Caletti Cycles

Bike review

2012-01-27T14:23:00.000-08:00

I just got a great note from Nathan about riding his new mountain frame I built for him recently. I wanted to post it up because he describes some of the benefits of a bike that is built with the rider in mind - balanced and tuned so that it's right there working brilliantly for the rider.

Hi John,

I got my first ride in yesterday and wanted to share my first impressions.

The best way I can sum it up is that the bike just feels right. I really can’t think of higher praise than that. There was no fussing, no fidgeting. I made zero adjustments during the ride. It’s like I’ve had the bike for years and got all the kinks of body positioning worked out. While that’s the whole point of a made-to-fit bike, I still think it’s an amazing thing given all I did was provide numbers and some vague descriptions of what I wanted. You absolutely nailed it right out of the gate. In terms of handling, the steering response is smooth, but quick and knife-like without being “twitchy”. Point it, and the bike definitely wants to go there. That’s what we were aiming for, and that’s what it does. Coming out of corners, it also wants to accelerate in a hurry. More than once it crossed my mind that I might want to start running a harder gear combo to take advantage of this. Another thing that struck me was when I was climbing out of the saddle. On my old singlespeed, I had to do this semiconscious dance around a narrow balance point, moving my body fore and aft to keep the rear tire from breaking loose, while also preventing the front end from wandering around. Not sure if I’ve articulated that well, but I hope you know what I mean. On the frame you built, that balance point is either bigger, or by nature of the frame design, I was already properly positioned within it. Regardless of the reason, I didn’t seem to have to think about where my body was while climbing. The rear tire was without a doubt breaking loose less often, and the front end stayed down. Sweet. Lastly, Spectrum did a phenomenal job on the paint. It looks really sharp.

Overall, I’m extremely happy with the end result. Congratulations on producing a beautiful, well-crafted bike! Many thanks as well for listening when needed, and guiding when necessary on the design process. I’m going to have a lot of fun for a long time.

-Nathan

Recent fabrication

2012-01-21T14:05:00.001-08:00

Here's a shot of Arsenio's cyclocross frame.

And some of Steve's belt drive compatible 29er.

Tacked in the fixture then checked on the surface plate

And the fork

The flux will get cleaned off and crown race machined down

Big legs and cool dropouts.

Interview with BikeRumor.com

2012-01-18T17:06:00.001-08:00

Bikerumor.com is doing a run-up to NAHBS (North American Handmade Bicycle Show) with interviews of framebuilders.
Here's a link to the interview I did with them. It's a series with a couple others before and more to come!

video

2012-01-17T10:26:00.000-08:00

Our ride this past Saturday.
I love my cross bike! :)

Big Basin Jan 2012 from John Caletti / Caletti Cycles on Vimeo.

Neal's road frame

2012-01-05T14:57:00.000-08:00

Mark at Spectrum did an amazing job painting this frame. Neal had a painting for inspiration and this finish is a great tribute to the original artwork. I hope he enjoys the ride as much as the stunning look.

Nathan's 26" one speed mtb

2012-01-05T14:53:00.000-08:00

Video: New Year's dirt road ride

2012-01-04T14:51:00.000-08:00

Here's a video of our New Year's Eve ride with the Steel Wul Cycling Club. Nice long mixed route of dirt and pavement on some beautiful back roads with a great group of people - it doesn't get much better than that. Hope you enjoy it.

Steel Wul Rides San Benito Backroads from John Caletti / Caletti Cycles on Vimeo.

Lilliana's roadster

2012-01-02T18:59:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year

2012-01-02T18:35:00.000-08:00

I don't have a New Year's resolution to ride more. I've had a year packed full of epic rides and am very thankful. I look forward to the adventures of the coming year. Pretty soon I'll post a short video of our New Year's Eve ride.
I hope you've had a great year and a fun holiday! Here's to a year of fun on two wheels!

Perhaps in the New Year I'll get another vice!

Cory's road frame off to Park City, Utah

2011-12-30T11:19:00.000-08:00

video: dark side of the lens

2011-12-09T11:57:00.000-08:00

This is not about cycling, but I find it resonates with me, might resonate with you.
Natural beauty, wonder, adventure, following your passion out there. We do it on the roads and trails, these guys do it in the ocean.
Enjoy.

DARK SIDE OF THE LENS from Astray Films on Vimeo.

Cory's road frame

2011-12-08T11:56:00.001-08:00

Ready for powder coat...

Cargo bike

2011-12-07T11:49:00.000-08:00

Working on the full size technical drawing of Eric's "Long John Silver" front loading cargo bike. B I G paper filling the workbench. It will have a 20" long bed up front and low for big loads.

Totally Tubular

2011-12-06T09:41:00.000-08:00

Mentioned here before... a local Santa Cruzan, Lauren Junker makes Totally Tubular products from bike tires, tubes, etc. (If you are after some gifts this holiday, this is a good source.

LABOR OF LOVE • Totally Tubular Design from Keith Wells on Vimeo.

Nathan's one speed

2011-12-05T11:27:00.001-08:00

Last week I finished up fabrication of Nathan's one speed mountain bike with 26"wheels. It's got the awesome slider dropouts with modular/replaceable dropout inserts.

Head tube, seat tube, BB prepped and in fixture - setting up the fixture.

Front triangle cleaned, prepped, tack welded. Next alignment checks before, during and after welding in sequence.

Front triangle complete, chainstays and dropouts prepped and joined.

Final alignment checks after seat stays are on.

Who made it?

2011-12-02T08:46:00.001-08:00

If you've been following the blog, you know I'm a big fan of Paragon Machine Works, and use a lot of their excellent parts on my frames. Here's a short video of Mark and Paragon, their busy making us frame parts!

Monster 'Cross bike for sale

2011-11-30T16:27:00.001-08:00

I have a lightly used monster cross frame for sale, built up with a new fork and parts. It would be good for someone in the neighborhood of 5'10", 5'11". It's got oversize tubes and some upgrades including a special panel finish, 3rd water bottle mount, rack and fender mount points, and room for big tires (29x2.1 front, about 45mm rear.) It retails for $4426, I'm selling it for $3725 ($700 off). It has a SRAM Force group with Avid BB-5 disc brakes, NoTubes Comp tubeless wheelset, King headset, Deda bar, stem, seatpost, Selle Italia saddle. Please contact me with questions or to arrange purchase. (john ( at ) caletticycles.com or 831-426-0575
Thanks!

Coast tour bike ride video

2011-11-28T11:26:00.001-08:00

Here's a short video I put together from our Thanksgiving trip. We rode our bikes down to LA for the holiday and took the train back up. It was a great trip with lots of miles and nice fall weather.
Mon: Salinas train station > down the coast to Gorda, Big Sur : 90 miles
Tues: Big Sur to San Luis Obispo via 1/Los Ossos Valley Rd/Turri Rd, Los Ossos Valley Rd : 78 miles
Wed: Big push from San Luis Obispo to Santa Barbara on hwy 1 : 115 miles
Thurs: Santa Barbara to West LA : 95 miles
Sat: across town to the train station and Amtrak back up.

Untitled from John Caletti / Caletti Cycles on Vimeo.

Black Friday, Shop Small Business Saturday....

2011-11-28T11:00:00.001-08:00

Hey, hope everyone had a great holiday and got a good pedal session in.
We had an epic - more on that in the next post.

