NAHBS Randonneuse for sale

After a great year of living with this bike it is time for it to go. In order to finance NAHBS '08 and keep the lights on in the shop I am selling the Rando bike which won "Best Road Bike" at NAHBS last year.

Basic Specs: 56cm (c-c) Seat Tube, 55cm (c-c) Top Tube.

I have put together a web page with description, geometry and photos:
http://www.pereiracycles.com/RandoForSale.php

Feel free to call or write with any questions.

A happy customer

This is what it's all about. Building bikes that fit perfectly. It's especially rewarding when there are no stock bikes that even come close to fitting. It's tough being 6'8".

Harrison is thrilled to have something made just for him. More pics here.

KBOO Bike Show

I'm appearing on the KBOO radio bike show this morning at 9am. 90.7 here in portland. I think they do a podcast and I'll post a link when I get it. We'll be talking about the Oregon Handmade Bicycle Show taking place this sunday.

Pereira Cycles in New York Times

About a month ago I spent the better part of a day with some folks from the New York Times talking about bike building in Portland. The article and video appeared today. I'm still not sure if it is in the print version, but you'll find the online article and video here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/05/us/05bike.html?hp

How cool is that?

Astoria Halloween Cross Race

The Cross Crusade Halloween race had a new venue this year: The Astoria Fairgrounds. Excellent place...hope we are invited back. The festivities were a bit muted with Brett still on our minds, but much fun was had. Before the singlespeed race we did a silent lap of the course in Brett's honor. It was a very moving experience: about 150 people quietly circling the course behind Matt Hall (riding Brett's bike) and the Bike Gallery team. Once the memorial lap was over, Brad Ross called up the top 15 racers to the line including Brett who was 8th. The race was a bit of Halloween fun, a bit of tribute and a bit of hard-core racing. Tim and Tommy duked it out while a big group of Brett's friends stuck together and had some mellow fun. I was kitted out in a Motocross costume and rode my old schwinn "BMX" bike. Good times. It was a beautiful day and a great release after such an emotional week.

Photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/79122810@N00/sets/72157602783156064/

Brett Jarolimek RIP

Friend and fellow singlespeed cyclocross racer Brett Jarolimek was killed while riding his bicycle on Monday. The first season I raced cross here in Portland, Brett was the guy that I always ended up "racing." Those of you who race have probably had a similar experience: that same guy who is always just ahead or just behind you. That first year, when I didn't know anyone at the races, I looked forward to duking it out with Brett because I knew at the end of race he would flash that great smile and give me a friendly "great race." In subsequent years he got faster and I got slower, but he became a friend that I looked forward to seeing each week.

Sunday Brett had his best cyclocross finish ever, getting thrid in the tough ss class. Monday was a gorgeous day and I'd bet that he had an excellent last ride.

We miss you Brett.

24 Hours of Moab, take Four

So it's been over a week since I arrived in Utah and I'm just barely starting to feel normal. Moab is a tough place. The trails are rocky and technical (in a rocky, I'm-gonna-kick-your-ass sorta way), it is brutally dry and dusty and the partying in our camp is hardcore.

This was the first year that I've had custom team jerseys for the race and they looked sharp and abundant with 4 teams (17 riders) out there. Thanks to everyone who came out to join Pereira Cycles. We had a huge crew of helpers that made the whole thing much easier.

We rolled out of Salt Lake on Thursday a few hours later than we planned, so it was dark when we arrived. Got our tents set up and had dinner before crashing for the night. Friday morning we set up the pop-ups and had a little breakfast before heading our for a half-lap. Damn, I love that course! It's got a nice grade for singlespeed, but the rocks are stepped enough that it's a real challenge to clear everything. The descents are fast and sandy with a couple of fun, banked sections where you can pass the timid at high speed, heavy on the throttle!

Friday is the day to party...we had a few kegs from our brewer who will remain anonymous (I don't think it's really legal for him to give us kegs or I'd be giving him a plug). The beer was fantastic and plentiful. Thanks bro!

Saturday morning we drag ourselves up, make lots of coffee and get ready for the noon start. The weather was perfect: Partly sunny with highs in the 70s.


