New River WV biking...

a big shout out to Bruce, Linda and Deb for sending in a pic of them flying the colors in the New River Gorge during a recent spring mountain bike ride...sweet riding in a beautiful area.

Got a pic of you or friends sporting some Groovy product that you wanna share, send it in!

rody

Carys frame and new digs...

Well, I busted my bum to get a ride under Cary for the first race, but it was obviously not the finished state I wanted to present to him.  So I worked on his actual frame which will be ready for the open house and next race on May 22.  Here's a quick photo tour for ya...

The whole frame starts with the backbone...the seat post.  Here I've brazed on the binder bolt which will allow me to indicate off of for the miters, keeping everything straight...

The binder is then slotted using a slitting saw and the relief hole is placed with an end mill plunged in...

and whalaa...

Fitting it into the fixture, I then cut and miter the main tubes, which have all been inspection rolled for straightness, butts measured and marked, and oriented for the strongest placement in the frame...

miters are coming together...

Once I'm happy with the fit, extra details like water boss holes, vent holes, and cleaning the tubes are attended to then she is all welded up in the fixture to insure a dead straight component.

Then the rear end begins to take shape, starting with the chainstays... slotting for the dropouts;

and cutting for the bottom bracket...

I got through the whole enchillada yesterday with the exception of the rear disc placement and a few braze ons, hoping to finish fab today and move to paint next month.

I mentioned yesterday that lifes been busy on the personal and business front.  The main succubus of my time has been the aquisition of a new property for the family that would incorporate our home and the shop. Although I like the downtown location, the break ins, running back and forth from the shop to home for incidentals, and the inconvenience of never seeing the family have taken a toll these many years.  So we found a property to meet our needs and have been busy with closing info, design and contracting the construction of the shop, and getting our current home on the market.  It is our hope that the new location will increase my productivity and focus on the primary strengths of Groovy...making customs that are truly unique for the customer.

Anyhoo, here's some quick shots of the near future...

The new home, kinda a funky modern place with an open floorplan and warm feel.  Built new in 2007 and turned over to the bank due to financial constraints after construction, we will be the first owners/occupants :)

and plans for the shop...it is designed to compliment the house.  Slightly smaller than my current digs at 1150 square feet, it will be better layed out for more efficient operation.

Thanks for everyones patience this last month as I recovered from surgery and have moved through this transition...it took a lot more time and concentration to make it all happen than I anticipated.  I look forward to a bright future in my new work space this coming fall.

cheers,

rody

Office time today...

A lot has been happening on the personal and business front of late, more on that later tonight. Gonna catch up on email and voicemail today, so if you have not received a response by tonight, please try again.

rody

Mohican Wilderness Race Report

Hey y'all,
Steve Twining was gracious enough to pen a race report for us detailing the activities of Sunday's OMBC race.  Sorry I could not be there guys...

Take it away Steve!

Mohican Wilderness, OMBC 2010 race #1

A chilly day, that felt more like fall than spring brought several racers out to try their metal against the beast of a course known as Mohican Wilderness. Bull horn sounds, and we are off. I found myself in the lead with Jeff (Pendulbury) by my side and the single track rapidly approaching. Neither of us wanted to be first into the course, but I surely wanted one of us to be first. Ben Ortt saw our hesitation and tried for the inside line to get the first corner. I completey overreacted and challenged him for the spot. His 145 lb body didn’t stand a chance against my 180 lb rear end. Sorry Ben! The result was Ben on the deck, clogging the trail for every single expert in the class and me still up right and riding away by myself. I tried not to go too hard, but stayed steady on the gas.

When we hit a clearing I peaked over my shoulder and wouldn’t you know it, here came Jeff, followed by Ben and Proppe’. It stayed that way for the first climb until the top where Jeff and I slowly opened a gap. 

The next two laps stayed the same order until Proppe’ flatted out of the race. During this time Jeff and I stayed within 50 ft of each other at all times. We descended like mad men, with spectators cheering at our speed. When we reached the bottom Jeff asked, “how do you descend so fast?” I pointed out that he is just as fast because he was on my wheel . This in turn had him waiting on me to get out of his way on the climbs.

By the third lap Jeff had enough of my climbing and asked if he could take a pull. His pull felt like an all out attack. His fitness is so superior to anyone else racing currently. Upon reaching the first descent Jeff quickly showed how not to ride over a huge rock. I checked if he was okay , smiled that Brad Wilhelm saw the whole thing while climbing right beside us, and put my head down and rode for home. Jeff won’t give me many opportunities like that this season.

The Groovy Bigwheels were wonderful. The steel frame and the geometry soaked up all the nasty stuff and had us ripping it up every chance we had. Food for thought…… I am not sure my fitness is that great but I rode this race 9min faster than I ever had before on any of the cookie cutter carbon fiber rigs.