How cool there is now a "Shop Small Business Saturday" thing going rather than just the Black Friday mayhem. Seems like the smaller businesses are more transparent and accountable to their community, which is good for us all.

I'm a big Patagonia fan, and look to them for inspiration in how to do good things as you do business.
They ran a full page ad in the NY Times on Black Friday with a big bold "Don't Buy This Jacket" with a picture of one of their fleece jackets and the explanation of the waste and consumption in it's making and transport. They urge their customers to only buy what they need, use it a long time, then recycle it or pass it on (both options they have programs for). As a producer they want to produce goods that are long lasting in design, materials, construction, as well as being concerned with materials sourcing and recycling after the product has been through its useful life. I try to do this with the bikes I make. The bike industry at large is going crazy for carbon fiber these days. It's got a load of petro-chemicals in it, and there is currently very little recycling done - most ends in the landfill. Also, carbon bikes don't have a stellar track record for durability - they probably have shown to be less durable than other material options. I don't use carbon mainly for these reasons. Steel is probably the least energy intensive raw material to extract, refine and produce bike tubing with. It's also repairable, durable, and easily recyclable. Around here I can put a steel tube in our curbside recycling pickup along with the other metal recyclables. I also am not too interested in aluminum. The ride quality isn't great, and the tubing that makes a light frame is not going to last the long haul. There is also greater energy costs in processing and heat treating. I am beginning to work with Titanium - it rides great, doesn't need paint/powder coat, is fully recyclable, and has excellent durability. Another thing I'm working on is sourcing more US made stainless steel small parts (like cable guides, water bottle bosses). This will help with the durability of the frame and it's finish, as sweat dripping on the frame can collect in the nooks and edges where the coat is thin and likely to get damaged, leading to the start of corrosion or rust. Stainless parts are more resistant to this process, so the extra cost of the stainless parts here will pay back with a longer lasting finish and maybe frame.
Okay, enough words for today.
Here's a cool video of a tool recycler, re-conditioner and reseller.

There's No Place Like Here: Liberty Tool from Etsy on Vimeo.

Tour of Chico

2011-11-25T12:10:00.001-08:00

Last weekend Cory and I visited Jesse in Chico,CA. He took us on a great mixed route ride into town through the surrounding canyons on back roads, gravel roads and singletrack - stopping in town for bagels and chai.

The creek crossing was unrideable...

Giro d'Italia 2012 video

2011-11-17T08:00:00.000-08:00

Cool video Pete sent my way. Cory and I are starting to make plans for a trip to Italy next summer. We hope to visit family in Romania, friends in Italy, catch a couple stages of the Giro, eat some great food, and ride in the Dolomites!

Weekend wrap-up

2011-11-14T14:43:00.001-08:00

SF Bike Expo was this past weekend. I'm a bit worn out today. I had a nice ride in the woods on the one speed to clear my head and get my legs working after standing around at the expo (aside from a few laps on the pump track.)

My lovely wife Cory and my good friend James rode their bikes there from Santa Cruz. A nice 5.5 hour ride. Good work!

(Note: that is not me shredding the berm with the stylish red ensemble and matching bike.)

If you are following the blog, maybe you read the article on Campagnolo I posted. It touched on domestic manufacturing vs. outsourcing production to a factory in Taiwan or China where labor is much cheaper (along with lesser environmental regulations and worker protections.) This is something I often think about and being at the expo I was pondering this as I walked around checking out the various vendors. There are a lot of folks there who love bikes, I bet a bunch of people who would like to work in the bike industry, maybe making things, but we don't have many of those jobs, they get exported. Too bad.
On the other hand, I got to catch up with Mark and Donna at Paragon Machine Works. I love those guys! They produce some of the best parts for making the best frames. Dropouts of various types, BBs, cable stops, brake mounts and more. They make them with their crew right across the bay in Richmond, CA at their machine shop. What a combo: super great people, innovative, high quality, smartly designed parts for custom frames, and made in the USA by people who love bikes and their jobs. I'm using more and more Paragon parts on the frames I make. Mark even brought me some special parts I had requested so I could try them out. Awesome!

Some of the fine parts from Paragon Machine Works

I also saw Lauren and Scott of Totally Tubular Designs, from Santa Cruz. I brought them some used up cross tires for use in making their cool bags from bike trash! Good stuff.

I also talked to the guys from Cedar Cycling - they are producing wool blend jerseys and other bike clothes in Oakland, CA. Looks like good stuff.

I didn't have much of a chance to poke around too much, but looks like there were some more local clothing companies as well.

Outside the kids were getting crazy on the dirt jumps, and riding fixed gear freestyle bikes doing tricks on the smaller jumps. Amazing stuff.

Campagnolo article

2011-11-11T10:31:00.001-08:00

Bicycling Magazine has a GREAT article on Campagnolo, and really about manufacturing, business, outsourcing and culture. It's long and well worth a read.

"What if there was a company that didn't want to take over the world? What if there was a company that just wanted to make the best products it could possibly invent, and be satisfied with a little profit at the end of the day? The company wouldn't betray its customers. It would be beholden to no craven shareholders or institutional investors. Perhaps most critically, the company would learn from history, value its institutional memory, and cultivate creativity on the factory floor. That is Campagnolo and the knowledge."

Check it out here: http://m.bicycling.com/news/featured-stories/italian-job?page=0,0

Ride Report

2011-11-07T12:25:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning Cory and I met the boys at the Verve Coffee for an epic ride. It was grey and cold, we rolled out just after 8 and started our climb up into Bonny Doon. Our first dirt section was through the fire roads behind the University to connect with a long paved climb up Empire Grade.

Down on dirt, lots of leaves and water bars with some rough rocks strewn about for good measure.

Dipping down into Big Basin was cold, so we stopped for some hot chocolate. We lost a member of the ride, the roadie without enough clothes, a bit of hypothermia, and not much taste for dirt roads. We continued out into the woods on Gazos Creek "road" and out to the coast.

"Where does that dirt road go?" We had to explore a bit. It didn't connect, but we came across a cool pond tucked into the foothills with the ocean in the background.

Another hour and a half of the coast highway brought us back into town.

It's a good ride when the route has 10 fire gate crossings.

this week

2011-11-04T12:58:00.000-07:00

This week...
- I got to see the humpback whales up close feeding not too far off shore while stand up paddleboarding.

(coincidentally, this pic was shot by the same great photographer who has done some great studio shots of my bikes)

- Made some parts for a local organic farmer for the bike powered corn grinder we put together last year, now the kids can try it to on the little low rider bike.

- Got some good fab work done on a couple road frames - one going to Australia, one for a US based Australian. Maybe Cadel winning Le Tour has been an inspiration.

- registered for the SF Bike Expo which is happening Nov 12, 13 with a bunch of fun stuff. (more info here)

SF Bike Expo 2011 Teaser from SF Bike Expo on Vimeo.

- It was announced that our home town, Santa Cruz, will be hosting a stage finish of the Tour of California!

Tomorrow: big ride with the Steel Wul boys out and through Big Basin Redwoods!

Have a great weekend!

Cycling in the Netherlands (Video)

2011-10-28T10:23:00.000-07:00

Unlike Austin Powers' father.... I love the Dutch!

Coming from the autocentric US, this is mind blowing.

Cycling For Everyone from Dutch Cycling Embassy on Vimeo.

