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...

Give me a brake!

...says Bean. Good thing you can adjust the reach like crazy on old plastic SRAM 5.0 brake levers!

Frankenbike started out as Dora the Explorer from Walmart by way of garage sale. Yes, that's a Thomson post.

This was the old system:

Happy Weekend...

... says Stupidmobile 2: Non-Electric Boogaloo.

Details and more photos to come, but some numbers to clue you in: 29x3, 100mm, 42.5cm, 69 degrees, 30.9, goes to 11.

#braaap

Brian's frame class bike - complete!

I did nothing but stand by and advise/run my mouth. Brian built this sucker from the ground up about a month ago - 150mm travel 27.5 hardtail with slack angles, super short stays, and all the modern bells and whistles. Nice work!

Edit: frame class details here. A couple spots still open for fall this year!

Prepare to be shredded, Marquette

3" tires? 425mm chainstays?

There are some caveats, but man this thing is going to be fun when it's done! And no, that swingarm won't be attached to this frame. I just bolted it up to play around and give it a little night ride test.

2001 LX cranks are still awesome. Cable guides? Who needs cable guides?

If I ran the circus: Plus Bikes, Chainline, and Short Chainstays

As the world of mountain bikes gets more and more diverse, things get... more interesting for a framebuilder. I've got a big drawer of obsolete tools and parts that are only 5 years old (need a jig to install an ISCG mount or direct mount front derailleur, anyone? 150x12 through axle dummy? 1 1/8" head tube stock? Didn't think so...) and I'm constantly getting presented with odd new problems to solve.

But hey, interesting times. And all the options out there are just simply awesome for riders. The bad old days of 71/73 and 2.1" tires are long gone (though you can still have that if you want it!)

Because I build a decent number of plus size (ie, ~3" tire) bikes lately, and I have a lot of picky customers who don't want just a big tire slammed into really long chainstays to make it all work, here's the plus-bike wish list, as brought to you by someone who builds them and rides them too.

First off, if you're someone who fits nicely on a 29er, consider that 29+ is really 30.5" diameter, give or take a few mm. If you're close to toe overlap on your 29er, or you really feel like the bike is close to too long/unwieldy - then you should do 27.5+ (about 29" diameter), not 29+. Likewise if you're pretty small, 26+ exists and is a great option (it's basically the same diameter as 27.5, but wider tires). Don't just decide you want fatter tires and automatically upsize your wheels at the same time - that might not be appropriate for you and what you want to do.

The most important thing to do for these bikes (regardless of wheel diameter): wider than normal chainline. Let's assume you won't run a front derailleur. That's a pretty safe assumption these days with 1x giving up to 4.4x1 overdrive - enough for anything that will mostly be ridden on a trail for 95% of riders.

The battle, as always, is fitting the chainstays, tire, and chainring all into the same small area near the BB shell. A quick look at any mountain bike will show you why this is trouble. Every extra millimeter we can squeeze out is worth it's weight in gold, so throw the usual ~50mm chainline out the window.

How? Lots of ways, in order of max tire clearance/short chainstay awesomeness:
1. Boost (ie 148mm hub spacing, ~52mm chainline)! It only gets us 2mm of extra space, but that's not a bad thing. If you do nothing else, you can do a boost rear end/crank.
2. Run your chainring on the outboard position of a triple crank (~56mm chainline) and offset rear dropouts/hub to match. Alternately run a direct-mount chainring flipped over (ala Raceface Cinch) or BB30 ring on GXP crank (SRAM). This helps a ton and also has the sidebenefit of a mostly dishless rear wheel.
3. Run an 83mm BB (~55mm chainline) and matching cranks. There are lots of great options out there now though finding 175mm cranks in XC-ish configuration can be challenging. Offset rear wheel to match. Or build around a 150/157mm through axle rear hub.
4. Run an 83mm BB and offset ring (~60mm chainline). Offset rear end 10mm or so to match or run a 170/177mm fatbike rear end (ala Kevin's low-Q fatbike). My favorite option, this actually gives enough room to run a 4" fatbike tire if you so desire and plenty of space for short, short chainstays with loads of tire clearance.
5. Run a 100mm BB and 170mm rear end. If you're going for a fatbike with plus-tire/summer setup, this is the next step up. Some folks won't like the Q factor, though.

I get a lot of pushback on all of these ideas from people because it seems some folks are really stuck in the "bike should be symmetrical" mindset. Here's the thing: your bike is already not symmetrical. You have a drivetrain on one side, brakes on the other (assuming disc brakes). Your wheels have the spokes coming out of the flanges at dramatically different angles. In some cases your rims are drilled offset to one side...etc. My goal is to make the bike that rides the best for you - and in most cases, having the rear end symmetrical is going to detract from doing that with many of the plus sized tires that are out there. Yes, you'll have to have a dedicated rear wheel for your plus bike that you won't be able to swap around with your other bikes without redishing it. C'est la vie. Wheels are cheap (relatively speaking).

