[buckoW]

I spent some time on my latest frame yesterday. Making a lower shockmount and tacking on some cable guides and a gusset on the ht.

Figuring out the progression and max travel. 200mm on this one.

Cardboard Aided Design.

It wasn’t easy to find 4130 sheet metal over here. Anybody know of a suitable substitute easily found in Europe? This is from Aircraft Spruce but shipping and customs are spendy.

Weld them together to get 2 of the same shape.

Belt grinder them to shape.

Et voilà, les pattes sont prêt.

I still have a long way to go with the welding but at least these things are holding up, for now.

After a headtube gusset and some cable guides were added. I was going to paint this one and I went to the local body shop however he was having lunch so I put some boiled linseed oil on a rag and that’s that. I need another set of brakes to finish building her up. Or try and resuscitate a tired one.

The bend in the dt isn’t as nice looking as the others but this one will clear all the shocks I have at bottom out.

@sikocycles How’s the EWR coming along?

 

[buckoW]

I finished building up #6 yesterday. I went for a full DH build but only temporarily because there are a lot open lifts around here right now. I would end up doing bike park laps anyways for a few months so I’ll build up with a dropper and big cassette later on. I’ve never done the shrink tubing on the housing before and I think it turned out pretty clean.

This one has 200mm of rear travel but can go down to 170mm. 465mm reach, 63* head angle, 435-460mm chain stays, 445-455mm bb height and a 77* seat tube.

 

[slimshady]

This one has 200mm of rear travel but can go down to 170mm. 465mm reach, 63* head angle, 435-460mm chain stays, 445-455mm bb height and a 77* seat tube.

Fuck, you're basically doing my goldilocks geo, something I haven't found on any bike brand!

What a wonderful way to spend some of your free time, those builds are coming better and better!!!

 

[sikocycles]

SIck

 

[Nick]

stunning backyard aside, this is the best looking frame/triangle yet! #swoopy

 

[buckoW]

Thanks guys! This one felt really good yesterday. I took some laps in Champery/Les Crosets and checked on one of the trail builders and his new Kubota mini excavator. We need some jumps on the run back home, haha.

Mosette lift in Les Crosets

Turning a sketchy double into a table. It will be great to have more jumps on the way back home.

 

[sikocycles]

Bridgeport wired to single phase. Runs good. Need to finish it up.

 

[buckoW]

Bridgeport wired to single phase. Runs good. Need to finish it up. View attachment 179327

Nice! I‘m looking forward to seeing that Bridgeport cranking out some miters. Or maybe some sick frame jig parts for my ghetto jig? Haha, I have jig envy!

I got a VFD for my lathe but I didn’t wire it in yet. Anything I should know about that or is it pretty straight forward?

 

[sikocycles]

I passed the wiring to an electrical engineer buddy I work with. He was assigned that task. If you need any advice I know he would be more then happy to answer any questions.

 

[Westy]

Nice! I‘m looking forward to seeing that Bridgeport cranking out some miters. Or maybe some sick frame jig parts for my ghetto jig? Haha, I have jig envy!

I got a VFD for my lathe but I didn’t wire it in yet. Anything I should know about that or is it pretty straight forward?

If the VFD circuit doesn't have a line filter, and you don't need a line filter, it will impart a bunch of electronic noise back into your electrical mains. So just don't run anything super sensitive at the same time or be surprised if your stereo picks up a humm or buzz when it is on.

 

[buckoW]

If the VFD circuit doesn't have a line filter, and you don't need a line filter, it will impart a bunch of electronic noise back into your electrical mains. So just don't run anything super sensitive at the same time or be surprised if your stereo picks up a humm or buzz when it is on.

Ok! Good to know. There’s the same VFD on my belt grinder. I thought the Apple AirPort Express (which connects my main music library on my computer to the whole house) was acting up but it was probably this electrical noise.

I have 380v in the shop so it’s just to have infinite speed control on the lathe. Anything I can do to keep the music nice while using the lathe and VFD? Like a fancy stable power strip or something?

A bike engineer buddy that works for Raaw came over yesterday. We shot the shit and he milled his brake adapters 1.5 mm shorter for the Sram 200mm rotors while I worked on my DH bike. It was pretty chill and nice to have an engineer on hand for chin scratching and bullshitting.

Here’s how far I got on a DH specific frame with no dropper post provisions. I like the double bend in the seat tube and think this bike will look much more refined. Also, it is so much easier to weld without the COVID shaky hands!

