Friday, May 27, 2011

One Tall Guy!


Thanks Jesse, these are definetely my favorite bikes to build! Super functional, single speed or geared , 29er with the Type II fork ! This bike will have it's new home in the Colorado Mountains! Great place, great people, and great riding!
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BB Detail


Lots of welding going on here !
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Slider Detail


Just finished a 29er that will be a single speed and a geared bike, depending on how strong the rider is feeling these days! Nothing like a single speed( or fixie) to get you in shape fast.
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Wednesday, May 04, 2011

My Life Long Friend, John O'Conner !


Well , where do I start? In the photo is me and my life long friend John O'Conner also shown with the first bike I built with John almost 32 years ago. This bike was also built for John , which he has enjoyed for many years! Even though I was rewelding and putting together my version of mountain bikes back at Tamalpais High School with old Schwinns, Roll Fast, Elgin, etc, in 1967 in my machine shop class, this is the first bike I built from scratch with John, so it is really the first of the Steve Potts Bikes of many more to come and hopefully many more in the future. I was the youngest in my big family and lost my Mom at the age of 8 years old, and the O'conner family helped take care of me and helped form me into the person I am now. I grew up with John and Cela's boys , Boone and Ed, worked for John doing sheet metal work starting at 12 years old with his sons also. John taught me how to layout complicated sheet metal shapes , solder , hang gutter, install heating and air conditioning units, do intricate copper and stainless work, and basically have a hard working ethic. I have a mountain of great family memories with John and Cela, from all the work , diving, falling off of ladders, learning about life and loyal wonderful friendships. John's wife , Cela, also helped deliver both of my son's ,Daniel and Brennan. I'm sure I could write a book about all of the great memories I have with the O'Conner family, but for now I will Just say that I am happy and very fortunate to have such a great friend as John and it is really fitting that he has the first Steve Potts Bike! Thanks John! Your friend always, Steve.
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Monday, May 02, 2011

The Proper Purging of the Slider Drop Out


Of all the procedures that it takes to properly weld the titanium frame, purging with Argon is one of the most important processes that is really important to have right. Shown is the rear slider drop out, kind of a hard shape to purge correctly, but it is either right or you don't have the best results that you can have.
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Tight Miters are a Must


Tight miters are a must for the fusion weld ( welding without any welding rod) for the first pass. I am again building one of my favorite bikes, a titanium 29er with a Type II Fork!
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