Q factor is another question. If you really want narrow Q, options get limited. But fatbikes have proven (for *most* people) that Q factor isn't as crucial as you might think. Adding 5mm to each side (ie using an 83mm shell instead of 73mm) isn't even noticeable to most riders. You might be the exception, of course, but there's no reason to think you need to worry about it unless you have a preexisting knee problem and you know the Q factor is going to be trouble.

So bottom line: if you want a semi-fat/plus bike, consider letting me go a little nuts to make it awesome. It's going to be weird, yes. But much more fun than a cookie-cutter setup with 45cm chainstays (unless 45cm chainstays is what you need, of course!)

Weekly random shop photos

Word on the street is I might have an actual website at some point soon...

In the meantime, I'm still making stuff out of metal.

Getting close

All mitered

Sideways Solidbikes 30.9 plug

Soon you'll be covered up by the downtube...

Greg finishes up...

Actually, due to a little snafu with a cut-too-short seatstay bridge, it'll be a few more shop hours. But we're close!

The student has become the master...

Brian under the hood.

135mm Rohloff with 29+ or 26x3.8?

Yes, it's doable. It requires some serious curves, though, if you want s-bends and some decent heel clearance.

Mark plans some very comfy fat-tire touring on rough dirt roads wherever he decides to wander - with plenty of anything cages, bottles (you can mount extra bottles on the seatstays, even!) and fenders. PF30 EBB? Jones fork on the front is going to be the icing on the only-one-like-it cake. 

Yowza!

WW vs AK

Alaska. I think the Kalashnikov would win if that was the AK I meant.

Thanks to Steven for the photos

Riser bar, upside down stem?

Oh, what the heck... one more

Sarah's (not my Sarah) new 29x4" bike. Featuring BB wrench counterweight and no shock bushings yet! It's friday...

No decals either? Walt's not even trying...

Pretty normal modern XC geometry, dropper post compatibility, and remote lockouts and adjustable travel out the wazoo. Sooner or later I gotta modernize my own stuff, my own FS bike looks pretty darn obsolete these days.

This thing would fit me pretty well if the seat tube and head tube were both 2" longer

And another one!

We squeezed Carey onto a 120mm travel 29er... not nearly the squeeze job that Sam's bike is, of course, but still a little work to make him fit.

And no, I didn't finish all these bikes within a few days of each other. They are all just ending up being done or shipped out around the same time because of the vagaries of powdercoating (especially now that the Powderworks of UT guys have, well, fired themselves).

Carey's is more on the XC/all around side (in both geometry/travel and components) than Gal's longer-travel, slacker version. But it's pretty capable of being whatever you want it to with the right fork.

Gal's Slack/Short/Long FS bike... done!

Well, it still needs cable guides. But mostly done.

Really squeezing to get everything to fit with those short stays!

DBinline is hot hot hot - 140mm travel here.

And, of course, the geometry (with magic invisible rear end). No sag shown here. Gal also has a fun 29+ hardtail I built for him a few years back.

Short rear end, slack, long travel... sound familiar? 

Return from Vacation Rant: Nobody Cares About the 80s

Framebuilders who started during the great 2000s wave all sort of fit the same profile. White guys, some with silly facial hair, who quit art school/day job/social life and decided to make bikes for money (or, in many cases, really, just as a hobby that looks like a job, but I won't go into that here).

I'm one of them, of course - one of the folks who caught the 29er wave and never looked back. Talk about good (lucky) timing...

In any case, I'm hardly in a position to throw stones from my atrocious website, but I have a bone to pick with you, fellow builders. Your profile pages suck. (Y)our backstories are all almost identical.

Let's tally it up:

-Everyone rode a BMX in the 80s. Everyone. You might as well mention that you like Reeses Pieces and long walks on the beach. It's just not relevant to building bike frames, because it doesn't distinguish you in any way from the millions of other kids of that era who also rode BMX bikes in the dirt lot behind the Piggly Wiggly. Yes, you love bikes. So does most of humanity.

-You (we) are old, and getting older. Punk rock is dead. If you want to be different and cool you have to try harder than pointing out that you like IPAs and bluegrass/punk/90s hip hop/Johnny Cash (guilty as charged...) Basically every white person in our generation likes those thing. If you wanted to stand out you'd be really into, say, wine coolers and Moby. Or Chinese opera and peyote.




-Macro photos of someone peering at a dial indicator are a dime a dozen. Likewise anonymous hoodie-wearing dudes with welding helmets on hunched over a glowing TIG torch. Here's the thing, though - sticking the metal together and making it straight enough to ride right aren't really what a customer is paying for. You should show some *design work*. Show some unusual stuff. Explain why you know how to build something that rides like a dream.