Monster Cross

2011-10-14T07:00:00.000-07:00

Another Monster Cross is ready for action.
What's a "monster cross, " how is it different from a regular cyclocross bike?
Good question.
Where a regular cyclocross bike is a versatile machine that splits time on pavement and smoother dirt surfaces, a "monster cross" bike is a more off road oriented version of a cross bike. The main change is more tire clearance so you can run bigger tires, sometimes up to a 1.9"/2.1" 29er tire. The chainstays are a little longer to accomodate the tires and give a bit more stability, the bottom bracket is a little higher for more ground and log clearance, and sometimes people get them with rack and fender mounts or disc brakes. Since I design each one for the rider, it can be set up many ways based on your desired use.

29ers

2011-10-13T16:05:00.000-07:00

Bound for Bikeway, Israel

Pedalfest - Oct 22, Oakland, CA

2011-10-12T15:21:00.000-07:00

I'll be at Pedalfest Oct 22.

Free
Handmade bikes from Bay Area builders (including Caletti Cycles)
Beer Garden
Dirt Jumps
Whiskeydrome
Vendor exhibits
Trials demo
Vintage bike show
Live music (pedal powered)
Kids Zone
Ride the Ferry with your bike free from SF
more info: http://www.pedalfestjacklondon.com/about/

New blog format

2011-10-11T11:58:00.000-07:00

The blog has been updated to "dynamic view." It's a new layout and view of the blog, seems like a better reading/viewing experience to me. If you are following the blog with Google Reader, try clicking it and going straight to the real deal and see what you think.
Thanks,
John

Chris's 29er

2011-10-11T11:55:00.000-07:00

Chris's 29er. Cross country hardtail with 100mm travel Fox fork, XTR drivetrain, Magura MT6 brakes, NoTubes tubeless wheelset and Ritchey stem, post and bar. Ready for twisty singletrack. The large head tube with Chris King I7 headset accomodates the tapered steerer fork - a great options on 29ers.

2011-09-30T11:08:00.000-07:00

This week I finished off 2 one speed 29ers and a segmented style fork for Bikeway in Israel! The frames are off to powder coat.

Also got some stuff back, including forks! Monster cross disc brake forks and a 29er fork, in various cool colors. They all happen to be segmented style crown forks. They fit big tires and each has different blades for different sizes and uses.

Cory and I are headed up to Santa Rosa this afternoon for the Gran Fondo!

Have a great weekend.

Levi's Gran Fondo and handmade bike exhibit

2011-09-22T08:39:00.000-07:00

Cory and I will be headed up to Santa Rosa for an exhibit of handmade bicycles on Friday September 30, 5-9 PM. Then riding with our building buddies and 2000 other cool people on bikes in Levi's Gran Fondo. It's a great ride, very well supported, and amazing to see so many people on bikes in one spot.
If you are in the area, come check it out.

bike show: http://www.granlafonda.com/
the ride Levi Leipheimer is leading for you: http://www.levisgranfondo.com/

Cyclocross race season

2011-09-15T13:44:00.000-07:00

It's on.
The cross racing has already begun.
If you are in Northern CA, check out http://ncnca.org/event/2011/09/15/month/all/4/
for a race calendar and links to the different series. Come out and race or yell at racers.

Steel Wul style

2011-09-12T09:09:00.000-07:00

We rode with the Steel Wul crew this weekend on the annual "Cobble Classic," one of the best rides of the year. Great roads, great dirt, great food, great people. 90 miles up and into the redwood forests on narrow winding roads and dirt, and out to the coast on a long smooth dirt descent, then back to town on the coast highway.

New tools

2011-09-10T06:23:00.001-07:00

Made some more / new heat sinks this week.

Tim's monster cross in the raw

2011-09-01T11:03:00.000-07:00

A few images of Tim's monster cross ready for powder coat.
His bike has clearance for large tires, extra bottle mount, rack mounts, fender mounts, and uses oversize tubing for a responsive and robust frame.

Low mount disc brake with threaded eyelets on the back of the dropout for rack/fenders. The dropout has a replaceable aluminum der. hanger (not pictured)

3rd bottle mount under the down tube and routing for cable disc brake. The holes in the bb shell are for mounting a front der cable guide and a drain hole to allow any water sprayed off the bike tire, onto the seat post, down the seat tube, to exit the frame.

S-bend stays - hot!

Brad's dirt road explorer

2011-08-23T08:19:00.001-07:00

Steel Wul team edition
clearance for wide tires
disc brakes
rear rack ready

Postcards from the road

2011-08-18T12:15:00.001-07:00

Jesse sent this one in from the canyon trails above Chico,CA

Norris's travel road bike

2011-08-16T11:10:00.000-07:00

S&S Machine couplers allow the bike to be taken apart in two for packing into a small case for travel.

Campagnolo Record group, HED wheels, Enve carbon fork and Ritchey stem painted to match the frame.

weekend ride

2011-08-15T09:20:00.000-07:00

Cory and I in front of an old blacksmith shop in Pescadero on this weekends Steel Wul club ride - a beautiful summer day for 90+ miles with friends!

"PROFESSIONal"

2011-07-29T07:00:00.000-07:00

Great short documentary on a 3rd generation metal worker. Made me appreciate the things my dad has taught me, and that I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing without his influence.

(note: click 4 arrow icon to go full screen!)

PROFESSIONal from VITA BREVIS FILMS on Vimeo.

Becky's 'cross bike

2011-07-28T10:31:00.000-07:00

design

2011-07-25T10:04:00.000-07:00

New Music

2011-07-21T11:14:00.000-07:00

You may have seen this video we put together a while back.

My friend John Borgman did the original music for it, as well as a bunch of editing. He lives down the road in Capitola, makes a mean mocha, and kills it on the bass!

I've been enjoying his new new music project, just released and available on iTunes.

Check them out at: http://www.cibolaroad.com/cibola_extras.html

Titanium bar/stem

2011-07-20T14:52:00.000-07:00

I made this combo handlebar and stem for Mark's 29er. Titanium with bend and sweep, a touch over 300 grams. It's a nice clean look to the front end of the bike, less bolts and parts.

Mark F.'s Arctic White 29er

2011-07-20T14:45:00.000-07:00

It's tough to get pics of white bikes on white backgrounds... Here's my shot at it. Had a little fun with the 3rd pic in iPhoto...
Mark opted for a large head tube to accomodate a Fox fork with tapered steerer and a King headset (Inset style top and external bearing lower), as well as a PF30 BB.

Steel Wul Team bike #1

2011-07-07T12:21:00.000-07:00

Roadster for "The Gren" of the Steel Wul Cycling Club.

The Costs of Gas

2011-06-24T08:34:00.000-07:00

But, you already know the many joys and benefits of the alternative...

Drop bar 29er for Luis in Spain

2011-06-23T12:02:00.000-07:00

Insane finish by J.T. at Spectrum Powder Works, using vector art supplied by Luis and his artist.

He also went for a custom Titanium stem with removable faceplate. A new product for me.

update

2011-06-16T12:24:00.000-07:00

Although I've been posting mainly rides lately, I've been busy in the workshop as well.
Soon I'll have some frames arriving back from finishing, including a very special one going to Spain.

Just out the door was Norris's road bike, equipped for travel with S&S couplers. It will be a spectacular bike, I'll be sure to post pics when I get it back and all built up with a Record group and HED wheels!

