Still closing, but here is your last chance!

-----------
Uptate 01-29:

The contest has ended and Joe Bridgeman in New Jersey is the lucky winner. Joe already has one of the Hammerhead stems....now he will have a frame to go with it!

Thanks to everyone who donated! Mojo, his daughter, and all the histiocytosis kids and family members thank you!!!!


ps...if you didn't win you should check out this other promotion for a Richard Sachs frameset. Richard is one of my frame building idols and on the short list of builders that I dream of owning a frame from, but he's not currently accepting orders. I signed up of a chance!
https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=276565&lis=1&kntae276565=AE49F8A0F42140719DE55CB8F59BABAD&supId=233814480
------------

As mentioned in the previous post I am shutting down the business.

I have refunded the remaining deposits of the few frames I would not be able to build but there was still one frame left hanging: The Histiocytosis frame. Its for a great cause, quite a few people have already donated for a chance to get the frame, Mojo is a great guy, and I really want to help their cause out once again.

The promotion will continue and I will build the frame so here it is: Your last chance to get a Jonny Cycles frame in the foreseeable future! You wont' even have to wait long for it. I have 4 frames to finish up (which will all be done in the next couple of months) and then I'll build this one last frame that one of the lucky donors could be riding by this summer!

As I mentioned to my clients who's frame I'm still building: Don't worry I'm not rushed, bitter about closing, or in a crunch for money, its just that the list of customers was too close for confort (in this economy). I'm building the remaining frames with the same care, love, and attention that I put into all of them and the same will be true for this frame.

So here it is, you last chance at a Jonny Cycles frameset...lets help out Mojo with fight for Histiocytosis!

--->Donate $50 for a chance to win a Reynolds 953 frame set here<----

More info from previous posts:
http://jonnycycles.blogspot.com/2009/01/get-jonny-cycles-frame-for-50-and-help.html

Jonny Cycles is......

....closing.

The economy?
Not attending the handmade bike show last year?
Too many other framebuilders to choose from (the list of new builders is huge)?
or ?

I blame most of it on the first, but I'm sure there were several contributing factors...in the end, who knows?

Like most other bicycle related businesses I usually see a big slow down from fall to early in the year (usually Feb). Typically I get 5 or 6 orders in the winter months and it picks up again in the spring. This winter I took in one order. Add to that several people dropping off the list (most due to loss of employment) and my waiting list has shrunk considerably. I'm a bit of a pessimist and I really don't trust the economy to rebound by this summer. My lease is up in April. The last place I want to be is dead in the water mid summer with no orders and no frames to build while incurring huge debt trying to pay all the bills. With the waiting list at its lowest point ever it seemed like the perfect time to opt out to me.

I'll be finishing the current batch of bikes, refunding the few remaining deposits, and ending Jonny Cycles.

I spent a hard 5 years working on establishing Jonny Cycles. In the end it was working ok and I built quite a few really great bikes that I'm very proud of. Sure I wasn't getting rich off of it and it was stressful, but it was rewarding. Surprisingly I don't feel that bad....its not like my lifelong dream was to become a framebuilder. I never planned on doing this, I just fell into it (if your curious read the articles here: http://jonnycycles.com/about.php).

What am I going to do? I've accepted a job at Cronometro which is a bike shop down the street from where I live. Its a great shop and I'm excited to be working as one of their mechanics. I'm also excited about the prospect of receiving a regular paycheck, health insurance, being much less stressed, and most importantly having some free time.

What about the shop? Ahren & Leah (Banjo Cycles) and Zack (ZR Cycles) are both hanging in there and are going to continue working out of the shop. I'm keeping all my equipment and a little corner in the shop. This will allow me to finish up any loose ends that may occur as well as work on some personal projects I've been wanting to do for awhile.

Am I going to start up again in the future? Never say never....but don't hold your breath or your deposits. Maybe when I retire to the north-woods homestead I've always fantasized about.....

If you're interested, stay tuned to the blog and my flickr site. I still have some great bikes being finished up and I have some fun personal projects planned which I'll continue to document.

If anyone needs to contact me for whatever reason I'll be keeping some version of the website up, maintaining my e-mail, and keeping the same phone number.

Jon

Madison-Basco-Madison Spring Classic: Hell Of The South

The date is Saturday April 11th. Registration info will be on www.kittenfactory.blogspot.com soon.

Jeff's single speed cross bike is back from paint!