Tig Tacking the backbone of the bike. I went with a 1.2mm thick 35mm seat tube thinking it’s good to have a solid backbone for a DH bike. The other ones were .9mm x 35mm tubes. Probably overkill…

This went together nicer than normal. I usually have a lot more issues. Happy with this one.

 

[Westy]

Ok! Good to know. There’s the same VFD on my belt grinder. I thought the Apple AirPort Express (which connects my main music library on my computer to the whole house) was acting up but it was probably this electrical noise.

I have 380v in the shop so it’s just to have infinite speed control on the lathe. Anything I can do to keep the music nice while using the lathe and VFD? Like a fancy stable power strip or something?

A bike engineer buddy that works for Raaw came over yesterday. We shot the shit and he milled his brake adapters 1.5 mm shorter for the Sram 200mm rotors while I worked on my DH bike. It was pretty chill and nice to have an engineer on hand for chin scratching and bullshitting.

Here’s how far I got on a DH specific frame with no dropper post provisions. I like the double bend in the seat tube and think this bike will look much more refined. Also, it is so much easier to weld without the COVID shaky hands!

Tig Tacking the backbone of the bike. I went with a 1.2mm thick 35mm seat tube thinking it’s good to have a solid backbone for a DH bike. The other ones were .9mm x 35mm tubes. Probably overkill…
View attachment 179392

View attachment 179393

This went together nicer than normal. I usually have a lot more issues. Happy with this one.
View attachment 179396

View attachment 179397

View attachment 179401

View attachment 179402

I assume that is three phase? Something like this would do the job, you would want to size it properly for your application. This is basically a 1:1 transformer, but a normal transformer would do if you could run a different voltage.

KDRC22H

REACTOR 240V 20HP HIGH-Z

www.galco.com

The VFD causes noise because inside it has a rectifier that converts AC to DC. It only pulls current when the AC sine wave voltage exceeds the DC bus voltage where it sees almost zero resistance, that causes a short very high current pulse that gets reflected back into your AC supply and probably also sends out a bunch of radio frequency noise.

 

[buckoW]

Yeah, 3 phase. Ok, thanks.
That probably explains why the music gets funny sometimes in my shop.

I have that same VFD on a 3hp motor so it should be fine on the smaller lathe motor? I just need to oversize the VFD for the application, right?

A couple pics from yesterday. I didn’t get much done but I only worked on it for an hour.
head tube

I started mitering the down tube but didn’t get very far.
down tube

 

[buckoW]

I made some progress yesterday on the DH bike.
Top tube, down tube, gussets and cable guides were done and all it needs is a lower shock mount.

 

[buckoW]

 

[buckoW]

All finished. I‘m pretty happy with how this one turned out. I’ve improved a little bit on the welder so that’s nice. Still making mistakes and blowing holes but less.

 

[sikocycles]

Good interview and some shop pictures. He is probably one of the best welders in the frame industry.

Brad Bingham Interview | Peter Verdone Designs

www.peterverdone.com

 

[buckoW]

I love those shop pics. Wow, what a nice setup! I always drooled over Moots welds back when I lived in Colorado.

I would like to have an alignment/welding table like this. I think a water jet would be precise enough for the holes but having it ground might be the expensive part.

What does PVD do for work?
The “balance” is interesting on this thing but I do like his willingness to experiment and see for himself.

 

[sikocycles]

PVD is an engineer. I saw him speak at the philly bike show. I am not sure who he works for but he was in the motorcycle field.
That alignment table is sick.

 

[buckoW]

I thought he was doing some sort of engineering and It seems like he works in designing 3d printed metal parts. He makes some nice looking stuff but with a bunch of wild geo ideas. The mixing of printed parts with bonded carbon looks pretty cool too.

I got the local body shop down the street to paint my frame yesterday. He didn’t have time so he made some saying that it needed to be painted immediately or else I risk rust and corrosion. That was very nice of him! That would be great if I can get him to do more since it is a 2 minute bike ride from my house.

He used to ride a lot and was involved with organizing Worlds in 2011 here. It was cool to reconnect.

 

[Nick]

Off-white. Nice.

 

[buckoW]

Off-white. Nice.

I not really that picky as long as it’s black.

Here’s some pics of my new DH build.

 

[sikocycles]

Just ordered a set of tubes for another gravel frame.

 

[canadmos]

I not really that picky as long as it’s black.

Here’s some pics of my new DH build.
View attachment 179750

View attachment 179754

View attachment 179751

View attachment 179752

View attachment 179753

What bars are those?

 

[buckoW]

What bars are those?

Syncros 30mm rise version for Flo Payet and Vinny T.

