Winter Bicycles

[Eric Estlund]

Thanks!



Smiles for miles! S hopped on and rode around my warehouse about 4 seconds after walking in. Thanks, and have fun!

[Paul Jacobs]

I really admire the amount of detailed thought that goes in to designing and completing a bike like that.

[Eric Estlund]

Thanks, Paul- I do my best to make my own job of design thorough and execution exacting so that they are easy and fun to use for the end client.

[Eric Estlund]

Repost@luckyduckoakland

January 19th, 6-8pm: Come join us for an evening of beautiful custom handmade bicycles, stems, and racks by Eric Estlund of @winterbicycles.

Q&A with Eric to follow.

~~~~
Winter Bicycles is an international award winning maker of #custom #road, #mountainbike, #gravel, #track, #touring, and #randonneuring bicycles. In addition to custom #fillet #brazed, #lugged, and #bilaminate #bicycles, Eric is also known for his wide variety of custom #steel #stems and #racks.

We’re honored to have him. Don’t miss it! [Editor's note: I’m honored to be hosted, thank you!]

[drietz]

Hey Eric, just wanted to say that it was cool seeing you in action/nerding out at Lucky Duck. Wanted to say hello but the wall of old men was too thick. I admire your work a whole bunch, thanks for comin to Oakland!

[Eric Estlund]

Ha! That's funny. Thanks for coming out!

[Eric Estlund]

Mahasher- Named for the Indian golden mahasher, the largest of the carp family. The golden mahasher is a slender, large swimmer and shares similar golden flecked green coloring to this randonee bike. The Winter Mahasher is a 700c randonneur speced for energetic sporting rides, running around town, and stretching out to event distances

Mahasher - Winter Bicycles

[Eric Estlund]

When I feel like I’ve really nailed a bottom bracket fillet I offer clients an option for a “maker’s mark” unfiled bb cluster. This is a sort of a point of pride to show off the work a bit. This one came out swimmingly, and will be headed out as it came from the torch.


BB fillet still warm and fluxed:



And out of soak:



Ready for paint:

[Eric Estlund]

I'm always trying to push for incremental improvements. I try to stay consistent within a bike, and move the bar a little every time I pick up the torch.

I feel pretty good about these:

Brazing-


Raw-


Rubbed-


A few more from the same bike (different joints):

[drietz]

Hey Eric, can you walk me through the vertical vs horizontal clamp slots for your tall stack threadless stems? Looking at them, it seems some have the slot cut in line with the paragon socket cap binders, and some are cut in the more traditional vertical style, ala a seat tube. Just curious if there's a specific time you use one method over the other.

[Eric Estlund]

In brief, it's based on the steerer type, clamp tube height, binder location and lastly aesthetics. I first let the design of the stem lead me functionally. Within that, the physical dimensions may preclude certain locations. If I am open in those two areas, I try to balance what I think will look best for a given stem as part of the final bike it will be on.

So... yeah, they move around a bit. Thanks for looking closely enough to see them wander!

[Eric Estlund]

Today the whole company turned out to help me move the lathe.

[David Tollefson]

Today the whole company turned out to help me move the lathe.

Needs a Yakety Sax soundtrack...

[Eric Estlund]

Smooth tunes to keep it all rolling level.

[Eric Estlund]

I'm always trying to improve my brazing. Years ago I remember reading on Jeff Lyon's page something along the lines of "raw fillets better than most peoples finished work",
and in my head that sentiment has always been the standard to shoot for.

Even with the fillets I intend to file, I try to make each one as uniform as I can, with even width, a nice radius, and feathered edges. I've been at it for a bit, and my technique, materials and tools are all pretty well dialed. I get pretty jazzed by small improvements at this stage. Last week I did this, and it felt really good (and fairly typical of where I'm at these days).



I often get asked if I use a Gasfluxer, and I always say “yes”. A Gasfluxer provides a chemical "cleaner" in the flame that helps bronze wet out. I've always used one, and run it in tandem with paste flux. You "know" it's on because it makes the flame a green color.

Well, my little window is mucked up, and even though I’ve been going through the motions it turns out my reserve tank has been empty (just enough residual to keep that green flame). I filled it up today, and I have a feeling things are going to work out.

[Eric Estlund]

[Eric Estlund]

Caught in the wild: San Diego, CA

[Octave]

Eric, can I ask why the coupler on the top tube is so close to the seat tube? I often see it almost parallel with the one on the down tube, which is closer to 75% along the top tube whereas yours seems like 95% along he top tube. Just a curiosity if this makes any difference. I have an S&S myself and wonder if this changes how it fits in a bag or how it rides, or if it is for another reason.

[Eric Estlund]

Thanks- I try to put the coupler in a place that a) works best with the tubes and b) fits best in the bag. The position will vary a bit based on the bike. If I can, I like to keep it close to the junctions to lessen the visual impact, but that's pretty low on the drivers for location. On the bike above, the frame is pretty small, so I had some freedom of location.

[Eric Estlund]

Brother Ely got together with the folks at Weebly and produced a pretty steller video.

Ely is great people and makes a killer product. I'm happy to work with him and lucky to call him a friend.