Thursday, February 28, 2013

Dirtbag SS 2013

As I always take care to point out, all of these parts are rideable. Are they light? Not really. Are they super beefy and indestructible? Again, probably not. But if you had to go on a trail ride on these parts, you'd have plenty of fun.

Add about $200 for gears if gears is your thing (think X-7 level stuff).

2013 SS Dirtbag Build - $2600

Frame WW custom
Fork X-Fusion 29" Slide RL2 (subtract $75 for custom rigid)
Shock None/hardtail
Headset Cane Creek 40
Stem Kalloy
Handlebar Truvativ T30 alloy
Brake levers FR-5
Shifters None
Front derailleur None
Rear derailleur None
Bottom Bracket W/cranks
Chain PC951
Cassette King SS cog
Crankset Truvativ Stylo SS
Pedals None
Cables/housing Included
Seatpost Kalloy
Brakes BB-7
Skewers Included
Wheelset XT/Mavic 717
RimStrips Included
Tubes Butyl
Tires WTB Nano Comp
Grips/tape Ritchey WCS
Saddle WTB Laser V comp

Dream Build 2013

Let the nitpicking begin! Can you find ways to spend more money than this? Certainly. Do you get anything out of a $300 carbon stem that you don't get from a $70 WCS? No.

If anyone is curious, let me know in the comments - I could price out a "stupid expensive" build just to see how much you could conceivably spend to impress the other dentists at the coffee shop on Sunday morning.


Dream Build 2013 - $6000

Frame WW custom (add $900 for full suspension)
Fork Fox RLC
Shock None/hardtail (CTD included with FS)
Headset King
Stem Ritchey WCS
Handlebar Easton EC70 or Haven Carbon
Brake levers XTR
Shifters XX1
Front derailleur None
Rear derailleur XX1
Bottom Bracket King
Chain XX1
Cassette XX1
Crankset XX1
Pedals None
Cables/housing Included
Seatpost Easton EC90
Brakes Shimano XTR
Skewers Included
Wheelset DT 240/Enve XC or AM
RimStrips Included
Tubes None
Tires Schwalbe Racing Ralph
Grips/tape Ritchey WCS
Saddle WTB Laser V ti

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Smartmoney Build 2013

I get asked about XX1 constantly, so here's the lowdown: if you're a frame customer, the complete XX1 group (trigger or gripshift, GXP cranks in either Q and either length) will run you $850. If you are not a frame customer DO NOT ASK TO BUY PARTS. Whew.

Front derailleurs are dead as aurochs, so XX1 is now "smart money". You can debate me in the comments if you disagree, but IMO the performance advantage over any other system out there right now is huge. Hopefully we'll see an X.9 level version next year.

Note that this build applies to any wheel size (26/650/29).

Smart Money 2013 - $4000

Frame: WW custom hardtail (full suspension: add $900, includes Fox CTD rear shock)
Fork Fox RLC (taper or non, 15 or 9mm axle)

Headset King
Stem Thomson
Handlebar Easton EC70 or Haven Carbon
Brake levers Shimano XT (choice of rotor size)
Shifters XX1
Front derailleur None
Rear derailleur XX1
Bottom Bracket XX1
Chain XX1
Cassette XX1
Crankset XX1
Pedals None
Cables/housing Included
Seatpost Thomson Elite
Brakes Shimano XT
Skewers Included
Wheelset ZTR hubs with Crest/Arch/Flow rims (your choice)
RimStrips Included
Tubes None
Tires Ignitor 2.1
Grips/tape Ritchey WCS
Saddle WTB Laser V pro


Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Mo Money, Mo Curved Stuff and Fancy Dropouts

Yep, it's one of those dreaded price increase posts. $1500 is what a frame will set you back starting April 3rd (yes, that's the Bean's birthday, and I figured I'd have problems if I made it April 1st). Everyone in line is locked into the existing price, of course.

People always want an explanation, here it is - I've been spending a lot more time on each frame because people want super short manipulated chainstays, curved seat (and now top) tubes, increasingly diverse (ie random enough that I can't buy bulk amounts of a single kind) dropouts, etc, etc. Materials prices haven't changed much, my overhead remains low, but you guys are asking for more and more cool stuff and it takes me time to do it.

