Thanks!
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Smiles for miles! S hopped on and rode around my warehouse about 4 seconds after walking in. Thanks, and have fun!
Printable View
Thanks!
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Smiles for miles! S hopped on and rode around my warehouse about 4 seconds after walking in. Thanks, and have fun!
I really admire the amount of detailed thought that goes in to designing and completing a bike like that.
Thanks, Paul- I do my best to make my own job of design thorough and execution exacting so that they are easy and fun to use for the end client.
Repost@luckyduckoakland
January 19th, 6-8pm: Come join us for an evening of beautiful custom handmade bicycles, stems, and racks by Eric Estlund of @winterbicycles.
Q&A with Eric to follow.
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Winter Bicycles is an international award winning maker of #custom #road, #mountainbike, #gravel, #track, #touring, and #randonneuring bicycles. In addition to custom #fillet #brazed, #lugged, and #bilaminate #bicycles, Eric is also known for his wide variety of custom #steel #stems and #racks.
We’re honored to have him. Don’t miss it! [Editor's note: I’m honored to be hosted, thank you!]
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Hey Eric, just wanted to say that it was cool seeing you in action/nerding out at Lucky Duck. Wanted to say hello but the wall of old men was too thick. I admire your work a whole bunch, thanks for comin to Oakland!
Ha! That's funny. Thanks for coming out!
Mahasher- Named for the Indian golden mahasher, the largest of the carp family. The golden mahasher is a slender, large swimmer and shares similar golden flecked green coloring to this randonee bike. The Winter Mahasher is a 700c randonneur speced for energetic sporting rides, running around town, and stretching out to event distances
Mahasher - Winter Bicycles
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When I feel like I’ve really nailed a bottom bracket fillet I offer clients an option for a “maker’s mark” unfiled bb cluster. This is a sort of a point of pride to show off the work a bit. This one came out swimmingly, and will be headed out as it came from the torch.
BB fillet still warm and fluxed:
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And out of soak:
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Ready for paint:
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I'm always trying to push for incremental improvements. I try to stay consistent within a bike, and move the bar a little every time I pick up the torch.
I feel pretty good about these:
Brazing-
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Raw-
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Rubbed-
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A few more from the same bike (different joints):
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Hey Eric, can you walk me through the vertical vs horizontal clamp slots for your tall stack threadless stems? Looking at them, it seems some have the slot cut in line with the paragon socket cap binders, and some are cut in the more traditional vertical style, ala a seat tube. Just curious if there's a specific time you use one method over the other.
In brief, it's based on the steerer type, clamp tube height, binder location and lastly aesthetics. I first let the design of the stem lead me functionally. Within that, the physical dimensions may preclude certain locations. If I am open in those two areas, I try to balance what I think will look best for a given stem as part of the final bike it will be on.
So... yeah, they move around a bit. Thanks for looking closely enough to see them wander!
Today the whole company turned out to help me move the lathe.
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Smooth tunes to keep it all rolling level.
I'm always trying to improve my brazing. Years ago I remember reading on Jeff Lyon's page something along the lines of "raw fillets better than most peoples finished work",
and in my head that sentiment has always been the standard to shoot for.
Even with the fillets I intend to file, I try to make each one as uniform as I can, with even width, a nice radius, and feathered edges. I've been at it for a bit, and my technique, materials and tools are all pretty well dialed. I get pretty jazzed by small improvements at this stage. Last week I did this, and it felt really good (and fairly typical of where I'm at these days).
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I often get asked if I use a Gasfluxer, and I always say “yes”. A Gasfluxer provides a chemical "cleaner" in the flame that helps bronze wet out. I've always used one, and run it in tandem with paste flux. You "know" it's on because it makes the flame a green color.
Well, my little window is mucked up, and even though I’ve been going through the motions it turns out my reserve tank has been empty (just enough residual to keep that green flame). I filled it up today, and I have a feeling things are going to work out.
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Caught in the wild: San Diego, CA
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Eric, can I ask why the coupler on the top tube is so close to the seat tube? I often see it almost parallel with the one on the down tube, which is closer to 75% along the top tube whereas yours seems like 95% along he top tube. Just a curiosity if this makes any difference. I have an S&S myself and wonder if this changes how it fits in a bag or how it rides, or if it is for another reason.
Thanks- I try to put the coupler in a place that a) works best with the tubes and b) fits best in the bag. The position will vary a bit based on the bike. If I can, I like to keep it close to the junctions to lessen the visual impact, but that's pretty low on the drivers for location. On the bike above, the frame is pretty small, so I had some freedom of location.
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Brother Ely got together with the folks at Weebly and produced a pretty steller video.
