Wade Patton Velo

[Dornbox]

Wade you should be a F'n comedian yo! Nuff said! Now when are you coming up to Maine to burn some tubes on my equipment and make me some proper Tennessee BBQ?

You rbiggest fan,
Chris

[Dornbox]

I'm even thinking about a Gasfluxer in the future.

I just scored one from one of the other of the three Wades... I rarely melt any brass but I'm pretty damn excited about doing so now!

[WadePatton]

Wade you should be a F'n comedian yo! Nuff said! Now when are you coming up to Maine to burn some tubes on my equipment and make me some proper Tennessee BBQ?

You rbiggest fan,
Chris

well hell, i just got the invitation. sure, i kill me-glad it's not wasted.

maine eh? stripers and lobster and mmike's little black book---taken into consideration. how's august? (it'll be piss hot down here-at 4 am then)

hadda hoot with you guys at torchy's, it got wilder later wound up back down on 6th with some painters and builders in the wee hours...pete (who split off early) left for his plane about 2 hours after i got back to the room.



and now in related news: i got it. logo-"W" with a superscript "3" boom! deadline for artistic submissions of such is -- well anytime you artsy folks get around to it. deadlines suck.

[dcpdpayne]

Hey Wade, I've got no submission for your logo....I'm a photo guys, not a graphics guy, but I do have a question... As a guy just starting to cut his teeth in the building of custom, made to measure, bespoke, or what ever you like to call your hand made wares, what do you pick up from NAHBS. I'm not talking about raiding booths for swag, but rather idea wise? I'm not suggesting that you're trying to immitate another builder or their style, but surely you must have seen something and thought, "Holy shit, I never thought of doing it that way. Maybe I can come up with a verison of that that is similar, but all Wade Patton." For instance, one day I will build one bike (just cause I want to say that I've tried....I can't say that it will be rideable or straight.) I've seen people do interesting things with coins like cap stays, or to finish off yokes for a mono stay, and it got me to thinking "I wonder if there's something else that can be done with a coin on a bike that is interesting, but not in copying what another builder has done.... Any of these moments for you at NAHBS?

PS. for not calling and at least saying hello while at NAHBS, when you come to the Hooiser State I'll make sure to order up 25mph cross winds to take you out into the flatness in.

[vulture]

Yo Wade, great to meet you again and get to hang out in the Wade Trifecta. You heard my story, work and build bikes. My shop has super low overhead because I worked along the way, and built my own tooling. Every job I have had while building has helped me build better too. Keep it up and enjoy the dropouts.

[WadePatton]

http://www.velocipedesalon.com/forum...o-20175-5.html (post #87)

continuation from there where I said something about folks in the middle of the range sometimes needing a custom bike, that it's not just the tiny/huge/heavy/asymmetric folks who _need_ "custom"

First and foremost-yes, "most" riders can get by, and many will can be well-fitted (doesn't mean they will be) on over-the-counter bikes. And that there's nothing wrong with that, except for the folks who automagically think "I'm average size/build, so off-the-peg must be plenty good for me". I have no clue the percentage of the folks like me who, do need custom whilst being close to the middle of the range of cycling sizes, but if i can get any one of them onto a better fitting bike--he/she'll be eternally grateful.

As I began to learn the intricacies of frame geometry, I learned lots of theories, read all the articles, bought the videos, found plenty of differing opinions and approaches. I settled on the dynamic approach and will eventually collect enough data to be able to work straight from the numbers. Eons ago (it seems) I poured over review after review written by the owners of top-makers' framesets. I wanted to know what folks were saying about the _ride qualities_. Then I lucked (dumb?) into the geometry decisions I made by dynamic testing. Some questioned my numbers, but I threw it together (!) anyway and it works beautifully. There is no factory-frame with my personal sta/hta requirements-nevermind the st/tt.

I harp on about this every chance I get because I bought my first six bikes/frames at LBS's and no one ever said-hey maybe that doesn't fit proper. I even bought a hand-made/non-fitted (on the cheap-and rode it (in the wrong place yet) forever). ONLY after I began my climb up the mountain of knowledge that any proper framebuilder should have did I discover that I'd been dis-served (unintentionally-no grudge held) by the bicycle industry (the sliver of it that exists in my home state) all my life. I harp on about it so that one or two or three folks may say--"Dayum this rides BRILLIANTLY" when I put them where they belong, even though the shop kept putting them on 54's or 56's or 58's.