This one just has one curved tube

So if you think I'm a greedy jerk, no problem, put down a deposit before April 3rd. If you just can't imagine ever affording a custom frame and want to know what stock bike you'd like best, or you've found some great new builder who will do a frame for super cheap for you, you can also just hire me to design your frame for a cool $50-100 (depending on how talkative you are and how long we have to talk it over). At this point I have designed more mountain bikes than all but a handful of people on earth so I guarantee you'll like my advice and design (otherwise it's free). Contact me for details.

Monday, February 25, 2013

Ugh!

Broke a drillbit and marred a newly powdercoated frame this morning, our nanny's little boy is projectile vomiting, the Bean refuses to nap, and I have a splitting headache...

Long story short, nothing is going to get done today, just FYI to everyone patiently waiting.

Also, just FYI, if you want to drill holes for M2 bolts in stainless... just don't. Or maybe do it before the powdercoat is on, at the very least. Crap crap crap. I suck.

Edit: Looks like I'm 100% dad tomorrow as well, again, I'll see what I can get done but it might not be much.

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Weightweenie FS Riders Rejoice...

Ventana no longer makes their "superlight" rear end but I've been riding a somewhat modified setup for a few years now on several of my FS bikes that achieves some of the weight savings with (in my experience, anyway) no loss of rigidity/stiffness or strength.

The procedure is pretty simple, really - I remove one set of bearings from each rocker (so that instead of quad bearings it's just double) and machine the rocker from 12.7mm to 10mm thickness.

Before


After (note the ceramic coating, too)


The total weight savings is about 100 grams, which isn't a ton, but this mod is free if you're buying a full suspension frame so the price is right ($0/gram!) If you already have an FS bike from me and want this done it'll run you $50 (including return shipping to wherever you are in the US). If you have a Ventana (or any bike with a Ventana rear end that I didn't build) and want me to do it, it's $75.

Downsides are basically that you aren't running quad bearings anymore (so potentially shorter bearing life, though I've never had any problems) and a look that some people may not like (ie bare machined aluminum next to black anodization). Quad bearings remain at the main pivot and those are the important ones for stiffness so you don't give up anything, really, in terms of performance. Of course, if you find that you disagree, you'll have to order another set of rockers (about $150). No, this does not void your warranty (ie, I'll replace your rockers if you break them) if you're riding one of my frames.

Anyway, easy way to save a few grams if gram saving is your thing. And a nice boring blog post for a slow, snowy Saturday afternoon.

Friday, February 22, 2013

Sam... the beginning

Not shown: Paragon sliders, brazeons, seat sleeve. I should have some serious progress to show over the weekend.

Lotsa curves

Thursday, February 21, 2013

In the jig...

Man, Garro was right. I rue the day I agreed to do a curved toptube... but darn, even my hypocrisy has it's limits. They just look neat.


Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Thoughts/FAQ on Ceramic Coatings

In no particular order.

-First, here's as high-res of an image as blogger will let me post of a HT/DT/TT joint with ceramic coating.

Ceramilicious
-As you can see, the coating is VERY thin and you will see every bit of what I did when welding (ie all the starts and stops, everywhere I wavered a tiny bit, etc). Some people like this look, some people prefer a smooth/no visible weld bead transition. If you like a smoother look, stick with powdercoat.

-The ceramic coating only weighs about 10-15g for the frame (to be fair, my scale is not very precise for objects this heavy, so take that with a grain of salt). In contrast, a powdercoat is about 80-100g for a complete frame. For FS front triangles both sets of numbers will be a bit lower (by about 1/3).

-The coating is so thin that it can be applied to the INSIDE of anything accessible without requiring removal (ie, the headset can press right in on top of the ceramic, likewise your BB can thread into the shell without a problem). Pretty cool if you're concerned about a rusty BB shell (but note that it's not possible to coat the insides of the tubes, so the bottom of the seat tube/bottom of the toptube will still be vulnerable to moisture if you don't take some care of your bike.

-Cost is high. If you want to know, check out the pricing here. There are 2 reasons for this: first, it's just harder to do than powdercoat, and second, it has to be shipped across the country twice (whereas powdercoats are done locally by a shop about 10 miles away). If light weight is your goal and you're on a limited budget, there are smarter places to spend your money as this fails the $1/gram test (ie, if you are willing to pay more than $1/g, you have a serious weightweenie disorder).