Ely is great people and makes a killer product. I'm happy to work with him and lucky to call him a friend.
https://youtu.be/cF4ysNZyTnQ
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Raw fillet mtb, full story here: Geländerad
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Winter Bicycles 10th year t-shirts. It’s not too late to pre-order in your size. Unisex grey and olive womens t’s, heather black men’s or women’s tanks. PayPal $20 first/ $15 each additional with a note on size and cut to "info@winterbicycles.com". (International $30 first/ $15 each additional). Check out Belle and Canvas size charts. I still have some black summer wool and grey linen caps, too!
Notes from the field:
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(photo from @nyckenji)
I have a friend who injured his knee recently and is too tall to find a cane. So I whipped this up for him:
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My local powder dudes are great neighbors and snuck me in on "any color you can shoot today" dark red/ brown.
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It was put into immediate service.
Nice work, Eric! It must feel good to have the ability to help a friend in need.
I have an unrelated question for you - who makes the plates/caps with the beautiful floral design on the back of some of your stems? I’m throwing quite a bit of pottery lately and am searching for someone who can make me a stamp to use as a makers’ mark...
The badges I use are spun cast pewter, and probably not good for your use. In CA you might want to check out Infinity Stamps.
My commuter bike is now a super commuter thanks to Eric! The entire process was absolutely flawless and the finished products (fork and rack) are perfect.
The front bag was custom made to fit the rack.
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Thanks for posting!
I do a number of these "front end suites": custom fork, rack and bag (and sometimes stem). These help folks tune in a bike for their intended use, and doing the suite enables Ely and I to make sure the system is dialed.
This one started as an "After Hours Special", and will be with me at Philly Bike Expo this year.
Burrito Mission Demountable
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Notes from the field: 10,000 mile report
"Hi Eric,
According to my log, my Winter rolled through 10,000 miles a couple weeks ago, which seems like a reasonable milestone at which to send assurances that your bikes get ridden. ;-)
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The bike sees commuter duty about 9 months out of the year. I’ve still got an old Surly with studded tires that I pull out during salt/snow season, since those conditions eat drivetrain components. The typical commute is 5 miles each way, sometimes hauling a CSA share (watermelon and eggplant in lowrider panniers!). Other days, I take the scenic route home, getting in a decent ride of 20-35 mi in the evening. With Compass EL tires on there and a front bag full of clothes and lunch dishes, the bike’s pretty sporty - I’ll average 17-18 mph on an after-work ride through rolling Boston ‘burbs. I don’t think my old touring bike ever moved that fast. Beyond commuting, we’ve gotten in a bunch of multiday trips ranging from a weekend trip to Newport when my wife had work meetings there (traveling light with her laptop and a change of clothes in my front bag, no panniers) to summer vacation tours through Vermont and Maine.
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Our most recent adventure was a week-long tour through Maine in late July. I had a work event up in New Hampshire, so we drove up and left the car at Loon Mountain and rode a clockwise loop (map attached) through western Maine and out to midcoast, totaling 540 miles. The bike is really in its element when loaded. Medium-sized front panniers carry most gear. The front bag carries a camera, rain gear, snack, and the repair kit. The Carradice turns out to be the perfect size to fit a tent. We had no mechanical issues in spite of a very wet week and some rough roads. Maine dirt roads are a different beast than those in Vermont. They’re a lot rockier and have a high probability of petering out into an ATV trail through a swamp, but that’s part of the fun.
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If this bike were to suffer an untimely demise, its replacement would have disc brakes, but other than that I’d be hard-pressed to come up with anything I’d like to change 10000 miles later.
The next couple tours on the ever-growing list:
- Back to the UK to visit friends and cycle the Dales and Peaks District
- Nova Scotia or Prince Edward Island
- Head to your stomping ground and do the C&O/GAP trail (okay, your general vicinity; I realize PA is a big state)"
I'm very happy to hear (unsolicited) this is serving him well, and wish him many happy more miles!
Mail call!
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Fun mail call surprise. Sent in from a client in Germany who recognized my mug. @cycle_magazin
Eric,
Can you talk a little bit about the Tange old stock?
I guess my first question is how does it compare to the Tange stuff made recently?
Second, why reach for that over another brand with a similar spec?
This stuff is old, maybe 15 years or so? Surplus from the old Burly tandem days. All of the Tange stuff I've used from that vintage is really nice- clean, round, straight, etc. I have no experience with the new stuff.
As far as why this tube- it was the right shape for the job, and the length and butting was a better fit for the bike than other tubes. Nothing nostalgic, it just made sense for the bike.
165 parts before the headbage or fasteners:
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All this by... you get the idea. Flickr
While looking for other info I happened upon a video from the 2017 @Bespokeduk featuring a collaboration with @cycle_artist and @paintbytodd . Thanks @bikeradar !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPHHznqA4rA