Jeff came my way awhile back looking for a single speed cross bike. In his words:

"...with the frame itself. I'll send you my measurements and what I think that I need, but then I want you to put your twist and expertise into it. All I want is a classic looking single speed cross bike that I can race, trail ride, road ride, and get dirty. I haven't chosen specific colors. I picked you as my frame builder because I liked the artistic flair that you put into your frames. This is where I want you and the painter to use your talents..."

Since it a single speed cross bike with front and rear canti's I opted for the forward facing slanted horizontals. Easy wheel removal and the brakes stay in adjustment:




I decided to so something new for the cable hanger - elegant and functional:



Rear rack mounts:



Stylish slightly modified Richard Sachs "Nuovo Richie Series" Lugs and a heavily modified Pacenti Artisan crown:




Keith Anderson did the paint (Dupont code N1025 Red and a pearlescent white tri-coat for the lugs). Build process and more photos can be found here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonnycycles/sets/72157608823314428/

I can't wait to see how he builds it up (send some photos when you get a chance Jeff!). An interesting note: The same day I received the frame back from paint I also received another deposit from Jeff for his new frame, next time around it will be a road frame.

Get a Jonny Cycles frame for $50 and help a great cause!

Yes this promotion is still going on! It will go until the $5000 goal is reached, and yes you can donate more than once for a better chance.

Donate Here

The background info:

In 2006 I helped with the Bix Fix ride: A fixed gear ride across the country to benefit Histiocytosis. For the 2006 ride Mojo and I worked to get a frame for one of the riders. It was a fun project and I was able to complete the bike just in time for the winner Ken Mclain to ride the frame across the country. The ride was done in 28 days, fixed or not that's no small feat! The finished bike can be seen here: http://jonnycycles.com/trackPhotos.php#id=album-80&num=1. It was a fun project; Ken loves the bike and went on to ride it in Paris-Brest-Paris!

This year Mojo is doing a similar promotion to benefit Histiocytosis called the Wheels North ride. The ride is going from California to Washington recreating the epic 1909 adventure of two young cyclists. You can read about the original ride in the book entitled "Two Wheels North: Bicycling the West Coast in 1909".

For this years ride I'm helping by doing a raffle for one of my frames to generate some cash for the cause. The good news: You don't have to do the ride to win the frame, just donate $50 here for a 1 in 100 chance (not bad odds) to win a frame. This will be a custom fit track or road frameset constructed from the new Reynolds 953 stainless steel tubing. You can view some similar frames here:
http://jonnycycles.com/trackPhotos.php#id=album-70&num=1
http://jonnycycles.com/roadPhotos.php#id=album-97&num=1


Read more about the event here:
Event website
Event blog

Cyclo-Frost

Sunday, February 15
Time: 10am
Location: East Side of the Capitol Square

30 minutes of cyclocross racing. 1/2 on pavement & 1/2 on snow with obstacles.

NYC

Stopped at the New Years (polo) Championships on the way home. Stayed for about and hour, drank some beer, and took lots of photos -





More photos here: http://flickr.com/photos/jonnycycles/sets/72157612118793448/

Also of relevance:

http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=24739

http://www.madbikepolo.org/2008/11/06/nyc_in_madison

Scotts fixed gear

Just shipped this off to Scott today:





Scott was one of those rare customers that knew exactly what he wanted. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about the indecisive clients as that's expected and comes with the territory. Working with clients to come up with a frame is actually fun. Scott however knew everything, right down the the paintcode (House of Kolor #kF02 Cyan to Purple). Normally I resist the shade shifting paints, in fact I even say it here: http://jonnycycles.com/misc/Paint%20info.pdf but I decided what the heck, don't know until you try it right? I suggested yellow hightlights, Scott agreed, and the final result was better than I expected. Don't expect to see a bunch or shade shifting Jonny Cycles frames anytime soon....but with the right graphics and colors I can be convinced.

Enough about the aesthetics, what about the function? Its pretty basic. A nice fixed gear for the road. Bottle mounts, and front and rear brakes. Due to the rear brake we opted for the much more practical forward facing slanted horizontal frame ends. Geometry is fairly standard road, but with an elevated bottom bracket for cornering clearance.

When FedEx delevers it in a few days it will be the first Jonny Cycles in Wyoming! Build process photos can be seen here: http://flickr.com/photos/jonnycycles/sets/72157607886828178/
The official gallery photos are here: http://jonnycycles.com/trackPhotos.php#id=album-119&num=1

yay! Jonny Cycles is back!!!!