-Wait times will be longer. As of now, there is nobody local doing bikes with ceramic, hence I have to ship to Ceramikoat, they do the coating, and it has to be shipped back to me for final prep/headset and BB install/decals/etc. Expect to wait at least an extra month for your frame if you choose this option.

-If you prefer a glossy look the ceramic will not really accomplish it. It's satin or matte only. We can put a gloss clearcoat on top (at extra cost) but that will also eat into your weight savings pretty significantly.

-I have almost zero experience with the durability of the finish. It is claimed to be VERY good but I've already experienced some coating rubbing off (from a packing problem when the frame was shipped back to me) that indicates to me that it will not really be any more durable than powder. I have spoken with folks who had cranks coated who wore through the coating in less than 1000 miles as well (to be fair, there are some duck-footed folks like me who will wear through anything on their cranks).

-There is no warranty of any kind on the ceramic finish (for now). If you want to try this, you are a willing test monkey and if the coating wears off, you'll have to pay for refinishing yourself. In a few years when I have some time on my own ceramic coated frame to test it, that may change. You've been warned!

-If it were my money, I probably would stick with powdercoat, but it's a tough call. The coating is neat but the cost is pretty high (that may change) and the color selection is limited. If you're on a steel bike an extra 60g of powder probably shouldn't concern you too much, either. But it's the cool new thing, it can coat the insides of the BB/HT and part of the seat tube, and I got one of my frames done, so it's totally up to you whether it's worth the extra time and money. If my "testing" (ie, riding off some winter beer weight once the snow melts) proves it more durable than powder that might change my mind. 

Here's a quick shot of my FS XC bike (now even more weightweenie-tacular with machined down rockers!) that has been ceramic coated (but I forgot to turn off the flash, so it's not a great representation of the color - better pictures when I have the bike built up):

Yes, that's how your bike gets to Fedex (background)

Monday, February 18, 2013

Tom - complete

Thanks to Tom for the great pictures! Read more here and here if you want to know about geometry and such. 



Sunday, February 17, 2013

Stick a fork in it... Mike is done

Actually, we are still waiting for a steerer tube for Mike's rigid fork so the fork can't be stuck in it yet.

Snazzy fence picture. 

Geometry:
-69 head/71 seat angles, set up for a tapered steerer and 27.2 post.
-64.6cm front center/60.8cm effective toptube (relatively useless for comparison with other bikes with the slack seat angle in this case)
-42.5cm chainstays (41.9cm effective) and clearance for a 2.4" tire at the front of the sliders.
-30.5cm/12" bb height.
-106.1cm/41.8" wheelbase.
-S-bend stays, 1x or singlespeed only (front derailleurs are dead, dead, dead!)
-Tiny "not swanky but will open beer" bottle opener welded to the underside of the NDS dropout.

-Tubing is TT Supertherm (DT, TT) and 4130 (seat tube, seatstays) with some Deda s-bend chainstays thrown in. Beefy. Frame weight is about 2150g.

I believe Mike is going to do the ceramic coating on this sucker. I'll do a post about that on Monday, just got some stuff back from the Ceramikoat guys and I know lots of you want to know more.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Waste not, want not


Sometimes you go too far with the bender.

Friday, February 15, 2013

Mike dump 2

Photo dump, that is. I swear I will add some words and geometry geekery soon, this is the best I can do for now. Solo dad's superpowers do not include extra time to blog a lot. More pictures here if you're bored.


Facing the shell after joining chainstays. I removed the oxides on one side to show how different things look.



BB/ST/DT

Another angle.

ST cluster welded up. Look close and you can see where the plug/topper is welded in.

I was going to give this a perverted caption, just for Garro... oh, what the heck. Upskirt!

SS/CS/DO. Those little stays have to deal with a lot of heat.



Thursday, February 14, 2013

Picture dump: Mike

Facing the head tube. Harbor Freight lathes suck... but they can do this, at least.

Gotta keep the miter in phase with the bend on that seat tube.

Stainless insert gets fused for a 27.2 post.
Compound DT/ST/BB miter.

