I am in the middle of several different projects right now. Some are making the shop more comfortable to work in, others are actual bike projects (a gravel bike and a mixte city bike) and others are prototypes that I think would be very cool to build.
First, I really need to insulate the shop. From November to February, it’s too cold to work or paint and then July to September is too hot to work. That leaves about 6 months of the year that I can get bikes built. The problem is the shop is full of stuff and pulling everything off the walls is going to be a big project. I’m hoping to take this on during this spring and summer and be ready to heat the shop during winter.
The tubes are mitered for a gravel bike. It will take 700×50 tires and drop bars. Through axles and disc brakes naturally. It’s designed more like a road bike with big tires and longer slacker front end. But it has niceties like front derailleur braze on and just 3 sets of bottle bosses. Should be super fun bike on the road as well as off road!
I have started working on shaping lugs for a series of traditional lugged road bikes. I have a dozen sets of lugs that I have been shaping and carving. Nothing too fancy, just enough to be interesting. Realistically, this is a winter project to build a batch of 3 bikes with traditional road geometry and proportion. Hit me up if you want a new lugged steel bike made from parts that date back about 50 years.
Draper Cycles 