Fit Kit

The Waterford Fit cycle at Trophy has been a godsend. Rather than going to my SketchUp drawing to figure out all of the jig dimensions, I can quite easily measure out all of the salient measurements from the Fit Cycle. Pretty cool.

We re-worked the geometry dimensions that I came up with after our initial fitting just like the pros do. Megan was an ideal client in that she bought beer for the fitting and said, "I'm open to whatever." That's always nice, though it does put a bit more pressure on me to get things right!

Right now I'm waiting for some pieces from Edge Composites out in Utah. They make a very attractive carbon chainstay kit that I'm hoping will couple with the oversized headtube and downtube to make for a stiff bike. I can rely on the bamboo's natural damping abilities to smooth out the road buzz a bit. I have really liked dealing with Edge; they're among the top composites manufacturers in the industry but still have the small shop sort of customer service.

I'll post the geometry and design specs soon.

Made to measure

While the first two bikes I made were essentially made to spec standard sizes, I have had the interesting experience of custom fitting my second 'customer'. The next person up is a woman who used to work at Trophy, and was taken with Jennifer's bike once she had ridden it. She ensured her place in the lineup with an actual deposit, something which didn't occur to me when building the second bike, but which makes a WHOLE lot of sense. Why one would front the entire cost is beyond me. Never again will I do it that way. Not that I have any doubts about being paid by my 'customers' who have thus far been closely tied to me, but it's just easier to invest in the bike when it's not your own money going into it.