I finally got caught up on the orders I had and was happy to have some time to experiment so I started on my first all carbon frame that I have been planning to build. If things had gone as planned it would already be done but you know how that goes. Anyway, I haven't done enough to get excited about anything yet although I clearly am. Whenever you're doing something you are unfamiliar with it always seems more interesting. All I have done so far is set the dropouts and miter and glue the rear chain stay to the bb shell. This rear end is the Dedacciai Firebox that I bought from Nova. It was one of the cheaper rear ends and I thought it would be good for the first attempt, who knows how this thing is gonna end up. I haven't decided if I am gonna overbuild this frame for security reasons or see what I can get away with, probably gonna shoot for the middle of the road on this one since I'm the guinea pig. (How do you spell guinea pig?) There are better ways of doing the bb but with this frame I wanted to start at ground zero so I just took an old steel shell that had various cuts in it and wrapped it with a couple layers of carbon. It seemed pretty solid and with a little sanding was close to perfectly round. I think most of the big hitters in custom carbon frames use a titanium bb shell and epoxy it inside of a carbon tube of the correct diameter. It looked a little cleaner than mine however after looking into it it looks as though the ti shell is as heavy or heavier than the steel, not sure why, maybe thicker walls are needed with ti. I never jumped on the titanium bandwagon because I never saw any advantages to it. I know there are some beautiful titanium frames and many people say the ride is unbelievable but it never seemed to me that titanium was the best at anything. It tries to mimick the ride of steel but from what I gather its not near as stiff. Its lightweight but not near as light as carbon, then when you throw in the cost factor it leaves me wondering if it can be the best choice. Finally, you don't see it in the pro peloton, it came and went pretty quick. These are merely my opinions and I have very little knowledge of titanium so I am open to being schooled. With that said, it just doesn't interest me. Back to carbon, who cares about titanium. I haven't ridden a carbon bicycle since I started building frames. I used to love LOOK frames and my last carbon frame was the Scott CR1 but after I built my first frame I had to support the MEECH brand, afterall its me. I always wanted to ride the LOOK 595 but never got a chance to, and now there are a handful of other frames I would like to test ride as well like a TIME, Cannondale, and Cyfac and then I would also like to ride a custom Nick Crumpton frame just to see how a custom handmade carbon frame feels compared to a factory frame. My buddy Yancey has an Orbea Orca that is a couple of years old an although I have only ridden it for less than a mile it seems to have some pretty advanced steering, it would be nice to test ride one of those in my size as well. But anyway it looks like the next carbon frame I will be riding will be the one I am working on. I don't believe anything will ride quite as nice as a steel frame with a steel fork but I just wanted to build a carbon frame to see, go for the sub 16 pounder you know. Building just one won't be sufficient but it will be a start. I just got another order for a steel touring frame so I guess the carbon build is going back to the back burner for a while longer. I have a couple of frames that should be coming back from the painter shortly so keep a look out. Chao.
Its been raining and storming all over Arkansas as well as a lot of other states these last few days. This is what it looks like in front of our house right now. This morning I had to take my wife to work because her RAV wasn't quite big enough to go through it. Later that evening I went to pick her up and when we got back then I couldn't get through it in my truck. Luckily there is a little gap between some trees behind the house and I can sneek it through the back yard if I need to. I haven't been riding much at all this year and this is making it that much more difficult. I used to go out training in the rain without giving it much thought but now I seldom do it. If you called me a "fair-weather rider" I couldn't say much back. These days I spend more time building bicycles than riding them but I can turn on a dime if I so choose. I'm only 4 lbs. over my race weight right now which is amazing considering all the junk food I have been eating. Yesterday I went to the store to get some cat food and had to have a box of Little Debbie Swiss Cake Rolls. I ate half the box on the way home and the other half over the next couple of hours. Hey, at least I didn't eat the cat food. Yes, I'm an addict and not even this lake in my front yard could keep me from a candy bar if I start to crave it. Have you tried the new 3 Musketeers Truffle Crisp? Don't do it. Man, its still raining out there. I wonder why the mail didn't come today?
