I promised my son a new bicycle to replace his old Schwinn hand-me-down college beater, and he asked for a classic tourer. I started this one, my first, in November 2008 at the UBI frame building school in Ashland, OR, and I finished the painting and build the following April in time for his college graduation.

The geometry is a relaxed 72 1/2 degrees with long 450mm chain stays and an 80mm bottom bracket drop. The fork crown is Everest's cyclocross unit, and the tubing is Dedacciai throughout. I used Henry James lugs wherever possible. The front dropouts are Henry James stainless with polished faces, but I had to braze stainless faces onto the Richard Sachs rears. The racks are mounted to tabs that I chopped out of bar stock on the mill and brazed to the frame and forks. All of the frame brazing was done with silver.

Derailleurs are Shimano XT, as are the hubs. I built the wheels using Velocity Synergy rims (OC in the rear) with DT Apline III spokes. Seatpost, stem, handlebars and racks are Nitto, the pedals are Velo-Orange and the crank is a square taper triple from Sugino. Cantilever brakes are Tektro with Cane Creek levers, and the seat is a Brooks B-17.

I'm fortunate to live in Lexington, Kentucky, the heart of one of the most beautiful bicycling regions in America.

lynnlswearingen@yahoo.com