Arunas’s tourer

Here is Arunas”s new touring Frame and forks

The photos where a bit rushes as im still in the process of moving and setting up the new work shop, Arunas has promised to send some of the rig when it is all finished ill put them up when they arrive.

This is a very nice build with a lot of custom fitting and very nice clean lines, the frame is using a set of tips I designed for the rohloff rear hub he is using, there is a phil woods eccentric BB with pinch bolts rather than the standard grub screws, 9/6/9 Columba’s  tube set, forks are dedachi uni crown with a 45mm bend (putting a bend in uni crown forks is a chalange and a lot of care has to be taken to get the bends equal and on the same radius. a good chalange)

Next was the racks they are surly racks, if you have ever seen or used them you will know they come with an amazing array of stainless hardware there would be about 1/2 kg just in the hardware for these racks. So Arunas wanted to do away with as much of the shiny weight as possible this involved offering the rear racks up with the wheel and gards in the frame. After much fiddling and re fiddling to get everything correctly set up, the  cutting and filling commenced. these racks turned out to be a lot of work to get sorted, the powder coating on them is so thick it took a lot of burning to get them clean enough to weld and then there is the issue of the arms which are chromed and would have to be some of the strongest plating i have ever come across. after much cursing I got them all fitted up and brazed together then the went off to get painted. I  got a call from my painter a day later saying that he could not get the powdercoat of and I would have to do it and send it back to him (I wanted to get them sand blasted but the tubes are to small and there is a good chance that the grit will take to much of the steel away. Not ideal for a working set of racks) So it was out with a can of paint stripper and a really lovely day of burnt skin and a bad temper at the end of which I found that there was still another layer of powder coat under the first (how happy was I!!) . this time it was out with the oxy torch to burn the rest of he powder coating off , another half day of nocus fumes and lots of wire brushing but I finally had them to bare metal. Second time to the painters and buy all account he had as much fun with them as I did. in the end they look great but they cost a lot of $ and took a lot of time to get there.

I really look forward to seeing this bike all built up and on the road I really hope Arunas and his new wip have a lot of long and good trips together.

The Cargo Bike’ AKA the Duck

Hear are some shots of my cargo bike, or the Duck as I like to call it as it reminds me of the submersible army trucks.

This has been a cool build for me, it is my second tig welded frame and I am getting my sys down with the welder. also got to utilize the new tandem jig attachment for the build.

I have taken the bike down the coast to my new house and work shop in Wollongong , this ride is 10 min from the work shop which has a fantastic view of the escarpment from the front windows, “hard life” .

The cable steering is working very well and after playing around with different stem lengths and saddle positions the rig is very comfortable and easy to handle.

I’ll be putting it threw  its paces and getting a few of the courier crew to test it and give me some feed back over the next few months , then  I’ll be fitting a box for the new dog and my nieces to be rolled around in.

Stay up right out there ..

The Cargo bike

Hear are some build shots of  the first prototype cargo bike.

I have been planing this one for some time and it has been a good chalange and very rewarding to see it come together.

It is tig welded and the build came together pretty quickly.

I wanted to use a cable steering concept that i had been toying around with, I got the idea from a very cool frame builder Francis cycles, he uses a funky cable steering set up on his haul bike, i did a lot of research in to pulleys and cable and played around with numerous ideas that could work for the steering, they all had merits but also had some sort of limiting factor. after much to and fro I came up with the system of two pulleys both of the same diameter with the cables running between them.  what i was  trying to achieve was a very direct steering that was out of the way simple to fix and repair and looked neat, I have never liked the linkage arm that is used on most cargo bikes they are prone to damage and look crap. Next I had to work out how I was going to attach the cables, at first i was going to use some very nice super flexible SS cable they use it to make jewelery but there was the issue of attaching it to the pulleys and I wanted the system to be easy to change and replacement cables to be cheap and easy to obtain. So in the end I drilled the pulleys to accept  standard brake cable heads the cables run from the fork pulley over a small cable specific pulley that runs along the side of the boom tube  then down to a second pulley that directs the cable under the frame and cargo platform they terminate and are attached to a small turn buckle which tensions the system then from the other end of the turn buckle there is another short wire that attached to the drive pulley on the steering shaft using the same attachment as the fork pulley. works very well on the bench and pushing it around the work shop floor. I will be putting it thru its paces as soon as it is all up and running.

I also wanted it to have a low bed like the bullit frames and the dutch cargo bikes as i think this is a better place to have the wight of the load and it makes it use full for carrying kids or pets.

It’s a full 4130 front end and Columbus rear stays and tips , using my designed and Cycle Underground CNC’d  eccentric BB, the forks are a of the shelf 20″ set that I fitted canti bosses to and then fabricated the steering pulley and welded it on, I have disk tabs on the frame and later on I will be designing a disc set of forks but for this frame I just wanted to make sure all the concepts where going to work on the frame before i started designing forks for it.

