These are hard to get items. I wish that that wasn’t the case because they are very important. Few discuss them. In this case, these are 50mm x 47mm x 1mm stainless steel shims for T47 bottom brackets. I need to get a few 0.5mm as I needed one today. Broad strokes still work and … Read more
Mountain bikes and all-road bikes are some of the harder bikes to design and build. Squeezing frame members around tires and drivetrain parts compound into many other problems to solve. One of the primary ways of alleviating this is to provide as much clearance on the outside of the bike as can be made. This … Read more
Better. Stronger. Faster. I had two heroes when I was very young child. Mohamed Ali and Steve Austin. Ali was amazing. Steve ‘was’ an astronaut and more. It’s been quite a while since I’ve been able to put serious development time into the all-road platform. It was mid-2021 when the majority of the work on … Read more
I’ve discussed (2) some of the particularities in additive metal manufactured parts in my bikes and skateboard designs. It’s strange stuff. Since it isn’t (in a macro sense) a uniform homogeneous crystalline structure, it has some strange failure properties. It’s globular. I think of it like Styrofoam. It’s quite stiff and strong but when it … Read more
In a way, one of the nice things about additive manufacturing is the long wait to get the parts. We don’t really like that wait but it’s a fact and hard to change. It takes between 20 and 30 days to get my parts from the printer from when I send off the models. Since … Read more
This is some seriously nerdy stuff. Since I haven’t seen any folks discuss it so, once again, I have to. I’ve just sent files to the printer for a new all-road bike for me. After most of the real work had been done, I began fine tuning and evaluating my expectations and decisions. This last … Read more
This was the MET Gala of the framebuilding world. I’ve been to a lot of parties at these shows, this was something else and the best yet. Everyone was there. The place was PACKED and HYPED! A few weeks before the show, the MADE organizers let us know about a couple of industry parties that … Read more
The 2023 MADE Bike Show in Portland, Oregon this past week was set to be quite an event. Announced about a year ahead, people seemed to be getting more and more amped as the date approached. In the weeks prior, the socials buzzed with hype and excitement. Everyone was getting ready and had something special … Read more
This is a quick one while I’m busy modeling the new bike and about to head up to Oregon to do some press at the MADE show. Back when we were assembling Windy’s Stumpjumper one year ago, there was one detail that I didn’t address. It was the Q172 Shimano FC-7100 SLX 170mm cranks. While … Read more
Colorado road trips are pretty great! Last year we rode at Trestle Bike Park and this year we got to ride Keystone Bike Park. I was stoked for this as most folks I talked to agreed that Keystone was the gnarlier of the two. That proved to be quite true, it’s an awesome hill. As … Read more
This is an exciting new tool for me and worth taking a look at if you build bike frames! I’ve been needing this tool since I started building my own bikes. I probably could have even used it before that. I finally got around to designing and producing it. I’m sure that many others will … Read more
Warning! Some of the information below has been superseded by new information. This was the last detail that needed to be sorted for the PVD Millennium Falcon build. I had left the rear brake adapter to the end of the project as I figured that I had something to work. I hadn’t . Little details … Read more
Ronen and I were discussing some details for a few of his upcoming frame building projects. He is fresh off a success in building (almost) 100% of his new Raven Caw in his own workshop. Like the Sith (see: Rule of Two), he has the twin to my Cyberdyne frame fixture. He’s just got a … Read more
Windy and I were on the road. We were cutting through southern Utah on our way to the front range. We had to decide if we were going to go through Gunnison or Durango on the way to Salida before going north. I enjoy Durango and it’s generally a good stop and we chose to … Read more
While everyone is learning how to work with the new SRAM Transmission Drivetrain, issues arise. The trim adjustment needs to include a wider range for some reason. It’s too narrow, even when using parts within spec. Don’t ignore the high torque that is put on the mounting screw for the derailleur. 35 Nm (310 in-lb, … Read more
Every time I build a bicycle, I try to take something (or many things) to a higher level. I didn’t see a detail until after I got my recent bike, the Millennium Falcon, back from paint. I wish that I had thought of it in time. I had decided to add some reinforcement washers under … Read more
It’s finally time for a new Millennium Falcon. I’ve been waiting to do this for when I got to an important phase in my development. ‘Millennium Falcon’ is one of the special names in infamous spacecraft category. Few names command such respect and honor. While the Falcon is remembered for it’s roll in helping a … Read more
It’s finally time for this problem to be solved. I’ve been wanting this for a very long time! Now testing can begin without constraints. I’ve been contending with the availability of wheels that conform to the needs of my skateboard project. I need tall and soft wheels for ease of travel over rough road but … Read more
After testing a new modular head tube design on Windy’s Vega MTB, I wanted to get some nice parts CNC machined so that I could get the look just right. I’ve got a new mountain bike going together for myself and it’s going to use the new parts. As usual, a lot has gone into … Read more
Here we are again. Another draft of the skate truck. They are getting pretty. The G4 trucks were working very well and there had been enough time on them to figure out what needed to change next. Functionally, they were pretty good but there was still room for improvement. I had some changes to add … Read more
No Sea Otter for me. I did go to the Chris King Guest House at Santa Cruz Bicycles. I was expecting something a bit bigger than last year’s event at Caletti Cycles. It was, but in a different way than expected. A smaller bike show but a bigger ‘party’ at the headquarters. An interesting crowd. … Read more
In my workshop at the university, I’m constantly instructing students and others that designing at the mill is a fools job. It’s not where we do this work. We should be arriving at the machine with a fully sorted design with all of the issues worked out. This is obvious stuff that somehow doesn’t occur … Read more
I started this project about a year ago, almost to the week. It was going to be a big undertaking for me as I haven’t done a lot of this kind of work, or at least properly. I’m happy to learn new things but it can take me a bit of effort and time to … Read more
I’ve been doing audio interviews surrounding the bicycle space for the past few years. In that time, I’ve built up a back catalog of over 65 recordings. I wanted to get them all together so that folks could hear them if they haven’t. The blog format that I use inspires me to create new posts … Read more
This starts with my path to Marc. In 1995, I left the Boston area. I was 25 years old and needed a change in my surroundings. I had grown up in central and eastern Massachusetts. Just two semesters at a college in Rhode Island. Otherwise, I had spent the previous 6 years in the Boston, … Read more
Dummy axles and how they are held are a crucial part of a frame building program. We have to accurately place where the wheel axles will be, just as we do with the various tubes. The frame should hold the hubs so that the tires, gears, derailleur, and rotor are in plane, centered among the … Read more
When we work in engineering and design, we refer as much as possible to ‘first principles’, those datums or facts on which the entire project rests. “A basic assumption that cannot be deduced any further”. Everything comes back to these. They are both our lighthouse and safe harbor. In bicycle design, there are many of … Read more
Construction of Windy’s new mountain bike is underway. Among the details that needed working out was the head tube. In optimizing the geometry, space got a bit tricky at the head of the bike. I wanted to free up some rider space for her and that means keeping the top tube low. That meant using … Read more