I rode second for our team. My first lap was fastest. After Patrick got back and I was heading out for my second lap we were in third, but the guy blew past me after about 2 miles. They pretty much stayed ahead of us until the end. We ended up fourth, just about 9 minutes behind. The guys that won the SS class got 2nd overall. Time to move up to the Pro class, fellas....you know you can win money there? Might be better than a janky pair of Truvativ handlebars...just a thought.

The Pereira Cycles Clydesdale-class team was the hero of the day. They won their class, beating the guys that topped them last year. Nice work fellas!

24 hour racing is an amazing experience. There is a wonderful camaraderie among all the racers. After four years there are lots of familiar faces and it is great to get reunited again. I also get to have a bunch of really strong riders pound the crap out of my bikes. No problems at all. Even the Roaring 29er held up to some high speed, night time surprise pounding on the rocks.
What great fun. See you next year!

PICS

Cross Crusade Begins!

Yesterday's opening of the Cross Crusade cyclocross series was the largest ever. With 1078 racers some are saying that it is the largest field of any cyclocross race in the world. OBRA does an amazing job keeping everything going with zero delays and a great course.

There were lots of familiar faces in the crowd and it was great to see many folks that I haven't seen since last year's series. My girlfriend Lucy did her first bike race ever and premiered the Pereira Cycles team! I think she's hooked. Mike Hilbrandt and I were in the Singlespeed category representing for Pereira Cycles among 87 singlespeeders! Can't wait for the rest of the races.

Photos here

How I spent my summer.

Summer was busy. I definitely didn't take much time to write here. I upgraded my shop with two milling machines, a full complement of Anvil mitering fixtures and and Anvil Journeyman frame fixture. We also attended 6 weddings, which were great, but kept us very busy and kept me from writing at all. Instead of re-capping, I'm going to start fresh and try to blog more often.

As always, this is the time of year for the 24 Hours of Moab Mountain Bike Relay Race. I have FOUR Pereira Bicycle Racing teams this year: 5-man Open, Master's, Clydesdale and Singlespeed/Rigid. It's gonna be a regular ol' hoedown. Look for us there sporting the new Pereira Cycles Jerseys! If you'd like to purchase a Jersey send me an email, I've got a few in stock, but they will not last long. $70. I can't wait to get back together with all my peeps from SLC. If you are at the race come find us and say hi. There will be lots of cool bikes under our tents. Look for a banner that resembles the jersey.

With all the new tooling around the shop I thought it would be a good time to do a new frame build photo essay. Check it out on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/79122810@N00/sets/72157602227635440/
There are 387 pics in this set representing 4 days of work. Ty should be proud.

HELP....Pereira Stolen!

Late last night in Salt Lake City a Pereira Cycles 29er was stolen from a home in the Liberty Park area. If you see it don't hesitate to tackle the jerk. Here's some more info:
http://www.criticalspoke.com/posse/

Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.

"Roaring 29er" goes racing

Since NAHBS I've finally been able to get some riding done. My "prize winning" Roaring 29er has been amazing. I've mostly been staying close to town and riding in Forest Park--not the most challenging terrain (largely fire roads)--but Sunday brought the first mountain bike race of the year, "Horning's Hustle," and the first real challenging terrain for my new ride.

This was a new mountain bike venue, but they did host a cyclocross race last season. It's some sort of hippy compound--a beautiful place about 30 miles west of Portland called Horning's Hideout which has been used as a music and event venue for many years. They put together a nice, although very muddy circuit course. Laps were about 5 miles long, with some grass, dirt roads, a stream crossing and lots of muddy singletrack. There were two very slick, very steep descents that had a lot of walkers and crashers. Tricky, off-camber turning descents with deep, loamy mud that grabbed at your tires and formed some nasty ruts. It was a blast.


John Dorfer, Brian G and Dave Bisers from Veloshop were also representin' Veloshop. This was John's first MTB race on his first MTB! He got 5th! Nice work John.

In framebuilder news I saw my first Coconino in Portland, ridden by local Matt Mahoney. Nice bike Steve. Ira Ryan showed up too--he's training for the trans-Iowa race, so he had to ride out there and show everyone how tough he is.

Somehow, after only taking two riding days in all of January and February I managed to get 3rd! That's a great way to start the season.