Tom Kellogg said it most succinctly in an interview some years back, i paraphrase, wrt geo: "Set the hta for the intended purpose and the sta for the rider." simple enough eh? It is once you know what to look for...the point to understand is that those numbers are treated independently (as they should be) in the custom world-not so in the production world.

What I have learned is the impact of rider position upon overall handling via my personal angles tweaking. I set the front end for fast, unladen, club riding-then adjusted the frame setback to pass my (adopted not original) dynamic tests. It worked. The bike is just as quick handling as ever but I now have the hands-off stability that I'd never experienced before.

I just can't wait to light up another rider with a better ride--as I found for me. I worked with my closest riding pals already, but they've no need to move-otc works for them. sigh...

AS it is I'll only build for riders with whom I can personally visit to for fitment via dynamic riding and the usual static measurements, interview, and evaluation of their previous rides. After many of these I'll learn how to interpolate personal dimensions into proper position just as many of my peers do every day. I'm not one to rush it.


@andy: Pennies are heavy yo. I'd file one thin before attaching it. There was a copper-plated stainless frame at the show-hoodathunk? There's so much to do man, there are ideas bouncing around in my head that I've held for one or two or three years but not had the opportunity to get them out there. After building a few, I have a new-found respect for simplicity and straightforwardness. I love them fancy stuff too--some of it, and I'll get some "snazzy" stuff out there eventually. I have a paint scheme that I make people sign confidentiality agreements on before I share (slight exaggeration), but I know you'll dig it when I pop one out there. It'll be (that scheme) a cakewalk for my new painter (met him at the show of course). As naturally different/independent as bike folks are, I have no biz getting crazy with something just to be different. I am different and folks that get me will get my stuff. Also depends on customer requests (and pocketbooks) and what happens when they say "go for it" and let me run. Even then we're talking trim and finish options primarily.

I am a sucker for shiny stuff, but monochrome works as well. Love that abalone thing I've seen from Maietta this year and Drew had it (or m/o/p on a post coupla years ago). W1 killed me with his scuff guard--I was standing there when a, shall we say industry veteran, asked him what it was for. Bishop had a little detail I might try to pull-off--when subdued elegance is called for. Tom Ritchey has me all crazy about my next fillet. Don Ferris blew my mind with FB stuff in what I thought would be a 'chinists' seminar. Hey, don't get me started...

@ Vulture/W1, thanks for the time at the booth, hate that we didn't cross out on the street. I hear you on super low overhead. I could be further along if I didn't understand (quite painfully so) how debt can diminish/ruin a lifetime of hard work. I'm revisiting my cross-bike plans right now with those dropouts. As soon as cobble me some wheels and tires together, I'll build it. Going to make a wheel-building stand from scrap... I've been choking on the lack of one of those for way too effing long. Cheers



NAHBS super-charges my batteries each year. ONCE recovered from the mega-drain that is the show all day and the party all night, I dig back in to making my bike-life all it can be as hard and fast as ever. It's a real picker-upper (Bounty be damned) after the doldrums of Winter. Thank you Don Walker, Lesley--and every single soul who participated in NAHBS-Austin Edition.


Lunch is over, still accepting artwork of the "W3" variety!

[Fourflys]

thanks Wade, that's some deep stuff my man! I've always been one to think I was average size 54cm... and while my stock geo Litespeed fits the bill right now as far as the number of miles I'm able to ride and my budget, I do plan a custom at some point... you sound like a man on a mission and I like that...

very insightful, thanks!

Chris

[WadePatton]

thanks Wade, that's some deep stuff my man! I've always been one to think I was average size 54cm... and while my stock geo Litespeed fits the bill right now as far as the number of miles I'm able to ride and my budget, I do plan a custom at some point... you sound like a man on a mission and I like that...

very insightful, thanks!

Chris

Here to please bro, here to please*.

*Within the limits of reasonableness, my aesthetics, and the need to earn a living-dare I say profit. Part of the "custom" package is (or should be, as i see it) proper positional evaluation/advice, functional workmanship (at the absolute least), and nearly complete freedom with options and paint.

When you get your coins stacked up, find a builder, enjoy the ride. Be glad to help if I can.

[Dornbox]

Dude! Sunday night was so much fun! You guys were on fire. If you're ever in Maine.... If not, see you in Sacramento baby!