I know you were all worried, but no the economy hasn't claimed me yet! Just some really frustrating domain name registration issues that took awhile to resolve with the holidays and an international call to Australia. Morale of the story: Don't slack when it comes to domain names.

e-mail (jonny@jonnycycles.com) also works again, so resume your correspondence!
If you send me an e-mail that was returned, please re-send it. Thanks!

Madison Bike swap, Jan 10th

I'll be going...and you should too as its usually huge.






http://www.brazendropouts.org/swap09.shtml

Jonny Hunters bike...

... is *finally* finished!

Jonny has been a friend of mine for awhile. Not sure how we met. SCRAM!? Mark the Spark? The Catacombs? He's probably just one of those ubiquitous Madison people.

Jonny signed up on my waiting list way back in Feb 2006. I finished building the frame about 1 year ago which was right about the time that Jason (Sanchez Paintshop) was starting work on building a new shop. Jonny is also friends with Jason and was pretty insistent that Jason painted his frame since he was really into having people he knew be involved with the project. Jonny was pretty patient waiting Jason to get his shop up and running but when he learned that one of his bike polo friends from Milwaukee had moved out to Portland, OR and was painting for Vanilla's shop Coat he couldn't resist and got the ants in his pants. I was curious to see what sort of work they were doing my self so we sent the frame out to Coat for some paint. Jonny told them he liked green and to do what they want. The base (green color) is powdercoat and the graphics were done with wet paint. The graphics are a little busier than my normal designs, but its a nice change. The quality is excellent (as expected), but don't expect to see me offering them as an option for my paint as Sanchez Paint shop and Keith Anderson do equally as excellent of work and I have no reason to switch (other than this special project for a friend).








More photos here - http://jonnycycles.com/roadPhotos.php#id=album-118&num=1

Revolution Cycles Bike Swap

Revolution Cycles Annual December Bike Swap

December 6th
10am - 1pm
$2 donation towards the Goodman Center bike program

NOTE THE NEW ADDRESS, WE HAVE CHANGED LOCATION AGAIN TO ACCOMMODATE MORE REQUESTS TO SELL!!!
New address!!! - 2425 Atwood

Our annual bike swap has grown too large to be held in the bike shop so for the day we are moving up the street

Lots of vintage and modern bikes and bike parts available. Everything from clothing to Campy, Avocet to Zipp.

There are some tables still available please reply to this add if you are interested.

There will be a community table available for those who only have a thing or two for sale, again reply to this add for more info.

Just finished: Khai's road bike

I just shipped out Khai's road bike today and I'm very happy with how it all turned out (of course I say the same thing about every bike I finish, but it's true!).



Khai wanted a "Classic stage race type bike. Good for all round use, long and short distance rides." In other words, the perfect road bike. Since he also wanted to be able to easily travel with the bike I added S & S couplers.

The design pretty typical for road: 73 degree head tube angle, 45mm rake, and long(ish) chainstays at 425mm resulting in a bike that will meet the above expectations.

The excellent paint work was supplied by Keith Anderson. Khai wanted something orange and noted he liked bold color schemes and patterns. I translated this request to a downtube banner with "Ruby Red" and "Chrome Yellow" resulting in a bold but classy look. Top it all off with a Campagnolo Chorus build kit mixture of black and silver and the result is one hot bike!

The official gallery photos are here: http://jonnycycles.com/roadPhotos.php#id=album-117&num=1
Build photos are here: http://flickr.com/photos/jonnycycles/sets/72157606968475200/

Now playing on the Discovery Channel.....

...Birth of a Hammerhead.

Another party @ Revolution Cycles

.....................................OPEN INVITATION..........ROCK THE VOTE!!!!!!!! :)........................................


Revolution Cycles will be hosting music next week

Monday, November 3rd

8:30pm 'til 11:30ish

SCEAMIN' CYN CYN & THE PONS,

PRIZZY PRIZZY PLEASE,

and

PUSH-PULL

This is an ALL-AGES show (but heads up...it will be loud 'cause it's rock n' roll)
.............................................................................................................................................................
The show is free, but please drop something in the bucket for the bands;)

BYOB


LOCATION: REVOLUTION CYCLES
2330 ATWOOD AVENUE
(Just down the street from the Barrymore)
.................................................................................................................................................................................................

