Doctor, to the Emergency Room...ASAP!

The Patient: Mike's 83 Fat #59

The Condition: Muchoo Rusto Infestation

The Differential Diagnosis: Swiss Cheesy tube condition requiring immediate attention, skill, and a lot of patience.

The Story...

Mike had found a classic gem, an 83 Fat Chance mountain bike, that had lingered unloved for decades and wanted to have it checked out, spruced up, and built to be a casual Central Park ride with simple distinction and history.

The Fat came to the shop shod in an industrial black powder coat that had taken it's share of wear through the years. Now, if you've been following the blog for any length of time, you know my opinion of Fat's penchant for sealed tube construction (it blows!). Couple that with a finish that is basically a plastic shrink wrap around the steel and you've got a tight package that leaves moisture no where to go...but through the structure.

When I stripped the Fat it had a solid patina of rust that has been allowed to develop due to the single coat of powder. Quite scary and oh so ugly, but what to do?

CAUTION, rant ensuing...Liquid finishes utilize a primer layer that protects the sub structure from this fate chemically, providing for long term protection. Until recently, no such option existed for our powder brethren, leaving those steely frames destined for a premature death. If y'all are powder coating your frames, please take note that this too will be your fate unless you invest in the new powder primer layers. These primers add to the cost, but increase the potential life of your product ten fold. I personally want my bikes to be around long enough to pass on to my customer's grandkids...if you are a builder who is coating with powder and not using a primer layer, shame on you. Your customers deserve better.

Anyhoo, back on track. Once in the blaster, I began to hit the frame with a fine grade Aluminum oxide media, strong enough to take off the decay but fine enough not to blow through the tubes. Here you can see the difference the blasting makes...

Once the patina of rust was removed, the diagnosis was not good. I counted 16 holes in the down tube and seat tube that were full thickness and gaping open. Unfortunately, many more were ready to break through with a little picking. Yikes!

A quick consult with Mike as to his intentions for the bike would be necessary to determine what course of action was to be pursued; major corrective surgery with the tig torch or a tube ectomy and replacement. After some emotional communication in the "waiting room", it was determined to save what we could and get the old girl back on the street.

The work began...all the holes were drilled out to fresh metal devoid of rust. This was no small task, as some of the holes ended up being almost .25" in diameter, a gaping hole when you consider the need to close it. I had hoped originally to use silver for the process, but the gaps became too big to jump the material across and retain the necessary strength.

Once the rust was all cut out, it was time to attack the "rattling thingies" in the downtube. Here's what I found...

Lot's of bits of rusty material. How many is lots? Take a look below, this is just one of three piles I accumulated in the 2 hours of jiggling and shaking (yep, you read that right, 2 hours...boy did that suck)

With as many "rattlies" out as I could, it was time to prep for welding. Here's a shot of the down tube before it hit the table...

And through the magic of the Internet, I've closed up the holes and am part way through the process of cleaning up the tubing. Not magic really, I just got so focused I did not take any pics...sorry. In this shot, I've done the rough sanding and am getting ready to get serious about the fine details...

I had originally hoped to paint the whole frame, bar, and box crown fork today, but the emergency rust correction took the majority of the day. Regardless, I was able to get three coats of primer down. I'll sand it one more time in the morning and then start shooting a nice deep red on all the parts.

I enjoy reviving cherished frames and sending them back to their owners fresh and ready for lots of miles, but I gotta be honest, it's a money loser every time. The amount of time invested in the process far exceeds most folks desire/willingness/ability to pay. If not for the love of the game from both parties, many of these projects would never happen. So, it's a win/lose situation. Emotionally, it's pretty darn cool, business wise it's a poor path to trod.

I'll shoot the color tomorrow and post up some pics.

cheers,

rody

The Official Post with no title...

Ok, so I could not come up with a comprehensive title for this post, lame I know. This week ended up as a blend of typical life...some bad, some good, and moving forward despite events.

So, the bad first...I should have been an IT guy, cause they got you by the balls and make some serous bank. Long story short, as a business who accepts credit card information, I have to maintain a computer system that meets PCI compliance standards, the credit card industries information processing security requirements for all virtual/online terminal marketplaces. After months of work modifying my system and learning more than I ever wanted to about computers to meet all the random security tests, I finally was successful. There is just something so satisfying about learning new skills, putting them to work, and actually being productive.

