29ers Fats 190 BB30 PF30 100 142 0823980914324234 Honestly!

 There is nothing I like more on a bicycle than Steel. I have been on all the others and they are great, but nothing compares to good old steel. I am not trying to say that i am against forward thinking/movement I just know that the ride quality for ME is out of this world. Lately i have been putting some miles on stainless and i am just... well.... WOW. It feel so good  mmmhmmm (i think i am a bit overly attached to bikes....) The picture above is a stainless 29er. KVA U.S.A. Stainless steel with paragon dropouts and a BB30. Thinking i might keep this for myself. and by that... probably will.


ANYHOW, to adress the title of this here blog.

     I am a frame builder in GR MI and i am starting to get a little bogged down on the rapid changes of the cycling industry. Everyone is trying to out build or out FAT the competition. It started with FFF (surly's Fattys Fit Fine) frames and then the "snow bikes" came out. They are now simply called "Fat Bikes" which i am totally fine with. Love new bikes, I can officially have over 10 bikes of different "uses" in my coral at any time. BUT everyone is trying to make something newer and better

BB30 started out slow and was picked up in the road community and then PF30 and then 100mm Fat and blah blah. Crank companies can't keep up!
Then Oversized Headtubes.
170mm Rear Spacing
190mm Rear Spacing
142mm Front Spacing
135mm Front Spacing
182mm Rear.....

It is like the whole fight with the 1" headtubes vs the 1 1/8".
Riders have spent years building their bikes to be sweet and out of nowhere companies start saying they have the wrong thing and riders and trying to keep up with the trends.

I think it is silly. Just because XX1 came out doesn't mean it is leaps and bounds better than XO or XTR. 4" tires vs 5" tires vs 29+ 3" tires.
I had a guy tell me he would have won a race if he had XX1 on his bike..
I think that is Silly. You lost because you did not push yourself hard enough. There is No extra special gear with XX1 or a speed boost. You just did something wrong. I am not saying i don't want XX1 but I see no reason to leave 6 month old stuff in the garbage just because the new stuff goes to 11! "But ours go to 11" just a few years ago people were stoked to have 9 spd cassettes!

To sum it up I am just ranting to rant. The dust will settle with this whole battle and we will see what comes out ahead. Like any big industry game it will come down to who has the most money to promote  
and who doesn't.

So, i hope to see you on the trails and i don't care what you run, and long as you ride and love your bike!

Cheers
Daniel!

Welding dayz and quite nights

One year ago I had the pleasure of becoming not only a Husband but also a father. And sense then I have been pushing myself to be a better person, harder worker, and better welder so I can continue to give my girls everything they want/need. 

My first frames were.... Well... Not the greatest.. but i kept on pushing. 10 frames down they looked better. 20 frames even better! 

Now i am over 100 frames. Mountain, Fat, Cross, Road, 4130 Cro-moly and KVA Stainless. Had to hand draw my first frames and figure out the geometry on paper (realized i should have paid attention a bit more in the 8th grade!) after struggling with that for awhile I finally got an actual Bike cad program. By that time i had it all pretty much figured out, but it did make my life way easier. Even updated the jig from an old milled out piece of aluminum to a full on Anvil with built in purging. Best part is the Bike cad corresponds with the jig for ease of set up and the perfect frame. 

I love looking at some of my old frames and comparing them to the new ones. Makes me proud of what i have done in just over a year. 

                                    KVA Stainless Cross frame! BB30 w/ Oversized Headtube

I spent my days welding away from home and my nights riding bikes or watching Tinker bell with my daughter. Could not be Happier! 

Just a big thanks to all who have been hanging with me sense the Ada Shop/ Commute days! Much love! 

From Shop Rat to Frame Builder! Start of my new chapter!

This is my first post back. Putting myself out there as a frame builder in good Olde Grand Rapids!
This is my first 650b Tandem for a couple of racers. Thing turned out perfect! They love it! I love it! and i hope everyone who sees it loves it.

Went from a bicycle shop owner to frame builder all in one year! Just loving bikes and living life.

This is going to be sweet!!

One of the best videos made for the shop!!!

Commute GR from urbn studios on Vimeo.