Here are a few shots of the first frame I've completed in a while. I started messing around with it quite a while back and finally put the finishing touches on it in the new shop. Finishing this thing up made me feel like a frame builder again. I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever get back to doing what I enjoy and I'm hoping this is the first of many more to come.
I was afraid that with so little time in the shop I might be a little rusty however fillet-brazing is a little like riding a bicycle.
Tapered head tube from Nova Cycles. 1 1/8"- 1 1/2" with 44 mm diameter ream on the lower end. This is the lightest way to do a tapered steel head tube, that I know of anyway. For a mountain bike you may want to go a little heavier, but for cross or gravel road I think this is plenty strong. Enve makes a nice fork that is gonna be perfect for this build.
Flat-mount disc-brakes. This was definitely the most difficult part of this build. I'm guessing someone has a more precise way to just go in and cut out the proper amount of chain stay material and just drop this piece in place, but being the first one, I took it slow and filed a little at a time until everything was in place. Paragon now makes a dropout with this piece already in place so that's what I'll probably use next time because it's a bit stressful always being on the edge of ruining a chain stay that's already built into the frame. Destroying the chain stay at this point would have been a major bummer and I was extremely relieved to have this piece brazed in and the wheel spinning freely within the caliper. I would love to watch someone who is more experienced with this process.
142 x 12 thru-axle of course.
Last minute decision to go internal with the brake line in the down tube. It's the only fishing I do these days.
This was a bottom bracket shell from last year. Normally everyone likes to personalize their frame and so my planned serial number methods are never in order, they serve their purpose though.
I don't keep many tools on the wall, just the beater stuff. The good stuff stays in the drawers. Not quite as convenient but I prefer to keep things as tidy as possible. I can get messy when I'm busy but a clean work environment is golden to me. The other day I had a sofa repaired by a guy who I'm pretty sure had the messiest shop I've ever seen. Not even gonna try to explain, just take my word. He fixed the sofa, and nicely I might add, so hats off to him.
Couple pictures of the finished shop minus the alignment table. I had to take the frame out to the old garage to put it on the table and I could've saved myself a trip. Come to find out it was perfectly in line, no cold-setting needed whatsoever. Makes my job easy.
Dug out some NOS Adidas after a really cold ride in my other shoes. The DMTs are extremely lightweight and airy and so with these sitting in the closet for many years I decided to break them out. They're a little heavier but they're warmer on the cold days and they've got 3 velcro straps which is my favorite. The DMTs have the BOA system on them and while it works I don't care for it, especially with shoe covers. I don't think they'll ever come up with something as simple and solid as 3 easy straps, but that's just my opinion. These are the model that Jan Ullrich used to wear and I had a pair before that got many years of good use. Then I found these on closeout and couldn't pass them up.
The new MEECH headquarters has a record player. It was a Christmas gift a couple years ago and hasn't seen much use. Probably won't see too much here either as it's too time consuming to change and flip records. But it's fun when you have the time. I have a couple of bikes laying around as well. Go figure.
Little reading material. Basically a handful of books that I didn't want to trash along with an old table given to me by my late grandmother made from an old tree of sort. The same granny that had the pistol with a bullet wedged in the barrel. She was a wild one.
Old pastel artwork of my dog Mickey. He was a character. He's the main reason I bought this house so many years ago. He was tearing my apartment to shreds. He needed some space and it all worked out for the better. Thanks Mick!
More old art.
Leather elephant. He's been with me a few years though he remains unnamed. I need to get on that.
Frames waiting their turn for more personality. Gonna be finishing up a table for the painting room today. I was gonna try to do some priming yesterday and realized I got nothing to work on. Also gonna need a new repair stand mount to hold the frames while painting. Moving the other one back and forth gets old. Streamline.
Thanks for stopping by. Next pics should have more color.
Hasta luego.
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