I made an extra progression option on this one. It’s about 5% more progressive in the rear hole. I think the front one is around 30% and the rear is 35% but those might be a little higher. I haven’t asked my engineer buddy to calculate it yet. It might be closer to 32% & 37% but that’s a guess. I couldn’t get too far from those numbers without seeing something in the bb height and other geo numbers since the rear triangle is fixed at a bunch of points.

Here are the last two. The left one will get a bottle cage and dropper post soon now that it doesn’t have to cover DH duties.

Building up some new wheels for all these new frames.

 

[sikocycles]

Ok so no frame building but getting the Bridgeport ready. Funny thing is the grew up a few miles from the factory.
Ordered some parts. Should tighten it up. All in all it’s in good shape for being from 1969.

 

[sikocycles]

2 more

 

[buckoW]

 

[buckoW]

These universal machines are kinda cool.

http://anglo-swiss-tools.co.uk/astoba-meyer-burger/

One of these would be pretty practical for frame building if you had a small shop.

 

[buckoW]

https://instagram.com/jeewoon_choi?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

This guy is going to the Tokyo College of Cycle design and making some very nice stuff.

 

[sikocycles]

BuckoW what tubing are you using? Is it straight gauge of bike tubing?

 

[buckoW]

BuckoW what tubing are you using? Is it straight gauge of bike tubing?

I use mostly straight gauge 4130 x .9mm wall thickness tubes from Ceeway.

I have some 1.2mm wall thickness for the double bend DH bike seat tube but it’s probably way overkill. Straight gauge is a lot cheaper and I didn’t really want to see how light I could get a frame for now. I used a Deddecacchi downtube on the frame my wife rides and it is much lighter but way more expensive. Like 50 versus 8 bucks.

My heaviest front triangle with the 1.2mm wall thickness is 1 kg heavier than a carbon Gambler front triangle. 1.2kg versus 2.2kg. The lighter ones with the .9mm wall thickness are 800g heavier and I didn’t weigh the lightest one that my wife rides. It is probably a lot lighter because the pivots are also much thinner. With the steel and carbon rear end i am around the same as the Alu Gambler frame. 3.5kg is still pretty good for a DH frame. The feel is totally different.

The one on the right is 200 g heavier

 

[dump]

How would you describe the feel difference? Is it down to materials or geo too?

 

[buckoW]

How would you describe the feel difference? Is it down to materials or geo too?

The geo and suspension make a much bigger difference than the seat tube construction. I don’t notice the black one being stiffer for now.

 

[sikocycles]

Replaced a broken bolt on the mill. Built the tool to remove it instead of buying one for $50. Now we can tram it into the vice. Then I can start building again. Need to catch up to @buckoW
He has me by a few frames by now.

 

[buckoW]

Replaced a broken bolt on the mill. Built the tool to remove it instead of buying one for $50. Now we can tram it into the vice. Then I can start building again. Need to catch up to @buckoW
He has me by a few frames by now.

I need to step up my jig and mill game then! haha
I‘m currently looking for an Aciéra F3.
http://www.lathes.co.uk/acieraf3/

 

[sikocycles]

That looks great

 

[sikocycles]

Wire EDM some yoke parts today. Will make side pieces next week and bend them.
will have them for my next build.

 

[Adventurous]

I use mostly straight gauge 4130 x .9mm wall thickness tubes from Ceeway.

I have some 1.2mm wall thickness for the double bend DH bike seat tube but it’s probably way overkill. Straight gauge is a lot cheaper and I didn’t really want to see how light I could get a frame for now. I used a Deddecacchi downtube on the frame my wife rides and it is much lighter but way more expensive. Like 50 versus 8 bucks.

My heaviest front triangle with the 1.2mm wall thickness is 1 kg heavier than a carbon Gambler front triangle. 1.2kg versus 2.2kg. The lighter ones with the .9mm wall thickness are 800g heavier and I didn’t weigh the lightest one that my wife rides. It is probably a lot lighter because the pivots are also much thinner. With the steel and carbon rear end i am around the same as the Alu Gambler frame. 3.5kg is still pretty good for a DH frame. The feel is totally different.

The one on the right is 200 g heavier
View attachment 180699

What are you doing with all the old frames? Off into storage as a testament to the simpler times?

 

[buckoW]

What are you doing with all the old frames? Off into storage as a testament to the simpler times?

Only the first steel one is hanging up because the welds are sketchy.

The rest are built up and being ridden by my wife, brother and I. We live in a huge bike park and the 3 of us work part time for most of the year, so there’s plenty of opportunities to ride them. I know It’s completely crazy to have so many bikes but I like to tinker and chin scratch. My life has revolved around bikes since maybe 2001.