Quiring Cycles

Last evening the "After-hours" guy welded and manipulated some of the raw Reynolds 953 stainless tubing into a complex 3D shape that will soon be used in the snow bike frame layout.  The labor consisted of cold working the stays into a shape that will fit around a fat bike tire. Then the rear triangle was stuck together in a tack-welded state.  

Before further welding was done, the rear wheel, using an 80mm Rolling Darryl rim with an inflated 3.8" Larry tire and a crankset, was installed on this rear-end to make sure all critical clearance between these parts and the frame were achieved.  The pictures included in this post show the frame layout and tire clearance at the minimum distance with the sliders pushed all the way forward in the hooded Paragon dropouts.  However, most riding will be done with the sliders pulled back a little from this forward position. As hinted to by the presence of two button screw heads, please note there is a "splitter" installed on the right seatstay so that a Gates Belt drive can be used. 

Soon we will start on the front triangle, but we are waiting for a re-supply of TIG rod needed to complete the 953 stainless welds.  This special welding rod should get here next week.  We also look forward to getting the Gates parts so we can check out how that will work on this stainless frame.  During this project, one notable discovery in working with the 953 is that the seatstays are really tough to bend!

More to come….over and out--Q