See all my (Lucy took these, so they are mostly of me ;) photos on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/79122810@N00/sets/72157600028462436/

Oh yeah, I got my new bike all muddy:

Pereira Hat Trick at NAHBS

Wow.

I'm completely blown away by how the show went. There were more attendees, more builders, more bikes, more awards and more beer than last year. I'm not sure where to start.

Saturday was non-stop. I only left the booth once--just long enough to get to the bathroom and back. Luckily fellow Portland pal Matt Cardinal went and got burritos, so I was able to eat lunch--I would not be so fortunate on Sunday. I guess adrenaline can get you through. We rolled into the show Saturday morning just in time for the doors to open. I quickly set up and began to talk to all the great enthusiasts that kept on coming. My booth neighbors were just as busy, but we had a little time to chat. I had Drew, Andy and Montana from Engin cycles next to me and Dave Bohm from Bohemian behind me. Drew just started building a year ago and is building some great stuff--I was impressed. Bohm had a crazy over-the-top-built-for-the-show tandem that ended up winning best tandem and people's choice--more about awards later. His lugged bikes were gorgeous--I thought they said more about his style than the tandem, but I'm just sayin'... Anyway, busy. I got interviewed and photographed by Dirt Rag and Mountain Bike Action's Richard Cunningham told me my cruiser was one of his favorites at the show. Mountain Bike magazine also did a photo shoot with me posing like Zoolander. I'm going to be so embarrassed when those pictures show up.

After the show we got a few beers with Sacha, Jonathan, Ira and some other Portland friends, then some of us went to Japantown for sushi. Great stuff. It was fun to mellow out the pace a bit and enjoy a good meal. Spent some more time with Drew and Andrea at the bar. Also got to chat it up a bit with the Don Ferris.

Sunday was much more mellow than Saturday, but still lots of folks. I chatted with the legendary Ross Schafer founder of Salsa Cycles and pioneer of all things mountain bike. He loved my bikes! How cool is that? My head is pretty swollen, can you tell?

Two other incredible things happened on Sunday. First, I turned around and bumped into an old friend, Matt Dambrov, from the first bike shop I worked at in Connecticut. We hadn't seen each other in 15 years and there he is checking out my bikes. We got to catch up and reminisce. So cool to see him.

Then the awards.

Ok, so I was really hoping to win some awards. I worked non-stop from New Year's until March 28th to be ready and I was gunning for some glory. The first award that I really wanted was "Best Fillet Brazed" bike--when they called my name I was stoked. I jumped on my bike (the cruiser) and rode up to the stage. As I got pretty close, I popped a wheelie, rode it for about 20 feet and then looped onto my back in front of about 300 people! Dramatic entrance complete, I took the stage (unhurt, bike unscratched) and did the fake-handshake-photo-pose with Don Walker. I was pretty damn proud! I left the stage and got lots of pats on the back. Super cool stuff. So, I was also hoping to win best off-road bike, so I hung around for that one. Best road bike came first and I almost fell over when I heard my name. I handed my cruiser to a friend and ran back to get the Randonneuse. Another trip to the stage and I'm stacking trophies on the floor. The best off-road prize came up pretty quickly and I won again! So, here they are, my Texas-sized trophies.

The show finally came to an end, more partying ensued. Chris DiStefano and Jeff Manand from Chris King took Ira and I out for dinner (thanks guys!). I was pretty shot and just about to head to bed when Ira suggested that we get one more beer. Still rolling on the adrenaline, I thought why not and we headed to the hotel bar. We were met with a cheer by many of the friends we'd made over the weekend. What an incredible feeling. We sat down with a crew from Seven Cycles, along with Mike Flanigan and Jeff from Sputnik. After a long weekend of working really hard everyone was pretty loose. One of the Seven guys, Mike, decided that he was going to try to break me and just started shoveling a ton of shit. Ah...it felt just like being home at The Wild Rose. I loved it. No one would let us buy a beer, but they insisted on us drinking plenty. The bartender practically had to throw us out, but we probably left becuase all the kegs were empty.

Somehow Monday came without a hangover and we shot home, only stopping twice in 10 hours. Tuesday I finally got to ride my new bike. I think it looks even better with dirt on it. Don't you?