Happy Birthday HardCore!

2011-06-16T12:15:00.000-07:00

Tuesday was my wife Cory's birthday. What does Cory want most for her birthday? A long road ride of course! So, we took the day off and did the Carmel Valley loop with our good friend Jesse. The ride starts right next to the Sea Otter Classic venue, just outside of Monterrey. We rolled out at 9:30 under clear skies and perfect mild temperatures. The first couple hours took us along the western side of the Salinas Valley. Fast and flat spinning along River Road amidst fields of green and the Santa Lucia Mountain range on our right and views of Pinnacles National Monument off in the hills to our left. At the south end of the bigger hills we turned in and followed the river valley up into the hills. The roads were quiet, the wind calm, the sun getting hotter, and the landscape changing into a beautiful hidden desert landscape. After rolling up the false flats for quite a while the climb began in earnest. The miles, temperature and gradient were putting the hurt on, and by the time I reached the top my bottles were empty and my legs were heavy. The descent into the small tree lined river canyon was a welcome relief to the heat, and coasting along at speed was great, especially as we wanted to make it to the store to get some water ASAP! The store eluded us for quite a while, but we finally rolled into a small coffee house in Carmel Valley for cold Cokes and Pelegrino water! They've never tasted so good. Back on the bikes for the last difficult push over Laureles Grade to get back to the car, then a lunch on an outdoor patio in Carmel Valley. Perfect end to a great ride. Happy Birthday to the love of my life, the most passionate cyclist I know, Cory Caletti. Your strength and endurance is an inspiration.

If you have an opportunity, I really suggest riding this route, it's quite special!

You can find the route here:
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/37784804

Suffer Fest ride

2011-05-31T09:39:00.000-07:00

Saturday was our friend Jeff's "Suffer Fest part Deux" ride, one of the longest and hardest rides I've done, definately deserving of the name.

We rolled from his guitar workshop at 8:20 AM, probably 50 of us, most on road bikes, some on cross bikes, headed North on coast route 1.

The group kept the lid on during our first leg on 1. After about 1.5 hours we made the turn onto a beautiful smooth dirt fire road that climbed up into the redwoods of Big Basin Park.

Our version of Strade Bianche - climbing in the Chalk Mountains

Cory set a hard pace right away, feeling that second cup of coffee pulsing through her veins, but thankfully reeled in the pace, as we had a FULL day ahead of us. We met up with Jamie at the old airfield and rode up to the top together.

Cory went down hard in a huge pothole during our descent of China Grade. "I'm fine, not too bad, I'll keep going...." she said as we inspected her cuts and cracked helmet. So she soldiered on and we made our way across 236 to the junction where we regrouped. We had lost a bunch of people at the first dirt turn off, a few more headed back down the road to town, and our remaining crew descended a couple miles to the next section of dirt for a singletrack climb.

At the junction: L-R - me, long time mechanic Craig, Paul Sadoff of Rock Lobster, Jeff our ride leader, and Rick Hunter of Hunter Cycles. Todd of Black Cat was with us earlier as well.

View from the trail.

Small group of us climbing up the old toll road singletrack - smooth and quiet in the woods.

Another regroup at the top of the mountain for refueling. Mr. Mustards hot dog stand was a hit with the hungry riders, I stuck to my Peanut butter and Nutella sandwich.

We were now 5+ hours deep into the ride with 2 long dirt climbs in our legs, so another handful of riders called it a day and headed back into town down highway 9.

The rest of the group descended the other side down to the reservoir and onto the Monte Bello climb - a long and fairly steep grade that tops out in the dirt with a 360 degree view.

Yes, the clouds are moving in...

We descended off the mountain on a smooth and rolling singletrack for a couple miles to get back on the pavement. The rolling dips in the trail were fun to jump!
A big and crazy fast descent down West Alpine brought us to the base of our last short climb up Haskins Hill.

A last stop at the funky Loma Mar store for a Dr. Pepper and peanut butter cups to power home. We hit the road as the rain started to fall, it was about 5:30 PM. It rained for the rest of our 2 hour ride home.

As we all got soaked through every layer, soggy shoes and foggy glasses, everyone was hurting and cold. We had hoped for the usual strong tail wind to blow us back into town, but there was no wind today. It was definately a slog getting those last miles done, but the burritos and horchata and cookies and beer back at Jeff's shop pulled us in (along with needing to get out of the wet clothes.)

It was a really amazing ride with superb dirt, beautiful views and good company. All told we rode about 130 miles, 10 hours riding time and over 10000 feet of climbing. Maybe next year Jeff will go a little easier on us.

Peloton Magazine

2011-05-26T09:30:00.000-07:00

The current issue of Peloton Magazine has a short article covering some builders who were at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, including myself.
If you haven't seen the magazine, it's quite good. I just picked up a subscription.

> Peloton Magazine website

Super Commuter

2011-05-20T12:03:00.001-07:00

I received an e mail update from a customer who just rode the Strawberry Fields century in the farmlands and hills just south of here.

I built him a bike for a rohloff internally geared hub and clearance for large tires for use on his commute and training in winter weather.

He reports:
"I never thought that when I was getting you to build a very nice
errand/trailer bike that I would one day ride it in a century. That's a
measure of how well it turned out!"

Last call for orders on Caletti Cycles kits

2011-05-19T18:11:00.001-07:00

If you'd like to get some Caletti Cycling clothing you have a couple days left to order (May 22 is the last day!)

Order at
https://custom.voler.com/Custom_Ordering/?OrderID=O6h0bAu72uw=

Shorts, bibs, short and long sleeved jerseys, women's and men's cuts, wind vests, wind jackets, thermal vests, thermal jackets, arm warmers

More details at
http://caletticycles.blogspot.com/2011/04/caletti-cycles-cycling-clothing-taking.html?m=1

Cool videos

2011-05-16T09:43:00.000-07:00

There are some cool videos about the Rapha Continental ride at: http://www.droptree.com/
Here's one below, find more at the link.
Reminded me of the Steel Wul Yosemite ride we did a couple weeks ago.

2011 Tour of California — Stage 2 from RAPHA on Vimeo.

Yosemite ride

2011-05-12T10:34:00.000-07:00

We recently did an epic ride with the Steel Wul crew to Yosemite. Door to door 240 miles in 2 long days. It was an epic ride for sure, lots of great roads, perfect springtime weather, and basically traversing the state from the sea to the mountains under our own power.

Day 1 we rolled from Santa Cruz about 8 AM, over the hill and across San Jose to Mount Hamilton. Big climb up to the top where there is an amazing view of the valley and out to the coast, even Monterrey.

Topped out and had some food before the twisty speed run down the back side

(up above some of the telescopes)

The descent takes you down into some cool little canyons with wildflowers, small streams and ponds, rocks and scrub, then the valley flattens out and widens into a big green shallow valley up high, with broad views and rolling hills on the sides.
A stop for more fuel, then a long run down a slightly downhill river canyon road. Our crew of 9 kept a tight formation, rotating through winding down the canyon, keeping the speed up as the road flattened out into the central valley and the tail wind turned on to shoot our group out into the flats. A last push across the flat terrain of the valley took us to Turlock for showers, burritos, and a night of tossing and turning and restless legs.

