Handbuilt to help you get lost
I remember what it was like riding a 29er for the first time. I was racing the 12 hours of Winter Park in the early 2000’s and a friend had a new tractor green Spot singlespeed. I was riding my beloved Ionic Johnny Rotten single with 26” wheels. Both had rigid forks and similar gearing.... Continue Reading →
Meriwether didn’t last that long or make a ton of frames but I thought this would be an interesting exercise to show what was made. The table below shows the various types and quantity of frames over the last 14 years and as you can see… it ain’t much. I'm not an efficient worker, i... Continue Reading →
I am prone to nostalgia, of a time when my body did most whatever my brain wanted and recovered without a heating pad, ice, and a ln increasing amount of days off. While some may not look back and laugh, I usually do. It helps that I get daily notifications from OneDrive that further this... Continue Reading →
I never came up with a good name for this rack, or support system, so comment with your best and if i deem it's a winner you'll get a rack. But here's the 'why' of it: After a bike tour on the green OGATB where I buzzed the bottom of the bar bag and ripped... Continue Reading →
For better or worse I’ve been journaling online, or blogging, for about 25 years which is funny if you know me since i'm a pretty quiet, introverted person. But for some reason I enjoy writing and not caring if anyone is reading. There's something therapeutic in the process of it all. I remember a teacher... Continue Reading →
I remember starting out building and asking advice from Rick Hunter. The first thing he said to me was, "you don't want to be a framebuilder..." But did i listen? Now that I'm riding more than building bikes, it's given me some time to reflect on the last 15 years of trying to make bicycle... Continue Reading →
(Guest post by Rob Reed) Purple bikes have an infamous history in my family… Back in the mid-1970’s, a used Bob Jackson painted in purple-and-gold Mardi Gras colors was probably the single most valuable thing my family owned outside of our 1963 convertible VW Bug. On one epic move from California back to the midwest,... Continue Reading →
It's hard to know when to call it quits. I started building in 2010, full time in 2013, and to be honest I haven't been financially successful since. Each tax season i'd be embarrassed at how it ended up. Without the support of my wife i wouldn't have been able to stick stuck it out... Continue Reading →
Found this old blog post while looking for photos from this trip. It got lost when I changed back to WordPress from the website i used between ~2014-2018. Even though it's creepy at times, both Google and MS have archived my photos over the years so i haven't lost any when changing computers or iphones.... Continue Reading →
I'm not sure the difference between a midtail and a longtail but some call this a midtail and i just call it a longtail, since i've never made anything longer than a bike with 640mm chainstays. Casey will be on the ITI course, starting at 2pm today (2/23/25), so if you're interested in following some... Continue Reading →
It's now January 2025 and i just shipped out the first Ponderosa build. Number 2 is powdercoated but the fork needs a re-coat. The 3rd frame is done but i don't have blades for the fork. The 4th is ready to be welded but I'm sick and holding off until i feel better and have... Continue Reading →
The recent YouTube by Daniel Yang on his visit to Curtis Inglis of Retrotec Cycles brought back some memories of my early racing days and the above (very staged) photo of me burning a pair of lycra shorts. I'm pretty sure the year was 1994 (30 years ago!?) and i was trying to market myself... Continue Reading →
Sharing these recent articles on the Radavist! John stopped by on his way back from MADE in Portland for a shop tour and we met Jay for a ride in Nevada City. He took some amazing photos of our bikes and the setting sun over the foothills to the coast. I'm very grateful he spent... Continue Reading →
There are too many options. I'm already prone to indecisiveness but seriously...there are too many options. There are more styles of bike than anyone needs and it's a moving target. We don't even know what to call certain types of bike. Road, allroad, gravel, cross, monstercross, ATB, XC, 27.5-plus, 29-plus, 32er, 36er, mullet, downcountry, Enduro,... Continue Reading →
Built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930's Depression, Ponderosa Way was a continuous fuelbreak that that extended 800 miles along the length of the Sierra Nevada Mountains from Bakersfield to Mt. Shasta. The purpose of this project was to create a defensible fire-line between lower elevation foothills and higher elevation National Forest. It's said... Continue Reading →
Meriwether #14: safety orange single speed CX bike with 700x40’s but will fit a 44 in front or up to a 50 in back. Straight 1-1/8” steerer tube light supple steel unicrown fork (non-disc), rare Paul Component dropouts, mismatched Paul brakes, & QR’s. White Industries CX X1 hubs (disc ready) laced to Hed Belgium+ rims. SRAM... Continue Reading →
Stoked to share some thoughts and detail about the bike I rode at Mid South, my Meriwether drop bar bike.Gear Talk – MERIWETHER DROP BAR BIKE
Note: this is a pretty esoteric blogpost...bike geeks may even get bored. I have a pretty crazy wall of tires in the shop. I have a problem. It all started when i built my first fatbike in 2012. Surly had released the Pugsley with the Endomorph, a relatively small 26x3.8" tire, but that still meant... Continue Reading →
Another rollercoater year for me and Meriwether Cycles. It started out recovering from another knee surgery, getting the hardware out that was put in a year prior, and scoping out some cartilage floaters. But by February I was riding the ATB and feeling like i was finally on my way over the saga of shattering... Continue Reading →
