Groovy Cycleworks

[Rody]

Groovy was fortunate to have our guest fabricator/welder/painter, Jill Wagner and a fantastic crew from Susie Films here this week filming for a new show, Handcrafted America. The show features American fabricators/craft persons who still make products by hand, one at a time. I was blessed to be able to share the process of the custom handmade bicycle, taking the viewer through the entire process from measurements to riding the product on single track at Vulture's Knob. It is my hope that this look inside will broaden the understanding of the bespoke bicycle and focus on why the customer is the most important element of the finished product. This program will be one of the anchors as the INSP network launches a new format with original programming this fall.

jillthewelder.jpg

[Rody]

to supplement the FNL posting this week, here's a little higher quality photo...

bootyshot.jpg

[MarkC]

Beautiful work Rody. Thanks for sharing!

[Rody]

How do you run old 3 phase industrial equipment in a shop with only Single phase power?

Groovy Cycleworks 330-988-0537: Three Phase Power, a work around

[Rody]

Had a three day whirlwind trip to NC with Em to visit colleges and to do a little mountain biking.

One of the rides we did was in Dupont State Forest...smoothest single track I've been on with lots of berms, flow, etc. Hardly a rock or root in sight. Also one of the busiest trailheads, with easily over 60 cyclists in various stages of riding; beginning, taking a break, just packing up. There was not one, NOT ONE, bike that was not a full suspension design other than Em and I. What the hell do they use all that travel for?

Conversely, Pisgah has some challenging crazy rocky, rooty trails. Saw a dude on a fully rigid and one on a hardtail, two total. All day. I guess real single track riders are becoming extinct.

Yay carbon fiber fully suspended 29er's...enjoy your bike paths. I'll take heart knowing you'll stay off the real trails.

[dgaddis]

Had a three day whirlwind trip to NC with Em to visit colleges and to do a little mountain biking.

One of the rides we did was in Dupont State Forest...smoothest single track I've been on with lots of berms, flow, etc. Hardly a rock or root in sight. Also one of the busiest trailheads, with easily over 60 cyclists in various stages of riding; beginning, taking a break, just packing up. There was not one, NOT ONE, bike that was not a full suspension design other than Em and I. What the hell do they use all that travel for?

Conversely, Pisgah has some challenging crazy rocky, rooty trails. Saw a dude on a fully rigid and one on a hardtail, two total. All day. I guess real single track riders are becoming extinct.

Yay carbon fiber fully suspended 29er's...enjoy your bike paths. I'll take heart knowing you'll stay off the real trails.

What did you ride at DuPont and Pisgah? Surprised you didn't see any rock in DuPont, it's most well known for it's big chunks of exposed granite - eastern slickrock. I've yet to ride there, but I have heard it's buff and fast, unlike most of Pisgah Proper.

[Rody]

Dustin,

At Pisgah we were on big M and Laurel.

At Dupont we did a big loop, some of the trails I remember were Jim Branch, Issac, hilltop, Hooker, and Ridgeline to finish.

You are right, it was way buff and fast. Only thing I've ridden that is similar is the Allegrippis Trail at Raystown Lake.

We also ran over to the MOMBAT museum to drop off a frame I restored and rode the Itusi trail system...great rolly fun.

cheers,

rody

Good fun

[Rody]

BikeItPoster.jpg

[Too Tall]

Cheers for Rody. You make so many fun things happen man. Hope to payback the favor someday.

[MarkC]

Cheers for Rody. You make so many fun things happen man. Hope to payback the favor someday.

Some of the best content on V-S comes from Rody. Have a bike here that is just screaming for Hot Rods...

[Rody]

24 hour race this weekend...here are some custom neon clocks I've been working on.

This stuff is way fun, cool, and rewarding, but it takes SOOO Long to do right.

[Rody]

I apologize to my VS family that I've been a prodigal son of late, but the last 8 weeks have been consumed with promoting and administrating both our 331Racing events and the Ohio Interscholastic Racing league season. To see what I've been up to, here's a link to a few items...

