44 BIKES - Moved to Wordpress

Hey Everybody who's reading/following this blog-I've moved! The 44 Bikes website got a facelift for starters-check it out! AND this blog has been moved to a wordpress format. So much more power/options on the Wordpress platform. All the posts were archived and moved to the new 44 wordpress blog as well so you can still see all the old content as it appears here but you can follow along with all the new happenings as I build up the shop at my house. I hope to have that finished sometime in the spring/early summer of 2011. Thus with this change, I will no longer be posting to this blog. I'll keep this here as an archive for the next few months, but eventually I will take it down in favor of the new format. You can still check out all kinds of good stuff via the 44 FLICKR too. I'll be adding an online shop to the site later this year, so check the 44 Shop occasionally for updates, downloads and some select exclusives.

So get on over to the new 44 BLOG!

UPDATE SEASON

Lot's going on over here in the studio. It's been a while but you'll really want to hear what's going on. So this past summer I've decided to put time/effort into getting my shop ready here in New Hampshire. Some upgrades to our current service needed to be done so that the shop can get some high power juice. That involved HAND DIGGING a 160ft. trench. Uphill. Both ways. That's finished, and all the 2" pipe has been laid before the winter hit. The line and the rest of the electricals will be finished early spring 2011. Late spring early summer 2011 the shop will get a new floor poured and a full buildout will be in order. I hope to have the first 44 roll out the doors in June of 2011. Keep your fingers crossed!

As for the website, I'm currently putting the finishing touches on a beta site and testing it. So far so good on Internet Explorer 7+, Safari, Opera, Google Chrome and Firefox. I've also got an online shop in the works along with some free downloads. Warranty info, pricing and the fit forms are finished and uploaded to the server. Kind of handy being a designer actually-I can handle all of this and make it exactly how I want it...

I'm also going to be shifting everything over to a Wordpress platform blog as well. I'll preserve this blog with the new WP platform so not to worry. Stay tuned and feel free to email me directly to get on a mailing list for when this stuff starts to roll out: khenry@44bikes.com

Follow along on my flickr feed for the latest rides, builds and happenings around the shop & studio.

As always-keep the rubber side down and the pedals turning.

44 Bikes :: Frame Jig Progress

Getting real close to having my frame jig finished. It's been a journey getting this thing finished. Power goes into the shop in one more week. This beast gets finished most likely in another 2. Then it's on to making two more pieces of tooling: Dedicated main tube mitering jig and a chainstay mitering jig. Then as Mr. Mandlebaum says in Seinfeld... "IT'S GO TIME". Check out more pics of the whole progress here.

SHOP TIME

Been a while since I've posted anything here. Rest assured, I've been busy with master plans. Here's the skinny as of 7.19.2010: I'm in the process of getting my shop setup here in NH. One of the reasons why we purchased our house was for me to actually have a shop. The property has an old horse barn on it, and I've already gotten rid of everything "horse" related. Fencing, posts, stalls, you name it... this barn had it.

It's in need of a few things like a new floor, build out inside, sufficient power source and eventually it will need a new roof. BUT, we're working on upgrading our service here at the house so we can run a new line down to the shop. Mill and lathe will need phase converters. Speaking with some friends who have done the same, it sounds like it will provide plenty of power at 75% capacity for what I'm doing. So that's good news. My electrician will be stopping by this week for an inspection and then we can put together the finalized plan for getting more power to the shop. Then it's calling our friends over at PSNH for the service upgrade.

This is exciting stuff to say the least and basically my all time dream: Have my own shop. In a perfect world, I'll split time between my design business, BLACKCAP Studio, and 44 Bikes. The two compliment each other well and I'm all for building a small brand, with a close nit following around a strong product lineup. So when things kick off, you'll be sure to know first right here on this blog. In the works is a new site, a manifesto of sorts for the company that will equate to a biannual "Zine" of sorts among other things. What's really great is I'll be able to funnel all of my creative talents into a passionate project and love. I can't wait to get started. Actually I have started-so can't wait for the next steps to happen. It's going to be one hell of a ride.

