Sacrilege ?

Since the start of my building career , I have had ideas that have not been popular with some, if not a vast majority , of the frame building community.
I have always thought outside of the contemporary plane of thought whether it was painting miniatures , racing radio control trucks, showing horses, or the writing club I was in.
While it always seemed to me that whatever it is that you do, there is a " base canvas " that is the excepted norm. Once you start to deviate from that canvas, it can seem that you are no longer part of that norm. Take some types of music :
I have never said that I like punk rock music.But, it was informed to me years ago that Social Distortion IS punk music. I like Social Distortion, and I never really thought of them as punk rock. I just thought that they shredded . What is funny to me, is that people spend time arguing whether or not they ARE punk, I just like the music. I think that deep down that is the basis of all the bikes that come out of here:
different for each person. Made for their tastes, not the general public. One at a time, for that person to ride and enjoy, and for the masses to try and fit that bike in a genre ...
And now, maybe the point of the post, what do Disc brakes , fenders, Columbus Max tubing, a 73 mm bottom bracket shell, Motorhead, cards, Campagnolo 11 speed,a braze on front derailuer mount, crazy s bend stays have in common?
Well, Peacock Groove of course !

Little tease!

I thought I would post a little pic of a frame we just got back from the painter, and it is for a good friend, I just don't want them to see it all yet!
I decided to add a little gold outline to the dropout, just because I have never done anything like this before.
So.... here is a little pre NAHBS picture!

Gus, water safety, and NAHBS....

Meet Gus. You may know him as the "OFFICIAL" package inspector for Peacock Groove and its associates , but he has since moved on to bigger , more important things for he, and you.
" WOOF, RRRRR, WOOF BARK ! GRRRR WOOF WUF."
Let me translate :
"water safety belongs to you and those you love. Please do not go swimming until a half hour after eating, and always have a swimming buddy. It is important to have the proper clothing and only swim in the areas designated for swimming. If you follow the rules, fun is always right behind!"
At least, I think that is what he said, as some of his barks were in German....
And he also wanted you to see this NAHBS teaser shot.

New shop, pneumonia, and the NAHBS!!

Well it has been a little while since we went down this little bike path known as the RIDDLE OF STEEL....Well, the title says it all. We moved, have been setting up shop, and getting things : painted, wired up, hung, plasterd, painted, moved, moved again,pizza, sick, vented, more wiring, and hanging some posters too.
Some things between this and myself being really very sick from the end of October to the End of November, and even into December. Docs don't really know what it is/ was, but it seems to be gone. I feel better than I have in months!
So, if I have not returned your phone call, or e-mail, please be patient or e-mail or call me again, I am catching up on all that type of stuff.
As for NAHBS, I am pretty excited about it this year. I think I have a couple of cool bikes going down to the show. Also going this year is a nice little slew of other local builders too :
Speedhound , Vincent Dominguez, Dave Anderson, Matt Appleman, and Curt Goodrich !
Looks like we got ourselves a little convoy. I attached a couple of teaser pics, and they may or may not be part of the bikes going down there. One thing for sure, they are true Peacocks.....
erik

Time to vent?

Venting.
Very important stuff, ya know.
Well stuff at the shop here is getting closer to complete, and it is really feeling like home. Did some major venting here yesterday and soon we will just have to do airlines, which will be awesome.....
Now what's on the block?
Kamal, get ready! Polished lug super awesome crossbike is gonna slay the rest !
Patrick, your snow bike, adventure bike, aka 29ner is gonna lay down the fat tread!!
VOLTRON crew, get ready....stuff is at the waterjet cutters and we are startin to roll!
Thanks for the patience you guys.
erik

Winter?

