Monday, April 30, 2007

Weekend update, and a photo from Moab



The photo is courtesy of Matt, who owns the lightest complete Waltworks (or any other) 29er I've ever seen - the bike pictured is 17.5 pounds. Holy smokes! Heck, I build the darn things and MY singlespeed is at least 3 pounds heavier.

In other news, Sarah and I put in about 8 hours on the mountain bikes over the weekend and I'm unbelieveably tired. So I suppose it'll be a good day to get caught up on some work. Trying to finish up 2 frames for Robert down in Denver, then hopefully pick up a bunch of stuff at the powdercoater to ship out.

Fuentes was 15th at this weekend's NMBS short track, and 23rd (we think) in the XC. He wasn't feeling great for the XC, apparently, but hopes to get into the top 15 or maybe 10 next weekend at Fontana on his Waltworks/Actiontec 29er. I don't know if anyone got any pictures, but if I get some, I'll post 'em. Yuki got sick on the plane, apparently, and tried to race the short track but couldn't, and then had to fly home because he was too ill to race the XC. Bummer. Hopefully he'll be recovered for the Fontana round.

Friday, April 27, 2007

Menial labor

I spent the last 4 hours prepping and packing up the Twinsix 29ers - I guess you don't realize how boring a job like that is when you usually just do one frame at a time. Man, I'm sick of using the bottom bracket taps...


In other news, I've done a little bit more work on the downhill bike. Progress since the last update includes:
-Ordered an el-cheapo front 20mm hub, and matching 36 hole 700c Rhynolite rims. I ended up selling my DT Swiss 165mm hub on Ebay (and only got a lousy $30!) because the 165mm standard seems to be disappearing, and in looking at the hub (which I got for free, so whatever) I noticed that the flanges aren't actually any farther apart/wider than those on a 150mm hub - the ISO disc mount is just extended way over to the nondrive side to make it line up right. Lame. So in any case, I got a no-name rear 150x12mm hub from BTI (it weighs an astounding 800 grams with the axle!) which will let me build the frame around something a little more normal. Some of you are probably wondering why I didn't get a set of Kris Holm rims for this beast - and essentially, it's because I'm light (150 pounds) and the Rhynolites are dirt cheap (<$20 each). If I blow them up, I won't complain.


-Built the start of the swingarm (see pic on the left). The sleeves are 1.125"x.095" machined to fit a 24mm axle, the arms themselves are 1.5"x.75"x.049" 4130 (probably massive overkill), and the pinch bolts are standard jobbies from Nova that are intended to be used on a seat tube to hold the seatpost in place. The sleeves are fillet brazed onto the arms because TIG welding this would cause some distortion problems that would probably make the sleeve no longer fit the axle without further (annoying and difficult) machining. Doing it with brass is plenty strong and saves me from having to deal with that problem.


-Built some nice ghetto dropouts. These are made from 1/4" 4130 plate and some cheapo 3/4" angle. Yes, I could have just gotten a set of Instigator dropouts and machined out the slots to 12mm, but this was, theoretically, more fun (and given that it only took 15 minutes, and the Instigator dropouts are $50 or so, it was the cheap option). I still need to do some finishing work on these and bevel edges and such. I didn't do the pinch bolt thing here because the 12mm axle uses HUGE hex nuts to bolt on and I think it'll be plenty stiff as it is with vertical drops.

Still to do:
-Gotta order more 1.5x.75 for the rest of the swingarm - I realized that I was like 6" short of what I need. The rear end of this frame is going to be ridiculously overbuilt - if I used 1.25"x.625"x.035" rectangular tube for the swingarm, I think I'd save like a pound and a half. But given that the frame is modular, I can always go back and build a second (lighter) rear end if I want to try it. Sarah's DH rig uses the .035" rectangular stock for the rear end and has had no problems in a couple years of hard riding, so I'm probably being overly conservative here, but I want to be able to lend this bike out to friends (some of whom have 80 pounds on me) so I figure it can't hurt. Plus I'm not about to start racing DH again, so a heavy bike doesn't really bother me.
-Build some wheels. I can steal Sarah's front wheel if needed (if I get lazy), so that won't take long.
-Install shock mounts and hardware. This shouldn't take long either. I'll probably put a long shock mount with a whole row of mounting points on the downtube so that I can play around with rising/falling spring rates and/or use a different eye to eye length if needed.
-Powdercoat. I'll probably ride it first to see how it works. I promise this one will get powdercoated before the start of the summer, though!

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

A neat site about the custom frame process...

Please note first that I'm not the one building this guy's bike. I just think his documentation is entertaining and informative, especially for folks who are considering getting a custom frame (from me, or anyone else).

