I finished a new road bike last weekend.  It’s got an interesting mix of tubes, most of which aren’t round.  I used a Columbus Life teardrop top tube, a pair of Spirit (for tig) seatstays, some Columbus teardrop chainstays, and I biovalized a True Temper OX Platinum down tube just to keep with the theme.  It’s a straight up road bike designed around an Edge fork and Sram Force group.

I also put the finishing touches on the mid-reach road bike.  It will be built up with Ultegra 6700.  Both of them are currently getting hosed down at Spectrum Powderworks.

First up, is a classic stage race bike with fender mounts and room for big tires.  It’s a mixed bag in the tubing department; Dedacciai s-bend chainstays, Columbus Life seat stays, head tube, and Nivacrom fork blades, and True Temper OX platinum for everything else.

Just a kiss of bend back there

The fork starts to take shape

What fun are they if you never get to ride them?

I also started yet another new mountain bike.  This one is a little different though.  It’s a 29er designed around a 120mm fork with 425mm (16.7″) chainstays.  I used a curved seat tube for proper tire/front derailleur clearance.  The effective seat tube angle is 71.2 degrees at my saddle height (780mm from center of bb to top of the seat).  The effective top tube is 24 inches and the head tube angle is 69.5 degrees.  It should be a little ripper!

Seat tube, seat collar, and bb ready to weld

welded

I used a 31.8mm top tube and a 38mm down tube

Curved seat tubes require big down tube relief miters!

Checking tire clearance with a WTB 2.55.  It clears, but there’s not much room for mud.  I plan to run a 2.2″ or so.  It’s quite the balancing act to build a 29er with 425mm chainstays and 60mm of bb drop and still have it clear a big tire, triple crank, and a front derailleur.

The braze-on fest will start soon.

I had a busy weekend building my new titanium bike.  It’s a mountain bike built around a 120mm fork.  The quick stats on this one are; 70 degree head angle, 72.5 seat angle, 60mm bb drop, and 435mm chainstays. 

I used a 1 5/8 down tube,  1 1/5 top tube, 1 1/4 seat tube, 7/8 chainstays, and 3/4  seat stays.

Seat tube, bb, and seat collar all melted together

Front triangle fit up

Chainstays are ready to miter, seat stays are ready to bend

Checking rear wheel alignment before I put the seat stay bridge in.

I’m about three quarters of the way through media blasting it.  I had to buff out a few little scratches because blasting makes them worse.  It should be ready for parts today.

I started a new 29er this week.  So far, I have the front triangle completed and will finish the rest this weekend.  It’s built with a 31.8mm top tube and a 38mm down tube for extra stiffness, as it’s designed around a 100mm suspension fork.  There is no need for compliance (read: flex) in the design, when building a frame around that much travel in my size of bike.   The fork provides much more cushion than frame flex ever could.  The stiffer front triangle descends with more confidence and is more deliberate when changing lines or riding aggressively.  If the rider was smaller than me or was looking to save weight, I would use a 35mm down tube.  That would save about a quarter pound in this case.

 However, I do not overbuild the back half of the bike.  I prefer to do this instead of using a big tire to gain comfort and grip.  I feel that large 29er tires, in particularly on the rear, hamper the racy feel of a hardtail.  If a hardtail doesn’t feel fast, I would rather ride a full suspension bike.

This bike will have 16.9 inch chainstays and a fairly low bottom bracket at 12.2 inches.  Due to these design choices, I’ve offset the seat tube for more front derailleur clearance.

I will be shipping Thomas’s bike to him as well.  Thomas had Spectrum doll up the fork, which I think looks great.  Lazer Midnight on both legs, with some orange and white stripes on the driveside to fit the theme.

 I built a new town bike for my girlfriend on Saturday.  She moved to Ketchum ID last summer to pursue a job as a CPA, since that sort of thing is pretty limited around Bozeman.  Needless to say, I spend a lot of time back in the old stomping grounds of Idaho.  She has a bike in Ketchum that I built for her last summer, but she doesn’t have one here.   Now she will have something to ride when she visits.

I decided to get a little crazy with the tube bending on this one.  I bent the chainstays and one of the seat stays last fall.  I lost interest in the project because I thought it would look silly.  I had the tubes sitting around and Jinny always thought it was cool, so I built it for her.  She thought that a bent seat tube would tie it together, so I added that as well.  I think the back half looks like a sail for a boat.  I will be building a fork with curved blades for it too.    I’m just about done except for braze-ons and brake mounts, which I planned to do on Sunday.  Instead I got out for a much needed road ride.

Making the seat collar for a 27.2mm seat post

The seat tube with insert welded in

Front triangle tacked

Last week I practiced welding on some more titanium.  Hopefully this will start to look like a bike soon.