-Don't mention that you worked in a bike shop, because so did every other bike-obsessed kid on earth, basically. It also in no way qualifies you to build a fun bike for someone. I'm pretty crappy at, say, bleeding Magura brakes. But that's not my job - that would be like wanting to make sure the engineer who designed your car worked at Jiffy Lube when they were in high school.

-Lots of facial hair just means you probably aren't using a respirator when you're hunched over that smoking metal for an hour or two a day. It's your body, I guess.

-Everyone else also drinks PBR at least occasionally.

-And of course, last but not least: poverty does not make you cool. The last thing I want is a frame built by someone who makes no profit and will be out of business/his girlfriend's garage in a year. I want a frame from someone who takes vacations, and doesn't have to depend on deposits coming in to order tubes, and will answer the phone in 10 years when I need to know if I can put a 100mm travel fork on.

72.5cm effective toptube...

Not much to give it context here, but this is going to be one BIG bike...29+ is a godsend for those really big folks out there! Upward curved toptube? Standover's not a problem when you have a 94cm saddle height and ~40" inseam!

Just to get the bars high enough, this will use a 150mm travel MRP stage fork!

Now available: Curved tubes for framebuilders

I've spent quite a while figuring out a reasonable technique for making nice curved tubes with butted tubing and I've had a reasonable amount of luck (after ruining plenty of fine American steel in the process of learning what not to do). If these items are popular I may offer some other options that I commonly use (curved 31.8mm seat tube for 27.2 post, curved 34.9 seat tube for 31.6 dropper post, curved 31.8 supertherm top/down tube, 19mm twin toptube/seatstays?)

Without further ado:

Please note: All bent tubes will exhibit some minor ovalization. It is up to the end user/builder to determine appropriate diameter/butting and miter/cope/join appropriately. There is no visible ripple/flaw at butts/butt transitions (transition from bent/straight on seat tubes is visible). Butts marked for builder's convenience on request.

28.6mm diameter 9/6 single butted seat tube. 650mm total length, 75mm butt. Bottom 250mm is curved 10mm (approximately 1750mm radius). Appropriate for short-chainstay frame designs and will take a 27.2 seatpost. REQUIRES a sleeve or lug at toptube/seatstay cluster. 4130 cromoly. Bent/straight transition is visually obvious and overenthusiastic insertion of a too-long seatpost can damage this tube. Builder must adjust seat angle for desired saddle positioning. $60

-28.6mm diameter 9/6/9 double butted x 600mm. Butts are 100mm at each end. Curved 25mm over total 600mm length (approximately 1750mm radius). Appropriate for toptubes with curve oriented either up or down. 4130 cromoly.  Butt transitions are NOT visible after bending. $70

-31.8mm diameter 9/6/9 double butted x 600mm. 90mm butts at each end. Curved 25mm over total 600mm length  (approximately 1750mm radius). Appropriate for toptubes oriented either up or down, or for light-duty downtube. 4130 cromoly. Butt transitions are NOT visible after bending. $70

-Custom tube bending. Want something unusual? I can bend most sizes of commonly used bike frame tubing, both straightgauge and butted. Heat treated material will cost considerably more, but yes, I can do it. Contact me for a quote.

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.

Sarah's new frame - with extra-slim seat tube

No collar

W/collar

Total weight savings: just under 10 grams. Which is actually more than I would expect, but that's what you get if you calculate it out. Worth the trouble? Well, it's not much trouble, so if you want me to do this for you, just ask.

Terrible, terrible graphics on that seat collar, though. I might have to polish it up.

For those who are confused, more on sleeving seat tubes here and here. This is the method I use on all frames with 28.6mm seat tubes, just FYI.

Don

Don's mostly a singlespeeder and he's got a SS I built for him 7 or 8 years ago, but he wanted a geared bike with a suspension fork for longer, rougher rides. Or maybe he just got old and lame like me and figured out gears and suspension can make up for creaky knees and wrists a little.

In any case, it's a big bike for a tall fellow, built to handle everything the Wasatch can throw at him. Geometry:
-69.5 HTA, 73 (effective) STA
-For a 100mm travel tapered steerer fork
-65.5cm effective toptube, 71.3cm front center (yeah, that's long!), 93mm trail
-43cm chainstays, clearance for a 2.4" tire, no front derailleur
-Curves (toptube, seat tube, stays) for tire clearance and fun.
-32.5cm/12.8" BB height (Don uses 180mm cranks and doesn't like to hit his pedals on stuff)
-Supertherm front end mostly with Deda chainstays and trusty Paragon DR2010 dropouts. Frame weight is about 2300g.

So basically, a bike built for all-around XC adventure, on the stable side for long days in the saddle and rough terrain. Should be a blast!

Nick, this picture is for you - big as a garden gate, as you like to say!