PVD 5.5" Fork Hardtail R2

This bike is being built to correct problems with PVD 5.5" Fork Hardtail, the geometry of that bike was failed. Some mistakes were avoidable, some were not. Lesson learned.

Down Tube - Columbus ZONA 35mm X 670mm 7/5/7 $27.65
Top Tube - Columbus GENIUS 28.6 X 600mm 7/4/7 $34.67
Seat Tube - NOVA CrMo EXTERNALY BUTTED SEAT TUBE 28.6 x 0.9/0.6/1.2 x 460mm $13.80. See Below
Chain Stays - NOVA Cr-Mo 22MM Round-Oval-Round, 420mm Straight (PVD bend) $15.70
Seat Stays - DEDACCIAI 12.5 16mm X 560mm x 0.6mm Single Taper $18.71

Independent Fabrications Dropouts (PVD Designed)
Paragon 1.5" BB Shell
Pacenti SS StampedHydo Stops:Bikelugs.com
PVD Integrated IS Head Tube

27.2 Seat post

The Seat Tube

I have been stuggling with seat tube issues on my second and third build. The tubes are warping quite a bit and reaming has been hell for a variety of reasons. Mainly, I have been using some top tubes instead of seat tubes trying to keep weight down and I have been welding without a heat sink in the seat tube.

I had hoped to rectify this by constructing a tube from NOVA Cr-Mo OS Road Down Tube 31.7 X 650mm X 8/5/8 ($15.00) Welded to a 1.125" OD, 27.2 mm ID Insert. While this was just a few grams lighter than the final tube, it also threw an estetic for the frame. It just looked out of place big. I may move to 1.250 seat tubes in the future, but for now I am keeping things minimal.

I decided to go to a NOVA CrMo EXTERNALY BUTTED SEAT TUBE 28.6 x 0.9/0.6/1.2 x 460mm ($13.80). It's a very solid tube and is almost the same weight as the fabricated one. It won't be as stiff, but that may not be what's needed at this point. Once the geometry is truly dialed, then I can work on flex a bit more. I just don't think it's a problem right now.

I also made a seat tube heat sink and got some better quality reamers. This helped immensly.

Welded Up

Paint

Again with cheap powdercoating. RAL 3005 Wine Red or RAL 5002 Ultramarine Blue.

The bike will be painted with Krylon Satin Black during test riding.

Complete Bike

26.50 lbs. fully kitted for hardcore trail riding.

Ride Quality

This bike works better than any all mountain hardtail that I have ridden. It is super solid on decents and in technical sections. It climbs well enough. A slightly lower bottom bracket could help both aspects quite a bit. I feel like 12.500" may be slightly high and that 12.375" or 12.250" may have worked just as well.

The Gift

This frame will be painted RAL 2009 Traffic Orange or RAL 2004 Pure Orange, built up well and given to my old friend Ram. I used some new parts and some old parts. It will be a very solid bike.

He did almost all of my tatoos for me as gifts and I have owed him for quite a while.