[WadePatton]

Just about the time that I'm once again amazed at the efficiency with which we currently communicate on a worldwide scale across most social structures and walks of life and areas of interest...just about then I am figuratively smacked upside the head again with some sort of gubbermint-issued or authorized attempt at communication which takes me back to the days of my 12mHz-clock speed, 286 processor, 40mb HDD, plugintothewall-1200baud modem powered era of the pre-internet, of BBS's and such. All of the sudden it's once again like heating irons on the hearth to smooth my cotton pants (for pucci)...freaking ancient technology and tongues.

And that's what hit me in my pre-waking-one-more-wink stream of semi-consciousness this morning. That part of the hassle of dealing with the interfaces that are gubbermintal is that they have their own language. That they _expect_ you to know this language because apparently it's the only language they know and of course it's not their job to teach you the translations (likely a committee was started to address this issue but lacked funding and was left to die and no-one noticed).

But as I have never, nor do I ever want to, engaged too many extra gray-cells learning the language of public service (which surely has multiple dialects, as evidenced when one agency/dept/bureau apparently can't communicate with the other one), then I shall continue to be "refreshed" as to the old notion that the more things change, the more the government stays the same.

It's on purpose you know. My point is that life could be simpler if all laws and regulations and every provision of their applications to those to which they apply were written in a way so that an educated person could understand them on first reading, BUT that it ain't going to happen. Too many professions and loopholes and dirty fingers protected by the way it is.

[rant off]
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[WadePatton]

It has come to my attention that there may be folks out there who have my _old_ email address. Here me now and text me later...not really, i prefer email: I no longer own any variation of the "wade@heartoftn.net" email group.

ALL email pointed my way should be to ewade or to wpvelo AT dtccom DOT net. That is "DTCCOM.NET" with no "dot" between the C's.

and that is, according to the grammar in force when I was a student, one of the extremely few correct ways to use an apostrophe + s as a plural.(teeny little rantish comment)

And as some folks do not use the FB-where the contact info is current and I don't have my own site: here's the rest of the "contact us" for WPVelo:

Wade Patton
Wade Patton Velo
677 Petty Gap Road
Woodbury, TN 37190

61five-54two-195seven (lot of phone spam of late-this is my cell)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ in other news today:

Having cut and measured and thunked about it a lot, I truly expect my wheel truing stand to come together today. There will be pics and it is brutish and ugly. But should be sturdy and durable and steady in a strong breeze. I'm going to try it out before paint. I'll post to thread I started wrt such as well. It's pretty much an iron variation of the wooden type popularized by the plans in Roger Musson's ebook, Professional Guide to Wheelbuilding, 5th edition.

stay tuned

[WadePatton]

well I'm glad to see the phorum phunkshunning again. I lost a good post this morning. Then I came back and was still getting this message:

"Your submission could not be processed because the token has expired."

So I thought they'd finally kicked my smartassgoofyself offa here (which could still happen), but alas closing the browser window and jumping in from another window worked. edit-that wasn't the original problem. there was a bottleneck of some sort or temporary site outage which prevented VS from loading. the rest of the web was still functional. my post got lost in that outgoing packet, which is a problem inherent to "quick reply". NOW I highlight and copy a post while I'm writing it--just like the old days of "saving your work". Yes, that's how many times I've lost a lengthy post.

I had attempted to post about my progress with a bunch of scrap metal and my mediocre tools and modicum of skill to confrabulate a wheel truing stand upon which to build and repair wheels for these here bicycles that we're all so nuts about. I'm a bit frazzled from my day in the shop ("frazzle" is a word my Mom is wont to use). AS I've been wearing myself out trying to do semi-precision work with decidedly _non_precision tools. Eight more functional holes--wait, make that nine (a threaded one) plus three decorative holes (maybe-they're laid out) and a big funky slot--geez I forgot about the slot. And I should be really close to having the functional part of the stand done. It will still need a reference hickie and a paint job, but I hope to have a rim spinning it the beeotch tonight.

Now I'm cooking a bite, have to run back by the store for some more fasteners before they lock up...and the camera is dead-very old, runs on AA's and I'll have to get those later in the week. There are some pre-fab pics of the thing I made yesterday.

Back much later...comments invited.

[edoz]

testing onetwothree

Yeah?

[WadePatton]

Originally Posted by WadePatton
testing onetwothree

Yeah?

hey, that was a place-holder and a test to seef i could post again...see above post for more on that story...cheers!

