thanks for the encouraging words el kabong
that being said, tomorrow is a general hacking day at the artifactory and I will be there pretty much all day designing my stead off an old trek 520. if anyone has a finished design they want to print off or questions on sizing etc, feel free to stop by. materials to begin construction should be here by next weekend.
hope to see you at the race tomorrow night too
the materials have arrived, ready to start construction tomorrow.
ok guys, been procrastinating uni work but progress has been made.
frame jig is built.
cad printer is almost working.
materials have all been purchased.
and I found a good supplier of bamboo in perth.
Shanghai Shed
227 Stirling Hwy, Claremont
The lady that runs this place is nice and has a huge stack of bamboo poles in the back garage. Just tell her what you need and she’ll let you pick through for the right length. She has a handsaw and everything. $12 bucks for 2-3 meter lengths and $15 for longer than 4 meters. Shes got a good supply so you should be able to find chainstay, seatstay, and maintubes in there for under $25 bucks. Measure twice cut once.
Looks good Alvern. Will try n get down next weekend as I’ve got shit on this weekend.
man that is looking good.
very impressive indeed.
Sweet, I like the 2nd triangle in the front triangle which GT have in their bikes too. I saw a man on telly who was trying to mass produce these and sell them. And the reporters said something like it was a “new idea which could help our environmental state” or something like that. Even back then I knew they were wrong cause there are guides all over the internet which tell you how to make them. Dude had a good idea for a business I guess.
She’s looking good 'vern!
(Apologies to Gary Larson. One of my favourite Gary Larson ‘Far Side’ cartoons is the one in which two Bull’s are blowing up an inflatable cow and one says to the other “she’s looking good Vern”).
Seriously, it looks great.
Questions:
What do you intend to use the bike for, and how did you decide on the geometry?
Is the seat post fixed?
Will you be fitting a brake, or two? What sort?
Will you be fitting a bidon cage, or two?
There seems to be a huge amount of clearance (Clarence) front & rear - do you intend to fit mudguards, or do you simply happen to have 26" wheels on the frame at the moment as a temporary measure?
The geo is based off a 85’ trek 520 that i love dearly until it bit the dust due to rust (the fork comes from that).
The seat post shim is about 8cm long and is stuck into the bamboo tube with paint insulated epoxy and carbon fibre.
I designed it for canti’s but am settling on two road brakes, either old dia compe’s or the stock brakes off a cannondale cadd 5.
I’m thinking beyond water bottles, going to make a main triangle camelbak holder.
The clearance is an illusion, the fork fits 28c’s snuggly and the rear has heaps of room due to the fact the lugs were taking from a GT mtn bike.
The 26" rims were only used as a frame jig to keep the front and rear dropouts tracked properly.
Last, I plan on attaching a Koolstop trailer (with modifications) and touring the southwest of WA for the next 30 days (or until dec 15), hence why the rear dropouts are so built up with fibre.
alvern, awesome work mate!
Andy! If you haven’t had a chat to Yohei already, he did a month long tour through the southwest and up to Esperance a couple of years ago (around the same time of the year too), he’d probably have some good advice. Also, I’d be more than happy to lend you some racks/panniers/stove if you need them?
That second triangle is fingerbanging awesome, super work Vern. Can’t wait to give it a spin! I’ve heard the ride on bamboo bikes is pretty nice, sprightly and forgiving. Regretting not being part of it, but I look back to the mountain of work I STILL have to do and glad I stuck with doing uni work instead. Lucie (my watermelon fixed) is sitting next to me getting strange looks in the computer lab.
Save time and buy!
BAMBOO FIXED GEAR TRACK FRAME SINGLE SPEED MEDIUM 55CM (eBay item 370393054963 end time 05-Dec-10 06:39:33 AEDST) : Sporting Goods
prawza, i’ve talked to yohei about his journey a lot. his advice was everything past albany was very boring. do you have a 1-2 person tent and pad that I could possibly borrow?
I saw that and I am seriously considering grabbing one. Don’t like the big ‘Organic Bikes’ bit though