Flash forward to this week...my son, the typical teenager, likes to tinker on the computer, often venturing into areas he should not without permission, downloading and installing programs, and generally wrecking havoc on my little binary world that I have so carefully set up. Next thing I know, I get an email that I'm being fined 25 bucks a day as I'm no longer passing my randomly generated compliance security tests. WTF??? How did this happen? Oh yeah, kids.

Now, no customer info is stored electronically, so there is no fraud risk, but I also cannot run any more transactions until the system is corrected. Two days later, I've spent more hours and money than I care to share and the doggone thing is still not right...ughh! On the flip side, I've gotten to know quite a few computer techs in India that last few days :) But that is business, sometimes the convenience for the customer takes priority to ease for the merchant. The saga continues tomorrow.

What good has transpired? Well, as the heat has climbed into the high 90's, I left the paint for cooler weather and worked on finishing up the July bar orders. Lot's of steel and Ti hitting the alignment table the last few days...

I also took some time off to spend with the kids, as they were beginning to complain that they only got to see me at the shop and when they would stop by, I put them to work ;)

We traveled up to Sandusky and spent a day at Cedar Point riding the rollercoasters and then explored Put-in-Bay on South Bass Island. Here are a couple of shots from the ferry as our time wound down, the first of the amusement park from the water...

The steep drop just above the flag is the Millennium, my favorite ride at the park. So smooth and fast, and the first drop is a doozy!

Enjoying a beautiful sunset as the day winds down...

Yesterday, I packed it as full as I could; got off work at 0700, hit the trail by 0730 to ride a bit, back to the shop for some organizing for Monday, spent a few hours at the MDA car wash raising money for children with muscular dystrophy, out to the race course for a few hours to do some trail maintenance, then off to Em's Skate for Life show where she raised over 700 dollars for MDA on her own through generous sponsors. Ate supper around 2300 hours and then rolled into the drive in the wee hours of the morning today...whew!

From my ride, here's a shot of our typical Ohio trails...trees, tight single track, and our own share of rocks

I ended up replacing boards and re-anchoring slats on 5 bridges on the local race course, around 36 feet of lumber and over 2 pounds of decking screws. Here's a shot of the suspension bridge, getting some new slats laid down...it sucks to have a wheel drop through when you are 20 + feet in the air :)

Hope all is well with y'all,

rody

Wrapping up June projects, a father's day ride...

Sunday was Father's day, and after coming off of a brutal 12 day push at the fire department due to manpower shortages, I was ready for a day off to enjoy the family and a bit of riding. I loaded up the car with two bikes, two kids, two dogs, and a whole lot of gear and headed for the trail!

Sunday marked the first time I took the pup out for a full ride. Frankie has turned the 6 month corner so I figured he'd be good enough to follow the older dog and keep up. He had a grand old time, splashing through every puddle, wallowing in lot's of rotten smelling dead stuff, and lopping after the bikes. Highlight of his ride was when he was lagging behind Kalten towards the end and out of the pine forest came a young doe. The deer literally ran up behind Frankie and nosed him in the butt. Frankie let out a yelp of surprise, picked up the pace, and gave the occasional disapproving bark. The deer followed us on the trail like one of the pack for about 10 minutes til Cubby turned around and chased him off...pretty cool to see a single track deer ripping it up :)

Here's one tired trail pup...

Monday morning I was back into the shop early to finish up some projects. I had promised Jay that I would make him up some special water bottle cages painted to match his bigwheel crosser and despite my best intentions, have been behind on completing them. So I broke out the titanium hydraulic tubing and worked up some cages first thing for him. I blatantly ripped off Salsa's bottle cage design as I was curious to see how easy it would be to form...not too bad, but still a LOT of bending in a small space. Here I am getting ready to weld on the back plates, got some foil dam to lay around this before zapping them on...

Michael's 83 fat is getting some work before a new red paint job...one issue was creating a new canti hanger for his old bullmoose bar. As I had the hand benders out, I created a nice curved piece, center milled it for a cable stop, then welded it on...

