Minor work

Busy time at the moment. Spring has sprung, which means crazy weather, heaps of things to do in the garden and loads of chainsawing of next year's firewood. Oh, and work is bonkers. But I managed to steal some time on this warm evening, and did some minor work on B's bike. Starting with the fork.

First, I raked the fork blades in my ghetto engineered Bend-o-Matic fork blade bender. Made from a solid lump of redgum fencepost and whatever scrap I had lying in the crap bin it does a fantastic job. Effortless, accurate and repeatable bends. And all for about $10.

Next, I brazed on the socket style dropouts. Shown here after clean-up.

These little guys are water bottle bosses combined with an ornate diamond reinforcement with a fancy fleur-de-lys tip. I love everything about them except the fleur-de-lys, which is way to fussy for my liking.

So off for a bit of surgery to create a much simpler arrowhead design.

Finally, some minor work on the head lugs. I've mounted them on a short section of head tube, and the job is to file off the casting marks and manufacturer's hallmarks. I forgot to take an 'after' shot, but you get the idea.

New bike... B's Road bike

It's been pretty quiet in the shed since I finished Dom's bike. Fortunately, I have another willing test pilot, a colleague of mine we shall call B.

B has been riding seriously for a few years, and has mainly been aboard a Surly Crosscheck. The aim of this build is to try and preserve as many of the 'contact points' of the crosscheck, but to wrap it up in a lighter, racier chassis. I've got a prototype design sorted out for her, with a more detailed fit to come in the next few weeks.

In terms of the construction, B's only request was for something that used 'simple, understated lugs'. I've been a massive fan of Mike Zanconato's aesthetic for many years now, and this was the perfect opportunity to build something in a homage to his style, based around the lovely Walter seat lug. You can see it here with the integrated seat stay ports. Very clean and simple.

I'm still a way off committing to exact lengths and angles, but in the meantime, I thought I would start with the sub-assemblies. Fork crowns are always a good place to begin. On the right is a crown for a disc-braked cyclocross bike I'm building. It looks massive in comparison to the road fork crown. I've pretty much standardised on this sort of road fork crown. They are beautiful to work with and are super light, well machined and strong. Both crowns shown here with a pin in place to hold the crown while I braze it.

All fluxed up and ready to go...

Post brazing, with the flux soaked off...

And finally, after some clean-up.

Finally... build time.



Dura-ace 9 speed. Sure, it's not the latest and greatest, but if you don't win the race on this stuff, it'll be your legs, not the gear that held you back.



See how that mudguard snugs up into the chainstay brace? It's almost as if it was designed that way, huh?



Deda bar and stem. Nice. Now I know some of you will be thinking 'that would look far more pro with white bar tape'. Well it would. But this will still look great after hundreds of rainy kilometers. Mudguards, people. This is the bike you are out riding when all of your mates are inside.



Chris King. What else would you put there? Well, maybe a Cane Creek 100 or something that doesnt rely on a silly O-ring to align the steerer tube.



Happy customer. That's Dom Briscomb, from First Place Osteo. For all your osteo needs, especially if it's bike related.

Embarrassing to think how long it's been since the frame was finished. Anyhoo. It's finished. Back from the painters and looking great.



The photos aren't too great - I was taking them in the failing light of the evening, but I was keen to get something up on the 'net after so long. Nice job on the fork windows - highlighted in white...



Same with the little highlights in the side of the head lugs...



Ignore the clutter behind it. And ignore the Easton bar and stem - it's just there to hold the fork on.



Rear brake bridge.



Front end...



Water bottle mounts.