Category: rambler

Cotton and Shellac

With everything in the right places on the 51 porter conversion it was time to put the cherry on top.  There is something just right about the feel of cotton tape with just a few coats of shellac.  I have found that the orange tape, particularly Newbams, when paired with garnet shellac is not only a near perfect match for brooks leather saddles, but has a warm tone that you can not replicate any other way.  It is just one of those things that takes time, patience, and is a process you can not cheat on.  This project has a layer of Soma thick and zesty under the orange cotton, finished off with cotton twine and then three coats of garnet shellac, the pictures tell the rest of the story.

The amazing thing is the feel, grippy, but soft, with just a touch of cush.  It will soften with time, last for years with an occasional re-coat, and only look and feel better with usage.

And for the color, most would not know it isn’t leather unless you told them, a perfect match for a worn in Brooks.

Porteur Makeover

This last week I was able to get the 51 Rambler switched over from its original drop bar build:

There was nothing really wrong with the way the bike was built up, and it fit my wife well.  The thing is, it just was not how she wanted to use the bike.  She prefers to sit upright, be able to put our minpin in a front basket of sorts, but still have the bike preform at a high level.  I sourced some new parts, others were already on hand, and set to work on the conversion.

It came out fantastic.  Some details worth note.  The Wald bars work just fine with bar end shifters.  The newish Tektro city levers are stylish and work great with the Paul Racers.  The Pari Moto tires were swapped for a set of Soma B-lines to add a bit more durability as well as the look of the red tires.  The Porteur rack is a Soma Fab offering as well.  I modified it slightly so that it worked more gracefully with the front dropouts as well as having a couple of struts welded on for mounting the top end to the crown bosses.  The whole thing is rock solid.  The cherry on top is the new Crane mini hammer strike bell.

Only a few test ride miles in so far, but all smiles.  I still need to do a final wrap on the grips and work out a basket or box for the dog, but it is pretty close to her dream bike at this point.

Base for T-shirt Art

The process has started on the next round of t shirt art (read Kickstarter Reward).  It is going to be a silhouette of sorts of the Rambler size extremes, somewhere between the simple outline and a Rebour drawing, with a heavy tilt towards the silhouette side.  Updates as things progress, but the process is part of the fun.

Rambler No.3 Built Up

Rambler No.3 is now fit and built up to what it will most likely be for a while.  I still need to sort out the racks, but am stoked on how it turned out.

After riding the bike a bit with the Hetre tires, they just felt to big and cushy for the nature of the bike.  One lap around the block with the Pari-Motos and I knew it was a perfect match for such a little bike.  The hammered Honjo fenders are the 50mm offered by Velo Orange, and are a perfect fit for the 38mm tires.  The verdict is still out on how the HWY 1 handlebars will be for the long haul, but I thing the shorter reach is a good thing.  The pictures tell the story of the frame details, lighting wire provisions, rack and fender mounts, etc.

Having been in the business of designing and making things most of my post college career, I will never cease to be excited every time a project comes together.  Having this bike in front of me to make the pictures, for my wife to ride, and to make available for other people to find joy in cycling is incredible.  Thank you for the opportunity to deliver a product that works, and might even be a game changer for some people.  Finding small bikes that work and fit well, like the one above is not easy, and I plan on changing that.

Rambler No.3 Glamor Shot

The current work space is pretty big, but I still have to rotate the functionality to one tasks at a time.  This week has been photo studio.  The cutting table gets cleared off, lights and back drops come out, and the product gets cycled through. Here is Rambler No.3 with the bars wrapped.

I thoroughly enjoy getting to have a hand in every aspect of this venture, including the photography.  Yes it keeps me pretty busy, but I love the work.  Next week, back to wrenching and sewing.