[MrPlow]

Hey fellas.
Thought I should finally post a few pics of the bike I have been working on over the past few years.
This is the 2nd proto. first reasonably successfull but I had so many new ideas that I started again.
Frame is carbon, uni directional, vacuum bagged, mostly handmade female moulds.
Drivetrain is fully internal (there is a cover to go over the lower around the cranks).
Shock is internal, accesible by the seat mast.
gearing is a DIB style but in swingarm, freewheel on hub is locked, and a freewheel up concentric with the pivot allows shifting while coasting.

This is probably as "pretty" as it will look as I plan to use this chasis as a rolling test bed for different suspension system I have in mind, as well as a different gearing system.

Yes it is raked and low! My moulds allow me to custom the geo. the cranks are 160mm. So I went a 13.5 BB and 63 HA.
Weight is 41lb. But this one is overbuilt so I can afford to cut it to bits without it falling apart. some of the carbon is 12mm thick!

Shock is sitting vertically. the top shop mount is near the back of the seat mast. There is a link to a rising rate lever from the swingarm down.

Bit of assembly to go. Then some more riding as soon as our trails are better (I live in Toowoomba and flooding has fooked everything )

After riding, new sexier moulds (and a better decal / paint scheme!) will be made with a view to go into production. I am taking my time on this to get it right though. More info here...
http://www.facebook.com/?sk=lf#!/pages/Tramontane-Cycles/106494828315
Thanks for looking
Cheers,
Greg

 

[bullcrew]

Pretty sick....nice work man...... very nice....

 

[Trekrules]

12mm thick carbon tubing,that bike must be super strong to take tons of abuse.Awesome looking bike + maintenence free on the drivetrain.

 

[Steve M]

Epically awesome Greg! Sick sick sick!

 

[Sandwich]

That's really wild. I'm a bit surprised you didn't go for the central-mounted disk brake, since the rest of the bike is already so crazy! Do you run into any issues with the chain rubbing against itself near the idler?

I bet that bike is great to ride...silent!

 

[RedOne]

Sick bike. Now go and buy a new camera, you worked too hard on it to post blurry pics like these.

 

[ianjenn]

That is pretty sick!

 

[Banshee Rider]

That looks very well done. Super impressive work! As a mechanic, I'd love to see some close up shots of how you access everything for repair (like the shock and drivetrain)!

I don't know enough tech about suspension, but are you concerned about the rear shock overheating? A 10 minute run on a 90* day is seemingly fine, but will having the shock fully encased by carbon change its ability to cool down?

 

[monkeyfcuker]

Sweet!! We need way moar photos tho!

 

[fluider]

Amazing. The ozone hole over Australia must have some side effect on you, ozzies & kiwis! . I hope you post more and detailed pictures as I've been very curious about it for a long. Also, I'd like to know more about how you made carbon-Alu joints. Great

 

[MrPlow]

Sick bike. Now go and buy a new camera, you worked too hard on it to post blurry pics like these.

Its not the camera
I bought a new lense for my Sony Alpha. too low on the Apeture. Sorry, will get more pics on my FB page.

Thanks for the nice comments.

PS, next proto might have inboard braking

 

[Pslide]

That thing looks like it's about ready to take flight. Reminds me of a pylon racer from the 1930s. Very cool man!

 

[Uncle Cliffy]

Impressive! Pretty space age for me, but I still dig it.

PS, next proto might have inboard braking

I think you're smart to keep the braking on the rear wheel. Better cooling, and less stress on the chain and gearing.

 

[no skid marks]

Well done. Looks functional. Chain stay length?

 

[norbar]

Well done. Looks functional. Chain stay length?

I 2nd that question.


Great looking bike and I really like what you've done there. Congrats on the build. I'm in awe.

 

[MrPlow]

Been that long since I designed it that I can't remember the chainstay length?? 16.75? I will check.
Regardless my mould design caters for customisation within limits. So if you wanted 1/2" shorter stays, longer front, higher BB , steeper HA I can do that. Think of the good old steel road bike days where you got measured for your bike. That is where I am heading, right down to paint job. Does this appeal to the you guys??