Day 2: Turlock to Yosemite Valley
We rolled out easy on the flat roads of town and in just a short bit were out of town and into the agricultural lands east of Turlock. Our crew stayed in formation chatting and pedaling away a couple hours of flats to our first stop to load up on calories.
Soon the road began to roll as we met the foothills. It was quiet out there, very green, really amazing riding. After a few rollers we came into the bustling metropolis of Hornitos.

Into the foothills

Chris and Bill enjoying a perfect day on the bike. I just finished up Chris's new road frame before we left, it's at powdercoat now.

Top of the first real climb of the day, another narrow road with no cars. Bill and the Steel Wul support vehicle with water refills. Hard to read, but the sign says "Dolce Vita."

More climbing took us into the town of Mariposa where we joined Hwy 140. I was worried it would be busy with cars, but turned out to be no problem. After a short 15min of up the road turned and our crew brought the speed up as we big ringed it on the slight downgrade. When the road dropped into a proper descent Big Mike dumped some gears and dove down the hill. We gave chase, tucking in for the faster downgrade, serpentining down the canyon to meet the Merced River. At this point the road was a very mellow false flat for probably 20 miles. We rolled along in formation to El Portal where we got our last fuel up before the final ascent into the Valley. A stiff climb at mile 100 took me into the pain cave, but at least it didn't last long. Through the entrance gate and into the park.

Cory riding towards El Capitan

I don't think there could be a much more epic finish to a ride.

Chilling on the flat roads of the valley.

We spent the next day walking around and chilling out in the Valley. What an epic ride. Thanks to Jake and the Steel Wul crew for sharing this great ride.

Annual giving back

2011-04-22T09:48:00.000-07:00

I just completed the annual giving through 1% For the Planet.

Caletti Cycles gave a bit over 1% of 2010 gross income. This year the money went to Bikes Belong and The Alliance For Climate Protection.

It's a way to give back, to offset some of the damage done by doing business. I do what I can to reduce my impact, but inevitably there is a cost to the earth with the resource extraction, electricity, and shipping.
Thanks to you, Caletti Cycles customers/riders for supporting a way of doing business that is more accountable.
In 2010, 1% For The Planet members contributed over $20 million towards environmental projects and programs.

Flowmaster

2011-04-18T12:12:00.000-07:00

A recent project has been the "flowmaster" park bike. Designed for the pump track, dirt jumps and dual slalom, it has a tight back end, compact height and dialed in front end for shredding the berms.
I had it out at the recent Santa Cruz Mountain Bike Festival where riders were testing it out on the pump track. This past weekend it was out at the Sea Otter, being piloted down the Cat. 1 Dual Slalom course by Jesse.
The tubing is more robust than what I'd use on an XC bike to take the added loads of the hard riding of the jumps and maybe a few diggers. A lot of bikes in this category use basic 4130 cro-mo throughout, but on this bike we have tapered and butted s-bend stays and Supertherm butted, alloyed, heat treated tubing in the front end. The dropouts allow for adjustment of chainstay length, as well as the ability to run the bike as a one speed or geared, with a 12mm through axle (as set up) or a standard 10mm QR axle.
The head tube accomodates a Chris King headset that supports a tapered steerer Fox 831 fork with a QR15 axle. The frame also has ISCG tabs for a chain guide system if running gears in the back.
I did a new finish design, a vector inspired panel, that is on the down tube and the chainstay.
The bars, stem and wheelset are Easton Havoc - very nice stuff. Seatpost and pedals are from Easton as well. The brakes are Magura Marta with 180 front rotor, featuring their new Storm SL rotors.

Saint crankset with 1/2 link chain

Magura Marta brake lever- nice!

Easton Havoc 50mm stem and wide riser bar

Matching Easton Havoc orange rear hub, also, Magura Storm SL rotor, one speed setup and the threaded end of the Maxle 12mm through axle

Caletti Cycles cycling clothing-taking orders

2011-04-08T14:28:00.000-07:00

We're happy everyone has liked the kits. We've been getting requests for more, so we're putting together another order for this year.

If you are interested, order online at:

https://custom.voler.com/Custom_Ordering/?OrderID=O6h0bAu72uw=

You will need to create an account to create and pay for your order.

Order now through May 22, 2011. Delivery is mid/late July. You can pick up if you are local, or I'll ship it to you if you are out of the area.

Kits are produced by Voler here in California.

Women's and Men's sizing, full zip on all tops.

Pricing:

short sleeve and sleeveless jerseys $89

long sleeve insulated jerseys $94

sublimated armwarmers $38

wind vest $82

wind jacket $90

thermal vest (windstopper, insulation) $109

thermal jacket $125

shorts $86

bib shorts $90

(+ $5 to upgrade the pad on bibs/shorts)

If you have questions, let me know.

Thanks!

John 831-426-0575 or john@caletticycles.com

Curtis's road frameset

2011-04-05T08:57:00.000-07:00

Leaving today for Florida is Curtis's new road frame and fork.

Finished in "Deep Sea Cobalt" with a pearl clear coat and outline lettering.

Update

2011-03-29T08:47:00.000-07:00

Last week our local club, MBOSC hosted the IMBA trail care crew.

I went to a couple of presentations, learned more about advocacy, sustainable trails, trailbuilding, and even got out on the trails in Wilder to put it into practice. We've been hammered with rain, so it was really wet out there, and cool to see the water drain off the trail through the new features we added.

After digging on Saturday, I went riding on the sandy and amazingly well draining trails that will be used for the Sea Otter cross country race in a few weeks. Super fun.

Greg's cross frame and fork came back from powder and Mandy's 29er belt drive travel bike went out.

weekend wrap-up

2011-03-22T10:44:00.000-07:00

We had a good time in San Francisco at A Ruota Libera, the bikes, pizza, music, people were great.
The place was packed, lots of people came and enjoyed.

A big thanks to Sean at Soulcraft and Anthony at Una Pizza Napoletana for putting this thing together and hosting the event.

Here's a link to some pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/buffaloa/sets/72157626313169412/

Velociped Salon thread

2011-03-21T11:13:00.000-07:00

I'm currently involved in the "smoked out" thread on Velocipede Salon:

http://www.velocipedesalon.com/forum/f22/caletti-cycles-20577.html

It's a conversation, so take a look and join in.

Thanks,
John

SF show March 20

2011-03-08T16:37:00.000-08:00

This is a great chance to see some great bikes from Northern California builders, AND have some great pizza, see a cool video, and a great band. Hope you can make it!

Press release below.

Date: March 20 2011 (1-7PM, even though the poster says 3-7....)

Location: Una Pizza Napoletana 210 11th St and Howard St. San Francisco, CA 94103

The greater San Francisco Bay area is home to numerous world-renowned bicycle frame builders. On March 20th many of them will converge at Una Pizza Napoletana in San Francisco for 'A Ruota Libera', a bicycle and pizza show designed to showcase and celebrate the rich culture and history of frame building that exists right here in our own backyard.

Anthony Mangieri, owner and pizzaiolo of Una Pizza Napoletana, is an avid mountain biker and owner of several custom made bicycles. For Mangieri, the event represents an opportunity to invite fellow craftsmen, who share his appreciation for detail, into his own 'workshop' where he will happily churn out his signature Neapolitan pizzas for the show.