So once power is to the shop, first and foremost will be finishing the frame jig and tooling build. Then it's Frame No. 001 to come from the shop. It will be a pretty cool moment when that happens.

In the meantime is scheming, strategery and riding plenty. I've been trying out the Snake Driver in every setup known to mankind. The above is yet another example of it's versatility. A builder out in Oregon pioneered this setup, of which I have much respect, Jeff Jones. I had the fork and Front wheel from my Pork winter setup and have been wanting to take them onto the dirt just of pure curiosity. Had a chance to ride this setup the previous night and it is one heck of a blast. A few tweaks with setup. The Paul Components chain guide is a nice little piece of chain retention-ery and I did not drop a chain on anything. There is also a newer bb-mounted version here.

So stay tuned as more news happens.

Spring Riding

Been a while. Spring's here in the north and trail cleaning is happening round the clock. Riding is happening round the clock. Building bikes is happening. Heck-building frame jigs and tooling is happening. It's all happening. Just put up a new link on www.44bikes.com. I've been doing a pretty good job of posting plenty of shots on my flickr account. Get in there and start digging for all the latest and greatest. 44 FLICKR.

2 29ers are on the deck right now. Perhaps a 3rd. 29s's basically with some other options thrown in for good measure.

Up above you'll notice that Spring Time is Singlespeed season for the Snakedriver.

Ran into a bunch of riders tonight from New Hampshire Ball Bearing. Heck one of them was even from Lyndeborough. GO FIGURE. Good group of riders and great to meet them. Give me a ring man we'll all have to go for a ride!

29f1 finally got the modified 6 speed treatment to the rear cassette.

Not a completely current shot. But here's the 29f1 prepped just after the snow melted.


I'll be in the shop all day this friday, so keep your eyes peeled for some new shots via the 44 flickr page. Actually go to the main photo stream of my day job (BLACKCAP Studio) and you'll see the latest updates.

PORK

Finally finished up the Pork Fork. Some call it a Fat Fork-I prefer Pork. Whatever you want to call it, this one's for snow duty. So far so good. Tons of fun and just plows through the white fluffy stuff. More on this in a bit. More here at the flickr site.

SNAKEDRIVER

Long time-Snakedriver V2 is finished up. Been building a fork jig so I can build an oversized fork with 135mm spacing to accept an endomorph mounted on a 50mm wide Uma rim from Speedway Cycles. It's taking forever since I have to go back and forth from Studio to Shop, and concentrate on time spent on a Bridgeport that I know I can't leave a setup in overnight. So I have to finish what I start-so I can't tackle too much. And me being me I'm doing it to the 10th degree. But as Ted's said, a fork needs to be Binford strength so I'm dealing with hogging out lots of material on even BIGGER hunks of material. So it goes. But the Snakedriver is finsihed and built. Build is as follows:

Thomson 410mm Post
Thomson 90mm Stem
Race Face Turbine Square Taper Cranks (keep'n it old school)
113mm Shimano Bottom Bracket
Race Face 34t chainring
17-34t Shimano XT cassette (will most likely add a 14t cog)
Crank Brothers Egg Beaters
Avid levers
Sram XO 9spd shifter
Sram X9 9spd short cage rear derailleur
Sram Chain (love that universal link thing)
SDG Saddle
On-One Mary bars flipped
Yeti Speed grip lock-ons
Shadow Conspiracy bar-end caps
Avid Disk Brakes - 185 front / 160 rear
WTB Wolverine 2.5 tires front/rear
Salsa Gordo's / DT 14g spokes / brass nips / DT Swiss FR Hubs
Salsa Chromoto Grande Fork (temp. till the forks get built)
PAUL COMPONENTS CHAIN GUIDE!

GET IN UNDER THE RADAR AND CHECK OUT SOME MORE SHOTS BELOW:





Also updated a large collection of shots on my flickr page. Check it out here.