As for inboard braking on the next one? This alfine 11 looks pretty nice.
I have an alfine 8 I might throw in in place of the current DIB Idea.
I could run a strong SS chain or even 2! I could have venting in frame. Carbon is only limited by your imagination. My DIB is nice too though, weighs bugger all and is user servicable 6 speed Dura Ace cassette. I am looking into stepper motor gear changes if I stick with DIB, could be done quite easily and since it is all out of the dust, should be pretty reliable. Just costs heaps in labour to make the bespoke DIB.

Looks wise, I would describe this as a bit chunkier than anything I would call "production" simply cause it takes huge man hours and expense to design and build complex moulds for a bike that is rapidly changing.
The swingarm especially would cop some down sizing and shaping.
Alloy bonding is post cure (see FB page pics) a small layer of glass then some west systems epoxy, same as they use on Yacht masts etc. Real world Coefficient of Thermal expansion is bugger all on parts this size. Might go Ti or even ditch the ally all together though. It's a proto...

By the way this was all inspired after a year riding in UK / EU. Mud isn't an issue for my driveline or shock
Cheers,
Greg

 

[Delimeat]

Absolutely amazing. I love how our sport allows skilled home builders to come up with some very smart designs and bring them to life. I think a lot of us have spent time doodling bike designs down on paper while we should have been working or at school, but its rad to see smart people take it many, many steps further. Inspirational work, Greg!

Very interested in molds that allow for geo adjustments... I'm picturing a standard mold and not seeing how it would be done. If not top secret, someone should explain the process.

 

[xy9ine]

radness! Kinda disappointing that all the really interesting innovation seems to be coming from the backyard tinkerers these days, rather than the deep pocketed companies with the potential to do some really exotic (yet not so cost effective) stuff. alas, I love stuff like this. makers rule!

as an aesthetics weenie, I'd go for a shorter, more conventionally configured seat mast arrangement to reduce the visual mass / standover, but that's just me. Keep it up!

 

[Tomasis]

for 12mm thickness, it is not heavy. i wonder how low it can go regarding thickness so it'd drop weight. nice frame! I wish i could build carbon myself

 

[Vrock]

Very nice proyect, I'm curious about the shock, it's totally hidden!!! Youy know, in most bikes you can see everything at first sight, so this kind of mystery got me exited.

 

[MrPlow]

Just a few pics of the linkage for the shock and the swingarm fresh from the moulds. Shock is fully compressed in pics. Also shows the eccentric geometry adjustment on the arm between the shock link and swingarm. All needle rollers on the shock pivots

As for the adjustable moulds? sorry. That's a secret and I think I just about fried my brain at times.

Thanks for the comments fella's.

 

[Mo(n)arch]

That's some amazing work! Ireally like that design. How do you change the setup on your shock? Do you have to dismount some pieces?

 

[Pslide]

That eccentric shock link is delicious.

Seems like you could have gone single sided swingarm on this design pretty easily, but no?

 

[TrueScotsman]

Wow wow wow!!!

This is crazy cool! Everything enclosed is an amazing feat.

2nd what was said before about it being a shame that is left to the small guys to come up with the cool/evolutionary/revolutionary ideas. Maybe we need to pool talents on RM and create a Wiki-bike! (If we could ever agree on anything!)

 

[RMboy]

MR plow, really sick job well done!

Lov the paint.. But, you could make it even better. Check out the book Cosmic motors, you could do something so beautiful!

Keep it up

 

[Pslide]

2nd what was said before about it being a shame that is left to the small guys to come up with the cool/evolutionary/revolutionary ideas. Maybe we need to pool talents on RM and create a Wiki-bike! (If we could ever agree on anything!)

Would never work - no one would ever come to a consensus.

But what would be cool is an e-bike design competition. You could have a panel of respected RM judges. Ultimate cool would be the winner gets his bike built...

 

[go-ride.com]

Very, very, very impressive! Great work! Looking forward to a ride report. One question...what stroke shock is that?

 

[MrPlow]

That's some amazing work! Ireally like that design. How do you change the setup on your shock? Do you have to dismount some pieces?

The seat mast is a lid and unscrewing 2 bolts at the front of the mast it hinges back sharing the same pivot as the top shock mount. This is changing though! I can save weight and increase ease of access by making a door on the "downtube"? just above the BB on the front of the bike

That eccentric shock link is delicious.

Seems like you could have gone single sided swingarm on this design pretty easily, but no?