The stop got some silver on top of the tig tacks to afix it into place, here it is straight out of the torch. The white stuff you see is the flux, a chemical paste that is used to help clean, provide heat information, and assist with flow of the molten material. It all soaks off in some hot water, leaving no trace...

I also had Kalten in the shop for a few hours and we kicked out some of July's order for Luv Handles. We worked on finishing the final prep work then I put my helmet on and just focused on welding for about 4 hours. It was a nice mindless task, just getting into the groove and letting the work flow. I really enjoy time like that, as I can feel really productive at the end when I look and see a pile of completed bars ready for paint. So much of custom work is small, focused projects that eat up a lot of time for little productivity, so despite the repetitive nature of the bars, they are rewarding in their own respect.

Jeff stopped by, disappointed after a DNF in the Lumberjack 100 this past Saturday. He had traveled up to Michigan a few days early, pre-rode the course a few times and was feeling confident about his potential in the race. Mid race, in excellent position in the top 10, he was cranking up a hill when suddenly his freewheel pawls exploded, ending his forward progress for the day...bummer.

Back home, getting the freewheel off turned into quite the experience. The piece did not want to budge with the removal tool and I ended up having to mill out a long bar, weld it to the piece, then turn it off. That baby was on there!

Here's Jeff holding his wheel with the make shift removal bar, ready for freewheel removal...

Next posting we'll get some pics out of the paint booth for ya...

rody

Vintage/Retro lovers rejoice...a new option

Finding an appropriate headset for vintage bikes can be tough at times. The one inch standard has been left behind by time, with only a few manufacturers still producing pieces. Yeah, I know, King still makes 1.00" headsets in both threaded and threadless, but forgive me, I just can't get past the big logos on a classic build.

Fortunately for us, NAHBS and it's group of custom builders has had some influence with one company when it was expressed that a classic 1.00" headset is still desired...Enter Cane Creek.

I spoke with Peter at Cane Creek a few weeks ago about a product I was pretty stoked about, a new headset that compliments the minimal/clean look often the hallmark of many vintage builds. So, understandably, when Peter told me these would be available by the first of June, I was pretty excited. Although not period correct, the headsets do offer a nice clean line with minimal logos, updated sealed bearings, and are available in both silver and black.

Pretty sweet...I've got a build or two that I'll be putting these on.

As an aside, after multiple days in a row here in the FD it looks like I'll finally be able to go home for a bit tomorrow. Looking forward to taking a nap, then hitting the paint booth to start laying down some color on the numerous forks I've been working on.

Gonna hit email tomorrow night and try to figure out my new phone so as to get my voicemails off of it. New tech is cool, but I struggle to figure it out while my kids just roll their eyes :)

cheers,

rody

Groovy Series #3 and Wootown SS challenge

Ok, I promised y'all some info and photos on this past weekend's race festivities, so strap in and hang on.

Groovy Race #3 dawned sunny with a whole lot of promise in the forecast. My day started a whole lot earlier though, as I worked through some more forks/paint in the shop. I had hoped to be out to the Knob by 1500 hours to help with final set up and registration, but by 1230 I still had not started working on the Wootown trophy, so I made a mad run at the mill and welder to put together something cool and unusual. I ended up welding up a three riser trophy with striped chromoly legs turned on the lathe and cross members, rough sawn wood front plates cut like a mountain trail, and custom Sharpee words (hokey, yeah, but fun none the less). I welded in a bottom bracket and freewheel stud so that I could mount a single speed set up. At 1455 I was struggling to get the chain on and into the car...I kept burning my hands from the still smoking hot welds, OUCH!

The end result was the #1 Bad Ass MOFO trophy, a revolving piece that will have the winner's name laser cut into a piece of stainless and tacked on from year to year. Here's Bob, the eventual winner, holding the prize.

As we've been encouraging more of a family event, we had an impromptu kids race, bringing out 10 participants to enjoy the course before Mom and Dad got going. The final race, we will advertise the kid's event and hope to grow it to at least double, as the kids are the future of mountain bike racing here.

