The Paragon Hooded Slider // - I’ve built a lot of singlespeeds. And hands down THE BEST singlespeed dropout system was (I can’t believe I’m using past tense) the @paragonmachine Hooded Slider DS0001. Fully backwards and forwards compatible with every standard the industry could cook up despite itself, the DS0001 stands alone. The best part? It was a singlespeed setup that worked. I sure hope a heavy hitter can purchase the IP of this sucker and keep it alive. - So here’s to you DS0001! You’re officially NOS from here on out till my supply runs dry… - K.I.S.S. ⚡️ SOPWAMTOS - #paragonmachineworks #sopwamtos #ds0001

The End of an Era // - As many of you have heard, a cornerstone of the custom framebuilding world, @paragonmachine has closed its doors effective immediately. I received their email announcement at 1:37pm EST on Thursday, March 26, 2026. What followed was a mad dash to and from the shop double checking inventory and putting together a large order to buffer myself and client projects until the dust settles. As one door closes, others open. There is light and it’s shining here on the East Coast. - One of my first frame building specific tooling purchases was a set of tube blocks from Paragon Machine Works. Close to two decades later, every single bicycle I have built has had a piece of Paragon built into it. It saddens me that Mark, Donna, Calvin, Coco and the rest of the PMW team had to call it quits due to market forces beyond their control. 43 years. It was a heck of a ride. - From me to everyone at Paragon: You’ll all be truly missed but never forgotten. Your collective contributions not just to the North American Framebuilding community but to the global frame building community are beyond measure. Thanks for always being there for small businesses like 44 Bikes. Thank you for the extra time answering questions. Thank you for making elegant parts so I could build the best bikes money could buy. And thank you for taking that little bit of extra time just to talk, trade stories, laugh, give hugs and build community. You’re family now and forever. The doors of 44HQ are always open to you. - #paragonmachineworks

TUCKED // - Everybody can tuck tires. Not everybody can tuck brakes…. This was a particularly challenging location. There’s many solutions and a range of concepts I worked through from a concentric brake mount to a proprietary post mount system. I arrived at using the tried and true ISO mount because it’s wildly inexpensive, post mount adapters are readily available for 160, 180 and 203mm rotors and it does NOT rely on frame alignment to be accurate (I’m looking at you flat mount…). So for the initial release and to keep parts expense to a minimum, the brake mount will be ISO until I can justify the expense of either a proprietary system or a dedicated cast or forged post mount at a later date. - But the over all goal was to tuck the brake caliper insider the rear triangle and separate the brake from the seat stay in a tight and tidy package in an easy to fabricate and cost effective solution. I think I can call this one “mission accomplished”. What do YOUS think? - #steelisreal #steelfullsuspension #isoaintdead

Snakedriver V4.2 // - Progress! Finished up prototype V4.2 finally on Friday. Lots of subtle updates I’ll write about in a long form blog post on the 44HQ Blog. I may also do a build check reel too to go over a bunch of the updates. Now to disassemble it, get it packed up and off for some Cerakote. - #steelisreal #steelfullsuspension

SNAKEDRIVER V4.2 // - Well, that’s a wrap. This ones ready for COBRA BLACK Cerakote. Frame as pictured minus the dummy shock with all hardware: 7.9lbs. 3D printed parts for this round are over designed so I’ll be shaving weight for the production prints where I can and I’m fairly confident I can get the frame down to high 6 or sub-7 lbs. but there she is: SHRED READY. - Big thanks to all my suppliers and production partners on this one including @ram3dprinting @thomashosford @paragonmachine @firsthand.bike @cobraframebuilding @prosisemetalworks and @sendcutsend - #madetoshred #steelisreal

ROUTED // - A follower was asking about cable routing earlier. I used to route everything under the top tube and down the undersides of the seatstays but with the disappearance of external droppers I redesigned how I route all the cables to go down the top of the DT and then under the chainstays. Over time I had noticed when bikes would come in for refreshes, the undersides of the top tubes were a mess. Lots of rust and the powder was worn and abraded. Being that a tube is round, wet muck would settle between the underside of the tube and cables and with a lot of handling a bike, it would see a ton of wear in that location. Hence the move to put things in the DT and keep everything tidy in one straight line. - Here’s the underside of the swingarm. Asymmetric routing with that lead guide offset for a smooth transition. I do this on all my bikes including the Marauder. And wouldn’t you know it’s cut down on wear by a metric mile? How about that! - #steelisreal #steelfullsuspension