Seat tube all welded up.

Almost ready to tack in the toptube.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Jean

The outdoor light sucked, so this was the best I could do:

Blends right in with the garage door...
Here's the rundown:
-650b wheels or 700c (with road tires) in touring mode. This is a dual-purpose bike for both XC mountain biking and scenic winecountry (or beercountry, or teetotalcountry/Utah) touring with panniers.
-71 head and 73 seat angles. Jean will run a 26" fork (can't say what!) with 38mm offset so the trail number will be around 82mm. With road tires/wheels that will drop to about 77mm.
-11.75" BB height (about 11" with road tires). Jean will run 165 or 170 cranks.
-61.1cm front center, 103.1cm (40.6") wheelbase. Effective toptube length is 57cm/22.4".
-42.5cm chainstays. I'd normally go shorter for this wheel size and rider size (not especially big, to say the least) but we need to make sure her heels will clear the panniers so this was as short as I was willing to go, and even then it's only because the rack mounts on the low mount dropouts sit pretty far back.
-For a full 3x10 drivetrain. No XX1 silliness here, Jean needs to have both really low gears for the trails in Aspen, and also have higher gears for touring on the road. No way around it; a triple is the way to go.
-1 1/8 steerer. The tapered thing is awesome but I draw the line when the rider is under 120 pounds. No taper for you!
-Tubing is mostly Verus HT (toptube, downtube, chainstays) with and OX platinum head tube as well as some 4130 (seatstays, seat tube, BB shell). The downtube, chainstays, and seatstays are a bit beefier than I would normally use for such a small rider because of the potential need to carry rear mounted loads. I wanted things a little stiffer than normal for that scenario. This also means the frame is heavier than I'd normally build for a small rider - it'll probably break 4 pounds with powdercoat.

I must say, it's almost weird not to be doing... anything weird. It seems sometimes like I spend all my time building 36ers, or long-travel short chainstay FS bikes, or Stupidmobiles (yes, that's the new name, like it?) This was a nice, normal, hardtail mountain bike. The only "weird" thing about it really is the dual-purpose and that's not really that weird. Just some rack mounts and a little thinking about where the panniers need to go. Easy. But it can't last. I expect an email any minute asking for a dual-suspension short chainstay 36er tandem...

That's not hardcore Nordic,

THIS is hardcore Nordic (dorkiness)...


Monday, February 11, 2013

From the bench, in the jig

Some tools, in use or recently in use on Jean's frame.



Jean's frame itself. or at least 3/4 of it. 650b, baby!


Friday, February 08, 2013

Jay's 36er

Yes, it's beige. Yes, it uses 36" wheels. Other than that, it's a totally normal frameset!


Geometry is basically my "minimum size" 36er design that "fits" most people under 6'4" or so (ie it's as small as you can make a 36er without running into toe overlap or other problems). I have been getting a lot of questions about 36er geometry so perhaps this will be helpful to some folks.

-Head tube is at 69 degrees, with a 510mm axle to crown, 95mm rake fork. That generates about a 75mm trail number. Front center is 71.3cm.
-62cm/24.5" effective toptube, though on a bike like this (super odd HTA and fork rake) that number is nigh-meaningless.
-Seat tube is at an effective 73 degrees, curved a ton for tire clearance. It's 19.5" center-top, which allows the toptube to line up nicely with the seatstays (I've been told this looks very cool. As I'm about as uncool as a person can be, I'll reserve comment and just say that if it's cool to you, it's cool to me).
-BB height is 12" (that's 155mm drop, which requires some modifications of the Anvil J-man fixture to achieve)
-Chainstays are 51cm, and we're using an 83mm BB shell. You can run a full (3x9/10) or 1x drivetrain but Jay will probably just run a 2x crank and leave the chain on the 24t most of the time.
-Tubing is mostly TT Supertherm with some .035" 4130 thrown in. Paragon low mount dropouts, Deda S-bend chainstays.

Yes, I swept the floor. Hell is freezing over as we speak.

Thursday, February 07, 2013

A somewhat belated Happy Birthday...

...to Coconino Cycles. My man Steve Garro has been building the nicest fillet brazed frames ever for 10 years as of today!