The series race went off without a hitch, as Dusty, Jay, and Mike have the process dialed. I was left to wander the course, offering encouragement when possible, and doing the occasional field repair. I thought I'd throw up a few of the interesting sights along the course, courtesy of some of the fine photographers that came out and shared their work on the results homepage...

Lovin those spring time flowers...

Some of the fun signs that warn riders of the coming sections...

What's a mtb trail without some Voodoo inspired baby heads?

The finish line...
After the points series race, it was time to crank up the fun with the Wootown SS challenge; a three lap short course with some interesting activities added in.

We began by rounding up 20 brave, innocent, willing participants. Unbeknownst to them, they were about to embark on an epic journey.

The bikes were set at the start line and we moved the riders 50 yards away for the start, where the rules were explained.

Our racers began by closing their eyes and having volunteers spin them around aggressively for 30 seconds, where they then ran, stumbled, and crawled their way to their bikes. The ensuing mayhem was quite comical. Racers were falling all over the place, running into each other, and smiling all the way :)

Once on the trail, they had to scream "BOOHYAH!" at each balloon that marked the course. As they moved their way through a tight constriction, we had children staged with 100 water ballons to create a bit of an obstacle to ride through. The kids were a bit aggressive, as riders were exiting the course with ballon fragments still clinging to their helmets, ear lobes, etc...

At the lap end, they were met at the feed station, where 4 powdered sugar donuts and a cup of Monster energy drink awaited them.

Downing the "dry as dirt" donuts turned out to be a collosal endeavour, as many had as much sugar on their face as in their mouths. Ever try to sprint through a race and then chow while panting wildly? It was fun to watch ;) Here Phat Jay is working it hard...I think he lost a few places as the last donut kicked his arse...

After another smoking lap, it was back to the feed station for a cup of hot peppers and juice...yummy! Unfortunately, the mixture of sugar, energy drink, peppers and exertion got the better of some of them with a bit of puke entering into the mix (right Kalten?)

At the end of the third lap, Bob emerged as our winner...a better representative of single speed fineness we could not find.

We danced the night out with the tunes of DJ Madnote, pasta, and fireworks compliments of Timmy. Those that braved to camp out had a nice ride the following morning before the clean up duties ensued.

Thanks to all who come out to race, watch, and have fun...

rody

Fred's Ho fork for his Bonty...

It's been said that excuses are like @ssholes...everyone has one and they all stink. In that vein, I'll simply say that the last 10 days or so have been pretty tough time wise, emotionally, and more than a little stressful. Juggling two full time jobs and helping run a race series definitely took it's toll. So I ask your understanding in my lack of posting and email.

In between all that other crap, I've been knocking out some of the 15 forks this month. As I promised Fred I'd show some pics, here's his fork project from last week; a Ho fork to match his vintage Bonty that is seeing some urban/townie use.

The Ho fork is a blend of many different styles that I've liked through the years; box crowns, straight bladed legs, hooded drops, yielding a fork that is distinctive, tracks better than any other, and offers nice compliance over the rough stuff.

I started out by working on the box crown, mitering in the slots for the legs and rounding off the top of the crown to match the leg. Then it's off to the mill to miter in the steerer tube cut, an angled slot that is set up to allow for the fork offset.
The steerer slides through the miter and has the rear section exposed, allowing for super surface area coverage of the weld bead...the cutter's view for ya.

Now you can see how the steerer slides into the crown, you are looking at the backside here...

And with the steerer vertical, how the crown now is angled allowing for the fork offset to be seen...

I slide the crown into place, the bottoms flush, and then measure out where the crown race will end up...

Once I know where the crown race will sit, it is welded in place...

The crown re-fit and then welded up...

The fixture is then set up to account for the correct fork dimensions, the dropouts placed, and the fork legs measured up for the final length. I then cut in a 2 degree miter on the end of the fork leg and turn the other end down in the lathe until the final length is met.

And whalaa! Here our fork sits loosely in the fixture. Before tacking, all pieces will be tightened up and the gaps will miraculously disappear.

A final wipe and I begin tacking it together. I typically will hit about 2 tacks around each joint, gently check the alignment with a dead on wheel and calipers, then back into the fixture for final tacking and then sequential welding.

