waiting..

i know its been a while since i last posted, but i'm sad to say, at the moment, there is nothing to post!
I'm still quite annoyed at the moment that the tubes haven't come in yet, but i guess its just a wait....

while i've been waiting, i've been thinking of what i should paint my bike it.
the colour selection is very difficult since i want to make this bike a one of a kind that is created and designed by me.

until I receive the tubes, i guess there isn't anything i can do..

Tubing!

 hello!

I know its been a while since I’ve last posted, but I have loads of homework and other commitments (cycling)

Last week I managed to order in the specific tubing for the bike from USA. The tubing that I had ordered is from the brand ‘True Temper’ I chose this brand since it is used by ‘English Cycles’ on my favorite custom frame builders

http://www.englishcycles.com/

The tubing takes around 10 days to be delivered, so hopefully it will be in any day and I will be able to get started!

Selecting the tubing was extremely difficult since you had to find the right lengths since the tubes have to be mitred and welded which will+- some length so keeping in mind, I selected the tubes alongside my boss, Vince; after a long search, we found the tubes we were looking for that complied with the ISP requirement. The cost of the tubing was around $300 dollars excluding shipping from America. Since it is a steel frame, the weight will be quite high compared to a traditional carbon frame, but due to the material, it should prove to act as a more ‘lively’ compared to carbon.

As soon as the tubes come in I will post some photos, but until then, more waiting!

The geometry challenge

Good evening,

I’m about to write about the second step of creating a bicycle frame - the geometry.

Then first approaching this task, I thought it would be rather simple; type a couple of numbers into the tool bar and POOF! A new frame is created. But no, it is not a simple as that. The process is rather difficult, since when you are designing a frame, the measurements need to be to the closest millimetre.

Since I’m a beginner to frame building, I tried copying a well known frame called the Ridley X-fire, and adding a couple of personal adjustments to the frame to make it suit my liking. I used the program bikecad.ca, which is used by many large-scale bicycle companies when they are designing frames. After copying in the number and adjusting some measurements, I printed off the details and save the image on my computer.

After finishing creating my ‘sketch’ on the computer, I uploaded it on a bike forum called weightweenies.starbike.com/ to gain some impute from some professional bike companies and professional cyclists. After being told my calculations were completely incorrect, I took the designs back to the drawing board.

Finally, after my 4^th draft, my ‘sketch’ was completed! Next stage is the selection of tubing, preparation then finally the construction and welding of the frame.

Stay tuned!

My Inspirations...

Building a bike is no easy challenge; each step taken to build the bike is more time consuming than the next.

The first step is to find a design of a bike that you want to “mimic.”

I immediately turned to my favorite bike brands to find some pictures and some geometry charts. 

There were three models of bikes that grabbed my attention;

The Parlee

The Moots

The Baum

It will take a few hours to create some samples of geometry for the bike, which are made with a special program called bikecad.ca/ the bike will be designed using this program, then the blueprint will be printed off and handed to my Boss/Frame-builder to discuss and to start building the bike.

First Post..

Hello,

and welcome to my blog for my personal project!

At the beginning of the year, I faced the tough challenge of starting a completely different lifestyle, the tough leap of moving schools to the Mount Scopus Memorial College. When I started my first day, I was confronted by my Homeroom teacher (mech) about starting my personal project and if there was anything specific that I would like to do before the two term deadline.

Knowing what my friends were trying to do for their projects; writing cookbooks, making daily planners, online fantasy football teams, I wanted to give myself a ‘proper challenge’ which will keep me enthused for the whole two terms. Thinking deeply for about two whole days, I came to the conclusion that I would want to build my own custom racing bike frame, a frame that I could actually use to ride on, not just hang up upon the wall for decooration.

Ever since I’ve started riding, I’ve always wanted to manufacture and build my own personal bike, just for me; something that I can ride and just enjoy. The idea of building a bike was inspired by many custom bike brands such as, Baum, Parlee, Moots and most of all, my lovely boss, Vince.

When thinking about what type of bike to build, I thought to myself, what could I build? Inspired by one of my co-workers and ex coach, I decided that I would want to build a cyclocross racer.

Cyclocross is a type of cycling that is very popular in Europe and in the United States. Although cyclocross is very uncommon in Australia, it is slowly growing with the immergence of small races all around the nation.

The differences between a road bike and a cyclocross bike confuse many people. The main differences between the two is that a cyclocross bike is a bike that can be ridden on the road, as well as riding on dirt tracks due to the large clearances and thicker, knobbier tires.

 Completing this humongous feat will not only be extremely difficult, but it will also require a whole lot of concentration and hours to complete.

my aims for the bike and the project are:
frame under 1900g.
bike under 10kilograms.
finish by due date.
race on it in a competitive event.

Hopefully, with the help of my Boss, it wont be ‘too’ challenging.


Stay tuned for more posts!