I looked at single sided, but it comes with a host of problems mounting brakes and adds a whole lot of carbon too the drive side to get some stiffness.

MR plow, really sick job well done!

Lov the paint.. But, you could make it even better. Check out the book Cosmic motors, you could do something so beautiful!

Keep it up

Thanks mate. This paint job was a real quick mask and tape. I will get a graphic designer to do a proper logo and decal scheme when I am ready to sell. For now it is only going to look worse, might go the matt black spray can, aka new car spy shots haha

Very, very, very impressive! Great work! Looking forward to a ride report. One question...what stroke shock is that?

Shock is a 3" mate. You do OEM?

 

[iRider]

Awesome!!!

 

[tacubaya]

Question I ask to all independent frame builders.

How did you calculate the suspension dynamics and kinematics?
What software did you use to do the CAD? I can't recognize it (looks like Solid works but it could also be NX7)
Did you run FEM analysis?

Congrats on the bike, and major kudos.

 

[dh_newbie]

Nice work!!!

 

[MrPlow]

Question I ask to all independent frame builders.

How did you calculate the suspension dynamics and kinematics?
What software did you use to do the CAD? I can't recognize it (looks like Solid works but it could also be NX7)
Did you run FEM analysis?

Congrats on the bike, and major kudos.

Linkage and just general physics.
I use SolidWorks. legit even!
Yes to on the FEA also. Pretty basic on the mainframe, just assumed Isotropic. It has to be thicker than it needs to be anyway for shear strength.

Thanks for the Kudos

 

[MrPlow]

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=6403140&id=106494828315
new post ride pics on FB too.
Ride went well, didn't push too hard though. I have hardly ridden in the last 2 years due to illness. Plush and bottomless, just the way it should be!. Need to set preload and adjust BB height. Very happy otherwise!

 

[tacubaya]

Linkage and just general physics.
I use SolidWorks. legit even!
Yes to on the FEA also. Pretty basic on the mainframe, just assumed Isotropic. It has to be thicker than it needs to be anyway for shear strength.

Thanks for the Kudos

General physics? Could you be more specific?

Thanks

 

[MrPlow]

Could you be more specific? Leverage ratio was selected using linkage pro and calculating squat for rider weight to spring rates. Pivot potion was established to swing as close an arc as the front wheel for constant wheelbase. As well as rider plus bike CofG to give the desired anti squat I wanted. Floater is parallel and equal length as swingarm. So fully active under braking. No floater on a high pivot is brakejack death and like riding a wild horse! Just sourcing some coloured kevlar weave to offer customers some customization options along with the custom geo. Also getting quotes back for machined ti suspension links instead of the ally ones on the proto. Should be good! I plan to sell a limited release of protos at cost late this year. If your genuinely interested contact me. These will be mk3. Including electric gears. Mk3 moulds and custom geo and paint. Cheers. Greg.

 

[Hesh To Steel]

I'm always impressed by the independent frame builders out there. The fit and finish on this frame looks awesome. And the fact that it looks like it's made of wood is pretty unique, haha.

 

[tacubaya]

Could you be more specific? Leverage ratio was selected using linkage pro and calculating squat for rider weight to spring rates. Pivot potion was established to swing as close an arc as the front wheel for constant wheelbase. As well as rider plus bike CofG to give the desired anti squat I wanted. Floater is parallel and equal length as swingarm. So fully active under braking. No floater on a high pivot is brakejack death and like riding a wild horse! Just sourcing some coloured kevlar weave to offer customers some customization options along with the custom geo. Also getting quotes back for machined ti suspension links instead of the ally ones on the proto. Should be good! I plan to sell a limited release of protos at cost late this year. If your genuinely interested contact me. These will be mk3. Including electric gears. Mk3 moulds and custom geo and paint. Cheers. Greg.

Cool.

 

[MrPlow]

Quick bit of test run footage. We weren't really hammering it today.
Partly the new bike, partly the old riders

 

[Sandwich]

looks rad dude, keep it up. Kind of funny to see such a "pretty" bike being shredded...usually things are pretty ugly and black/white/monochrome.

 

[insanitylevel9]

that thing is sick, i noticed you said before you were gonna sell some at cost. what does it end up costing you to build one? i'm not interested in getting one, just wondering.