The cruiser has come back from paint and is super fun to ride. It’s going to be a blast riding around Ventura CA on this one! It handles very light and nimble and will be great for getting around town. I have been using it for the past few days to go get groceries and scoot down to the coffee shop during the day to make sure everything is working correctly before I ship it off next week.
I just finished up the alley cat racer from the last update. She has a well used and loved touring bike but, wanted something special for some alley cat races and riding around the city with her messenger friends and this is one sweet ride. Tapered headtube, carbon 3T road fork and nice stable geometry for roaming around our bumpy streets! I mocked it all up with some stuff from the used parts bin and then it went back to the bench for finishing. It’s ready to go now just waiting for her to stop by and do a final fitting. Then I can build the stem and send it off for that bright pink paint!
I’ve also been working on a set of chain tensioners for the Alley Cat. I prototyped them with quarters that I had sitting on the bench – quarters are cheaper than stainless washers! I didn’t really like that so I made some washers out of stainless and will braze on the stainless threaded parts. The end cap was machined from aluminum and the retaining nut is faceted and made from brass. I think they’ll be a perfect finishing touch to this bike!
Other things going on in the shop include polishing up my MIG skills to build a stand for my new-to-me 3T arbor press. I found it at a local auction and stripped and painted it, cleaned up the ram and pinion added a new stainless handle with some fancy brass ends. The problem is that it’s taking up the space on my tool cart. I’ll post up some pictures of that shortly.
Draper Cycles 