Back in the Shop

Two years ago, I spent the month of July learning how to build bicycles in Niles, Michigan. This year, I spent all of July and most of August teaching 40 University of Toronto students how to write effectively. Between that and various other academic responsibilities, I only had time to briefly drop in to the shop one—to check out Olivier's now-complete first frame.

Today, finally, I took the afternoon and did some work on the long-neglected Monty, my fixed gear bike. I brazed my cool Campagnolo track fork ends to my Reynolds 531 chainstays—and it was extremely fun.

I'd never slotted chainstays, but I was left with no choice, since the Campagnolo track ends are so shockingly massive. I slotted 15mm, though I might have gone longer. I used the usual system of sticking the dropouts on an axle and making sure they're square with one another. Here they are, set to almost exactly 120mm:

It felt a bit weird brazing after almost two months off—but it came off okay. Here's everything post-brazing:

Given their hugeness, lots of filing is required for these track ends. I did a bit today, but more remains to be done...

I should have lots of time for frame-building over the fall and winter. For now, I'll concentrate on finishing this bike off, and then move on to completing the Greg Curnoe bike.