Well the bike is almost ready to roll I am weighting on a 20″ rim to come in from velocity that I will be building up over the weekend and I should be out for the first ride early next week looking forward to it.

I’ll post shots when i have it all together and sprayed up stay tuned ..

Cycle Undergrounds new grind chain ring

I have the first Cycle Underground grind guard chain ring im my possession.

I have been watching these funky chain rings getting developed by Big John over the last few months, and I’ve been stinging to get this fitted and rolling.

Clocked it up today on my 24″ street monkey as i still the NO. 1 whip in my stable.

As always the fit was dead on with zero round out.

first roll home tonight and it was silent smooth and solid , now i just have to learn how to grind this thing.

They will be available in 130/144 bcd in every color as long as its black , and you can buy them from Candy Cranks web shop very soon.

stay up right ..

Yves’s Agent Orange Fix

This is Yves’ tidy new fixed frame and fork. Built using Reynolds tubing on the main frame and Columbus seat and chain stays in the rear. BSM Italian investment cast lugs, and Primate tips.

This makes for a very light frameset and I’m sure she will fly along when she’s built up.  The geo was taken of Yves’s last frame that John from Cycle Underground built for him close to 10 years ago and it’s still going strong.

I’m in the process of sourcing the components and building the wheels. I’m very much looking forward to building this whip up, with what I have in mind this it’s going to be a very hot bike. I’ll post shots when she is done.

Stay up right..

New linkages for my balfa BB7

My Balfa BB7 is the only frame I own that I haven’t built my self, I’ve owned it from new and it is one of those bikes that  is just right. I may not have taken her out for a couple of weeks but when I do she always left me with a smile on my face and the same thoughts in my head “man I love riding this bike” which is the main reason she is still in my kit. She was also known as the reliable bike, I might have a technical with any one or other of my rides but she was always ready to roll and take anything I wanted to threw at her in her stride.

So you can imagine my distress when she started making a horrible grinding noise when I was riding her home from work one night. I carry a very comprehensive repair kit with me at all times and it’s a point of pride that I am able to pretty much get anything fixed on the fly and at least get home if not fix the problem better than any shop. But this was not going to be one those nights. I pulled over and checked the rig over but could not pin point where the noise was coming from, thinking I could make it home I kept going but at 1/3 of the 12km ride home the noise was getting worse so I had to admit defeat. I had worked out where  the grinding noise was coming from. The frame uses a high carrier sprocket keeping the chain running in line with the swing arm,  the design is very efficient at killing pedal indused feedback in the suspension but the jockey wheel had shit itself. Due to the design there were very little options for a trail fix ( though I spent a good half hour trying to think of one) in the end it was a call to the girlfriend asking if she could pick me up one of only three times I have had to do so. STINK .

Well I pulled the rear end off the bike to see what had broken the unbreakable bike. I found the carrier sprocket had crapped itself in no uncertain terms, the factory system had a cool split machined alloy carrier that fits a 13 tooth rear sprocket between two alloy high flanges that are bolted together with three bolts. Looks bomb proof but the steel cog had worked loose and cut itself into the alloy flanges, latterly cutting the alloy in half. I figured this was the time to change the bearings on the main pivot as well so I took to dismantling the rear swing arm. After taking of the side plates, I found that they were ovalised on the tip, I had always thought that they were a bit light on in this area and now it became apparent where the major stress point was. Balfa has been out of business for a round 5 years now ( bought out by rocky mountain and in my eyes one of the biggest losses to the biking industry) so getting a new set of side plates was not an option not that I would have gone that way any way as if there is a problem fitting the same problem is only a bandaid solution.

So it was out with the verniers and ruler, lots of measuring and remeasuring and punching into cad and I had the template for a new side plate. The orignal plates are made of 5mm plate with counter sunk bolt holes I went for 8mm 2035 plate with out the counter sinking. First I sorted a small section of plate then with spray adhesive I applied the template to the plate. Next I rough cut the two templates out on my bandsaw, I then ran clearance holes in one plate and tapped M5 holes in the other plate and bolted them together,  fitted them on the mill and proceeded to cut out the shape, all went well and after a couple of days had every thing cut out. Cleaned up the edges and counter sunk for the fitting for the main pivot attachment dry fitted the new plates, all good. They are away getting anodised at the moment I’ll post shots when they arrive back and I get it all fitted up.

Stay upright..

The new tandem jig has landed

The  new Tandem attachment for my Anvil super master jig  arrived on Friday. I only got to have a quick look in the box before I had to shoot off to work, then it was a couple of days till I could get down to the work shop to pull it out of its timber cocoon and fit out on the jig. As it was coming from Anvil bikeworks I new the finish  quality and most importantly the operation would be second to none, and this certainly lived up to my expectations, man Don and the boys do some amazing machining in that factory. Well now I can finally start building the cargo bike that I have had on the drawing table for a while now, really looking forward to getting this build up and running I have a bunch of new ideas that I want to put into place on this build, I’ll post shots as it grows.

stay upright ..

