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

Did you know

We do repairs of steel bikes and forks at the shop. Canti studs added or removed, disk brake tabs, water bottle bosses, small cracks and in some cases tube replacements. Stop by or call for a estimate

Forks and such....

Got a lot of work done these past few days, just have not posted it on the blog. Here is some, and there is more to tune in for in the next couple of days.
Fork are important, and these were brazed beautifully.
And, look at what we are doing for Jeff Frane's dropouts... A little polishing never hurt anything....
Tune in tomorrow,
erik

Spring Super Deal!

We are moving our beloved Kill Bill and Bad Penny bikes....
we need to make room for more goodies like, Bridgeports and a small lathe....
so you may or may not know the scoop on this stuff, but I will give a general description :
both are 55cm squared track bikes.60 mm of bb drop. 74 degree parallel angles , short chainstays.
Look them up on the web, they are out there! These are the only bikes of their kind, true deep custom stuff.
Serious replies only.
erik

Beautiful Sight!

Erik will be busy all weekend doing this! We have a few frames to start, and a few others to wrap up and put on some finishing touches. Erik is pretty damn excited and so am I. More pictures to follow later today, and we will be updating specific builds.

BoB

Mystery Bike

Here are some more teasers on the black opps "race" bike. Not quite A cross frame, not quite a road frame and not quite a touring frame. The main triangle tubes are being cut right now and the seat stays and chain stays are scheduled to arrive early next week. This is going to be one sexy steed. Erik will be showing off some really nice deep custom design with this frame. The tube layout is HOT, I can't wait to see what he plans on doing with this.

Stay tuned for more pictures this weekend.

The New Guy

I thought I'd take some time and introduce myself. My name is Bob Pavlica and you'll be seeing a lot of me from here on out. I will be handling the business-end of Peacock Groove. Erik is without a doubt one of the best frame builders that I have ever seen. He can weld like no ones business. Unfortunately, Erik is not so good with paperwork, tracking customer orders and dealing with all of the other things that come with running a small business. Erik has been juggling way too many things at a time and when you do that, things get lost and forgotten. Erik has been trying to do the jobs of three people all at once and he is burnt out.

Erik just wants to build your "deep custom" frames for you.

That's where I step in.

Several months ago I had a talk with Erik. I saw how his business was struggling and the toll it was taking on him. I consider Erik my closest and dearest friend, and I didn't like seeing him suffer so much to keep his dream alive. I told Erik I wanted to do something for him, I wanted to help. I told him that I couldn't give him money, all I could give him was time. He asked me what I wanted out of it, and I told him I did not want anything at all, I just wanted to be part of Peacock Groove. He was immediately skeptical and I did not blame him.

Now, a few months later, we are starting to get things in order. NAHBS is behind us and we can really focus on getting your frames done. Everyone's frames are in different stages of development and are being tracked appropriately. We asked Jeff Frane from Bike Jerks if he would be willing to help us debut the way things will be done from here on out and he agreed. So far its been working as planned. This is the way it will be done from here on. We want to see you on your Peacock Groove as soon as possible.

Please let us know if there is anything that we can do for you. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask. You can email me at Bob dot Pavlica at Gmail dot com.

NAHBS!!

We are loading up the vans now and getting ready to leave for Richmond tomorrow! Crazy times!
The Minnesotan builders that will be there are :Vincent Dominguez, Peacock Groove, Clockwork Bikes, Wyganowski Cycles ,Capricorn Cycles, and HED Wheels.
Gonna be quite the time.
Not like this bike train I had going earlier this year... we are using a van to get there...
stay cool,
erik

The Jury.

The Jury is something I have wanted to do for a little while now.
What is it?
A run of twelve custom track bikes. 1,200 dollars each. This exclusive deal is for the first 12 people who respond. It is open for twelve only, and will only be done if there are 12 who order.These will be made custom to fit you. They will be track bikes!Track bikes only! There will be a hole for a brake in the fork, and that is the only braze on that will be on these bikes. No exceptions.
Here is the rundown of what it is : frame and fork only. Parts are seperate, but can be provided at a great cost to you.
12 track bikes.Tig welded main construction.Dropouts will be brass brazed. 4130 straight gauge main tubes. Columbus rear end ,and a track fork. The fork will be this crown with the 24mm round blades from Deda . This is an excellent build for a fork. Peacock Groove horizontal dropouts. Serial numbers will be Juror one, two , three etc etc.
One color paint done by Chris Kvale.If orders are placed by February, Frames will be delivered late may. This is a one time deal.Lets get some track bikes up in Blaine.
erik
noren52@gmail.com
651-269-5295

So Shiney !

Thought I would put up some pics of Chucks bike, which is almost done.
Short wheelbase 29nr, and shortened dropouts too. will be able to handle some big fat meats too.
I like the stainless cutout. There is something about stainless as a material that I have always admired, loved, and respected. All that is left really is hand cutting up a Daisey out of stainless and then running with it artistically .
Hold on Chuck, almost there....
and how about a link to what some of the Behind Bars boys did with an old Peacock ....
http://behind-bars-bicycle-shop.blogspot.com/2010/01/birth-of-old-peacock.html

2010 and so on ....

Good evening everyone, I hope 2010 has brought you happiness and joy, and more enthusiasm related to all things bike.
I wanted to put up this little video I took the other day, because the way the sun hit the dropout really clicked with me. It was a minute of beauty in a day full of surprises.
noren