Kish Fabrication

(Dave M.’s 650B, Arizona-bound now, and out of NC’s brutal .08″ snowstorm)

Word on the street is that the North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS) is going on this weekend in Sacramento, California. It’s true, people still aren’t sick of bikes! We’ve been to nearly every one of these shows, missing only the first one (which I think was held in an abandoned Lady Foot Locker in Houston), and the one in Indianapolis (which was held in Indianapolis).

They’re always a ton of fun – we get to see lots of friends, eat and drink a lot, and nerd out to some amazing bikes. By the end we’re sleep-deprived, smelly, broke, and in possession of reams of product literature to feed the woodstove. It takes a solid week to get back to normal life.

And therein lies the problem – this year, at least. We are simply too busy building bikes to take the time out to build a few more for the show, fly them (and ourselves) to California, hang out for a week, and recover after the whole thing’s done. So, we’re taking one for the team (you guys are the team, at least the ones who bought bikes) and staying home to work. Besides, I’ve got like 30 episodes of Storage Wars on the DVR, and those things aren’t just going to watch themselves.

So, a big thank you to everyone who has a bike in the queue, you’re keeping us busier than we have ever been! Also, apologies to those who expected to see us in Sacto (hot tip: calling it ‘Sacto’ will allow you to blend in with the locals, assuming the locals you want to hang with enjoy hopelessly outdated slang), hopefully we’ll see you next time around.

Last, if you like seeing bike frames in pieces, rather than stuck together with a TIG welder, you may enjoy this flickr album of Sophie A.’s mountain bike coming together.

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It’s been busy, busy, busy around here. I only just now got a chance to poke my head out of the shop, and, due to a sort of overcast-y day, was not startled by my own shadow. So rest assured this oppressive winter will soon be over. I kid, of course, our winter thus far has been very nice, befitting an ex-Californian wuss like myself. As I type this, it’s 72 degrees outside. WHAT THE DEVIL IS GOING ON? I’ll tell you what’s going on, it’s time to ride! Hang on, I just saw a raindrop, I’m going back in.

As I was saying, lots of cool bikes heading out lately, this is what they look like from where I stand all day:

There’s grey bikes with blue on them!

I’m especially proud of this one, not only is NOT going to Australia, it’s going all the way to Portland! I hear they’re having a bit of an artisinal bike shortage out there, so I’m sending this one over to spice up the landscape. You’re welcome, Portland!

There’s grey cross bikes,

grey bikes with extraordinarily expensive headsets,

and more grey bikes with extraordinarily large headtubes.

We’ll be back before too long with more news, including a NAHBS 2012 update (SPOILER ALERT: We’re not going!) and a new Carolina-inspired T shirt, check back soon!

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Whoops, my plans to post a recap/thank you for 2011 obviously didn’t happen, so let me try it now:

Thanks to everyone who bought bikes, frames, stems, parts, shirts and jerseys from us last year, and thanks, too, to those of you who kept in touch and sent pictures of your awesome bike adventures and vacations and all that. And a big thanks to everyone out there having fun riding their Kish bikes, and getting the word out about our stuff. Thanks to all of you, we had our ‘biggest’ year yet (meaning we ‘moved a lot of units’, which is how I imagine real business people speak, but I can’t be sure since I work in the bicycle industry, where real business people are typically shunned).

2011 was a big year in other ways, we took home the award for ‘Best Titanium Frame’ at NAHBS, and although the trophy is a little roadworn after serving as a hood ornament on my Ford F550 all year, it still brings a smile to my face each time I hoist myself up into my XXXL Krew Kab to drive the 4 blocks to the 7/11.

Speaking of wasting gasoline, last year we also moved our entire manufacturing enterprise from California to the Old North State of Carolina, where in 5 days we undid all of the carbon credits accrued by every person who ever commuted on a bike we built over the last 20 years. And even more fuel is being spent right now, in the form of burning anything I can find to keep warm. I don’t know how cold it is, since all I have to use is my thermometer that was built in San Luis Obispo, California, and it only registers temperatures from 55 to 75 degrees. Suffice to say it’s cold enough that I needed to change out of my Crocs, to my sherpa-lined Crocs, and finally to my Ugg boots before my feet thawed out.

