Brotherly Bike

I've been working on a bike for my brother Ian for the past few weeks.  It's actually a centaur of sorts--the front end is brand-new but the rear is the rear end from my attempt last spring at a new road bike.  While that bike was a flop due to some incorrect tubing spec, this should be a winner.  I've done some new stuff and really like how it's turned out so far.

Here's my idea for a head tube badge.  It's a nice reproduction of a ukiyo-e print from a calendar I had last year.  The scene was from the February month, and given that Ian was born then, I thought it fitting.  There are 11 other versions that might fit the bill too though, so I'll let him pick.

Ian's Bike

 Looks like I'm almost ready for test riders!  Really too bad that I'm not in riding shape right now, as I've got a feeling this is going to be my best bike yet.

Another view

A view of the brake bridge and seat cluster of Ian's bike. Notice the black line running along the top tube.  That's the seam where I split the tube and lined it with carbon fiber.  Stiffness should be pretty good and it should be more resistant to the ever popular handlebar smash in the unlikely event of a crash.

LITTLE BIKE DONE!

Thanks to the flying spaghetti monster for his blessing!  I finally have finished the tiny cruiser and sent it away to its owner.  Also, it actually fits, and fits pretty well. After the last screw up, I chopped out the top tube and seat stays and re-did them a fair bit lower.  The end effect was sort of a BMX looking city bike, but one that gives generous ground clearance.  I took no chances here, and am unbelievabley relieved to have the monkey finally off my back.  My only regret is that I didn't take any pictures before it left my posession.  Sometimes it might be better to forget anyway.

This is what we're going for

I'm going to cut out the top tube and seat tubes and we'll do something like this:

Helps if you measure right

So, not sure exactly why I haven't been using Bike Cad for the past few years, but this is super handy, and shows exactly why I didn't have the standover clearance that I was looking for.

Also, it helps if you've got the right measurements.  It turns out that I thought I had an extra inch to work with; my fit kit measurements taken by a guy at the shop had listed 71cm as the inseam without shoes.  With Risheeta in a pair of Crocs, I measured 68 cm.  Whoops, that explains a lot.

Carl is the Man

I've been working with ENVE for the past 5 years or so, and Carl Turner in their framebuilder services division is awesome to work with.  I'd recently ordered some tubes for a bike for my brother, and there was some mis-comunication on what size I'd wanted.  I pointed out the gripe and got a call this morning at 9:30 to work out the kinks and get the tube I'd requested.

The big bummer of the whole deal is that with ENVE's expansion over the past few years, they're no longer going to be able to make custom tubing in small batches for guys like me.  A shame, since I love working with Carl.  Such is life I suppose.