Sean Walling, owner and frame builder behind Soulcraft Cycles, immediately saw the value of bringing local builders together for the show and partnered with Mangieri to bring A Ruota Libera to life. "The frame building talent we have within a 50 mile radius is an embarrassment of riches," says Walling, “and Anthony has the same obsessive approach to pizza that we have to bikes, so why not get together and give the locals the opportunity to experience this all in one place."

Walling and Mangieri both agree that A Ruota Libera will be a great venue for all, whether frame builder or fan, to appreciate what results from years working toward mastering a craft.

A Ruota Libera will also showcase a live musical performance by the internationally praised duo, The Mattson 2 and a screening of 'FROM STEEL': The Making of a Soulcraft' by director Michael John Evans.

The name “A Ruota Libera” is Italian for “Freewheel.”

Moretti Beer and Mr. Espresso coffee will also be available.
Admission to the event is $10 (includes pizza)
Free on site bike parking will be provided.
Tickets are available at the door the day of the show.
Doors open at 1pm and close at 7pm.
www.unapizza.com
www.soulcraftbikes.com

Check out this video on Anthony making pizza:

NATURALLY RISEN from michael evans on Vimeo.

I'm back in Santa Cruz

2011-03-07T10:45:00.000-08:00

After a long trip out to Texas and back for the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, Cory, Kaboo, and I are back.

After the seemingly endless drive though the desert, it's good to be home, resting up, recharging and getting back to the workbench.

Sleeping the miles away...

I'm catching up on e mails and phone calls, and it seems that the show has generated some additional interest in Caletti Cycles. Fantastic! Now is a good time to order. I'm looking at a lead time of about 3-5 months, so you can order now and have your bike in time for riding this summer.
As always, feel free to call me with questions or ideas for your next bike. (831-426-0575).

I'd like to thank John H. for letting us bring his slick new road bike out to the show. People really responded to the clean lines of the bike as well as the sharp finish wrapping the oversize lightweight steel tubes. His unique and stylish bar plugs were a hit as well.

At the show there is so much cool stuff to see it's easy for the details to get lost, so I'll fill you in on some of the particulars. On this bike John H. and I elected to use large diameter tubing in the frame to provide a solid platform for accelerations and to hold steady thorough corners. The bigger tubes resist twisting and flexing more than smaller tubes do, and with the modern heat-treated, high strength alloys of steel used, the weight is low, as the tubes are drawn quite thin. Most of the tubing on this bike is Columbus Life. The chainstays are a favorite of mine and I use them on most of the road bikes I build. They are a Columbus Life chainstay, with a long oversized section and short taper down to the dropout. The wall is thin for light weight, and the large diameter provides stiffness. The dropouts are machined at Paragon Machine Works, also located in Northern California. They are compact, lightweight, stiff hooded dropouts. They also feature a replaceable aluminum der. hanger. The head tube mounted der. cable stops are clean and simple. They forgo adjusters that can creep out of adjustment or stick too far out front where they can get damaged or encourage the cables to kink as the bars are turned hard. Another benefit of this mounting location is that the cable housing doesn't rub off the finish from the head tube, so the bike stays looking good longer. The head tube also features a laser cut stainless steel head badge, as on all my bikes. Another feature that you'll find on Caletti bikes is custom S-bend seatstays. I have made tooling to bend them in house so that I can get the right bend for the bike. Taller bikes require different bends than smaller bikes as well as bikes that need different amounts of tire clearance. The tooling puts a gentle, long radius curve in the stays, rather than a sharper more abrupt bend that some of the stock S-bend stays have. The finish on the bike is a multi-coat powder finish done in one of my "select colors" called "majestic polar bear" which is a white with gold pearl clear coat on top. The red panels are a new design I drew up. The idea is to modernize the classic panel style, to provide something that is both familiar and new, a simple and clean panel with more of a sense of motion and speed to it. If you look at the first pic of the bike from the side you can see that both panels follow the same outline, like a long triangle overlaid onto the frame.
You can see more pics of this bike on the website. http://caletticycles.com

Video from Road Bike Review:

The dirt road home

2011-02-28T18:03:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was the last day of NAHBS. It was a great event and I really enjoyed being there, seeing the great bikes, meeting new people and spending a little time with friends from all over who convene at NAHBS each year.
Today we are in Waco. Cory and I are beat. We got to ride with Ian from Bicycles Outback.
The ride took all day, covering over 100 miles, most of it on dirt and gravel roads. It was a great way to see the area and nice to get in a huge ride after being in a convention hall for 3 days and before being in a car for a few more.
We'll be back in Santa Cruz this weekend and I'll be in the workshop Monday morning!

NAHBS begins

2011-02-25T09:17:00.001-08:00

The booth is setup and the show has begun. I walked around briefly this morning before start time and got to see a bit of the many amazing things here.

Fueling up

2011-02-24T11:19:00.001-08:00

We're at Mellow Johnny's bike shop acquiring a route, water and bottle and some killer cappuccinos while we wait out the rain.
Amazing bike shop and cafe.
Alright, let's ride.

Location:W 4th St,Austin,United States

Traveling to Texas

2011-02-24T07:58:00.001-08:00

After some bike riding Sunday morning with the "Steel Wul" crew Cory, Kaboo and I packed up and started our trip to Texas.

We drove to LA that afternoon.

Sunset as we got back out to the coast just North of Santa Barbara.

Monday we left the LA basin and entered the desert on hwy 10 to Tempe AZ.

More desert highway with surrounding mountains.

End of the daylight.

Cory at the wheel and Kaboo watching the road go by.

The next day we left Arizona, drove through New Mexico and entered Texas, calling it a day at the small town of Sierra Blanca

Up early and on the road for the last stretch into Texas.

Man what a long drive!
We were so glad to get out of the car and get settled into our hotel.

We walked around Austin a bit and had a great dinner with some other builders.
It's now Thursday morning and we're headed out for a ride before we set up for the show this afternoon. It will be nice to get some riding in!

Location:E 4th St,Austin,United States

On the road to the North American Handmade Bicycle Show

2011-02-17T12:40:00.000-08:00

That's right, the NAHBS is only a week away!

I wanted to say that it's the "greatest show on earth," but even though there will be dudes with lots of tatoos...

... sadly there will be NO ELEPHANTS... so I guess we need a disclaimer...

It's the greatest bicycle show on earth! So, I hope some of you will be out there to see the bikes and meet the builders and bikers and all, or at least look for some pics and videos online.

Anyhow, it's been exciting getting prepped for the show and we'll have a fun trip.

This weekend we load up the rig and start our drive.

Road trip, Texas Style!

Actually, renting that car was not in the budget, so we're taking our VW Golf TDI with a pile of bikes. The good thing is, it gets great mileage and runs on Biodiesel! Do they have biodiesel in Texas?

Since we've got a car and our bikes, we'll have some time to stop in LA, Arizona and Texas and see the sights and do some riding.

The day after the show we'll be riding all day - a friend has invited us on his dirt road oddyssey that will range from 130-150 miles... I'm a little afraid - that's a lot of saddle time before sitting on that same bony butt for many hours of driving home afterwards. It will be good to get out and ride after being indoors for a few days.

After the show I'll post some pics of the bikes I'm bringing (townie, cyclocross, road, and 29er mtb). And hopefully we'll get a few images and info up on the blog and/or the Facebook page while we're out there.

Also, I'm picking up a run of organic cotton T shirts tomorrow to bring to the show, so let me know if you'd like to get one.