Star Trak Alleycat

Fly little street monkey fly

Well here is my new play-thing finished and flying along.

There’s a write up on the build in an earlier post if you want the tec low down.

I had a major headache getting tyres for this little one, did a lot of  web checking before I started designing her and I found 24″x1″ tyres, sweet. Little did I know how many variations there are in 24″ tyres.

Built my wheels up ordered the tyres from the UK, waited 5 days for them to arrive, on opening the box I could pretty much tell they would not fit. Sure enough they are floating over the rim by nearly an inch, they are 24″x1″with a 440mm rim diameter  after much checking double checking and swearing went searching again found another tyre 24″x1″by 420mm rim . Email to the company, yes its 24″x1″x420mm  ”OK send it out thanks”. Another 5 day wait, low and be hold  they have sent me another tyre that does not fit. More swearing and I’m starting to get worried now as the frame will only accept a 1″ tyre.

A call to Paul and Dylan at hill brick racing and they tell me they have 24x1x420 tyres third time lucky surly?

But alas no they are marked 24x1x420 and my rims are 420mm but they are still 10mm to big. Starting to lose my mojo with this build now, another call to hill brick and they tell me they have the complete pre built wheels and tyres ready to go, I hate using wheels I have not built my self  but I had blown far too much time and money on things so far and me and my girl where going to ride around Melbourne for a couple of days and this is exactly what this bike was built for small and compact for traveling on planes and building up in hotel rooms and quick for cutting it up thru the streets.(at least that is what I was hoping it would do) .

Placed the order for the wheels the day before we flew out ( thanks Dylan for getting them away on time for me you guys rock) finished work late still had to build up the little beast makes sure it all fit together as it should, all together no time for a test ride, pull it apart and box it up for the morning flight.

I hate flying with bikes, I spend the whole time worrying  if they will be broken when I un pack them at the other end, I have got packing them down to a fine art now though. All was well this time, nothing crushed bent or smashed. Onto the hotel to un pack the bikes build them up and it is finally time to see what I have actually created.

The car park test up and down outside the hotel all felt good, must remember little wheels and short chain stays makes for a bike that pops up on the back wheel very easy, a lesson learnt very quickly with much laughing from my girlfriend thanks. then it was time to hit the streets of Melbourne man I love this city. Soon found my self wearing a big grin this bike was just fun to ride we where just cruising but I could feel it chafing at the bit to through down some speed (easy there Tonto).

We cruised Brunswick st (man there is a lot of bikes in this town) then headed over to pony bikes to say hi to Sasha. We where there for about 10 mins when it started to rain which turned into hail which then turned into really BIG hail, probably lasted for 15 mins but man did it do some damage was crazy to watch. Thanks Sasha for keeping us high and dry. That pretty much put an end to riding thru town that day we tried to get over to see Dan from shifter bikes new shop but the city was seriously flooded was getting close to the BB on some of the streets so it was time to admit defeat and head back to the hotel. Next day was simlier no massive storm but it was short rides between showers so I didn’t get to really find out what this little monkey had to offer that had to wight till I got back to Sydney.

I have been riding the bike for a couple of weeks now and I’m sorry to say that my other whips are getting a bit neglected. This thing is just so much fun to ride, it is a speed weapon so fast of the lights and super nimble thru the traffic and man can it rip up the hills it really does bring out a smile when I’m riding it. There is not much I would change on it. I do have a second set of forks for it that I built that are a lot tighter over the wheel and will bring the front end down by an 1″ so i will fit them and ride it to see how it feels and handles and then I will be looking at building a couple of  frame sets up for sale as I think it will tick the right boxes with some of the people out there.

Well I’m of to get my dose of fun on my little monkey.

Stay up right ..

BMX Bandit

Well here is my little red pill.

I had a bit of a set back with the build of this one, I made the seat stay and chain stay bridges just that bit too close to the tyre. After much kicking myself  for being impatient I set to work cutting the bridges out and fitting new ones. Off to get painted again (sorry Peter).

Got her back and quickly put it all back together and road her home to hit it up at Maroubra skate bowl.

A few little tweaks setting up the cock pit and it was time to through down some lines, getting to know her and getting her dialed in .

I have not hit the park up for a while so the body was complaining the next day (it keeps telling me im to old for this shit and I keep telling it to shut up and do what its told, I think it may win but I will put up a fight before I go down)

all in all im happy with the build and the ride I think we will have some good times together.

I’m off to the park now to teach my body who is boss. 

Stay up right..