Despite the presence of actual weather, we have settled in nicely in NC, and things are running smoothly. We’re still trying to figure out something new and exciting to do this year, since 2012 marks our 20th anniversary building bikes! But that’s a matter for another day, time to throw another tire on the fire and get back to work…

Thanks again to all of you, here’s to an even better 2012!

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Not here of course, but in Australia, where our bikes seem to be proliferating like cane toads.

This latest build belongs to Garth in Melbourne. It’s a road/cross/light touring/whatzit wombat dodger. (We make the same model here, but it’s called a Possum Dodger.) Set up with Campagnolo Record 11, DT wheels, Paul brakes…it’s regular tour ’round the world of parts. The customs declaration is about as thick as the Chatham County phone book (not all that impressive, actually).

We build a lot of these sort of bikes, not exactly a cyclocross bike, the geometry is different, but what I’ve called an ‘off-road road bike’, which I suppose either makes sense to you or it doesn’t. If it does, and you’ve been thinking about getting one together, remember that as of January 1, we’ve got a wee bit of a price hike taking effect. That means you’ve got about 2 weeks to empty your piggy (or kangaroo) bank and get a deposit in.

Happy holidays to all of you, and happy trails/roads to Garth!

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Yes, it’s true. I’m sad to report that we will be raising our prices January 1, 2012.

Standard titanium frames will be $2800

SL titanium frames will be $3200

Steel frames will be $1800

The good news is if you order your bike before the end of the year, you’ll get the current price, even if you take delivery of the bike in 2012. So get on it, once that cartoon calendar page tears off and floats away in the breeze, the new prices will take effect (no New Year’s hangover amnesty, sorry).

The other good news is the world is scheduled to end in 2012 anyway, so you may as well ride into the sunset in style. You can’t take it with you, may as well spend it with us!

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As promised, here is the bottom bracketal cousin to Peter’s fat head mountain bike, Mark’s big-bottomed PF30 roadie, also bound for Australia (what’s going on down there lately?)

Imposing! Especially compared to this puny head tube, that can barely contain a Vienna-sausage of a fork steerer:

And I won’t even comment on this horribly undersized brake bridge, shown here magnified 100x (and upside down, unless you’re viewing it from Australia).

That’s it for now, I think I need to clean up that work bench, that’s just embarrassing.

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Hari your email box is full and our messages to you are bouncing, please mail back with another address or fix the existing one.

That’s all folks, nothing else to see here!

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As the steamy greenery turns to cool orangery, and the not-snow eventually turns to snow (from what I hear), the gentle slap of mother nature can be felt everywhere here in North Carolina. The hypnotic drone of tree frogs and cicadas has given way to a crisp silence punctuated with occasional shotgun salvos and roaring chain saws. Unlike our old home in California, where the seasons are only marked by variations in fog density and tourist traffic, fall in NC has made its presence known.

In celebration of this transition, Matt F. from New York has chosen this lovely summer green-fall orange-winter white paint scheme for his SL road frame and Enve 1.0 fork.

A little bit of bare titanium was left as a nod to the California fog. Nice touch, Matt!

Ok, I made that all up, sorry Matt. I just wanted to show everyone your cool bike…

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If you need an excuse to replace your collection of normal, functioning bottom brackets, cranks, headsets and forks, we have good news!

We’ve been offering the new-ish, jumbo-sized (known as ‘Australian Standard’ around here) 44mm headtubes and PF30 bottom brackets for a while, but never when there was a camera in the room. So here you go:

And that’s a 1.5″ down tube that thing’s welded to.

In context, though, not so odd looking:

Too bad the BB is so puny. But, there’ll be some PF30 action that I’ll post next week.

In other news, a big neatening-up yielded a few treasures recently. There is one 54cm crossmuter frame left (the last one probably ever), on UberSale for $950. There are also a few short sleeve jerseys, just check the store to see if your size is available. Also note these things run a bit small (or I’m running fat), either way when in doubt order one size up from normal.

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It’s nice to see that people are out enjoying their bikes – with all our efforts lately going toward getting the new digs set up, I forgot that there was a world out there where people actually ride these things.

This is Petros and his imposing head tube at the top of the Rockstore climb on Mulholland.

And man-beast John S. of the great state of Los Osos sent this in from a trip to Oak Ridge, the one in Oregon, not the one with the nuclear lab (I think, although I’m not positive, those are some unnatural looking wildflowers in the foreground).

And this is what they look like from my point of view – Udo’s new crosser, bound for Germany:

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