My intention was to capture on film the process of building a custom race frame. Unfortunately when I’m in my ‘zone’ taking pictures is the last thing on my mind.


Regardless, I’d like to show you a cruiser frame I just finished for a very talented 14X racer, ‘Mr. Smooth’ Tyler H.

Tyler had a chance to race my other cruiser at the end of last year and after blowing away the competition, decided he absolutely had to make this his weapon of choice for 2010.
He wanted to make his frame even more unique so we flushed the seat tube with the top tube (like my white 26”). He’ll use a seat post with an expanding cone insert.

This frame uses a butted Aero shaped DT, Aero CS, and internally machined ST and weighs 4.9 lbs.
Geometry is currently top secret

Here are some of the pictures I did manage to take:


Here all the tubes have been mitered and hand filed to fit. The head tube, bottom bracket, and drop outs are in the frame jig. All parts get cleaned in acetone prior to being set in place for the last time.


The fitting in the bottom bracket is for back-gassing the frame with argon.


The CS brace is also made from aero tubing.


Finished but raw (proudly standing in front of it's inspiration)


Hooded rear drops


Flush seat tube and scalloped detail on rear of TT:


Powdercoated


With it's brother


I am hoping to get some pics of the complete bike soon.

I hope Tyler enjoys racing this frame as much as I enjoyed building it for him!


Until next time....
Greg

Oh my gawd. I need one of those.

I love the chain stays.

Yeeeeah boy those Chainstays are Saaaaahweeeet and the flush ST is freaking tight too!

I like it.

Nice Greg! I love to see your work. You are a stickler for the details, which I admire.

I think there's many that might question the necessity of back purging, especially from a mass production standpoint, but to see you spend the extra $$$ in argon to contribute to your high-quality standards is great to see.

If you don't mind me asking, are you using er80? If so, what series?

I uh, love you? Hey wow...thats like...DANG!

On a serious note, WOWOWOWOWOOWOWOWOWOWOWOOW can I have one?

Thanks Guys!

This frame turned out really nice and Tyler is stoked to race it. I'm still waiting for them to bring the bike over so I can get some pics.

Cornfed, thanks as always!
If there is one person I know who can appreciate the details it's you!

I have both ER70 and ER80 class rods and I only use products from Weld Mold and Addifix. I like to use ER70S2 on frames as it is a better undermatch for the materials being joined and the processes involved. I feel the resultant weld using ER80 on this condition of material won't provide enough elongation under stress and may result in a crack. Note: this is just my opinion based on my experiences. You will find many people who use ER80 rod on 4130 but it's usually on much thicker material.


For those that don't know, Cornfed has built his own frame so he knows what he's talking about!




Until next time,
Greg

Always stoked to see what you're making Greg! Very cool frame.

Very nice! Can't wait to see Tyler Whoopin' Roger ths year! ha ha

Still wow. That is a thing of beauty.

very hot looking frame, nice job

Thanks again guys!

I don't know where I put the pictures of Tyler's finished bike but here are some of my Blackbird built up:

Take Care,
Greg

I can't even say anything.

Even thru my old low definition monitor and magnifying glass,looks you are running V'brakes upside down ? If so, what kind, and how well are they working?

I'm partial to your 26! It is one bad bike. You let me ride it at rays one time. It's a thing of beauty.

I absolutely LOVE it, but 4.9lb frame?!?!?!?!?