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 my tibial plateau. It was a record year for Sierra snowpack and i was able to enjoy some of the best powder days of my life!
Once i was able to get around the shop and continue building bikes, I ended up building fewer frames than i have in the last 10 years mostly because I closed the queue in 2022 and stopped taking new orders. I started looking for work in what i did before hanging out the shingle in framebuilding but it turns out that i am no longer qualified after 10 years away, go figure, so I’ll be keeping the business going but with some important changes (stay tuned). Handlebars were steadily going to Agave Finishworks for some cool and crazy anodization, with more people getting to experience the nice flex of Ti bars.
It was a year of diverse frames, moreso than any other year. The majority were pretty intensive builds and more Ti than steel (which was a first) including Paul’s Ti twin top tube fatbike, MC’s Miser softail, Abe’s AUTM, Nathan’s Ti dirtdrop, my own 50th Bday present the Luddite Silk-Ti. These builds pushed my brain and skills to the limit so it was great to have Daniel Yang helping me out with CAD and 3D parts. Using CAD to build the frames was a new challenge because it changed my old imperfect process. Working with Daniel on the more complicated designs took many hours to distill the idea into a workable CAD. But that discussion and filtering of desired frame fit and ride specifications enabled us both to learn and grow in our respective crafts. As a result we developed a step-by-step process to simplify the builds and minimize, or eliminate, manufacturing errors in tube bend angles and miter placement that can happen with such “one-off” builds. Looking forward I will continue to utilize Daniel’s expertise to help getting more bikes out there to more people. I have a feeling he will soon be too busy to help me so I’ll take the help i can get!
Meriwether Cycles isn’t in the press very often (ever?) so it was fun to get Zach’s Slackpacker written up in Mountain Bike Action in the May issue focusing on Made in USA bikes. In April, I was interviewed on the Danger Gnome podcast on the fatbikes i’ve built and what could be the future of the fattest of fat. MikeSee shared his thoughts and experiences on his new softail on the Radavist, with me following suit with the Luddite to show softails aren’t dead yet! Lastly, I attended the VeloCosmos bike event in Grass Valley where Jay’s Klunkpacker won the best of the modern handbuilt bike category!
Beyond bikes we added a “Shop” page to simplify ordering the small items or lay down a frame deposit. We had a couple of product drops including a new batch of Shimzillas – this time made by Paragon Machine Works, Titanium stem top-caps made by Cobra, and the Stem-stash “headset adjuster” with design and machining by Huston Precision. I’ve also added custom Stems to the Shop in steel or Ti and with a normal steerer clamp or longneck option like seen in a photo below. In the future I hope to offer more schwag options on a consistent basis like Coozies and shirts but let me know what you would like to see in the comments!
Incoming…? We’ll be releasing a new stock bike model in the gravel+/ATB/adventure genre with complete builds and a choice of forks. There are no really good descriptors of this type of bike without sounding silly so I won’t elaborate until the official release, but expect shorter wait times for these frames and complete bikes compared to average in the custom world. They’ll be made by me (W.J) in California, but with lots of stock sizes to choose from and a cleared queue. Previously it was difficult and time consuming to source parts, so key to hitting the delivery date will be up sourcing materials and components, but it feels like we’re in a much better place now with all of that. I’ll still be taking custom orders but only 6-10 a year, depending on demand for the other bike.
To close it out here are some of my favorite pics of the bikes built and places they’ve ridden in 2023. Although I’m probably getting knee replacement surgery in 2024, I’ll do my best to stay on top of orders and look forward to a new chapter in Meriwether Cycles!
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Loved following along as always Whit. Keen to see where you take things next and also best of luck with the new knee in 2024!