Single Speed

Just needs some zip tie cable guides and it is ready for paint. I did get a chance to take it for a quick spin to make sure everything is rockin.

Tapered Head Tubes

Dropouts

John Y's build

I know that I have bad about posting on blog lately, but I have been very busy. Here is the Hubcap swinger dropouts half machined. The next post will show the drops in 2 double vices in the CNC. These dropouts have really slowed production, but I hope it will be worth it in the end.

Below is the 20mm thru axle rigid fork. I used 2 True Temper 1.125" dia. 1.3mm/.7mm butted tubes which should work well with the long rigid fork.



Here are the 20mm thru axle dropouts machined and ready to weld. Front triangle welded up and waiting for the rear.
Front triangle welded up and still in the jig.

If I was going to go to NAHBS I would take this one with me. The 20mm thru axle rigid, with the new swingers really shows how custom my frames really are. I think John will be happy.

I would write more but need to go.
Cheers,
JU

Sorry, pictures and text do not match.

Piece Of History

Sorry for the lack of posts, I have been working on Hubcap Cycles swinger dropouts that I need for at least 4 builds. Should have some CNC parts done in a week or so, and will post some pics. I did stop by the old shop and picked up some old signage that I will place in the new shop as soon as I pick a spot for it. When there, I was happy to see that Herm's handy work was still there. He had scribed "Grove Innovations Command Center" in the dusty wall upstairs. I also miss living 3 feet from work, but don't mind not being a land lord. Will post soon. HUB

Ti Seatposts

The new posts came out super. I delivered this batch to Freeze Thaw this afternoon.

4 Hubcaps, 1 Allegrippis

Mike, Chad, Jim and Ron went for a fun spin around the Allegrippis trails. Good times.

TI seat posts

I took a couple of hours today to build a fixture for welding up TI seat posts. Seemed to work well.
Here is the first one out of the jig. The post still needs a little polish on the head and it will head out.

TI Road S and S frame

Jeff"s frame is finally off the build list after being bumped a few times. This was one of the harder ones I've done in a while. It took a bit longer than most frames, but a two week vacation to the great state of Maine did not help the production time. Jeff wants an bead blasted/ anodized finish, with the HUBCAP logo a polished anodized finish. Should look cool, and will post pictures when it is ready for delivery.
On another note, I had a backhoe at the house yesterday, and needed to get rid of some fill. Needles to say, now I have a sweet little track complete with a jump, table top, bank turn, and a double. I sure wish I had a backhoe when I was 12 years old, it would have saved us a ton of time building our dirt tracks. I'll post pictures as soon as I can find someone brave enough to hit the double.

S and S couplers

I know it does not look like much, and the front triangle usually goes pretty quick, but when you are installing S and S couplers in butted TI tubing, things slow to a crawl. The couplers need to be in the right spot in the frame, which would be no problem with straight gauge tubing, but throw in butted tubes and they also need to be in the right spot in relation to the buttes. I am actually looking forward to doing the rear.

EWR-RF-166-6-5-97

Here is a pic of Clay's new/old mountain bike. It was the last EWR ever made by Innovations, and was never delivered to Jay. It is an extra small frame, with a 19" top tube length, so toe over lap is a slight problem. From the serial number, it looks as though fabrication was completed on June 5th 1997, so I am not sure if Jonny B did the welding or if it was Bill, or myself. It hung on the wall, unpainted, in the Centre Hall shop for a couple of years. One day between jobs I decided to spray some light blue met., lay down some decals, and finished it off with some matte clear. I was hoping this would motivate Bill to sell it, instead it hung on the wall in his basement for a few more years. At some point Rody grabbed it for his son, and built it up so that he could cruise the trials. Colten has since out grown this cool retro frame, so it was handed down to Clay, with the condition that when he was done with it, it would go to the guys at First Flight.

Jeff's road frame and stuff

Sorry for the lack of posts, but not too many photo worthy work going on in the shop. Clay and I managed to make a trip to Ohio to see Rody and take part in the Groovy race. Thanks Rody!

Pictured above is the start of Jeff's butted TI road frame with S and S couplers.

Felt a need to give the 69er some TLC, since I have actually been riding it a bit. I added a brake stiffener, a 3rd cable guide on the TT, bead blasted the frame, updated the fork, installed a king headset, and built a custom stem. Justin at Freezethaw is building a new set of wheels. I am more than capable, but he does a killer job and has a TI frame on order.

I'll post a picture of Clay's new MTB bike when the camera is recharged. It has some cool history that the retro guys will love.