In framebuilder years that is like 100 years in business or something.

I could only dream of doing fillets like this (which is one of the reasons I TIG weld instead!)


The Hard Sell



It is a good thing I am not in the business of selling used cars or something.




Got this email from J:


Hi Walt,
I talked to you a long, long, long time ago about starting a project for me. I never followed through with it but your name has kind of always been in the back of my mind for a new frame and I'm coming to you now with a more interesting request.
I have really, really bad shoulder and neck pain during and after I ride for more than an hour or so. It's really sucky. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with my anatomy and general riding style but I'm wondering if it also has to do with fit. The bike I currently have is a Niner EMD and I like it a lot. My friend who built it up for me is a bike mechanic and he's pretty good at assessing fit so it fits me pretty well. However, I'm sure since its a stock frame and he's not a bike builder that the fit is off enough to be causing some discomfort.
I was just wondering if you've built for anyone coming from a similar situation and if you're able to make a frame and tweak the build enough to alleviate some of the pain in my neck and stuff. I really want to do a 12 and potentially 24 hour race one day but I'm thinking that will never happen until I can get the pain under control.
Thanks in advance for your help,
My response:

Hi J - 

Being in pain on your bike sucks! I'd love to build you a new bike that solves all your problems! 
That said, I think there are some other steps you should try before getting a new bike.  
-Go get a professional bike fit from a facility (probably NOT a bike shop) that handles fits for people with medical/physical issues. The Boulder Center for Sports Medicine in Boulder does that, there are other places around the country that also do it. Bike shops are usually not equipped to do a really good fit for people who are in pain. 
-Talk to a physical therapist. It may very well be that there are muscles that are weak in your back/neck/shoulders or an old injury is being aggravated. In those cases, the solution is going to be to change yourself, not change your bike. Often bike folks have terrible weak core muscles - go take some yoga classes! 
-If none of that works (or the fit folks tell you you need something really unusual you can't do on your current bike), drop me a line and let's talk further.  
-Even if you don't want to do any of those things, get your bike shop friend to get you a big pile of stems of different lengths and rises and try some different positions on the bike. It might be that you just need to sit more upright (or the opposite). Remember that physiological problems at one point (say, your hands and wrists at an odd angle) can transmit themselves to other parts of your body (ie, your shoulders and neck can end up hurting) so you could also try different sweep/width handlebars and grips.  
-Suspension can be your friend too. Try a full suspension bike (demo/rent/borrow) that fits you and see if that helps. Try a suspension seatpost. Let a little air out of your tires, even.
So basically, do some experimenting and see if you can figure out what's happening. I can't diagnose you remotely and I'd be lying if I said I could guarantee a bike I built you would solve all your problems, since we're not really sure what's causing them.  
Once again, I'm happy to build you a bike and I bet you'd love it, but it sounds to me like there might be more going on than a bad bike fit and you should make sure you need a custom bike before you spend big money on one. If you just want one and think custom bikes are cool, of course, that's a good reason too! :) 
-Walt 

There are 2 misconceptions about custom bikes (and custom builders) that I think are worth clearing up here:

1: Framebuilders aren't omniscient. Anyone who tells you they can diagnose and solve all your fit problems via the internet is more interested in getting your money than solving your problems. In many cases you can do a good fit with just some body measurements and current bike geometry/setup numbers but in some cases you just have to put the person in different positions and have them ride until they figure out where they are comfortable. Sometimes they're NEVER comfortable and you have to figure out if PT or medical intervention is going to need to happen. That is WAY beyond my expertise (not to mention my pay scale!) so for people in chronic pain without an obvious cause - I have to defer to someone who can examine the rider in person.

2: When you get a custom bike you are really mostly paying for the intersection of fit and frame geometry that produces a bike that rides well. I could put a 4' tall child on a 29er with a reversed stem and flipped over drop bars and probably get all her contact points in exactly the right places - but everything else about the bike would be horribly wrong. I want you on the right contact points (ie saddle, grips, pedals) but you also need to have the wheels far enough (but not too far!) in front/behind you to balance your weight well, be able to straddle the toptube, not hit your cranks on the ground constantly, not have toe overlap, etc, etc. THAT is where the value in a custom bike lies.