Along with the new site come a few changes....

Most notably the fact that I am no longer offering TIG welded Jonny Cycles framesets.

I was offering TIG welded frames.

A description of the TIG welded frames from the old site:

---

I started this project in response to two questions:
1) Can you build me a track bike in time for next years race (or riding) season?
2) I love your bikes but can't afford one, is there any way you can offer a less expensive option?
3) Have you ever considered selling though a shop?

Unfortunatley building custom lugged steel bikes is very time consuming and thus takes allot of money and time. A basic lugged track frameset takes a minum of 20 hours shop time to get it out the door and to the painter. A track frameset with modified and polsihed stainless lugs can easily exceed 80 hours of work...so you can see it doesn't take to many orders to add up to a significant waiting list. The answer to the above two questions was always no...untill now.

I share my shopspace with two great resources:
Ahren Rogers - Among other things he's one of the best welders around
Zack Reilly - In adddion to working on his own frames (ZRcycles.com) he helps me out around the shop by mitering tubes and doing general prep work.
I decieded the three of us could work togeter to provide an addional Jonny Cycles frame option, TIG welded framesets.


All the design work and material selection is done by me.
Zack does all the mitering and prep-work
Ahren welds the main triangle
I do all the brazing (frame ends and fork)
To further save time and cost we use Spectrum Powderworks for paint


The end result is a superb quality track frameset ready for any velodrome or street. No skimping on materials or design, just using my resources to come up with a quicker (only 2-month wait!) and less expensive option.

---

The current situation at the shop has however changed. Ahren from Banjo cycles now keeps very busy building frames for Velo Orange, Boxdog bikes (in San Francisco), and Broadway Cycles (in Boston). Zack from ZR cycles has been keeping quite busy building lugged mountain bikes. I'm excited for both of them and happy to see them grow their respective businesses. I was then left with the options of:
1) Do some real promotion of the semi production TIG welded Jonny Cycles frames such that the order volume would justify hiring an employee to help with the production.
or
2) Drop the TIG welded option and focus on my lugged frames.

Since my normal made to order lugged frames have been quite well and my available time for other projects is fairly limited I decided to go with the tried and try option #2. It works, its what I love doing, and I'm not sure I'm up for expanding the business at this point in time.

Halloween alleycat

halloween, originally uploaded by Jonny Cycles.

Sat Oct 25th. 1 pm
318 E Mifflin St
608-661-8090

New website!

In case you haven't noticed I have a new website. I'm pretty excited about it as its been quite awhile since I've made any major site changes, although I'm a little sad to see the old one go as I put an insane amount of time into it.

Changes on the new site:

Fresh new look.

Ditched the old frames programming setup. This eliminates allot of issues with search engines and linking specific pages. Most people wouldn't notice, but web geeks do!

New galleries (check out the "photos" menu selection): It's now easier to browse the bikes w/out paging though all the photos. I can also easily add descriptions to each gallery and photo. I tried to add as much captions as possible when uploading all the old photos, but as expected that was tedious. Do however expect more text to accompany photos of new bike that I'll post as I finish them.

The blog is now more integrated with the site.

All framebuilding progress photos have been moved over to flickr which makes them easier for people to follow, easier for me to upload, and you can comment on them!

...and a few other things which I can't think of at the moment.

Thanks to Jason Bay jbaysway@gmail.com for designing and completing a great site. http://flickr.com/photos/jonnycycles/sets/72157607893567209/

Party at Revolution Cycles

Lesley's 3Rensho

Back when I was working full time at the Yellow Jersey (before framebuilding) I found a 3Rensho Katina road frame in the basement w/a cracked downtube. As on of my first major frame repairs I replaced the down tube and built it up as a single speed for Lelsey. This was also one of my first
(and last) paintjobs and I'll freely admit I'm a not much of a painter: 5 years later the bike had lost quite a bit of paint changing from its original white to primer gray and rusty steel color. It was time for a re-do. Since its a daily commuter we decided it was time for some upgrades. I added some cantilever bosses and mounts so the bike could fit full fenders (no chance of that with the original short reach road calipers, which is fine as its original intended use was a road race bike), sent if off to Spectrum Powderworks for some fresh paint, and built it back up with some fresh new parts. The resulting bike turned out great:







More photos of the project are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonnycycles/sets/72157607431189221/