Winter Bicycles

[Eric Estlund]

First look:

[Eric Estlund]

[Eric Estlund]

Raw fillet mtb, full story here: Geländerad

[Eric Estlund]

Winter Bicycles 10th year t-shirts. It’s not too late to pre-order in your size. Unisex grey and olive womens t’s, heather black men’s or women’s tanks. PayPal $20 first/ $15 each additional with a note on size and cut to "info@winterbicycles.com". (International $30 first/ $15 each additional). Check out Belle and Canvas size charts. I still have some black summer wool and grey linen caps, too!

[Eric Estlund]

Notes from the field:



(photo from @nyckenji)

[Eric Estlund]

I have a friend who injured his knee recently and is too tall to find a cane. So I whipped this up for him:



My local powder dudes are great neighbors and snuck me in on "any color you can shoot today" dark red/ brown.



It was put into immediate service.

[drietz]

Nice work, Eric! It must feel good to have the ability to help a friend in need.

I have an unrelated question for you - who makes the plates/caps with the beautiful floral design on the back of some of your stems? I’m throwing quite a bit of pottery lately and am searching for someone who can make me a stamp to use as a makers’ mark...

[Eric Estlund]

The badges I use are spun cast pewter, and probably not good for your use. In CA you might want to check out Infinity Stamps.

[DCT]

My commuter bike is now a super commuter thanks to Eric! The entire process was absolutely flawless and the finished products (fork and rack) are perfect.
The front bag was custom made to fit the rack.

[joosttx]

My commuter bike is now a super commuter thanks to Eric! The entire process was absolutely flawless and the finished products (fork and rack) are perfect.
The front bag was custom made to fit the rack.

I really want to make a smart ass comment which hides my apprecation of what you did. However, this is so awesome I cannot but say WOW.

[Eric Estlund]

Thanks for posting!

I do a number of these "front end suites": custom fork, rack and bag (and sometimes stem). These help folks tune in a bike for their intended use, and doing the suite enables Ely and I to make sure the system is dialed.

[Eric Estlund]

This one started as an "After Hours Special", and will be with me at Philly Bike Expo this year.

Burrito Mission Demountable

[Eric Estlund]

Notes from the field: 10,000 mile report

"Hi Eric,

According to my log, my Winter rolled through 10,000 miles a couple weeks ago, which seems like a reasonable milestone at which to send assurances that your bikes get ridden. ;-)



The bike sees commuter duty about 9 months out of the year. I’ve still got an old Surly with studded tires that I pull out during salt/snow season, since those conditions eat drivetrain components. The typical commute is 5 miles each way, sometimes hauling a CSA share (watermelon and eggplant in lowrider panniers!). Other days, I take the scenic route home, getting in a decent ride of 20-35 mi in the evening. With Compass EL tires on there and a front bag full of clothes and lunch dishes, the bike’s pretty sporty - I’ll average 17-18 mph on an after-work ride through rolling Boston ‘burbs. I don’t think my old touring bike ever moved that fast. Beyond commuting, we’ve gotten in a bunch of multiday trips ranging from a weekend trip to Newport when my wife had work meetings there (traveling light with her laptop and a change of clothes in my front bag, no panniers) to summer vacation tours through Vermont and Maine.



Our most recent adventure was a week-long tour through Maine in late July. I had a work event up in New Hampshire, so we drove up and left the car at Loon Mountain and rode a clockwise loop (map attached) through western Maine and out to midcoast, totaling 540 miles. The bike is really in its element when loaded. Medium-sized front panniers carry most gear. The front bag carries a camera, rain gear, snack, and the repair kit. The Carradice turns out to be the perfect size to fit a tent. We had no mechanical issues in spite of a very wet week and some rough roads. Maine dirt roads are a different beast than those in Vermont. They’re a lot rockier and have a high probability of petering out into an ATV trail through a swamp, but that’s part of the fun.



If this bike were to suffer an untimely demise, its replacement would have disc brakes, but other than that I’d be hard-pressed to come up with anything I’d like to change 10000 miles later.

The next couple tours on the ever-growing list:
- Back to the UK to visit friends and cycle the Dales and Peaks District
- Nova Scotia or Prince Edward Island
- Head to your stomping ground and do the C&O/GAP trail (okay, your general vicinity; I realize PA is a big state)"


I'm very happy to hear (unsolicited) this is serving him well, and wish him many happy more miles!

[Eric Estlund]

Mail call!





Fun mail call surprise. Sent in from a client in Germany who recognized my mug. @cycle_magazin

[false_aesthetic]

Eric,

Can you talk a little bit about the Tange old stock?
I guess my first question is how does it compare to the Tange stuff made recently?
Second, why reach for that over another brand with a similar spec?

[Eric Estlund]

This stuff is old, maybe 15 years or so? Surplus from the old Burly tandem days. All of the Tange stuff I've used from that vintage is really nice- clean, round, straight, etc. I have no experience with the new stuff.

As far as why this tube- it was the right shape for the job, and the length and butting was a better fit for the bike than other tubes. Nothing nostalgic, it just made sense for the bike.

[Eric Estlund]

165 parts before the headbage or fasteners:

[false_aesthetic]

This stuff is old, maybe 15 years or so? Surplus from the old Burly tandem days. All of the Tange stuff I've used from that vintage is really nice- clean, round, straight, etc. I have no experience with the new stuff.

As far as why this tube- it was the right shape for the job, and the length and butting was a better fit for the bike than other tubes. Nothing nostalgic, it just made sense for the bike.

Gotcha. Makes sense to me.

[Eric Estlund]

All this by... you get the idea. Flickr

[Eric Estlund]

While looking for other info I happened upon a video from the 2017 @Bespokeduk featuring a collaboration with @cycle_artist and @paintbytodd . Thanks @bikeradar !