Ok, so I've been gone for some time now. Well, not literally. Over the winter, I was working on getting my motorcycle kit up and running. Most of it went pretty smoothly. But I quickly learned that I am not an electrician. All the mechanical bits seemed to be a logical combination of my background of working on my own cars, along with working on bicycles of all trades. But when it came to the wiring, I had never really learned much past the couple weeks my high school physics class talked about circuits and V=IR. But I can now say after re-wiring it a few times, and one electrical fire, I know a ton more than I did before. The bike is now running, and I just have to jump through some legal hoops to get it legal.
My wife, Melissae (finally) graduated her PHD in chemistry at Washington University of St. Louis in the spring. So the lead up to that got life a little crazy. After that, we got her ready and packed for a three month internship in Germany. During which time, we moved a buddy and co-worker in to help me pay the rent while Melissae is gone. This is going a long way, as not too long after the internship is over, she has gotten into a science writing program in Santa Cruz for a year. You can read about her adventures at her blog:
After a bunch of life hitting all at once, I'm back and ready to tear into some frames. Thanks to those of you hanging in there with me and my delayed posts/builds. First up, is Matt's commuter bike, with clearance for some cyclocross tires. Kind of a go anywhere, from home to work, to going for a dirt ride on the katy trail. It will be a mix of lugs and a fillet brazed BB junction to allow me to direct the chain stays however I need to, to best gain chainring/tire clearance. The first two miters are made, and I spent half the day re-shaping the top tube / head tube lug. Nothing overly fancy or ornate, but I like how it turned out.
As always, more pictures on my Flickr site