Jeff’s transition to gears is still only beginning. I am not sure he will lose this year. He is still learning and it is an absolute blast to be there for his rise to the top. I have never seen a third lap acceleration like that before. 

I had a fun day. I really enjoyed racing and talking with everyone. Thanks to all who could make it to the race. Oh yea I almost forgot, I rocked the Groovy/NEO series number plate for the race. Kevin that was for you!

Steve

Working on Ti bars...

I'm about 2 weeks behind due to the surgery time off, hope to have them shipping monday.  Thanks for everyone's patience.

r

a few fixture details...

As promised, I thought I'd throw up a few detail pics and share some about each of the new fixture.

This fixture has been in the conceptual phase for many many years, and has been actively developing over the last year and half.  The brain child of Bill Grove, I've been fortunate to have some input into it's development, while he's done all the hard work :)

The goals of the fixture were to provide full access to all joints for easy welding/joining, to have a precision set up system that allowed for accurate repeatability, simple smooth movement and articulation, rigid design to prevent flexion, maximum flexibility in desired sizing/specs, and it had to look cool ;)

While certainly not the complete laundry list of desired features, these listed filled many of the gaps that we've experienced with our previous fixtures, my design now going on 15 years old.

So let's take a quick tour...

The main fixture is made from K100 cast tool grade AL, annodized black.  Basically the same product as Mic 6, just made by a different manufacturer.  It is water jet cut to the required dimensions then gets some CNC time to chamfer the edges, place critical slots and holes, and make it dead sexy. 

You can see from the basic layout of the fixture that it allows for independant movement/adjustment of each of the critical dimensions.  The fixture is set around the fixed bottom bracket point, with independant movement for the chainstay length, axel heights, fork offset, seat tube angle, head tube height and angle, and top tube length.  The entire fixture shares the same bolt head sizing, allowing a 1/4" ball end T wrench to adjust each element.  Rolling on a tripod stand with the ability to utilize adjustable fixed feet, the fixture is counter balanced and is able to rotate 360 degrees freely in the vertical position, 360 degrees in the horizontal direction (180 each way, fore and aft), and then 360 degrees swivel on the base with the most minimal effort. 

From the side shot, you can see the counter weight arm that pivots around the main beam...

The base rotates on leather washers with adjustable tension and has two quick clip sprung knobs that can lock the fixture in place if desired...

The bottom bracket uses a unique adjustable post, allowing for bottom bracket shells from 68 to 80+ to fit on the centerline of the fixture...simply loosen the collar and rotate to change the dimension.  The fixture plate is designed  to allow for maximum accessibility for fitting and joining.  An adjustable tool can affix to the plate to allow for symetrical positioning of the chainstays on the bb, equal centerline spacing of the wheel/tire position, and centering of the seat tube over the bottom bracket.

The head tube uses a machined puck for the bottom locator and a tapered cone at the top, all headtube sizes are available from 1.0 up to the new 44 headtube. The bolt that holds in the bottom puck utilizes an inset c-clip, so that once it is loose, it will not drop out and roll under the bench. This allows the puck to slide freely out with the frame for easy removal once the frame is joined. The top of the head tube cone has a tension adjuster, so that you can gently set the head tube plate/cone into place, then snug it up with the tension adjuster to prevent any cocking stress on the fixture during securing.

You'll notice there are no scales or other visual indicators to set up the fixture, this is because all the necessary adjustments are made with a digital caliper.  Each of the key elements utilize eccentric securing point and a machined post to hold the calipers.  Movements are driven by the 1/4" wrench on a lead screw to provide precise set up that has not been achievable before. All the major components roll on sealed bearings, providing ultra smooth, friction free movement.

With the caliper system setting the dimensions, there is no more sight guessing off of a scale or hoping to get it close enough to survive the critisism of the most anal customer.  The real magic of this precision system is that you have exact repeatability even years later, or you can cut multiple sets of tubes to the desired settings, come back weeks or months later, reset to the exact dimensions, and have all your miters be just as tight for welding.  Sweet.

On the rear tower, you can see the lead screw inside the fixture plate. The rear axel tower is designed to easily swap out axels for differing widths by a simple twist of the wrench and sliding the spring pressured top cap back.  Fast and smooth, especially when taking out a completed frame.

a peek inside the rear plate shows the ball bearing rollers that sit in a machined pathway to guide the movement...so smooth.

An acid etched plate will be secured to the main beam to show the dimensional measurements to achieve the desired geometry...

I've working with a vinyl sticker right now.

The entire fixture is purge ready, though I've not yet run the iridium blue tubing, and has two quarter turn valves to control the flow circuits.

Two frames down and I've made a list of small changes I'd like to make, most not necessary but fall into the "would be nice category".  As this is the prototype, I'm sure there will be a number of revisions before we achieve the final version.

Anyhoo, I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to work with the development of this piece, as I feel it will increase the efficiency and precision of frame fabrication.  You rock Big Willy!

cheers,

rody