Check it out: http://www.twowheelblogs.com/unit/beginning

In other news, the TwinSix bikes are *finally* ready to ship out - more details in a day or two when I coordinate with Brent to make sure they've got their ducks in a row to put some info up on their site.

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Fork FAQ

Please see the FAQ at Waltworks.com.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

New Paragon dropout pictures


As promised, here's a picture of Nick's frame with the new lightweight/relieved Paragon dropouts. As I mentione, the aluminum slider portion remains the same, only the stainless steel part has changed. Weight savings is about 40 grams. Price is quite a bit higher for me, though, so expect some kind of upcharge increase or something down the road.

I thought this Slate article was interesting:
http://www.slate.com/id/2164257?nav=ais

I personally think all roads should be toll roads, too (with bikes allowed on free, of course) but that's just me.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Wheelies are hard


I'll start this post off with a great photo Eric sent me. Spring is (finally) here!

So this spring, I've committed myself to learning to actually ride a wheelie. What's that, you say? I should have figured that out a long time ago, given that I ride constantly and build bikes for a living? AND given that I can ride a unicycle pretty well? Well, all I can do is hang my head in shame, 'cause I have no excuse. I just can't ride a real wheelie.

Don't get me wrong - I can get the front wheel off the ground, and in fact I can keep it there for several pedal revolutions. Lifting the front over a rock or stump or what have you? No problem! A little semi-manual to keep the front wheel off the ground through some rocks? Ditto. But I have to accelerate the whole time to keep the front end up, because I'm not actually at that (terrifying) balance point where you can just keep riding on the rear wheel indefinitely.

Today was an inauspicious start - I went out in the grassy area next to 55th street and practiced for about 10 minutes (10 minutes a day is the deal, because I've got other stuff to do with my life than ride wheelies). My goal was to be able to consistently go past the balance point (ie, start tipping over backwards) and correct using the rear brake to bring the front wheel back down. No actual wheelies, just bringing the wheel way up and then using the brake to set it back down, hopefully without panicking and jumping off the bike.

As luck would have it, every weird old lady, 8 year old, and delivery person in the neighborhood managed to walk by during that 10 minutes to witness me pathetically falling over backwards, forward, and sideways. Some ancient reptile part of my brain refuses to believe that the rear brake will actually save me from falling backwards and breaking my neck, and intervenes every time to save me from myself. If I was about 7 years old, I could have managed to salvage some dignity, but given that I'm 30, I think I lost major cool points with most of the folks walking by.

I did finally manage to get the wheel up past/to the balance point and then brake it back down at the very end of the session, but then I smashed my knee on the bars and called it a day. I'm hoping that it takes less than a month before I can do, like, a serious wheelie. We'll see. All you master wheelie riders out there are welcome to give me tips, eh?

Monday, April 16, 2007

New Paragon dropouts

Mark and the guys at Paragon machined out some excess material on their famous sliders - a mighty 40g lighter. Sweet! Of course, they run a few extra bucks, but whatever. I'll raise the slider prices down the road to cover the difference, probably, and just use the lightweight ones from now on for all but the most humongous folks.


I have some pictures of the DH bike progress, but I'm at Sarah's lab and can't upload them right now. I'll do so when I get home, though. Ordered everything for the rear end too, and even got around to making a dummy axle for the swingarm pivot. The front triangle is now done, except for a brace between the BB and seat tube that I still need to do. Progress!

Saturday, April 14, 2007

A blast from the past...

No pictures in this post, though I promise to do some of the progress on the DH sled next time.

My pal Lee (who went to Colorado College with me in the late 90s) came into town with some New Mexico boys and we hit the Spot for some bouldering on Friday night. Good times - I hadn't seen Lance (a NM climber from way back) in years, and it was great bouldering with old friends and talking about all the nice climbing that I haven't seen in years. Then this morning Sarah, Feldman and I rode up to Gold Hill and then hit a few trails I'm not allowed to mention here. A nice 5 hour ride, some Mr. Kim for dinner ($4 feeds two!) and a couple of brews later, and I'm sitting here blogging while I wait for my turn for the bathtub. Nice!

Tomorrow we'll either hit Devil's Backbone, or go ride Logan Mill (another nice big climb - we did like 4000 feet today) with Fuentes and Sonya. I'm thinking the latter, because Sarah wants to till the garden, and I want to work on the DH bike a bit so that I can have it ready to ride soon. Curiak has offered to lend me his modified Rockshox Lyrik (160mm travel) fork, and I'm hoping to get everything ready within the next month or so. We'll see.