Some people like to "turn a leaf" when the temperature starts to get warmer, when the daylight lasts longer, and you can start to take the fenders off of your bike.I myself have never really been like that, and I doubt I ever will be.
Today was nice.We just got our first big load of heavy , thick ,wet snow.I hung around the house today, deciding to get down to the shop after noon, just so I can catch up on bad T.V. And I did. A little bit later I was dressed and out the door.
Riding down the street, through all the horrid mess that it was, was just kinda peaceful, at least to me. Even though we have a nice bike lane on Marshall Ave in St. Paul, I took the wise place, the sidewalk. That way afforded me to also ride on the grass side boulevard , where I could actually go faster and not have any run in conflects with all the people on said sidewalk, who where "so amazed !!" that winter is here. It usually comes every year I thought....
I got to the bike path, the Greenway, and the rest of the ride was a snap.A wet, cold, track laden snappy mess. Along the way I was looking at all the bike tracks, and how some were erratic, others hugging the fence, some going all over the place, and someones Endomorph laying down the fat track.
This struck me as a great metaphor : If from the beginning I followed other people direction, or tracks, I wouldn't be where I am at, and I would be where I am going.
It just makes me think a lot. The bikes that come out of this shop have been like that all along! I learned all the ropes at Croll, and built a lot of standard bikes. It just was not satisfying me in that "artistic" level.
My tracks, and Peacock Groove's track have led us to a new shop, gorgeous and full of opportunity.That is where I have been for the last four to 5 months....moving...
And it shows!
I now have gray in my beard !! More than ever, because I did not have gray in my beard before we moved ! If it was just moving, it would have been a snap. But, of course it was more than that.We had to clean a very messy place, scrap the walls, floor and some of the ceiling. Scarify the concrete, to prep it all for the epoxy we were going to put on it. Make two offices. Paint the walls...get electric in there, set up the new lease,paint some more, seal cracks, mud and sand said offices, and to do this in a new space that is 4900 square feet. This has been a huge effort.
Now, doing all of this means that we have fallen off the radar a little, ok a lot bit.
But, as you will see when we have the open house, the Groove is alive, growing and taking on some incredible projects, and making some great friends along the way.
Stay tuned and I will give an update of what projects are coming your way, and what cool things are in the works....here are some pics from the work we did on the space....later,
erik

Run of five ...

For a long time I have wanted to do special "runs" of bikes, at a slightly discounted price, and having the bikes painted and designed to pay homage to something that has inspired me in the past.
I have found what I really want to do.
This "theme" , I have wanted to do this for over 15 years....
It's time has come, and I believe it will be more than awesome. It will be very cool to have five bikes holding a theme together, to have five people on a bike that have a special connection.
Here is a basic rundown of what you will get: Track frame and fork. Fork will have a brake hole in it. No other braze ons.
Custom frame and fork made to fit you. Columbus "mega" down tube, ideal for the graphics to be applied. Paint jobs to be all custom too. I have the logos and design ready to go. I will reveal the designs when all 5 are spoken for. Metallic mostly.
H + Son rims, painted to match, with some wicked airbrush artwork on them.
If I do receive more than five orders, there will be a "bonus" 3 to be made , all to fit in with the theme. All the work going into this should cost you over 3100 bucks ...
But- this will be an epic run of bikes. This will be an incredible deal and one of the most custom bikes around.
Now for the skinny, you will get a custom made to fit frame and fork, plus a pair of H+ Son rims painted to match.
1,500 bucks.
Paid in full at the start .They will all be built at the same time, to keep the "team" feeling to this project.
I will only do this if we get all five sold, but do not forget about the 3 "chaser" bikes to be had also. There will be a max of 8 frames sets made for this project.
First e-mail to me or Bob will get first color choice.
Colors to be chosen : Black, Red ,Blue, Yellow, and Green. And the 3 "chaser" bikes, most likely Brown, Black, and Violet. The three chaser bikes will start in order after the first 5 choices are taken.
Now... What is the theme?
Planet Arus need to be saved....
One thing said: " MEGA THRUSTERS ARE GO!"
( follow the link )


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uS5b8aQ6z8