Thursday, January 05, 2012

In which I sell out


For the record:
-Nobody pestered me into this.
-This is actually Walt, and not his evil clone.
-I am aware of my previous statements regarding curvy-swervy tubes and how I think they're silly.
-I await your taunts and cruel japes in the comments.

That said:

I got a tubing roller. Yes, the kind of device you use to make long, smooth curves in things like seat tubes (the main impetus for the purchase), toptubes (gah!) and even twin toptube/seatstays (double gah!)

I thought long and hard about whether I should just build the darn thing (it's basically two plates that sandwich some rollers, with a threaded rod to push down on the drive roller, so not that complex) but the siren song of Harbor Freight was too strong to resist. $150 later (plus about $300 worth of decent rollers to replace the junk HF ones from the good folks at Swag Offroad, I can bend stuff over long radii. In fact, I was excited enough that I curved some .035x1" tube just for fun... which was probably a bit silly, since that tubing has other uses and now I have to order more.

My main use for this will be for 36ers and super short stay 29ers where I need the seat tube out of the way of the tire. Yes, I have been kinking them, but some people hate the look, and I want the option not to have to weld the toptube in to the same spot as the kink in order to reinforce everything.

I actually counted them up, and I have 4 different seat tube-moving techiques:
-Offset the seat tube on the BB shell, or even move it to the downtube.
-Cut/weld the seat tube to kink it.
-Do a cutout on the seat tube.
-And now, curve the seat tube.

Anyhow, if you've got a project in mind that involves curves, I'm now equipped to do it.

I'm also equipped to suffer everyone's mockery for my blatant hypocrisy.

18 comments:

sdl said...

next you'll be doing custom lugs. or titanium! titanium!!!

Walt said...

Yes, I am on the road to being a poor man's Jeff Jones, probably. What a miserable, wretched existence that will be...

ProEdgeBiker said...

I likes the curvy tubes. Nice Job!

eddie said...

I want a frame that every tube, (except the headtube and bb) is curvy please

Walt said...

Dude, curved head tubes are the way to go. They're very, um, elegant. And they can improve standinfront, which is crucial for standing in front of your bike for riders with big fat asses.

NickS said...

Wouldn't be the first time you have sold out.......

Gears......

Disc brakes.....

Suspension forks......

Rear suspension.....

Dishwasher......


Oh this is way too much fun!!!

Walt said...

Don't forget the Subaru...

NickS said...

I didn't want to get too carried away!

BigHank53 said...

Can you curve a steerer tube to match my curved head tube?

Walt said...

Absolutely. S-bend steerers are really the best way to go for maximizing vertical compliance, though. I'd really try to steer you that way.

Anonymous said...

Welcome to the 21st Century!

When can I order my cury Ti frame w/ press fit BB30?

Anonymous said...

Rad!

Anonymous said...

I've got a garaged frame that sidles down the road. Can you bend me a stem to square the bars up? And maybe a curved seat post to balance things out.

What does selling out pay, now-a-days? I might solicit offers.

Unknown said...

can I send you back my frame to bend it up?

steve garro said...

hahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahhaahahahahahhahaahahahahhahahahahaahah!!!!!!!!!!
You know not yet what ye hath reaped........
- Garro.

rideswithscissors said...

That curve you made looks nice and smooth. I would think that you would need to crank that wheel smoothly and without stopping to do that. If so, you could put a suicide knob on the wheel, or use a motor.

Anonymous said...

Gettin O so close to the dark side......MIG welders are on sale at Home Depot!!!

Todd

t-roy said...

Man, if only you grew some crazy facial hair and got some sleeve tattoos..............

*this is in no way jiving on tats and crazy facial hair for those
that dig that kinda' thing.