Ron - done

29 with clearance for 27.5+ seems to be all the rage these days. Fun way to have 2 bikes in one (though IMO the 27.5x3, 29x2, 26x4 bike is the way to go if you really want the Swiss army knife effect!)

This one is an all-arounder with Rohloff capabilities as well as the usual stealth dropper, loads of tire clearance, etc.

Still all fluxy

I can't resist putting curved bridges on these bikes with big tire clearance...

GDR-ready

I don't know if Mark is actually doing the GDR, but this is the sort of bike I'd use if I was. 29+, Rohloff, rigid but with a lot of front end cush - not much to go wrong but about as much passive suspension and comfort as you can get.

Day in the woods?

2 weeks in the woods!

Tom's Gravel Grinder: Done

Curvy bridge is pretty much mandatory with those stays

I cleaned up a little bit. Or maybe I just pushed all the random junk to the sides...

Tapered head tubes are neat, and not as much of a pain to miter to as I had feared.

What you've all been waiting for... 2015 build kits: Smart Money

Hey, 2015 is... more than half over. And I finally got around to doing a new set of build kits.

Here's this year's "Smart" money kit. Notes: no pedals or saddle, shipping not included. GX cranks may be unappealing to some, but you're better off spending that money elsewhere IMO. Front derailleurs are still dead.


Smart Money 2015:

$3600 geared

$3200 singlespeed

$4600 full squish

Replace that old-school rigid post with a Thomson dropper for an extra $200!

Frame	Waltworks Custom
Fork	Rockshox Reba
Headset	King
Stem	Thomson X4
Handlebar	Easton EC70
Shifters	X1 trigger
Front derailleur	None
Rear derailleur	X1
Bottom Bracket	w/cranks
Chain	X1
Cassette	X1 10-42
Crankset	SRAM GX w/32t ring and BB
Pedals	None
Cables/housing	Included w/shifter
Seatpost	Thomson Elite
Brakes	Shimano XT w/160mm rotors
Skewers	Included
Wheelset	ZTR Crest/Arch/Flow wheelset w/XD driver
RimStrips	Included
Tubes	None, tubeless!
Tires	Bontrager XR team series TLR (I like the XR2 for all-around fun)
Grips/tape	Ritchey WCS

AZ trail, yo!

Thanks to Adam for the amazing photos.

Beard seems more appropriate for a cooler-weather sort of event...

Wow.

Randy and Mike... different takes on bikes for dirt roads!

Gotta love the diversity of stuff that you can do with a drop-bar bike with decent tire clearance.

Exhibit A: go play chicken with your lactate threshold like Randy.

19 pounds, not bad! Someone forgot to tell Randy to cut his steerer tube, and that front derailleurs and 1 1/8 aren't cool anymore...

Or, load up and go to Africa like Mike...

Probably more than 19#. More like 60? Steerer appropriately cut, though, bonus points!

Aaaand... we're out.

And just in time. Ugh. It's supposed to be 114 in St. George this weekend!

For those who are curious, this week was devoted to fulfilling my promise of a wedding tandem to Redcoat and Smoyle, who got married a little over a year ago. Logistics (they live in Switzerland) and inertia kept it from happening until now, but I'm finally (almost) done. Yes, it's coupled to fit in an S&S case.

Bungee cords are crucial when figuring out where to put the couplers to fit into a case...

Note that I will only sell tandems to WW frame owners (ie repeat customers) and UT locals. I am FAR from a tandem expert and in many cases talking to Santana or Davinci is a better plan but I am pretty happy with how this one came out and I'd be comfortable selling you one if you're interested. Cost for a frame will be around $3000 but will depend on details so please call or email for a quote.

I'll try to get one more photo tonight of the finished frame.

We'll be back from VT on the 8th of July, don't expect quick (or any) replies to email/phone until then.

Photography fail

I promised some sort of real bike building post for Monday, but I failed to follow through. So you'll have to settle for a late-night (Sarah is writing grant proposals) effort with some of my worst photography yet.

This is Chris' huge "cross" frame. I used the "airquotes" because he has no intention of doing any racing on it. He described it as a "fun bike". As in, not sure what kind of ride you want to do, just grab the bike and go. Sounds fun to me, but I can't call it that or the weekend warriors (sigh, I'm now one of them) won't cough up their hard-earned money for my bikes...

At WW World HQ, we take "fun" seriously. Apparently we can't say the same for "composition" or "lighting"

So 'cross bike it is.

Here's the geometry rundown:
-Built for a VERY large rider with very long legs. It's impolite to mention exact numbers here but I'll say that Chris is twice the man I am. Consequently the tubing is pretty beefy - True Temper Supertherm pipes and a 44mm/tapered headtube matched up to a set of NOS tandem chainstays and some BD cargo bike seatstays. Total frame weight, amazingly (at least IMO) is about 5.5 pounds.
-Takes a 31.6 post. No, not so Chris can run a dropper (though that would be hilarious and awesome and due to the fact that he works in the bike industry he'd have no trouble sourcing one). Just so he can run a bit stronger post than 27.2.
-71.5 head and 73 seat angles. Pretty boring numbers there, but she should be pretty stable for most types of "fun" riding (ie gravel, easy singletrack, pavement, farmer's market, work, bar, etc).
-66mm of trail (with a tapered-steerer Enve disc cross fork) and 637mm front center.
-61cm seat tube and 20cm (!!) head tube. Chris runs an amazing 85cm saddle height - so this is actually a *compact* frame at 61cm!
-About a 28cm BB height with 35-40c tires (it'll clear up to about 45, depending on the exact tire, with fenders).
-45cm chainstays.
-Ready for 1x or multiple front chainrings, disc only.

Sounds fun to me, assuming you've got long enough legs to actually jump on.