[Huck Banzai]

How many of you have your frames prepped when building?

I mean the facing and chasing of the BB shell, and Facing (and sometimes reaming) of head tube?

External bearing BB's 'require' the BB to be faced (for proper install and required for warranty) as Chris King will technically not warranty a headset/bearings pressed into and un-faced/prepped frame.


In my experience, very few people do this except the OCD guys like me. It can prevent stress risers, creaking headsets and BB's, and loosening as well as wear of/on parts.


So do you do it?

Always?

Sometimes?

Haven't, but want to going forward?

etc.....

 

[Zutroy]

How many of you have your frames prepped when building?

I mean the facing and chasing of the BB shell, and Facing (and sometimes reaming) of head tube?

External bearing BB's 'require' the BB to be faced (for proper install and required for warranty) as Chris King will technically not warranty a headset/bearings pressed into and un-faced/prepped frame.


In my experience, very few people do this except the OCD guys like me. It can prevent stress risers, creaking headsets and BB's, and loosening as well as wear of/on parts.


So do you do it?

Always?

Sometimes?

Haven't, but want to going forward?

etc.....

I haven't had to prep a frame in a while. Most companies i dealt with the past couple years, prep them at the factories.

 

[sanjuro]

Some companies are notorious for their frames requiring tapping/facing.

 

[mack]

I always will do the BB threads and usually face the headtube if its got paint on it. If you just spent 1500 on a new frame why not take the extra 15 minutes to chase the BB threads and face the head tube and disk brake mounts.

 

[kidwoo]

I do it with every frame.

Sometimes it's needed, sometimes the tools just spin freely.

 

[gonefirefightin]

I will always reface brake mounts, BB, head tube. the works. Its makes a big difference when you do it once and do it right. for the price of the tools and the experience you cant go wrong. plus you can hook up your bros and show them a thing or two.

 

[jimmydean]

I do it with each build, just to be sure. It only takes a few minutes and can save you hours.

 

[RD3]

Every frame... face headtube, bb, and disc tabs... chase bb threads if necessary.

 

[jrfor0]

i always prep my frame, ALWAYS.
no frame is perfect.

 

[gonefirefightin]

I think you got your answer huck

 

[dropmachine]

Does anybody else see the blatant stupidity of needing to face a frame that just cost you $2000? I mean seriously, if this isn't a perfect example of typical mountain biker ignoring an obvious slap stupidity, I don't know what is.

I mean besides a frame costing $2000 that is.

 

[Bicyclist]

Does anybody else see the blatant stupidity of needing to face a frame that just cost you $2000?.

Yes..

 

[Huck Banzai]

I am answered.

That is my attitude however I have only ever bothered with one bike, and I was looking for moral support.

I got it!!

 

[SteezyWeezy]

yea, there is no reason not to besides 2 min, but it is worth it way more than if it was waste of time if that makes sense

 

[frznnomad]

it deffinatly wouldnt hurt man. most mechanic's (if there good ones) will do this weather the company does it or not. its always a good thing.

 

[thejames]

i am a lot more anal than most mechanics, but i chase the threads on everything that has threads on the bike and i face the headtube, bb and the stem. i have noticed that most frames that come looking like they are prepped are not perfect. i would rather make sure they are perfect than hope that the guy that did the final assembly did his job right. it is worth the few minutes that it takes( even if it is all in my head ).

 

[dropmachine]

I would rather the chunk of metal that I just bought, which is supposed to be the epitome of bicycle manufacturing and engineering, was properly built to the quality specs it claims in the first place.

I mean honestly, if you bought a Porsche and was told that you'd have to check the engine to make sure it was mounted properly, you'd ****. I simply cannot see why its acceptable that you have to check all the bolts, check all the surfaces on the frame to make sure they are correctly faced, and then check the threads on such an expensive item.

Weak.

