Emma is a professional mountain bike racer and the 2016 Fat Bike National Champion.  She needed a road bike.  She is very patient.  Finally! Emma’s Do-It-All Road Bike features 2x11 compact, wide-range 50/34 11-32 drivetrain,  hydro disc brakes, thru-axles front &  rear, a custom Syntace X-12 compatible rear dropout system with a hangar optimized for road derailleurs, and clearance for 33mm tubular tires. 

Emma is relatively small, so her frame features stand over clearance provided by an 80mm bottom bracket drop appropriate for 165mm crankarms, and a 421mm seat tube measured bottom bracket center to top-tube center. She sacrificed toe overlap in order to run standard-sized 700c wheel. The 458mm top tube slopes down 12˚ for standover clearance.   The rear seatstays are asymmetric; the left kicks back 10mm and up 30mm to accommodate a post-mount brake bridge mount for 160mm rear disc brakes.  The relatively short 420mm chainstay,   73.5˚ seat tube angle, and stiff chainstays provide a responsive ride.

The bottle mounts keep the center of gravity low; the seat tube bottle bosses straddle the front derailleur clamp.  The bosses are titanium from Paragon Machine Works bonded in with vibration-resistant G/Flex. A set of  Arundel SideLoaders allow easy access to the bottles.  Together, the low bottle mounts, 80mm BB drop, a 71˚ head tube angle, and 48mm of fork rake provide stability on long, rough descents.  Cosmetics are printed directly into the lugs or bonded to the frame. The UV-protective finish is easily refreshed.

Completing the package are 1) a TRP CX fork, 2) a set of Rolf Prima Ares 4 clinchers mounted with Challenge Strade Bianche “30mm” gravel tires (measured width 32mm) for training,  and 3) a set of Rolf Prima Ares 4 tubulars with Challenge Team Edition Chicane 33mm cross tires.

​#EDIARB

Just a reminder that the MASM is a real product.  Really expensive, but really real!  Order yours from the Métier Vélo Store!

 One MASM to rule them all: Spare sleeves! If you have several bikes with the same size seat tubes, I can print spare sleeves so you can use a single MASM on all your bikes.  If you add up the prices of the high-end ISPs on all your bikes, the MASM compares in cost, outperforms in function, and launches your coolness into the stratosphere. 

Price includes a custom accent printed right into the metal or other touches. 27.2, 30.9 and 31.6mm diameters available.

Printed to order.  Contact me for lead time.

The dropouts featured on the NAHBS Winter Training Bike are now available to order in the Métier Vélo Store!

I can customize the frame interface for each set of dropouts for building into the frame of your choice. 
They are printed in batches of 10 sets (left & right dropouts, road hangar, and spare hangar).  Price per set includes customization. 

Special pricing for a batch of 10 if only the angle needs to be customized for each set; each dropout can have different chainstay-seatstay angles if the interface style is the same. Contact me for details.

We brought the Winter Training Bike to show at NAHBS 2016 as a New Builder.   There were some amazing bikes, and show was very well attended by both builders and the public. On Saturday the Sacramento Convention Center was packed.    Even Valentino Campagnolo was there! My voice is still hoarse from all the talking.  Usually I spend days in the shop or at the computer with only the dogs and cats to talk to. An exciting day is when our UPS carrier delivers something and takes a few minutes to chat.  So I am still processing all the input.  Thanks to Don Walker for putting on a great show, and giving Métier Vélo a chance to display the bike.   And if you attended the show and stopped by our table, thanks for supporting small builders and taking time to check out the New Builders.  Spread the word about handbuilt bicycles!

If you want to know about the show in general, BikeRumor and Red Kite Prayer have great coverage including  descriptions of the award winners.
 
For Métier Vélo, the show was a success in three ways:

