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!