Candy Cranks

Saturday morning we got up and started riding to the Richmond, VA convention center, hoping we’d find a place to stop and eat breakfast on the way. We seriously hit the jackpot! If you know me, you know I’m all about breakfast. I wish we had a place like City Diner in Nashville. Not only was the food great, but the service was amazing too; City Diner saved my life this past weekend. All photos by Keith Gallagher.

The North American Handmade Bicycle Show had a lot going on. There were so many insane bikes and parts to even name them all. I met the guys at Urban Velo, and they were really cool. I also ran into Ben and the rest of the Cinelli guys again. Here are some pictures that Keith took while we wandered around the show. More photos here.

Primate Frames, maker of the lovely Candy Cranks frames and other bicycle beauties like The Wasp, has a new website. There’s an array of new bikes on display including mountains bike, 29′ers, single speeds, fixies, aerotube bikes, a 24″ as well as the monster downhill bike he’s building as a personal project.

Check out the new site here.

Thanks Bum!

Frame Specifications

Cinelli lugs, dedacciai tubes and custom tips laid out prior to the build.

Frame mitered (cut) and set up on the jig.

Frame and fork in the raw after being brazed (welded) together.

Testing out the colour scheme.

The frame back from the painters.

Rim, Aerosposke, frame, forks and handlebars back from the painters, checking out how it’s going to look.

Getting the bars through the Nitto stem was not as easy as it looked, the angle was a little high and it ended up being scratched. It was sanded back and sent to the painters to get re-sprayed with the stem in place.

Stropping (removing) any excess paint off the steerer tube.

Tarn adjusting the headset.

All the bits ready to get put together.

Ta da! Le bike is ready to roll!

More pics on flickr.
More on the bike specs.

Click the thumbnails for a bigger view.

My new bike is finally ready! It’s been 6 months in the making and so much fun watching it all come together. The frame was designed and built by Tarn at Primate Frames here in Sydney. I sourced the parts from various places including Japan, America and the UK, a lot of it is from Japan, I picked up some great bargains when I was over there in September. Pete from Star Enamellers did an amazing job on the paintwork, including my lovely custom sprayed Aerospoke, Chub Hub and B43 all in matching pink.

It’s so much fun to ride, it’s really compact and feels great to zip about on. I went for a slightly smaller frame than I usually ride and I managed to stay away from the usual black and white I tend to stick to, and I’m glad I did, I’m loving the pink wheels!

The specs are:

- Candy Cranks frame and forks
- Aerospoke, Chub Hub, B43 custom sprayed
- Paul lever
- Chris King headset
- Onebyesu CNC’d Brake
- Eastern bars, custom sprayed white
- Nitto stem
- Supertype seat post
- Regal saddle
- Candy Cranks chainring
- Sugino 75 cranks
- MKS custom nuevo pedals
- Toshi double toe straps
- Starfuckers cages
- Soma grips
- Phil Woods bottom bracket
- Shadow Conspiracy chain
- Gran Compe tyres

More info on Candy Cranks frames and Primate Frames.

FIRE: Meg surprised me at my doorstep. My world turned hazy as it took me longer than usual to grasp something. To release that she was indeed holding only one thing that would send me burning…my new CANDY CRANKS bike!
WATER: I let the shock run into the distance as I checked it out. My mouth watered and I felt sleazy as I ran my hand over the bike and soaked in the beautiful craftsmanship of Primate Frames.
EARTH: Leonardo De Vinci claimed, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” and this guided my bikes understated colour scheme and wood finish rims.
WIND: Light as an eagles feather this chief of transport flew me. My heart truly beating like a jungle drum.…In life I strive to find balance between the beauty of the natural world and the man-made world. The photos above where taken around my neighborhood as I tried to combine both elements of natural and man-made beauty through colour, line and texture. This was the influence behind the creation of my bike.

A few pics from one of my favourite bike shops in Tokyo.

These are the first Candy Cranks protoypes, hand built in Sydney by Primate Frames, I can’t wait to get mine built up!! I’m so impatient! I’ll be rocking the black frame with white forks and Rosy will be taking the first of the production frames with Cinelli lugs, custom tips, dedacciai tubesets and fork blades, investment cast fork crowns and be set up for a 1″ threaded steerer. I’ll have more pics of the final frames and builds soon.