1. The bike got enthusiastic response from two very different sets of people. One group was engineers and scientists, who appreciated the technology,  the level of Métier Vélo designs, and the level of  fabrication and finishing from GPI Prototypes.  The other group was designers and artists, who appreciated the aesthetics of the design and overall presentation of the bike.  I expected some enthusiasm from one type of person or the other, but not overwhelming enthusisasm from both sets.
2. A number of top framebuilders evaluated and critiqued the bike, my building techniques, and Métier Vélo LLC business model.  Everyone of them was encouraging and supportive.  It is a great community that Don Walker has nucleated around the show.  I asked a number of builders to give it to me straight and tell me what to do. If I am doing something wrong,  or there is a much better way, I’d better find out sooner rather than later.  I am please and relieved that all the flaws other builders pointed out were things that I myself am not happy with, and that have been rectified in subsequent frames.   Two of the top composites experts in bicycle framebuilding examined the frame closely and deemed it safe and serviceable.  Which is good to hear because I’ve been training on it all winter.
3. The MASM was very well received by cyclists,  engineers, designers, and artists.  It is the sort of detail you can only find on custom frames from a small builder. Remember, the MASM is a real product, available now, so if you've got wads of cash burning a hole in your pocket, head over the Métier Vélo Store.

I think the best news for us is that NAHBS2017 will be held in Salt Lake City!  I hope to up my game and bring a frame to enter in the lugged frame award division.  The bar is high but we’ll give it a shot!

The Métier Vélo Winter Training Bike is a disc brake road bicycle with clearance for 33mm tubular tires.  The relatively short 420mm chainstay, 73˚ seat and head tube angles, and stiff tubes provide a responsive ride.  Seventy millimeters of bottom bracket drop and 48mm of fork rake give a stability on long, rough descents.  Cosmetics are printed directly into the lugs or bonded to the frame. The Black-Ti finish of marine vanish and wax protects the carbon composite from UV and  is easily refreshed. Displayed at NAHBS 2016!

I hate seatposts.  Hate them.  They slip, creak, sieze, and the collar bolts have a bad habit of breaking at inconvenient times (who carries around a spare 5mm allen bolt?  I’m racing, that’s 2 extra grams!). Speaking of extra grams, seatposts are heavy: manufacturers always claim low weights, but when you measure, they are always 250g or more.  Seatposts don’t hold your seat very well, especially single-bolt designs, I once rode 140 miles in a race with numb…well, lets just say the saddle angle slipped after I hit a pothole hard early in the pre-dawn dimness.  AND seatposts are hard to adjust; usually it is impossible to adjust the angle without messing up the fore-aft.  Don’t get me started on the side-clamp designs—they only accommodate one type of rail, and it is always the wrong type. 7mm? 10mm?—AND they catch on the insides of your shorts.

Hate them.

​Thus, I am pleased to offer the Métier Vélo Micro-Adjusting Saddle Mount (MASM). 

I believe I have solved all of the problems associated with mounting one’s saddle to one’s bicycle securely, and adjusting it easily so that it stays put in the correct position.  No  more numb, well, TMI.  Plus the MASM looks nice. Sort of like an upsidedown sock.  The MASM has the following features:

• No-slip, no-creak, no-seize, no-collar
• Accommodates 7mm & 10mm saddle rails
• 150g plus stainless hardware
• Secure, balanced symmetrical 2-bolt clamp/cradle
• Neutral-pivot angle adjustment: adjust saddle angle with
  minimal, predictable effect on height
• 60mm of micro-adjustable height at 1mm per turn
• +/- 15˚ angle adjustment around a 73˚ seat tube angle
• Fore-aft adjustment independent of saddle angle
• 25mm rail interface maximizes fore-aft adjustment
• 27.2 mm, 30.9 mm, 31.6 mm & custom diameters

The only problem is the price: currently (2016) $3,000 made to order or $2,800 option on a Métier Vélo frame. I wish I could give them away because I think everyone should have one.

Métier Vélo LLC will have a new builder table at NAHBS 2016! The North American Handmade Bicycle show is the premier event for small builders to showcase their craftsmanship; this year it is in in Sacramento, California.  I’m excited to be showing a bike; it will be great to get feedback from some of the best bike builders around.  I hope we’re on the right track with Métier Vélo.  Thanks to Don Walker for the opportunity.  Red Kite Prayer has an interview with Don about the 2016 show that is worth reading. If you can make it to Sacramento (highly recommended), find us at New Builder Table 17.

Shimano handles its OEM accounts directly, rather than through a distributor.  As a small builder, I wondered if Shimano would be willing to handle a small account.  I needn’t have worried; Shimano’s local representative in Park City was very supportive and got Métier Vélo all set up with an OEM account so that I can offer competitive prices on Shimano components.   I’ve been riding Dura-Ace pedals since Dura-Ace existed, and I just discovered PRO cockpit components (the carbon bars are really nice), so I’m please to be able to offer Shimano components on Métier Vélo frames.