Monday, April 19, 2010

Mid-April: Jay's bike, trails are well on the way to dusty.......

Start of project: Jay is getting a whole bike, so here is the start: a 100/140mm travel fork for 26" wheels, a pair of King hubs & a pile of metal bits........
next, using Jay's measurements & input i have drawn an accurate life sized blueprint. this is what all the tube lengths, jig settings and cut angles will be extrapolated from.

Here, all the excess tubing has been chopped, the head tube cut to length from a 5' stick and faced and chased, the seat tube sleeve has been cut from an 8' length of 4130 steel, the toptube has been curved on the 3-ring radius roller, the vent holes all drilled in the sleeve/BB/head tube, and the whole pile thoroughly washed in hot, soapy water, scrubbed inside & out, inspected for blemishes and manufacturing defects dried off and checked and marked for bowing and butting profiles. can you say "labor intensive?"

super fast-forward to a tacked BLO. "bicycle like object" - this frame would be exactly what i would be riding - 26" wheels, 23.5" toptube, good standover, and chainstays at 15.75" all the way forward with an operating length of 16.25-16.5". it will carve turns great and still wheelie drop great with the long-ish travel fork up front.

I picked up this great old tool box.......

.....clear full of machining tools!

we went for a 3 hour grovel on the mountain yesterday, and yes, it's already really dusty in spots. sometimes right next to snow. go figure. the S. facing trails are going to be HAMMERED y the time the N. facing ones open. C'est la vie. thanks again for reading {assuming some of you still are - how long should a blog run? - I've been doing this for four years?} will you all read four more? - Garro.

16 comments:

DMC said...

i'll read but what else am I going to do with my time.?

Rody said...

Yo Steve-o, put me in for a vote for another term...gotta keep up with my favorite hobbit shop somehow :)

rody

Jon said...

four more!

Unknown said...

I'm still a faithful reader, keep it up!

Preskit Matt

Anonymous said...

Good to see some old school minutemen around the shop. you file to punk rock as well?
-bradman

Mimbres Man said...

Yes, I'd read more.
That bike is in my configuration as well, btw. Nice!

Anonymous said...

I'll read 4 more...and hopefully get some cashish together to send you an order sometime soon!

SplinterLab said...

Now accepting submissions for top ten Garro quotes of all time -

My submission:

Me- "Did you hear Baked in Telluride burned down?"

Garro - "Good the world needs less $5 bagels"

Anonymous said...

do not stop, you are inspiring me

perryd said...

Dude, I've been reading this blog since day one and I am proud to say I am an addict. Cool pics of things I don't know about and your whip-smart, no BS writing is always fresh. 4 more, 1000 more, whatever you want, I'm gonna read it.

pd

Anonymous said...

Keep the updates flowin' man, I love to follow your work.

-Alan

Smilin-buddha said...

You really need to continue. The blog makes me miss the Desert

Jason Alsvig said...

Keep posting, I keep reading.

Dave. said...

Sure I have a short attention span but don't hold that against me. I definitely enjoy reading whats up in your shop.

aki said...

Keep on burning(read torch, ride and blog), Steve-O!

-Aki

Sabrosa Cycles said...

I stop by for a daily dose. keep it rolling, mister.