Love for and on 2 wheels

2011-02-14T11:32:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

I came across a fun article today on a couple who met at NAHBS in Portland and on other couples who enjoy a life and relationship on 2 wheels.

After having given up on the idea of being with someone who loved cycling as much as I do, I met Cory... who loved cycling even more than I do! It was 2000 and I was a bike mechanic at a shop that sponsored the road team Cory raced for. We hit it off pretty fast. I think our second date was a 3.5 hour road ride. She had to put me to the test and sprint for the summits on the climbs. Luckily I didn't get dropped and I made the cut. Well, it's 10 years later and we still ride together all the time, pushing each other, pulling each other, and having fun on 2 wheels.

She's been my number one support in my work as well, and as such, she's generously taken time off from work to join me on the trek out the Austin for NAHBS. We'll bring her new bike along, a fun townie in her favorite color. Thanks Cory! Happy Valentine's day, I hope you enjoy your new bike!

pre-NAHBS a.d.d. interview on BikeRumor

2011-02-12T17:02:00.000-08:00

I did a short interview with Bike Rumor, part of their series on builders attending the North American Handmade Bicycle Show.

Check it out:
http://www.bikerumor.com/2011/02/11/race-to-nahbs-adhd-interview-11-nahbs-related-questions-for-caletti-cycles/

The rest of Greg's bike

2011-02-03T10:46:00.001-08:00

CX fork fab

2011-01-27T10:50:00.000-08:00

I'm currently working on Greg's cyclocross fork and frame.
Here are a few shots of the unicrown fork during fabrication:

fork blades welded onto the steerer

fixturing the cantilever brake mounts

canti mounts tack welded on

then welded

After this the crown race is brazed on, then machined, then the fork get's it's final alignment.

Onto the frame:

compound miter up front - oversize tubes on a small head tube

front triangle welded up

The North American Handmade Bicycle Show

2011-01-24T11:37:00.000-08:00

I'll be exhibiting at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show again this year. This year the show will be in Austin, Texas, which will be a great spot.
I'll bring a road bike, cross bike, 29er and a sleek townie to the show. They are currently getting powder coated by Spectrum Powder Works, and I'm acquiring the parts to build them up.

Our plan is to take a little extra time on our way out and back so we can get some riding in and see some new places.

The show is a lot of fun, with much to see and do. I invite you to come check it out. You get to see a lot of beautiful bikes in many different styles that you just won't see anywhere else, as well as meet the builders who created them.

More info on the show is available at the show website: http://www.2011.handmadebicycleshow.com/

Official NAHBS Promotional Video from Justin Unger on Vimeo.

video- Soulcraft bikes

2011-01-21T10:32:00.000-08:00

Here's a new video about Sean Walling and Soulcraft bikes, based a bit north of here, in Petaluma, CA.
Sean's a great builder making some solid, sensible bikes. I really respect him and his style and this video was just fantastic, so I wanted to share it with you all.
Enjoy!

(it takes a couple minutes to load up, since it's good/hi resolution. Go full screen!)

FROM STEEL: The Making of a Soulcraft from michael evans on Vimeo.

Drew's town bike

2011-01-04T09:27:00.000-08:00

During a break in the weather, Drew got a great pic of his new bike on the wharf in front of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. His bike is tall, and strong, like him. Because things are in proportion it doesn't look as big as it really is. It's got 700 x wide city tires with reflective sidewalls, handbuilt tough wheels with an internally geared rear hub and disc brakes. Super oversize tubing and a big fork. He did a great job with the colors, the bike looks really sharp and balanced. Have fun Drew!

New Year will bring new pricing

2010-11-29T11:52:00.000-08:00

There will be a small price increase beginning January 1, 2011.
Frames will be $1550 (Custom road, cross, mountain. One speeds with Sliders will be more)
Unicrown forks $375
Cast/lugged crown steel road forks $425
Segmented crown forks $450

Any orders placed (deposits in) before January 1st will be at the current pricing.

Thanks!

Winter is here

2010-11-27T17:30:00.000-08:00

The weather around here is getting colder and wetter. We've had some fantastic rides between the rains, but they've been pretty chilly. We spent pretty much all Thanksgiving day out on the bikes on an epic ride up and into Big Basin State Park. The redwood trees there are huge, the park is big and beautiful, and a great spot for cross bikes. We rode almost 2 hours of pavement to get up there, then a couple hours on fire roads and trail through the park, passing big trees, small trees, sandstone, creeks, a waterfall, and finally got back on the pavement at the beach and rode another hour and a half back to town in the sun on the coast highway. Got back just in time to get cleaned up and on to dinner! Can't wait to get back out there.

I've been busy in the shop - lots of great projects. Drew's big town bike frame and fork are out to powdercoat along with Sam's CX frame and fork. I just finished up Jason's road frame before the holiday, and on Monday I'll get started on Will's belt drive compatible one speed 29er.

Other exciting stuff: new metal! I received a shipment from Italy with some new tubing. I'm especially stoked on the 29er down tubes, which I think are the best thing going - good length, butting, alloy, and wall thickness for a high performance bike.
Also, we started construction on a pump track in the yard - very early stages, but exciting none the less. I'll soon be building a bike for it. A dirt jump style bike we're calling "the Flowmaster."
Here's a design drawing below, let me know what you think.
Cheers,
John

Bill's road bike

2010-10-28T11:38:00.000-07:00

Tall road bike for Bill to ride the central coast. Comfortable, stable, fun.

SF Bike Expo - Nov. 6

2010-10-21T09:45:00.000-07:00

I'll be at the SF Bike Expo on Nov 6th with some bikes to display. Come by, say hello, check out the cool new 29er I'll be brining, along with some others, and see all the expo has to offer.

There will be stuff for sale, displays, events, etc. - such as:

Andrew Taylor's MTB Dirt Jump SHOWDOWN!!! (video link)

Pedal Savvy Fashion Show

Cross Palace Cyclocross Race

The Cycle Showdown : custom, vintage, low rider, fixies, and a DJ

Pedal Savvy group ride in SF

Pump Track!!!

Intersection BMX comp

Battle at the Palace - Fixed Gear competition

For more info visit http://www.sfbikeexpo.com/

Hope to see you there!

-John

the public on public land

2010-10-15T11:19:00.000-07:00

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pedaldriven/pedal-driven-a-bike-umentary

The link is to a trailer for an video documentary project - mountain bike access on public lands.

Levi Gran Fondo this weekend!

2010-10-06T15:32:00.000-07:00

Levi's King Ridge Gran Fondo is this Saturday in Santa Rosa. Cory and I will be there for the Handmade Bike thing, as well as riding them around in a big circle on Saturday. If you are in the area, come by and check it out.

more info at http://www.granlafonda.com/

http://www.levisgranfondo.com/

Caletti Cycles is a proud member of 1% For the Planet

2010-09-30T09:24:00.000-07:00

Here's a video about 1% for the Planet.
Caletti Cycles is a member, this is our first year as a member. At the end of the year I'll donate 1% of my annual sales to a number of groups working to preserve and protect the environment.

I'm very happy doing what I do. Not just the joy and reward I get from the welding, the machining, working with bikes and passionate cyclists; but I am happy to be operating a company in the most responsible way I can. I think of it as a cultural shift. Maybe a shift back, to an older, more local model of business, before we went multinational gigantocorp and moved production to countries with lesser worker and environmental protections.