Article on the Wooster team and the growth of High School Mountain Bike racing...

Wooster High School’s mountain bike team is thriving in sport growing in popularity nationwide

Thread from MTBR on the last two OIRL seasons...

Ohio Interscholastic Racing League- Mtbr.com

Shop wise I've been working on a second run of Hot Rod cranks due to a heat treat issue damaging the first batch, repairing two frames that had long term use tubing fatigue, and making all of the awards/medals for the events.

Hope all has been well here...time to start getting something together for the Philly show in a few short weeks.

cheers,

rody

[Rody]

Been crazy busy here, but a highlight was attending the Philly bike show.

BIG thanks to Drew, Andy, and Jack for opening their home to our eclectic group, allowing us to enjoy the comforts of home without all the stress that is typical of shows and travel.

Engin hosted an open house...

Phillygroup.jpg

and I was blessed to win a $200 prize in the framebuilder raffle.

Philly winners.jpg

Was great see old friends, meet folks in person for the first time, and share the love of cycling in this great family atmosphere.

Good stuff!

[Rody]

Been a busy couple of months, crazy how quickly the Smoked Out thread gets away from me without an update...y'all can help by throwing out questions, comments, or otherwise just bumping it back up to the top where it catches my attention :)

Been rocking out crank production, trying to re-create the last batch that got over cooked in heat treatment, ruining months of work and too much cashola. Thanks to all the patient customers who are hanging in there for the replacements.

pieces parts.jpg

fixtured.jpg

fixtured2.jpg

fixtured3.jpg

welded.jpg

Every year I open the shop up to a fellow pro who has a desire to expand their skill sets, learn new processes, or want to take advantage of the opportunity to share. I had this guy in last week getting his hands dirty while being exposed to the paint process...

Eric paint work.jpg

Eric paint work 2.jpg

I also am pretty stoked to pick up two new tool acquisitions for the shop; a Cincinnati Cintaversa mill (combination vertical and horizontal) and a Lodge and Shipley 1408 AVS lathe, often referred to as the Rolls Royce of toolroom lathes. I am the second owner of both as they were plopped down brand new in 1969 in a Physics prototype lab and never moved til now. Never seen production use, just lots of aluminum and plastic. Can't wait to get them rolling.

cheers,

rody

[MarkC]

We missed your posts Rody.

I crazy want Hod Rods for my Engin CX bike. Someday that order will hit your desktop...

[CJones]

I crazy want Hod Rods for my Engin CX bike. Someday that order will hit your desktop...

Would love a set too, but the Hot Rods section on the Groovy website says they are "Available ONLY on complete builds". They look really sweet though!

[dgaddis]

Been rocking out crank production, trying to re-create the last batch that got over cooked in heat treatment, ruining months of work and too much cashola. Thanks to all the patient customers who are hanging in there for the replacements.

Can't imagine the frustration!! Do you have any sort of agreement with the vendor to be reimbursed/compensated if they ruin a run of parts?

[Rody]

Can't imagine the frustration!! Do you have any sort of agreement with the vendor to be reimbursed/compensated if they ruin a run of parts?

Dustin,

They are more than happy to run another batch through at no cost :(

That is the caveat of having a sub-contractor and why I've always strived to complete as much as possible in house. Yes it takes longer, but I can control the entire process through completion.

This will be the last of the steel Hot Rods...only TI from here on out.

r

[Rody]

Right out of heat treat and stress relief...

Heat treated cranks.jpg

Blasted and ready for finish...

blasted cranks.jpg

Eric stopped by for round two of his paint tutelage and we worked on a mountain bike and old Schwinn repaint, good stuff!

Nightstorm puppy.jpg

Schwinn repaint.jpg

Also been working on a Ti frame (blog post on seat tube rolling coming for all who have been asking for direction) and a repair this week.

Weather is breaking and I'm hoping to get out and ride, maybe if just a little!

cheers,

rody

[edoz]

Oh man, those Hot Rods are gonna be ready soon. I an stoked!
I need to get moving on a frame to put my set on!