You can accomplish "fit" by moving your saddle and bars around with spacers, stems, setback posts, etc (ie, I can "fit" on a road bike that is 54cm or 60cm if I have a long enough seatpost for the small bike and a short enough stem for the big one), and most people already know pretty well where they feel comfortable. So fit is often easy. Making sure fit and frame geometry come together perfectly - that's what's hard.

Tuesday, February 05, 2013

Quick tease

Snazzy new dropouts, shorter chainstays than anyone would ever want... and I don't expect to see dry trails around here for at least a couple of months. I did spin around the block and initially thought it felt terrifyingly twitchy. Then I realized I have only ridden my 7 foot long cargo bike for the last 2 months...

On the plus side, that should give me time to replace the white twist ties that are holding the hoses and also maybe bleed the brakes so they actually work.

Edit: closeup photo of the dropouts here.



Monday, February 04, 2013

McCalla 4 - Done

Here's the frame, in a composition I call "still life with stool, tomato ladder, and super fun short chainstay long travel 29er"



For other posts on this frame, click here to read part 1, part 2, or part 3.

Now, geometry info and discussion/incoherent rambling:

-120mm travel front and rear. With a swap of rockers, you can get 140mm rear travel, and if you want to use a 2.25" stroke shock as well, you can get all the way up to about 160mm. I don't think McCalla will ever want that much. The frame will clear a 2.5" tire at 160mm travel/full bottom out, though, if it ever comes to that.
-69.5 head tube angle and 67.5cm front center. I did my best to talk him into going a little slacker but this is what we eventually settled on. Takes a tapered steerer fork, of course.
-73 degree (effective) seat tube angle, 49cm seat tube, 32" standover (yeah, pretty high)
-43cm (actual, 42.7cm effective) chainstay length and 13.3" BB height (unsprung). He's running 170 cranks and wanted a pretty low BB. I would normally probably go higher for a bike with this much travel, but like anything it's a matter of preference and making tradeoffs.
-110.2cm/43.4" wheelbase.
-For 1x (XX1 in this case) only. You could not fit a front derailleur on this bike, no way, no how. I could put a direct mount on it but the chainstays would hit the derailleur at full compression so there's really no point. But thanks to XX1, it's moot, because McCalla will have plenty of gear for anything he wants to ride.
-Tubing is a mix of straightgauge OX Platinum (seat tube), heat treated 4130 (head tube, downtube) and Supertherm (toptube). All the small bits (ie pivot mounts and such) are 4130. This bike is arguably pretty overbuilt but McCalla is one of only a handful of people I have ever met who rides as fast as I do on the downhills so I know it's going to get the snot beaten out of it. You could pretty easily take 150-200 grams off with lighter gauge tubing for a smaller rider or for XC/shorter travel applications (like I did with my own FS bike).
-Frame weight is 3000g even (but it doesn't have the powdercoat on yet, that'll add a little bit) including the shock and all the hardware.

Sunday, February 03, 2013

Picture dump - McCalla 3

One of these hopefully will show what the "doohickeys" that Dave asked about in Pt. 1 are for.

 Shock mount installed. Good thing I offset the DT to help make room!

 I know, boring, a cable guide. I liked the half-moon weld rainbows.

See the doohickey?  Also note the machined-out sleeve for the rocker mount.

 Almost ready to party...

Edit: It has come to my attention that I posted this during the super bowl, which, if I'm honest, I did not know was occurring, much less which teams were involved. So, in summary, I am an America-hating vegan communist sympathizer, no need to point it out.

Saturday, February 02, 2013

Mike pt. 2

Just a couple of pictures on a Saturday morning. I still need finish up the shock mount and add some cable guides.


Note that I'd prefer to curve the seat tube, but due to the limited room to make the bend and need for a decent amount of seatpost insertion (he'll sometimes run a 350mm rigid post and sometimes a 400+mm dropper), it has to be cut and welded back together.

The toptube is relatively high (normally I would drop it and brace it to the seat tube) because McCalla A) has really long legs, and B) could care less about standover.

Downtube is offset down (to help make room for the shock and make the ST compound miter a bit less insane) so instead of a smooth curve, it's got a straight section at the bottom of the joint. Kinda neat looking, actually.