Rob Leech

You mean full santa costumes with bikes made to look like raindeer?

Best thing you could of done in my eyes . Yeah, when i did it i bought all the tubing pre made, cost me around the 130 mark in carbon, not including epoxys to bond it together, but looking back at it i should of made the tubing myself. Found that it would of cost me around 70 to make the 3 different diameters i used, so lesson learnt on that one . Using an old frame and rebuilding it would be a good start, will help you learn about how different lengths change much more than single dimensions and will get you started on the welding side of things. Go for it, would like to see how it goes . Try finding a few pics of home-made jigs or have a look at drawing the whole frame out and working from your drawing . Cheers, Josh.

Sorry chap, but i've gota agree with this. It is something that most people on here would love to do, but it takes a lot of commitment and time to even make one frame, let alone start a business producing them without any prior knowledge or experience in the trades that will be requiered. The part i wouldnt agree with in that statement is where you go with your education. I would say that if your interested in the actual manufacture of the frame, definately try and find a fabrication apprenticeship, this will help you alot more than any degree in mechanical engineering due to the fact that it is taught on the practical side of the project, rather than the theory, a lot of which you wouldn't need for this sort of thing. Depending on the company, you would also gain experience of the stages a project would have to go through in manufacturing, ie, design, pricing, assesments of the project, ect,ect. I've made 3 frames to date, all with there own problems that have been extremely difficult to overcome, in one case, it didnt happen at all which stoped the frame in it's tracks and is now sat in a corner of my bay at work . If you really want to have a go at it, even just a one off, start looking at how other people do it, heres the last one that i made and a full picture "story" of how i did it- Hopefully that helps you more than a bit of rambling by us . Cheers, Josh.

How do, very nice design there, just the fact that no split clamps are needed is good enough for me . But i've gotta say i agree with the statements above, partly anyway. With the slaves, i wouldnt integrate the pistons like magura have done. The problem with maguras design is the fact you cant easily clean anything, leading to having to replace slaves. Why not make them dismantleable? (is that a word????) Securing a spring at the front of the piston with a small plate, or even a circlip, would improve this design ten fold. Surely a tpa can be used with an open system, if not, how do hope add the adjustment on the lever of the tech? I'm sure that had a pad adjustment dial? I dont think snapping would be a problem with bolts of that size, but the rounding of the heads would come thick and fast. Why not have a look at increasing the thickness of the lock ring to allow for a counterbore? You can then use cap heads and remove that problem (partly anyway, most of the time cag handedness is the main problem ) Hope it all goes well though, nice to see something different to a magura re-make . Cheers, Josh.

Gona have to give this a miss, the bank balance isn't allowing it .

Very much agree with this statement .

Firstly, no need to heat treat a steel frame, it's properties are wildly different to aluminium and can easily withstand the forces trials puts through it. Also, if its one of his bog standard mild steel frames, it cant be heat treated due to the low carbon content, only high carbon steels can be heat treated (tool steels, EN series, ect) . I'll say this again, like i have many times on here, you cannot re-treat a heat treated frame, not on a very specific point like a welded joint anyway. The fact is, if you were to put the frame through treatment after a repair, the welded area may well be hardened again, but what about the rest of the frame? A very large area that has not had any heat introduction and is still at its stated temper will now have heat introduced into it, putting you back to where you were in the first place. Also, to do this, the frame would have to undergo the whole process, so solution treatment- (a process where the material is taken close enough to its melting point to allow certain constituents of the material to become a solid solution, then being quenched extremely quickly to hold these constituents in place (in most frames, these constituents are silicon and magnesium)) and age hardening- ( where the material is subjected to a relatively low temperature (usually around 180 degrees) for a long period of time, which produces particals of an impurity phase, helping to stop the movement of dislocations in the material) So it's not a small job in reality, dont forget having to make a jig for the frame, due to the extremely high temperatures involved in the solution hardening, the material can buckle and twist just under its own weight, and also finding somewhere to do it for you, which is very difficult as most places that will have the facilities to heat treat aluminium will be very large and probably only take jobs on that are massive in quantity. Anyways, ramble over, there you go . Cheers, Josh. Edit- winchman, there will be no problem with welding it if it is steel ^^^^^^

With ally frames, the problem arises with the localised heating of the weld area. Because of the heat treatment processes that go into a frame post fabrication, any sort of introduction of heat will pretty much undo this process, leaving the area soft, which inturn may or may not lead to it cracking again, it's something that you can't really predict to a time scale. I've repaired frames that have lasted up to 3 months, yet i've also repaired frames that have only lasted 3 days, a sound repair is very much more to do with looking where it is on the frame, why it has cracked there and trying to cancel out the movement that has caused it to crack there. However, if this is a steel frame your wanting doing, go ahead, aslong as you gusset the area and use a competant welder, you wont have any problem with it cracking . Cheers, Josh.

Lol, bike problems, we all love 'em .