I'll keep looking for ways to do business in such a way that it creates a better life for my customers, my family, my community, and our home planet.

Thanks for your support!
John

p.s. The video features Natalie of Sweet Pea Bicycles in Portland. The first framebuilder to be a member. I think I'm 3rd of 3, but the membership is growing!

[one percent] of the story from 1% for the Planet on Vimeo.

Scott's 29er one speed/1x10

2010-09-24T12:54:00.000-07:00

Scott's 29er : Slider dropouts for running a one speed drivetrain, or put a dropout insert in with a derailleur hanger and run a 1x10 setup.

What? Psyclocross season starts Sunday?

2010-09-13T12:22:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year - 'cross season! Racing starts Sunday around here. You can check out the NCNCA blog for a calendar of CX racing that goes through January!

Don't heckle, or you might get kicked in the nutz!

Jesse's 29er mountain bike

2010-09-10T11:29:00.000-07:00

Jesse rides again!
29er, 1x10 speed drivetrain, Fox 100mm fork, oversize tubing, S bend stays, curved SS bridge and brake brace, 2 tone powder coat (slightly off-white and "Luscious Blueberry").
Have fun!!

Aaron's cross bike

2010-09-03T14:07:00.000-07:00

Headed up to the Great White North to see daily use in all weather conditions, Aaron's bike has clearance for larger tires and fenders, rack/fender mounts, and disc brakes.

Kathi's road bike

2010-07-29T14:21:00.000-07:00

This is a very special bike. It was an honor to build this bike for friends. This one is headed to Kathi in Portland. The bike is a tribute to her brother, a very inspiring guy who I had the privilege to know and ride with.

Phuc's road frame with S&S Machine couplers

2010-07-23T12:05:00.000-07:00

Road frame finished in one of my "select colors" of "Luscious Blueberry" with custom color front end and bands, as well as the rider's team logo on the top tube.

Tim's drop bar monster cross and Sidney's sport tour road frame

2010-07-12T15:13:00.000-07:00

These pictures aren't so great. I took them in the sun so the sparkle in the clear would show up. They look quite different depending on the lighting.

top mount cables, rack/fender mounts

Tim requested a stout constant diameter fork for a disc brake and rack/fenders.

Low mount disc with rack/fender eyelets and replaceable der. hanger.

Black with heavy pearl clear, dark grey panels with orange lettering.

Sidney's road frame is also black, but with a different and more subtle pearl clear, and silver lettering.

Rear rack and fender ready.

S-bend seat stays and unicrown fork. This frame uses long reach caliper brakes for more tire clearance and has fittings to mount a rack and fenders.

Vacation

2010-07-09T11:28:00.000-07:00

We are back from a short vacation - a couple days in Markleeville riding road bikes and then 4 days of Downieville mountain biking. Lots of great climbing and descending in the mountains. This weekend there is the Death Ride in Marleeville, and the races in Downieville. I loved riding those spots and am quite content to not be at the big events, I liked the quiet roads and trails with friends. This weekend we'll ride out to Monterrey and back.

I just got a couple back from powdercoat and will be assembling one today. Pics will be up pretty soon.

Have a great summer weekend!

short interview

2010-06-21T10:22:00.001-07:00

The Pedal Pushers Blog posted a brief interview I did with him.
You can see it here: http://pedalpushersclub.com/blog/2010/06/16/interview-frame-builder-john-caletti/#more-83
Thanks for reading!

Original Scraperbikes in Oakland

2010-06-10T07:35:00.000-07:00

Scrapertown from California is a place. on Vimeo.

Finshing off Sidney's bike

2010-05-31T19:01:00.000-07:00

Sidney's frame and fork are now done and ready to go out to powdercoat. Here are some pics from along the way.

Seat stays custom formed into the "S-bend" shape and mitered.

Seat stays tack welded in the fixture. Then the frame comes out for welding the stays to the seat tube and dropouts.

welded up, ready for the brake bridge and braze-ons

bits cleaned and ready

bottle bosses fluxed and in place on the seat tube for silver brazing

after brazing and soaking off the flux - the rest of the tarnish comes off during media blasting before the powdercoat goes on.

now that the last bridge is in the frame gets another alignment check on the surface plate to make sure the back end is in line and properly spaced.

unicrown fork for long reach caliper brakes

drilling the brake mounting hole in the milling machine

the completed frame and fork - now to pack them up for their trip to Spectrum Powder Works to get some color.

Last call for Caletti Cycles cycling clothes

2010-05-19T18:30:00.000-07:00

If you'd like to order some of our new kit, follow the link for online ordering at Voler and order by May 23.
I'll ship your clothes to you as soon as we get them in late July.
I put up pics and pricing in a prior blog post, or call me if you have questions.

Here's the link:
https://oos.voler.com/?OrderID=71suTszPjfs

Thanks!
John

Amgen Tour of California comes to town

2010-05-19T18:26:00.000-07:00

We took yesterday off of work and rode up to Bonny Doon to check out the race as they went up the last major climb of the day.
We cut through the parks to ride up there, quiet and super fun.

It was so cool to see how fast those guys are and to see the sports greats on our home turf!

This was the main group, with Tom Boonen wearing the champion of Belgium colors.

Sidney's sport tour road bike build

2010-05-14T12:19:00.000-07:00

I'm currently working on a sport touring style road bike for Sidney. He asked for some pictures of the process so I thought I'd put them up here for everyone to take a look at. Feel free to post questions or comments. I'll add more pictures later as I continue the build.

After we talk and I do the design I have a blueprint for the bike with the dimensions and angles I need for fabrication. I have a box of tubes specifically for this bike, and start by pulling out the tubes and inspecting them.

BB shell from Paragon Machine Works in nearby Richmond, CA, needs some cleaning and polishing..

and the serial NAME...

The head gets cut to length and faced on the lathe, then HT and BB get vent holes drilled, and are pictured here on the bench in front of the design drawing.

I load the HT and BB shell into the fixture and set it up to the dimensions of Sidney's frame.
Then miter the tubes for the front triangle on the milling machine. They will then get deburred, cleaned, water bottle boss holes drilled.

Next I'll weld the ST to the BB shell.

Next up I did the internal brake cable in the top tube. First drill the holes, then file the shape and size in, silver braze the steel tips to the brass tube, bend the tube to fit the entry and exit and not hit the tube walls along the way.

Below, fluxed up.

Looking down the tube

brazed into place

The flux gets soaked off and the area is filed and sanded into shape.

The miters get their final minor adjustments for a perfect fit, then the ends are cleaned for welding. Here are the top tube and down tube ready to go. The BB, ST, and HT get cleaned for welding as well.

The tubes go back into the fixture and get small tack welds to hold them in place.

After tacking in the fixture the front triangle gets measured on the surface plate to make sure it's straight, and make minor adjustments as needed. The tacks allow small adjustments to be made to get the frame right on. Next the frame gets welded up in segments to balance the distortion from welding/heating the joints to keep it in line. I'll check it a few times during the welding process to make sure it's still where I want it to be, and again when it's all welded up to make sure it's staight.

down tube / head tube joint after welding.

Here the front triangle has been welded up, checked, and is back in the fixture to get the back end.

Next time around I'll put up some pics of the back end coming together. Have a great weekend!