Shapin' Up

With poor outdoor activity weather in the form of what seems like feet and feet of endless rain and this wretched time of darkness known as Standard Time comes plenty of time to dive into projects... I have made quite the jump on frame number 2 construction.... from here forward we will refer to frame number 2 as...... Number Two.....

First step of this productivity was talking my fellow biker gang member and ACTUAL frame builder into letting me not only use his frame jig but to kidnap it to my home shop.... Sure, he has said I can use it whenever it is not being used, but it is far more inviting  to tinker on a project when all you have to do is walk 20 steps from your back door....  Turns out, the elusive JRad was so tired of hearing me hem and haw over this bike that there was no negotiation needed to get said jig 20 steps from the door....

The front triangle went together on the better part of a rainy Sunday afternoon.... tacked.... checked.... and all brazed up.... Next step rear axle placement.  I did hem and haw over Number Two's axle location for some time.... I am using sliding dropouts not unlike the popular Paragon offerings.... The sliding aspect allows for tire clearance adjustments/chainstay length adjustments as needed.... They will also come in handy for any impromptu single speed extraction from woods needs... Well long story short I screwed up a little bit during the stay mitering process and ended up about .25 inches short..... this might seem like a small fixable error but in this case it is not.... I was now in search of local frame builders (there are only 2) who might have what I need before I make an order to CA.... I do not like to wait....

"Ballzout".... to quote the great Puc Puggy mastermind.... this is what Bobby had to say when he saw I was on to the seatstays before the chainstays were attached.... This is somewhat backwards in the usual bike construction methods.... Well I bent the tubes for the chainstays on my home made tube bender known as bucky the tube slayer.... They turned out really nice... they are bent from straight gauge 5/8 inch diameter .035 inch wall 4130.  All tacked up with a wheel in the drops and everything appears to be straight as an arrow.... but thats just my take.... others might or might not disagre...

Well..... both of the frame builders mentioned above had parts for me to choose from which is super nice.... I found the needed chainstays and am now in the process of hemming and hawing over their locational specifics..... I don't want to mess up a 2nd set.... at $30 bones a crack, this could start to get expensive......

Well with this window of good weather I think the Pretentious Apes biker gang is assembling for a local chapter dirt shred.... that is all for now.... Be on the lookout for Pretentious Apes inductee invitations....

Best Dog Ever!

Recommence Rad

Well..... for the past several months I have been real busy.... busy building tons of stuff.... finishing projects and getting s#*t done.... or at least that’s what I keep telling myself.... most people would say the past several months sound pretty rad and productive......... Productive yes.... rad..... not so much.... All of this work has been finishing house projects, work work, yard work, etc....  I have had no time do rad stuff.  Yeah I have been riding a good bit, but only in town trail.... I've had to forego the out of town mini epics in order to finish house projects on the weekends.... The house still isn't finished but its pretty darn close......

Sooooooo I have had the chance to move my non work work in a more rad direction.  And hopefully will be getting my mini epic on again real real soon.... 

The first of the rad projects was a custom frame bag for the one... the only..... JP W@re$.... He, the Puc Puggy Cycles  Supreme Commander Bobby, and another friend who we will just call Braa where heading out in a few weeks to try their luck on the Trans North Ga bike route (TNGA) and JP well..... needed a bag.  I ain’t no semester but all parties involved were pleased with the results.  For the very same trip I was commissioned to alter a bag made for Braa by Jpacks ( a pro bag maker) for a bike he no longer owns... Both projects were fun and payment was made in full before and upon delivery... The barter system is alive and strong here in the Athens, GA mtn bike community!

Husky Power

W@re$ and his Puc Puggy

Now it was time for some projects of my own....

Fellow Pretentious Ape, Bro, and trail shredder JRad...powder coats bikes... and anything else that will fit in the oven...... It just so happens my bike was the guinea pig late one night a few years ago.... let’s just say the beerz were good, the knowledge base was slim and the thought of a fresh coat was burning a hole in someone’s pocket.... not all steps in the prep process were taken and to make a long story short.... after a few years of hard riding, and more than few nights left outside to the weather, the surface rust was winning the battle with the Ford Blue powder..... Well….. number one is no longer Ford Blue..... After the better part of a Sunday stripping old powder, blasting, sanding, and a few new braz ons .... Might I introduce Gray Pupon.....

The last time she will be allowed on the furniture....

Next on the agenda is frame number 2..... Ideas have been tossed around..... drawings have been drawn...... drawings have been re-drawn..... drawings have been modified...... modifications have been modified but the build has begun..... I think.   

First bit to be built..... the all important head tube.....

Flux....

Flame...

The product of the flux, flame, and a lil brass...

ghetto lathe!

I'll take it!

Second Annual Haloween  Via Ferrata!

# 2

On a recent trip to Ashe-Vegas/Pisgah/Dupont I acquired a bicycle part that I have no bicycle to fit.... I purchased this part from a pretty well know area builder for a super fair price.  The part is a suspension fork, something I have been without for a couple years now.  I have been rocking it rigid partly out of choice and partly out of mistake (the first bike I built had a head tube that was a few millimeters too long to work with any of the 3 other straight steer forks in my possession).  The new to me fork is a Fox Float 34.  She was rebuilt recently and rebuilt with a previous years internals that historically have had less flaws than the current model… we will see…  She has 140 mm of travel and she will be thoroughly enjoyed, as soon as I can braze up a frame for her to steer down the hill....

#2’s design is pretty much done.... Building has commenced and when done this thing should rip!

Specs will look something like this....

140 mm head tube

69 degree head tube angle

55 mm BB drop

74 degree seat tube

Effective top tube 640mm

16.5ish inch chain stays

12x142 rear axle

shortish stem 50-60 mm

140mm fork travel

etc.....

Wish me luck....

Bad picture of headtube

Better picture of less finished headtube

Dupont

pretentious apes

Sierra Nevada Brewery, Mills River, NC

pretentious apes