You know what i've just realised about this? He wasn't actually using a hope head doctor, but the gusset bolt through, so, depending on the size of the bolt head, it may well not of worked anyways . Time=wasted, lol. Josh. Edit- I say wouldn't of worked, he'd of had to do a bit more than just drill it .

Bang on, no problem . Cheers, Josh.

No, i said you would be able to use a head doctor with a sloping top cap . Remember, a head doctor still uses an M6 bolt, just because theirs has a fancy head on it, dosen't mean you need to use it . Cheers, Josh.

1) Normally, it's not their decision, most of them wouldn't want to bother coming down just to ask some guys on bikes to leave the premisis, it's their supervisors choice due to health and safety, insurance and the fact that you are trespassing (normally anyway, uni's, hospitals, ect). We have had a couple in Notts uni come up to us, watch what we were doing and then say that they wouldn't be back round for another hour or so, which i thought was pretty decent of them, seeing as they could potentially get a diciplinary for it. 2) We all ride in places we're not ment to ride, sometimes a few times in the day. If they start to recognise you, they'll tighten up on security there, ruining it for yourself and others that want to have a play. Ever tried it? Been on some pretty big rides and still end up being moved on, usually due people showing respect towards the security/police, but also due to the fact that they won't give up, why would they? It's not your property and it's their job to keep you off it, they dont perform, they get sacked. 3) I think that this is probably, from the sounds of things, because you play up to most that move you on. Cant say that this is bollocks though, the ones at reading uni are complete wankers, missing a parked bike by liturally millimeters when showing up their cars, chasing you out of the woods with quad bikes, grabbing peoples helmets and dragging them away, you want to have a go at some security gaurds, go there! BUT at the same time, the beter majority are nice guys, just doing thier job. Sorry for the long post, wanted to get it out there . Cheers, Josh.

Will hopefuly get up to you northerners for this . This is the bbc weather prediction- Monday 5 December—Sunday 18 December Generally unsettled The generally unsettled theme continues through the first half of December, with spells of wet and windy weather separated by some drier interludes. A relatively mild feel is anticipated with temperatures expected to be at or just above average, Frosts are still likely on clearer and settled nights though. Conditions are not expected to be particularly wet, and mainly westerly winds are envisaged. Wooop! Cheers, Josh.

Not meaning to start an argument here, but do you think angled top caps are some kinda of mechanical marvel? The bolt is still square and central to the fork, the fact that the top cap is at an angle makes no difference to how the system works. You would be able to run a head doctor with it quite happily, aslong as the bolt head was the same diameter as the standard (M6) bolt that is used so it sits inside the counterbore in the top cap (this is what you needed to do to get it to fit nicely btw ). Josh.

Looks more like a beaver to me...... Find out the angle the stem uses for it's top cap, find one thats at the same angle . Cheers, Josh.

Lol, fair do's. EDIT- Luke, gota agree on the design issue, looks very nice, but there is an obvious flaw with it, hopefully they have thought about it properly because there is a way of getting around it I personally think they should of hydroformed the downtube in one section, rather than rolling a tube, cutting it in half and welding it to what is essentially (still cant spell ) a backbone. This way, they could decrase the wall thicknes of the top tube, keeping it at the weight it is atm, and increase the overall stiffness of the frame, but meh', thats just me . Dont think the cost would be too much more done like this either, initial costs of a form would be high, but the decrease in labour time would see that through, i'd of thought anyway.

Wasn't commenting on the fact that you had one, we know you've got one, which is quite tasty btw, just that you said damon made and designed it, he may of had some input, like it needs a thicker downtube and maybe a bb gusset, but thats about it . Josh.

Frame looks bootiful, hopefully that extra weight is an increase in wall thickness on the downtube. Sorry if this has been said already further up, couldnt see it, but has anyone got a closer release date than just next year? No. Josh.

Welded the crack, gusseted where the crack was, wrapped it in diolen, then in a carbon sleeve and finally bonded it all (epoxy resin )

Uploaded with ImageShack.us Crack'a'd cracked

How do all, got this finished off and built up this evening, so here she is- Uploaded with ImageShack.us Picture makes it look alot nicer than it is Pretty rough around the edges, but i dont think it's too bad for my first proper use of carbon. Pic of the carbon- Uploaded with ImageShack.us I've documented the whole repair process if anyone wants to see it Massive thanks to Carl Hopps for the frame aswell, diamond! Let me know what you think. Cheers, Josh.

Cheers matey, it is indeed, the frames actually a repair job for myself, nah, all good, dont think anyone else noticed . I have indeed, just this evening, minus a grip. Shall dooooooo I'd agree with you on that, but with this, wanted to keep the carbon on show . Cheers, Josh. EDIT- Build pics up in bike pics now .

AWESOMENESSSSSSS! Looks taaasty! Out of interest, why 4 bolt and disc?

Painted! Just needs flating off and lacquering.