Matt's frame features a head tube that is over 9" long. 'Nuff said (for now). Full details to come, I just think the head tube is pretty amazing. And yes, he is a very tall guy.
6 comments:
MattB
said...
Wow, HUGE traingle. You could fit a small frame inside that beast...
So if you were Grant Petersen, would you put in a second "top" tube (with a third coupler, of course) to strengthen the front triangle? I'm really not mocking Mr. Petersen for his particular ideosyncracies so much as I am inviting some comment on the challenges or compromises in designing a bike of that size--especially a bike with couplers. Bryan
Grant Petersen likes standard size frame tubing, because he wants to build lugged frames. The old 1.125" seat/down tubes and 1" top tube worked fine for decades...but human beings got significantly larger starting in the sixties. Oversize tubesets came into common use in the eighties, and have more-or-less settled on 1.125" seat, 1.25" dt, and 1.125" tt, which works okay for racers up to about 180 lbs and civilians up to 220 lbs. If you're bigger than that you need a stiffer frame, and the builder has to either enlarge the tubes, make the walls a lot thicker, or add tubes. Many years ago I build a 70cm frame for a large and muscular customer with the largest True Temper tubes I could get at the time. He swapped the parts from his old Schwinn noodle and reported that he was climbing hills with a gear three cogs higher than the old frame. The stiffness of the frame has to match the rider--no matter how you get there.
6 comments:
Wow, HUGE traingle. You could fit a small frame inside that beast...
How big is this guy?
So if you were Grant Petersen, would you put in a second "top" tube (with a third coupler, of course) to strengthen the front triangle? I'm really not mocking Mr. Petersen for his particular ideosyncracies so much as I am inviting some comment on the challenges or compromises in designing a bike of that size--especially a bike with couplers.
Bryan
Don't believe you DeWalt. That's a normal frame for small wheels. Admit it!
Will a standard Headset Press fit that head tube? No way.
Grant Petersen likes standard size frame tubing, because he wants to build lugged frames. The old 1.125" seat/down tubes and 1" top tube worked fine for decades...but human beings got significantly larger starting in the sixties. Oversize tubesets came into common use in the eighties, and have more-or-less settled on 1.125" seat, 1.25" dt, and 1.125" tt, which works okay for racers up to about 180 lbs and civilians up to 220 lbs. If you're bigger than that you need a stiffer frame, and the builder has to either enlarge the tubes, make the walls a lot thicker, or add tubes. Many years ago I build a 70cm frame for a large and muscular customer with the largest True Temper tubes I could get at the time. He swapped the parts from his old Schwinn noodle and reported that he was climbing hills with a gear three cogs higher than the old frame. The stiffness of the frame has to match the rider--no matter how you get there.
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