new site

It's been a long time coming, but last night www.mapbicycles.com finally went from being a static placeholder to a bona fide website. There will be a lot added in the way of new bikes as time goes on, but there is a lot of information there now about what I do. Check it out and tell me what you think.

slowly...

In between projects I like to give myself a few days to work on the stainless lugged touring bike I've slowly been building myself. Over the last few days I've built the fork and started the bridges and braze-ons. It's finally resembling something that can be ridden which would normally mean the end is near. In this case I still have a good bit of work in the racks which I'm really excited about. A combination front platform/low rider rack with custom handlebar bag by Eli of Lemolo, and light rear rack for small panniers or saddlebag support. The racks will be nickel plated as well which will be a nice touch but sure does add to the work. Exciting stuff.

finger wave

I've always had a fascination with mixte frames. I remember the first time I looked seriously at a twin lateral design and how impressed I was with it even though the frame I was looking at wasn't much to speak of. There are surprisingly few custom mixte designs on the road.

This mixte is very traditional aside from the curved stays and their attachment at the rear of the frame. It solves a problem common to mixte designs involving chain clearance around the extra set of stays. I like the look of it as well. Reminds me of the finger wave hairstyles women wore in the 20's and 30' s. A lot of inspiration came from a mixte built for last year's Cirque du Cyclisme by J.P. Weigle and a Charrel mixte in the Golden Age of Handbuilt Bicycles.

The marathon continues.

Mocked up and ready to be brazed.
Originally uploaded by mapcycles

I've lost track, but it has been a non-stop 7 day week for me since late 2007. Don't get me wrong, no one is forcing me to do it, but lets just say my shop pants are looking pretty ragged lately, as are my hands. I'm really happy with the work that is getting done though. It makes all the time spent in the shop worth it. Here's a picture of my latest bike. It is a 50 cm mixte set up to be a capable touring bike when the need arises. I'm in the process of finishing the rear triangle and today made the curvy stays which you can see in the photo. I think they add some nice lines to an otherwise very traditional design. After this it will be bridges and braze-ons and then off to paint.

I'm looking forward to a 2 week trip to Virginia in the beginning of June to the Cirque du Cyclisme and then some bike touring around New England. I'll certainly be ready for it by then.

Nickel-plated rack

Here's the porteur rack for Ian's bike after the plating. It took a bit of elbow grease to finish the rack to a point where plating was possible, and a bit more to buff out the dull nickel after it was done. All in all I'm very pleased with the results and anxious to see it put to task. Oh, and below is the before photo - quite a transformation:

My, what a busy week...

I've been working a lot lately, and on a lot of different things that I really want to see get done. If I had the choice I'd just work on one project till completion, but I've had to learn to just dive into certain things just to build up some momentum, spend time where I can, and be ready to switch gears at a moments notice. Just when it starts to feel like you're bogging down in the muck, you get a nice surprise like finished headbadges and a bike back from the painter! Here are a few things that stuck out in the last week:

Headbadges came back from laser engraving. After having the badges laser cut out of stainless steel, I gave some of them a satin finish and the others I polished and had the MAP name laser engraved by Joe at Engraveyourtech

I like the brushed badges the most.



Track bike came back from the painter with the new graphics. I can't wait to see this all built up and going round and round Alpenrose track this spring. Drew is a strong rider so I wouldn't be surprised to see the bike in some top finishes.


Been enjoying making my own seatstay caps. Simple, yet very pleasing touch at least from my perspective as the builder since the shape is totally in my hands. Plus, they make for super light seatstays in comparison to using those bulky plug-style caps


Starting on another mixte shortly which is really exciting. I'll be posting pictures as soon as it starts taking shape.

Porteur rack

Here is the finished rack for the porteur frameset in the previous post. The frame is off to the painter and the rack will get nickel plated here in town. The rack is a 10" x 12" platform with dual light mounts and wire routing. Very straight forward and functional design that should get many many years of use, especially considering the durability of a nickel plated finish.