Matt Ferrari takes 2nd in SS at Lumberjack 100

Matt Ferrari takes 2nd in SS at Lumberjack 100 (CLICKY HERE)

Matt Ferrari on his Ti 29er single speed

Matt on his way to 1st place SS and 3rd overall in the Stoopid 50

Last 2 frames

Here is Harry's road frame, and if looks wet, that is because it is still wet.
This is Mike's 26er that required a very low stand over height. I decided to run with the hairy eyeball solution.
With both frames out the door, I can enjoy my family vacation, so I'll catch up on emails as soon as I get back.

Dirt Fest Demos

The Winner

Dirt Fest Approaches...

It is late but people are requesting images... here you go. Hope to see you at Dirt Fest!

-Hub

Allegrippis DirtsFest SS Belt Drive

I have been working hard to get the Dirtfest raffle bike and Matt F's TI ss frame in the paint both at the same time since they both need to be at Raystown next weekend. The raffle bike is ready for sand blasting, and Matt's frame just needs the post mounts for the rear brake.

See ya at DirtFest,
Hub

Rock Rings

I need to thank Andrew and Tim for cranking out these cool Rock Rings. They are fully CNC machined, black anodized, and engraved with my logo. Sorry, not for sale, but will look awesome on the Dirtfest demo bikes. Cheers, Hub

Matt's frame/DirtFest update

Here is Matt F's TI frame with the rear triangle welded on. It still needs cable stops, seatstay bridge, disc mounts, and mount brace. With it out of the jig, I can get going on the DirtFest raffle bike, which I need to pound out ASAP. Both bikes need to be ready to roll for the big event in Raystown. The DirtFest bike will be a Chromoly single speed belt drive. If you have a spare $10, buy a ticket. Who knows, you may be the proud owner of a sweet new ride. All proceeds go to maintaining the trails there, which are killer if you have not seen.
Things should pick up quite a bit around here after this week, when my other job ends for the next 3 months.
Cheers,
Hub

Matt's frame

Sorry for the lack of posts, things have been busy, but the frame building should pick up at the beginning of May. I had to take a couple of hours to machine a new heat sink/argon purger, so that I could weld up Matt's front triangle. This 27.2 sink goes in the seat tube and the fitting is for pumping argon into the tubes for purging.

Matt's frame has been slow going, but is turning out rather nice. Tomorrow I should be able to bend up some stays for the rear.
Cheers,
Hub

Jess's frame

progress in the shop

Here are a few shots of what has been going on in the shop: Jess K's Ti frame repaint- Kawi green with Belgian orange chain rings should pop. Chad R's Road bike is built and has some miles on it. And finally an emergency A arm replacement for the mini baja. Trees don't want to move out of the way of a 40 mph buggy. Who knew? Our team leaves for competition this week.

Internet Down

Hi All,

Sorry for the lack of posts... my internet has been down (again). We are currently talking to other carriers so this will hopefully not happen anymore. That doesn't mean I haven't been busy in the shop. Things going on include: Chad R.'s and Dennis B.'s bikes are back from getting pics taken. Also, I started Matt F's frame. Plus, I blasted Jess's frame. It needs some pop. The blue and blast finish just didn't have the sizzle I would've liked to have seen.

Cheers,

HUB

Wow, Thats Red

Can't wait to see this one built up and rolling down the road with the sun bouncing of the metallic red. It starts by bead blasting the frame in my cabinet to completely clean the surface to prepare it for the primer. It then gets 3 coats of PPG epoxy primer, and then a wet sand to prep it for the base coat. 3 coats of pure gold base, followed by the Sunset Red tinted clear. I lost count of how may coats, but did manage to use up almost half a quart of an unopened can. Then the decals go down and I start shooting the clear. 2-3 coats and then a final wet sand and 2 more coats of clear to finish it up. I was cruising the forums(V-Salon) the other day and a builder claimed he has $35 in material costs for a paint job. Wish I had his deal on paint. That half a quart of tinted red cost me $64. That would leave $3 for primer, base coat and clear. Hmmm.
Hub

Ready for Sunset Metalic Red

Good day.

As you can see from my paint prep area and the boxes of tube sets, things are busy in my shop.
Today was another great day of things coming together. Dennis B.'s Zona road front triangle is welded. Prepping the dropouts and getting ready to miter the stays. Chad's road frame got black stripes and some clear. His headtube HC will be polished and then I will shoot final. James K.'s Big One Inch is turning slow in the lathe for the clear to settle. Decals are on.

A few quick picks of Chad's orange... This will really pop.