...an hour later (give or take dependant on how many visitors/phone calls/ questions from the kids) we have a finished rough fabrication...

Canti bosses are then placed, tacked, checked again with a wheel and classic canti arm, then fully welded on...

Kalten and I also worked on some Luv Handles while Emmy took on a special project.

The signs that mark the entrance to Vulture's Knob had become faded and weathered in the last 15 years since they were first hung. Every time I ride there, I think, golly I should take those down and paint them. Getting ready for this weekends race was reason enough, so Em took on the challenge. Here she is, only slightly covered in paint, just finishing up the day long project.

and after a bit of drying in the sun, we hung them back up with new stainless hardware...looking good for another 15 years?

Race report tomorrow, it was good stuff!

rody

Quick post...

Hey folks,

Not much activity in the shop as I've been sequestered pretty much since Thursday night at the Fire Department or related activities. Got off this morning at 0700 so I feel like a free man, if only for 24 hours.

Friday was spent attending a funeral for a Canton Firefighter I trained with, 40 years old and collasped while playing in a Fire Department charity basketball game, leaving behind three daughters...that one hit too close to home. Marty received an honorable send off, with departments from across the nation attending. I was pleased to have shared time with him and to be able to participate in his procession.

Back into the shop today, so I'll try to get something worth reading up for ya.

rody

Wednesday fork-a-rama begins

Hey guys...so it looks as though the super cool folks 50k was a bust. No one has claimed the prize, so I'm assuming it got shot by without knowing it. I didn't think it was too short of notice when I posted it as we still had about 350 views to go but we blew by that in less than 7 hours as it went. Gotta wonder if someone was refreshing the page too quickly :)

Anyhoo, we'll try another contest again next week, with LOTS of notice for all the worldwide time zones.
Today the Big Brown truck stopped by and dropped off two packages of Ti tubing for me...we got Luv handles, a Ti LD stem, some material for a few rings, and a bicycle all hiding in there. Folks are embracing alternative transportation in the big town of Woo...I rode my bike and these folks are riding in style...

June is the month I'm gonna start bustin' on some frames (2 really) and forks (about 15). Today I got started on three forks; Matt's 100mm corrected modern segmented, Fred's box crown for his Bonty, and a 29er segmented. Here's a little picture diary of Matt's work...

The fork laid out on the table dimensionally and all the pieces parts, ready to begin...

I always draw out a life sized representation of the part on the alignment table to easily double check my dimensions, cuts, and anticipated geometry.

Let's get started by turning open the ID of the race. Very few, alright none, headset races come ready to slide onto the steerer tube. A quick turn in the lathe to allow for a press fit is all it needs. I quickly bore out the inside, debur and file the edge, then press it onto the steerer.

The fit should be tight, but still advance with hand pressure. I close down the mill vice so that the jaws gently sit on the race and push the steerer tube through...

Once located, the race and steerer are cleaned again then fusion welded. FYI for you want to be builders...if you are not adept at heat control, do not fusion weld your race. The heat MUST be focused so that the material forming the weld comes 80% from the race and 20% from the surface of the steerer, leaving a smooth uniform bead. If you undercut your steerer attempting this, someone will eventually have a BAD day. Better to add filler or braze if your skills/confidence are not rockin.

While the steerers are cooling, I cut up the material for the legs, cleaned, and then chucked them in the lathe to face, debur, and sand...

For this particular fork, I'm using 1.125 blades and some hooded dropouts. I swaged down the dropout end of the blade to a nice oval shape, to give better for/aft stress resistance as well as to snug up the fit on the edges of the hood. Here we are mitering in the ends...

And the cleaned up product...

While I had the Mill spinning, I also cut up the crown pieces then set up the fixture to get ready to tack everything together. Here we are measuring off the indicators to insure the Axel to Crown length and offset are correct...

When I'm sure everything is good to go, the pieces are loaded in and tolerances checked...

Nice and tight!

A final wipe with Acetone to insure all the little dust nibblets are gone and we'll tack it all up, check alignment with a straight wheel, then reload and weld away...

I think Matt is envisioning a black and silver theme for the fork as it is going on his Titus race bike...cool!

See y'all tomorrow,

rody