F!RST L!GHT

Get your friends and your bikes together! More fun and more show categories. Lots of cool local makers. If you’re feeling like showing off your bike, you can also enter the Show n’ Shine part of the block party for $5 on the day, no need to pre-register. ⁠Categories include:⁠ 🚲 People’s Choice⁠ 🚲 Pure Vintage⁠ 🚲 Resto-Mod⁠ 🚲 Daily Rider⁠ 🚲 Best DIY⁠ ⁠ ⁠

The Old Man got me into riding bicycles. Always the Tour de France on TV, or one of his gross sweatbands soaking in the bathroom sink after another ride. In his 80s, he still rides most days and has refused an e-bike while the rest of the retirees he meets up with for coffees converted a long time ago. We took a look at what was out there for someone still committed to drop handlebars, and it wasn't good. They mostly prioritized still looking like a "real" road bike, instead of being useful or comfortable. So I convinced him to let me chop up his Brodie gravel bike, and replaced the seat tube so he could get a 240mm dropper to help getting on and off with a bad hip. Then got a @grin_tech conversion kit that prioritized longer distances over torque. And painted it to match the carbon fork. This amount of work is probably only worth doing for someone who had to deal with you as a teenager, but I think it turned out well. (And I love his Brooks saddle paired with the bonkers dropper.)

The last job of 2025 was a custom rack (and mostly useless brass knife) for the winner of a raffle for Dignity for Palestine @erosion_______ organized and lots of talented people contributed to. $6323 raised in one night is pretty stellar, and I was grateful to be a part of it. The rest of Fall has been straddling the fine line between awesome and ridiculous. Turning an old Trek into something close to a Crust Wombat, my dad's gravel bike into a drop bar e-bike with a 240mm dropper (?!), never ending disk tabs on old mountain bikes, and a fork for myself that has taken more time than building an actual frame. And that's with CONSIDERABLE help. Now it's time to clean and re-organize the shop, and remind you to come eat grilled cheese and drink coffee on January 1.

There's a lot of people floating around local bicycle nerdery that have been very kind and helpful. Lots of them also happen to be super creative in low-key ways I wish more people got to see. So the least I can do is tempt you all with grilled cheese and coffee on a morning when most people aren't working and everyone's a little worn. I'm really hoping people bring things they made, but this is more about the getting together part. Non-makers very welcome too. Nothing will be fancy, but I'll also have vegan cheese and non-dairy milk. PEACE.

Built one bike for a good friend and one bike for me. Rode them to go swimming. This will be the point of this for as long as I can keep it that way. And semi-cursed repairs and modifications. Looks like I'm into those too. (And thank you @andrewrmajor for accepting my semi-cursed bicycle mechanic requests. I think we're close to even.)

There will be a lot of cool things at the Show and Shine this Saturday, including new fridge magnets. @mitchiedagger did the design. He's actually the best. I have also been spending too much time with the letter punches to make some cool medals for the winners, including something super special @njfexport is making that is not pictured. Finally, all your bike registrations donations will for to @chillridesyvr We need more of what they do. It's a nice block party for everyone.

This is my favourite kind of bicycle show. Kudos to @six_mile_bikes for putting it on again this year. I don't think I'll have a the new frame ready in time, but I'm heading down to enjoy it. You and yer buds should go too!

I go here every year! 10am - 2pm I'll be showing the latest bike I've built, hawking t-shirts and stickers, and handing out show and shine leaflets. Also on the lookout for 700 x 45 tires and some nice pedals! Come say Hi. Bonus points if you ride a bike I've worked on for you. Thank you @ericmilnerphotography and the crew for organizing it all.

Two months notice to get your bike ready to show off. Or just come hang out. There will be both prizes and surprises. Like, GOOD ONES.

Like a lot of us, my older brother wanted to get the bike he wanted growing up. A real steel road bike with rim brakes and quick handling. I don't currently own a bicycle with a front derailleur, or rim brakes, or tires smaller than 40c, but I was excited to build him what he was excited about. And I added some stuff he probably doesn't care about much (yet) too. This is probably the first bike I can look at and not just be frustrated with things I wish I had done better. There were a lot of mistakes. I fixed many of them and learned from the rest. The tubeset is an Oversize @reneherse one with a lugged bottom bracket. You can feel the tubing is GREAT - light and strong. I did not become a fan of lug work, so I think that'll be it for a while. He requested a cherry blossom paint job, which I was initially excited to try. When the fabrication was almost done, I admitted it was probably a recipe for disaster. Instead we got it powdercoated and @bikecrud and I found some really nice fabric. I built a little rack, and he made a bunch of really really nice matching bags I hope he admits they are as good as I say they are. @mitchiedagger was kind as always when I told him I was over the downtube lettering he’d made for me a couple years ago. He did exactly what I asked for, I just changed my mind over time. It took him less than a week to get me something even better than what I described, and less than an hour when on NEW YEAR'S EVE I asked him if he could please send me some letters for the headtube logo because I forgot and was organizing a show in the morning. Legend. Many thanks for @nickytony for putting everything together. It took me several decades to realize I like working on bikes, just not the mechanic part. Especially after spending a lot of time after building the frame. @dirtsloth takes photos in a way that reminds me that while we all take photos, some people ARE REALLY TAKING PHOTOS. Everything you do is awesome - thank you. Oh ya, @microshiftofficial can we please work out some sort of partnership? I put your stuff on everything. That's it. The next one is in the jig already. #framebuilding #steelisreal #4130society #handmade

My only complaint is that the fancy coffee @brianpark4 made was more popular than my waffles. Other than that it was sweet first New Years Get Together. Thanks to @njfexport @thadeustisch @oheyrayna @likethelion @dirtsloth @micacycles @tyrone_siglos @condors_customs @andrewrmajor @charleskoehler @loopholebags for sending photos or bringing something cool to share. See you all soon!

Here's some of the bikes I got to repair and modify in 2024. Lots of these were labours of love, and getting a disk tab, another top tube, or some different braze ons was just the start for a lot of work for the people that put them together. It probably would have been easier to buy a new bike but I think we're all glad they didn't. Thank you @condors_customs @sidedoorbicycles @joooooooooolz_ @subtoprecords @nickytony @dreamcyclevan and nice people who aren't on this app for trusting me to put the fire to your frames.