I'll try to take some photos tomorrow and hence manage a more interesting post.

Monday, April 09, 2007

Arkansas mtn meeting, a bread recipe, and a frame for sale

First up, if you're not busy tomorrow, there's a meeting about the pending purchase of the Arkansas Mountain/Benjamin property. I'll be there, though I'm not sure it's a "public comments welcome" kind of thing.

Here's the info: Tuesday, April 10, 2007, 11 a.m., Commissioners Hearing Room,
3rd floor, Boulder County Courthouse, 1325 Pearl Street, Boulder, CO

Next up, a recipe that Jenny and Dave lost and needed me to send to them again. Since I'm typing it up anyway, I thought I'd post it.

Walt's molasses whole wheat bread

-3 cups of white flour
-1.5 cups of whole wheat flour
-4 tbsp sugar
-1/4c molasses
-1 packet/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
-1/4c warm (100 degrees F) water
-1 c warm water
-1 stick salted butter, melted

Step 1: Proof the yeast (meaning, mix it with 1/4c warm water, a teaspoon of sugar, and let it stand until it doubles in volume)
Step 2: Mix all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl
Step 3: Knead for 5 minutes, or until the dough is nice and rubbery. You may have to add a bit of extra water or a bit of extra flour if the dough is too dry or watery.
Step 4: Put the dough in a greased loaf pan, cover, and let rise in a warm place for 2 hours, or until it's hugified.
Step 5: Bake for 30 minutes at 375


Finally, if you're a very small person, my good friend Taryn needs to sell her Waltworks 26" wheel mountain bike frame. Here's a picture.

Vital stats: 20.75" effective toptube, 13" (center-top) seat tube, 71 degree head tube, 72.5 degree seat tube, 11.5" bottom bracket height, 425mm chainstays. The frame is v-brake specific (no disc mount) and built for a 60mm travel suspension fork.

Taryn would like to get $500 for the frame and Surly rigid fork. Shipping outside of Boulder would cost a bit extra. Please email me if you're interested.

Saturday, April 07, 2007

Waltworks sponsors Boulder Mountain Bike Patrol

Check it out here: Boulder Mountain Bike Patrol Blog.

Basically, I'm offering anyone who is an active patroller 20% off frames and forks. I'm also offering 10% off to members of the Boulder Mountainbike Alliance (check 'em out here). No, you can't get both discounts at once, duh. It's an exciting time for mountain biking in Boulder county - a decent number of new trails are opening and people are excited about getting involved. Join up with BOA or the patrol and do your part, folks!

Weather this weekend: freezing rain and 22 degrees. Fantastic. I think Sarah and I are going to go down to see Sarah's mom in Centennial, so I'll stop by Anvil bikes on the way to pick up my sexy new brake and boss fixture from Don. Sweet.

Friday, April 06, 2007

Friday friday friday

Dude, I got 2 sixpacks of beer today. One of the fringe benefits of building bikes is that the folks who buy them tend to express their thanks with beer. Hence I almost never have to buy beer myself, though sometimes what I get is a little odd.

In any case, our weekend is shot, thanks to the endless cold rain/snow/drizzle that has invaded the front range. Humorously enough, they also postponed the Boulder Roubaix race because of poor weather...I'd like to see them do that in Belgium. Not bloody likely!

I finally got my 38mm downtubes from True Temper, so Clay and Joel (who have both been really understanding about this) are both back on track, and I'm hoping to bust my butt this weekend and get both frames done. The downtubes took an amazing 4 months to show up! Between True Temper and the powdercoaters, I'm pulling my hair out lately.

Monday, April 02, 2007

A review from Vecsus

Check out the nice words James wrote about his new Waltworks here:
Vecsus blog

He's deploying to Iraq soon, so send some positive thoughts his way the next few months, eh? Be safe out there, man.



In other news, we rode the local "default" (meaning, what you do when you don't have a lot of time and you're too lazy to go way up in the mountains) ride, Betasso, for the first time this year. Betasso is a 1 mile/500 foot climb to a 3.3 mile singletrack loop. Not exactly an epic, but it's a respectable 22 miles round trip from our house (and luckily, pretty much the entire approach is on the Boulder Creek bike path), so it feels like a real ride. Sort of. I took a couple of pictures of Sarah on her new super-fancy 29er - here's the best one. It's close to sneaking under the 20 pound barrier - she's pretty psyched, because she's been riding and racing her super-heavy S&S travel bike for the last 6 months. It's supposed to have some of the new SRAM Noir cranks, but they haven't come into stock yet, so she's rocking the old Ritchey Logics.

-Walt