AdamR28

This is almost trials, right? Been riding quite a lot of MTB recently, and built myself another frame - grabbed a few clips when I went out this morning:

Little play at the local spot today. Loving it!

That's the problem... its stupid, but computer says no. I feel your frustration, we have the same issues! As others have said, try a courier or site like InterParcel.

Fixed 26" stuff at the moment is 1) cheap and 2) actually available. I just built myself another 26" bike. Goes up, down and across just as fast as anyone else I ride with.

So the bars were packed in a cylindrical tube?

Thanks dudes! Yeah I'm so chuffed with it Luke, can't wait to get out again! Dave - thanks. The dropouts are something I wanted to work really hard on, so many modern frames are hugely bulky and ugly in this area, so I figured there had to be a neater way... so far, it works perfectly. Wheel doesn't move when riding, have had it in and out again and it went back in exactly the same place, no need to adjust the brake and chain tension spot on. Winning

Ha. That explains it! Yeah it was the offcuts I'm interested in... skips it is then. Thanks dude. And thanks about the frame! Got it built up: Light! All this chat of the top mount, and it was the bottom one that was the issue About 10 mins of playing about on the car park and a few small rocks / low walls, and I found the above.... arse. Super disappointed. I think the butting must have ended close to the dropout, so the tube there was 0.6-0.7mm thick... But, I decided there were positives, in that I had found it early so would be able to fix it rather than have to fit a new chainstay. In terms of heat treatment / heat affected zone (HAZ), in theory this is reduced as you need to put less heat into the tube for the TIG braze. However, my testing showed there still is a HAZ and that it's not really much (if at all) different to normal TIG welding. One benefit I can imagine though is that the ductility of the silicon bronze filler material is huge - something like 65% elongation to break. Steel is around 20%. So, in theory the fillets are 'stretchier' and could load up the tubing less. In turn this could make the frame feel 'springier' and more compliant. This certainly ties in with how the bike rides - it is so nice! It just floats over those awful eyeball-shaking vibration-inducing micro bumps. There's a descent round here I know well which is pretty smooth but then the last few hundred metres turns into fist-sized rocks. You hit the section at about 20mph and previously it was a real effort to maintain speed and just hang on to the bike - pretty scary to be honest. But last night it kind of floated over. Hard to explain. I guess this is what the 'steel is real' brigade have been on about for years. Here's a badly out-of-focus photo from a quick blast last night. The bike absolutely flies, both up and down Happy bunny!

What the... nuts.

Example...

Got a photo of the Maxle you have Mark? I was under the impression they are all adjustable, just the mechanism on some is very 'hidden'! I've never had my QR one come loose before... I know people with the BrandX rear Allen key ones and no issues.

That has to be a pun Never even heard of it...

Thanks! Have to admit the rear mount didn't really turn out as planned / was a slight afterthought. During the build I realised my skills with really tight joins were lacking, so the original idea I had / saw wasn't going to fly. I also thought about using a front Hope RX4 caliper on the rear (which would have gone nicely flat along the chainstay) but bitched out of spending the cash Due to where the caliper ends up, and most of the forces being 'forwards' (this will only see very mild amounts of trials), I figure the 'stand-off' is mostly in tension and the caliper itself becomes a stressed member / brace. Worst case, if it is all noodle-y, I can stick a proper brace in there. Haha, yeah butted tubing is a lot lighter! The last frame I did of similar design was nearly 3kg! Heat treating - nah. In theory it would increase the strength of the frame by a significant chunk, but finding someone to do it will be tricky and from the joint testing it's already going to be a lot stronger than the last frame which has done ~ a year (albeit with 4 re-welds, ha).

Do you know if this is a fairly common 'thing'? I've been tasked with building a wood fired hot tub out of an IBC, so will need some insulation Frame is done and ready for a coat of boiled linseed oil I love the colours and imperfections - they could all be buffed out, but they all tell a story. The bosses / mounts are brazed on with silver. Ended up just under 2kg too. Can't wait to ride it!

They don't all have to engage though... The DUB BBs aren't serviceable. What's happening to make you want to tinker with it?

Loss leader / advertising tool? Though I guess without a full drivetrain, only one brake and no dropper, that saves a lot of cash.

My point is that the Jitsie and Shadow Conspiracy ones were recommended, not the Comas ones.

Who knew that a direct recommendation from a person who sees these things every day would have been better than taking a punt on a different product that didn't come recommended when asked

To be honest running a 27.5er fork with 26" wheel is no issue if you can only find 27.5, that's what I do. If anything, it gives you a bit more space to play with in order to fit a front mudguard.

I think you might have to just roll with whatever you can get your hands on in that fitment... Not common nowadays! Anything Fox or RS and you won't go far wrong.

Top tip, put old bolts in all the holes, leave an old headset and BB in etc. It's rare an 'industrial' blaster will understand.

I'm 99% the Inspired frames are shot blasted before painting, for the reason above.

I would get someone pro to do it, the paint is tough and good quality. Some sort of chemical, rather than blasting, would be my preferred route.

I've got a bunch of no entry signs too

It sounds like your tyre pressure is way too low. Most people would be around 2.5-3 bar.

Yep, as Dan says, due to the zinc content (which 'explodes' when you point a YIG torch at it) of rods which are designed for torch brazing. £35/kg for the silicon bronze stuff....!! @RobinJI @Luke Rainbird f**k me that is impressive. Looks awesome! Time for some Facebook stalking