 

[ridefast]

^just want to make sure you are seemingly hostile towards the manufacturers, not the mechanics

while i dont ream/face every bike i build, i dont think twice about doing so when we build a bike for a customer and they have just received a new frame.

additionally, i go all in on any rebuild (meaning parts being replaced, not just overhauled), especially if it is a race/performance bike

 

[thejames]

high end frames are not like cars in that you do not build up cars from the ground up. they are more like custom hot rods, most people that build custom hot rods or custom race cars do check for things like good, clean threads and mounts that are square and straight. you would be amazed at the workmanship even on high end cars compared to the average 2000 dollar bicycle frame. you can not see it from the outside so most car companies do not take the time to make absolutely perfect.

 

[dropmachine]

Definitely not hostile to the mechs, if it wasn't for them my bikes would be in peices.

Its just frustrating to see frames coming with surfaces painted that shouldn't be, crooked from the start, unfaced, ****ty threads, loose bolts, and worse. Adn we accept it as part of the way things are. Probably as frustrating to me as it is for shop owners when everybody figures they should automatically get a deal.

 

[jon-boy]

Canfield chase and face their frames prior to shipping to customer/dealer. It gives you a bit more confidence about the pride that's in a manufacturers frame.

 

[Eurotrash]

We prep the frames as they come through the door, with the right tools, it takes no time at all. Like that if we sell just the frame or build it up, everything should fit just right.
When you sell someone a frame for 2000$ +, they don't want to have to come back to the shop because they forced the bb into the frame and it cross threaded!

 

[mandown]

i asked a local shop to face and chase for me and they wouldn't do it. wtf. they said they didn't have a 1.5 headtube facing tool. they said it wasn't needed.

as far as i can tell, there have been no problems. i still would have liked to have the work done.

 

[bpatterson6]

Canfield chase and face their frames prior to shipping to customer/dealer. It gives you a bit more confidence about the pride that's in a manufacturers frame.

As does Yeti. My 303 was perfect. Faced, Chased, etc.

 

[Eurotrash]

1.5 facing tools aren't that commun, we don't have one.

 

[flymybike]

I've got all the tools! Yes, even the 1.5 ream/facer. I love having every tool you would ever need. Next one on the list is a headset race remover/press.

 

[A.P]

Giant faced my headtube and bb, and even the disk brake tabs. I was happy.

 

[dhkid]

i dont face the head tube as it was dont on my past bike, and cant do it on my bike now, its got a headtube insert. i dont chase the bbs unless the bb has trouble going in. so haven't needed to.

but i always face disc brake tabs.... forks and frames. learnt the hard way on my pair of hope minis.

 

[frznnomad]

originally posted by jon-boy
Canfield chase and face their frames prior to shipping to customer/dealer. It gives you a bit more confidence about the pride that's in a manufacturers frame.

you also have to look at canifield though. it was started and still ran by riders. canifield is a much smaller bike company compaired to cannodale, ironhorse, or santacruz. they make a select few bikes for a select crowd of riders. it is much easier for them to do all the prep work than it is for a company that has there frames built by little tiawanese children. they take pride in there frames where as tiawanese children only care about getting it built. they dont care if its right or not.

 

[sanjuro]

I would rather the chunk of metal that I just bought, which is supposed to be the epitome of bicycle manufacturing and engineering, was properly built to the quality specs it claims in the first place.

I mean honestly, if you bought a Porsche and was told that you'd have to check the engine to make sure it was mounted properly, you'd ****. I simply cannot see why its acceptable that you have to check all the bolts, check all the surfaces on the frame to make sure they are correctly faced, and then check the threads on such an expensive item.

Weak.

Well, I think this the clash of perception vs. reality. The perception is that you drop a load of dough, you get a perfect bike right from the box.

The reality I have seen is that many full suspension bikes have serious thread, facing, and even alignment issues.

If you compare high end FS frames with high end road frames, if I was to receive a new steel frame which I needed to align and tap, I would send it back and cancel my order. There is a high expectation, particularily now that steel and alu market are on the downside, that the quality and workmanship is near perfect.

In the mountain bike industry, the priorities are engineering, not workmanship. I believe most framebuilders do not sand down welds, for example.

I suppose if the end customers pushed back, we could expect better quality on frames. But I think most riders are concerned with suspension designs than threads.

 

[Eurotrash]

Do you guys face the crown of the fork the the lower bb race rests?