[WadePatton]

Well as my pappy used to say, sonofabitchinHELL! I somehow lost three hours in the time change. Or was it could be maybe so that I knocked myself silly trying to make a square jiggeries today? Whilst some modicum of accuracy can be acheived with non-precision tools, it certainly is a pain in the everloving backside-what'd-rather-be-in-the-saddle. Twofeet are bitching too.

But I was pleased to finish the slot as snug and accurately as I did (after drilling nine holes to start it). My inner-perfectionist has taken a whole new magnitude any time I fiddle with metal. Spent today finding some limits.

There was some good learning in there too. I practiced moving center punch marks by re-punching at an angle--practiced, get it?

The base ain't effing flat--it's 5" wide x 1/4" thick channel cut 11" long. Effing bowed. May grind it someday--used other means to maintain parallel in the uprights. It's not a rocket, no-but I don't want it looking too junky.

Five more holes, then I'll make a simple base for to measure relativity.

thank you sir may i have another.
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[WadePatton]

mmm, wheelbuilding--forgot about that as the sap is rising and the trees are budding out. WHICH means that _now is the last chance_ to survey trails before foliage reduces visibility. And then the moon is spectacular so we (me and the boys(mein hunden)) had an impromptu weenie roast last night and watched the moonrise from a out on the point of a ridge in the woods.

THEN I collected half-a-dozen morels (blacks-from my "early patch"), for the first good batch of morels this season. mmm mushrooms

The truing stand is functional, but I'd not call it "complete". Esspokes in route so I can roll on CK hubs once again--well not that I ever did that on the road before. Flagged out another mile or so of trail today. I'm trying to make a medium-level trail around the top of my woods. From that will spring "more challenging" loops/spurs. Using IMBA/SORBA training materials and techniques to build sustainable trails. It's way too easy to build crap trails otherwise.

Trails!

[edoz]

Build away, Wade. Maybe someday I'll come ride your trails.

[WadePatton]

Now I'm getting volunteer help for the trails...mmm trails.


SO wonder if the state will "overlook" the lack of biology in my undergrad studies? I'm looking at Wildlife Manager and/or Officer position. BUT then there's a local state Forestry position (possum cops nearly always relocate) that pays less, but has a base 5 miles from here.

I think I pissed off the owner of the MachineShopWhereI'dLOVEtoWork today. I simply said that I had no problem hanging around until he _could_ see me. Eff me, he was miffed that I didn't take the generic brush-off from the secretary. So I apologized, and promptly left-leaving him with my letter offering to work a week for free just to get serious consideration for a job when one comes avaliable. Posting a written apology and also resume to him tomorrow.

And I almost stopped at the Forestry office on the way back by (yeah, it's 1/4 mile closer to home) to discuss with them the new trails materials that didn't exist back when I had them out here mapping trails...


IN the meanwhile I'm nearly geared up to build a couple more frames. I just need some income for to start breathing again.

[WadePatton]

1, 2, 3, AUDIO CHECK, CHECK, HELLO...is this thing on?

Chainsaws, Firewood, (handmade powered woodsplitter), Antique Crosscut Saws, An Ax to Grind, Broadaxe/Adze Hewing, Trails, Morels, Skywarn, Taxes, Storage, Deck, Cabin...pick a topic, I'll fill you'ns in on it.

Dammitagin I forgot the bike thing this week.

OH and by the way-here's a freebie, I rode my first set of wheels the other day (built on my home-brew stand) and was quite thrilled with their absolute and total perfect function and pleasing looks. I like nipple twisting...and homebrewing.

[WadePatton]

as it is i shall not attempt to bloggeries elswhere, even at vs because i can/this is be most bloggerish here except for the commentary comes right in the middle as direct, not end-on replies (that's the part where you get to play.)

SO ON THAT NOTE:

Spring is when I simply cannot get enough done each day, as there is the backlog created by winter and the rush to complete before summer of most everything I care to do. And then just then, when two or three wonderfully productive days line themselves up in a row--blammo duck-and-cover because mother nature has some congestion and is going to blow it out here or there and we can't ever be exactly sure where _there_ or _here_ is so me and my brethren veterans of the NWS weather-spotting classes and emergency communications skillsets and licenses conduct "nets" on the amateur airwaves during potentially dangerous weather events. Also, the much forgotten fact, we provide the communications when normal means (landlines, cellphones, satellite, internet) are unavailable (locally or globally) because of weather/disaster damage.

So that cuts into the sched too.

insert quarter for more rambings...