an interlocking timberframe joint laid out to reveal what is hidden once the building is complete. Truly inspirational stuff, especially when considering the simplicity of the tools used to build them.

We both packed home handmade planes and laminated steel chisels, but it was when I saw a simple patio trellis Mark constructed that I knew I should simply keep mine in the wrapper. While I only aspired to the task, he ‘got it’ and had the hands to pay honor to the gentleman who made the chisels. It was looking over this bench, that I saw that same level of deliberate simplicity and deceivingly subtle craft.

Finding materials that underwrite the intent of the project is the starting point and in this case, it was salvage old growth timber. The stability of 100 year old beams offsets the typical checks and splits of age.

Despite being constructed largely with handtools, the design takes shape here in Mark’s computer.

Viewing the translation into wood, it’s hard to imagine anything electronic was ever associated with the design.

Here you can see the gorgeous, even end grain, offset by deep checks that somehow seem perfect even though they are considered flaws.

Looking under the bench, the relative simplicity of the working surface is contrasted by complex joinery. Each of those massive legs is joined to the deck by mortise & tenons.

The surface is finished without sandpaper, relying instead on razor sharp planes to remove layers thin enough to see through and a surface so perfect that it reflects a bolt head.

The bench top is then covered in thick sole leather, fitted perfectly around the vice and finished with beeswax and pine pitch.

This is where the next DiNucci frame will begin.

-Nelson

BRUCE GORDON FOLLOWS SPECIALIZED DESIGN LEAD…. 20 YEARS LATER!

Never let it be said that the Oregon builders don’t know a good joint when they see it! More than 20 years after Jim Merz & I pioneered bonded titanium/carbon frames at Specialized, Bruce has decided to roll his own. Despite first apprenticing in Oakland under Albert, Bruce is one of the original Oregon builders and I’m glad to see that after all these years we are still sticking together!

Here is a picture of Jim, Bruce (hidden) & me going on a ride in the 70’s (when the 3 of us comprised the entire Oregon framebuilding population-now 10 times that size!) and 2 more of Bruce and me puzzling the same design problem in the 80’s and today.

If you are in San Diego April 9 -11, stop on by the San Diego Custom Bicycle Show, where Bruce and I will be discussing the finer points of handmade bicycles, Bruce’s fez collection and Bruce will host a special ‘after hours’ roll-your-own demonstration.

Urbanvelo.org hosted the studio shots taken of the bikes at NAHBS and I thought I would share a few of them with you here. Best to go to their site to see them in detail though....enjoy!

DiNucci Cycles Wins Best Lugged Frame at NAHBS!

Fresh off the press here from our hotel room in Richmond-DiNucci Cycles wins Best Lugged Frame.....Killer!!

More news & photos when we get back to Oregon.......stay tuned.

Lugs for Specialized

Richard Sachs hosts an on-line lug reference library, where I found these images of lugs I designed for the last really nice Allez built by Specialized in the early 90's. This was a ground up design, which included a fork crown, dropouts and a bottom bracket shell (later copied by Cinelli) all developed around a very refined lightweight tube set that used a proprietary 30mm downtube and chainstay profile. The lugs, BB & tube set were resurrected to build the red bike for the Oregon Manifest, although on that bike, the lugs were highly modified, removing the direct fit sockets and filing them extensively.

Check out Richard's site for a historical look at the kind of choice we once had in lugs:

http://www.veloworks.com/lug_reference/

OBCA

One image from the Oregon Bicycle Constructors Association show before I head off to pack for NAHBS. If you are in Richmond, please stop by the booth and say hello. The first handful of folks to make it by each day are in for a special treat.

By far, the nicest images of my bike were taken by Emir Ibrahimpasic, a Portland photographer with an aesthetic that fits perfectly with what I am trying to do in metal. You can see the full range of his work on Flickr, under the name 'Scurvey Knaves'.

Oregon Manifest Security

A lifetime follower of rules, I took the organizers seriously when they asked for a new approach to urban security...

Oregon Manifest - 6th Place

Not bad, considering how many rules I broke in delivering the kind of city bike the Manifest was looking for. On the other hand, I think a hand grenade is the ultimate theft deterrent.