Next up, the 2nd and 3rd Ps go together. Plating and powder. Behold, Brian’s rebooted 29er.

Damn, this is one of those times when I wish I’d had that done to my bike.

That’s the top tube, pre installation of course.

The frame’s ready for paint, and I’m ready for my next project. I’m trying to decide between a new single speed or a fat bike. I guess you’ll have to come back later to see which.

So here I am at the Texas Custom Bicycle Show.

The show went pretty good. Jeff’s single speed road bike was show stopper #1, and Brian’s 29er was show stopper #2.

The copper/powdercoat combination turned out pretty well. It was very popular and I’m anxious to have another one done like this. Maybe a different color, like dark blue or green.

I finally got to meet Freddie Karcher, the other Oklahoma builder. Freddie has been around for a long time, and is recently un-retired. He brought a nice assortment of old and new bikes, including a late 80s mountain bike with a Campy off road group.

Freddie and I shared a curtain in the back of our booths, which allowed me to sneak through and eat all the candy he brought and generally look creepy.

Speaking of old school cool, my neighbor Jeremy of Gallus cycles brought this 650b retro bike.

A nice mix of new old stock parts like a Suntour cyclone front derailleur and Sugino cranks and some new stuff like 650b velocity Dyad rims and Pacenti tires.

It was pretty cool because it was more of my bikes than I’ve ever had in one place. Kinda like a gathering, or a family reunion.

Cue the creepy again, with me whipsering “My chiiiiildrennnn”

The after party Saturday night at the Jackalope was fun, until Cleo spotted a roaming bounty hunter and turned me in.

I seriously thought I was doomed, but as they were firing up the carbonite freeze chamber Mr Fett checked and realized there was actually no bounty on me, so he let me go. Whew!

So I lived to go back to the  show Sunday, rearrange my booth

 show off some more bikes

and meet Wes Williams of Willits.

So that’s about it, I’ll be posting a few more pics on Flickr and Facebook, plus I’m sure there a re a lot if other photos I’ll be tagged in. So stay tuned for some post show work in a week or so.

Thanks for stopping by.

Tomorrow I’m heading down to Austin for the Texas Custom Bicycle Show.

I’ve spent the last week or two trying to get stuff done before I go, like a cross frame and fork for a guy who’s moving to Cali this weekend. He came over and took a ton of pictures during the build, and since he’s a pro photographer you won’t see any of my usual crappiness. I’ll get some pics up soon but int he mean time you can head over to Flickr and check out the set. He’s adding them a few at a time, so keep checking back.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jasonperryphoto/sets/72157627679620021/

I should have some shots from the show to put up, and I’m taking the laptop so I can post an update over the weekend.

Built up and ready to ride.

They all start like this…

Waiting for pickup, one dirt road fork.

Working on a fork today. Nothing exciting, just brazing all the joints and soaking off the flux. I still have to trim the tops of the legs and add the caps. Then the finish work happens, and I add the brake bosses and fender mounts.

I am American manufacturing.

I’m the part of this country that still creates wealth. I take raw materials and add the skill and labor required to make a finished good, to be sold for a profit. If all that disappears, then we’re stuck with just what we have, to be endlessly shuffled around as the financiers skim more and more off the top and leave the rest of us wilting right along with the American economy. That’s why this quote from a Bicycle Retailer article really pissed me off today.

“Bjorling said earlier this year Trek moved some of its OCLV frame manufacturing to Asia from Waterloo”    That’s referring to Trek spokesperson Eric Bjorling.

I had admired Trek as being the last of the big companies to manufacture their high end stuff in the States, as Cannondale bailed a couple of years ago.  All of their OCLV carbon frames were made in Waterloo, WI. They’ve moved most of not all of their aluminum manufacturing to Asia already, and now they’ve started with the carbon fiber frames.

Trek has long been driving the moral high road when it comes to giving back. Donations and support for Bikes Belong, IMBA and League of American Bicyclists.  Unfortunately, the American worker is not on the “cool kids” list. Neither is our economy.

Don’t get me wrong here, Trek still does more than most. This though, just struck a nerve. Especially since the retail price of the Asian models most likely won’t see a price decrease that reflects the reduced manufacturing cost. Will retail prices go up every model year to reflect rising costs? Probably.

So basically, in a troubled economy with a 9% unemployment rate, Trek decides to add models to it’s lineup and have them made overseas instead of paying more people in Waterloo, who will spend that money here.

To Trek president John Burke I say, you like to give back? Start with Waterloo, WI, USA.

The rest of you? Buy American when you can. It makes a difference. One of these days it might be your job that gets outsourced.

Remember that deal I mentioned?

Trek gives IMBA $10 for every mountain bike they sell.

For every Edoz I sell, I’ll give IMBA $50.

Here endeth the rant.