The orders are flooding in. If you want a bike by the end of the summer you'd better get your deposit in...

Cheers!

Handmade Bike Show

Had a great trip down here with Ira Ryan on Thursday morning. I finished assembling my last bike at around midnight, got home for a couple of hours of sleep and then hit the road around 4 am, stomping on the rental van until we arrived in San Jose just 10 hours later--including a sit-down lunch! Not bad at all considering that I thought it would take 13.

We rolled into the show and bumped into our friends at the Vanilla booth, got everything set up and headed back out for food and sleep.

Friday morning came pretty quickly and, just like last year, a rush of adrenaline got the show off to a great start. It is incredibly exciting to experience so much enthusiasm for all these amazing bicycles. The crowd (and the other builders) are giving me a huge ego boost with all their very positive comments. I've had different people tell me that each of the bikes I'm displaying are their favorites of the entire show!

There hasn't been any time to take pictures, so I'll turn you over to the intrepid Jonathan Maus at BikePortland for most of those.

I have pictures of two of my bikes in my gallery. One is Jared's fixie and the other is my new Roaring 29er. I'll get some pics up of my Randonneur when I get back, but I know Jonathan has one up on his site today.

Time for breakfast...I'll try to check in later.

Pereira Featured on BikePortland

Jonathan Maus of BikePortland.org did a little pre-show interview with me and it appeared today. There are two pictures of my dreamy show bikes before I brought them to the painter. I'm hoping to get at least one of them back today and probably to other one tomorrow. I'll try to get the promised preview up here before the show. For now, check out Jonathan's site: http://bikeportland.org/2007/02/26/pereira-goes-for-neo-retro-at-bike-show/

The word is spreading

I'm still really surprised when my name appears around the way, so I have to share. Yesterday, Pereira Cycles was mentioned twice on bikeportland.org. Once in reference to the Handmade Bicycle Show with fellow builders Sacha, Ira and Joseph. And again about a little photo shoot I was involved in for a Portland based magazine called Wend. I met the Editor of Wend a little while back and he invited a few framebuilders to come and sport some stylin' wool duds for the shoot. It was really funny to "model"--we were all busting out our best Magnums and Blue Steels for the camera. I'm really happy that so many of my friends have seen the magazine--not because I'm in there, but because the magazine is so good and it deserves to succeed. At a time when mainstream magazines like Men's Journal, Outside, etc. are playing to the lowest common denominator and short attention spans with hollow 200 word articles, Wend is bucking that trend with long format articles that span 6 pages filled with great writing and beautiful photography. Check it out.

Another great surprise came to my in box the other day when bike-shop-owner clients Brian and Greg of Bike Pedalers in Lincoln, Nebraska sent me a link to their newly overhauled web site. Turns out they are my first dealer! Every page on the site has pictures of the bikes they bought from me. Greg even went so far to say "... my Pereria rides so fine I hardly believe it. I've got a lot of nice bikes (eisentrauts,sachs, vanilla, jack taylor) but lately yours is the one I jump on for the daily ride." Holy crap! My head is swelling! These are the exact builders whose work has given me the inspiration to do what I do. This is about the biggest complement I could ever get. Thanks guys!

NAHBS March 2nd-4th!

It's been super-busy here at the shop getting ready for the North American Handmade Bicycle Show in San Jose. I've got two really neat bikes lined up and will share lots of photos with you all when they come back from the painter and I get them all put together. That's right, you'll get a special pre-show sneak peek. Hang in there for that...waiting for paint takes much patience. Prepare to be amazed. These bikes will be jaw-droppers for sure. If you're anywhere near the bay area you should try to get to the show.

The new shop is really coming together nicely. I have it pretty well laid out and have been tweaking how I store things. There are lots of hooks for hanging various projects from, but there never seems to be enough for all the wheels and I don't quite know what to do with all the forks I seem to accumulate.

If you are in Portland be sure to ring me up and arrange a visit. I mostly spend the day by myself and love to have visitors from time to time.

I'm also putting the finishing touches on a few bikes not going to the show. Expect updates to the gallery in a day or two.

Cheers!
Tony