Follow along as my 2013 DH bike is built—literally.

[singlesprocket]

great thread!

[Ronny Grady]

Good stuff, I'm stoked to see the final product

[.WestCoastHucker.]

....

[NoahColorado]

Looks awesome! I'd love to have one of those!

[Full Trucker]

Frames are coming right along, starting to get pretty stoked to possibly get some riding time on 'er before the snow really starts to fly here in Colorado. Riding my trail bike is sweet and I love it but it just arn't the same as shredding a DH rig...


The first five front triangles, welding is finished and ready to powdercoat:


Straight out da oven, yo:


Gettin' a little face'n'chase on:


Gotta look purty:

[cyclelicious]

I've been following this thread. Great work!

[rep_1969]

Wow. MOAR than impressive!!!

[MonsterD]

Oh my.... They look very nice.
Love the paint job.

[sambs827]

This has been fun to watch. Looking forward to seeing the rest.

[DHRracer]

Frames are coming right along, starting to get pretty stoked to possibly get some riding time on 'er before the snow really starts to fly here in Colorado. Riding my trail bike is sweet and I love it but it just arn't the same as shredding a DH rig...


The first five front triangles, welding is finished and ready to powdercoat:


Straight out da oven, yo:


Gettin' a little face'n'chase on:


Gotta look purty:

Was heat treating after welding needed?

[cadwiz]

Thanks for including us. I enjoyed watching the progress. Keep it up!!

[mtg7aa]

Re: Heat treat

The frames are made from 7005, which is an age-hardening alloy, and in general, it is considered not necessary to heat treat. However, an artificial age-hardening heat treat can be done after welding to reach full strength without waiting for it to occur naturally.
In our case, since reliability is a top goal, we do perform an artificial age hardening heat treatment after welding.

And, thanks for the compliments!

[CHINOTAKER]

Awsome job guys!!! I wonder how much does a DH frame cost without all the marketing?

[WKD-RDR]

Awsome job guys!!! I wonder how much does a DH frame cost without all the marketing?

I'm guessing about $1925-ish

[twelve02]

This is a cool thread, can't wait to see further progress.

[Mr Horse]

Very aesthetically pleasing. Keep up the good work.

[Full Trucker]

Thanks for all the kind words so far. Here's a quick shot from earlier this week, the rear triangles are finished up on the first 5 and getting ready to get powdercoated. Pretty stoked at this point, it was Wednesday I think? Anyways, another big update to the project is on the horizon, but wanted to get this picture in the mix to tide ya'll over.



BLAMMO!

[rep_1969]

More pixs!!

[Lelandjt]

Looks like oval axle holes. Is there a flip chip at the rear axle for 2 chainstay lengths? How does the brake mount accomodate that?

[Full Trucker]

Looks like oval axle holes. Is there a flip chip at the rear axle for 2 chainstay lengths? How does the brake mount accomodate that?

Yep, a "flip chip" indeed that adjusts chainstay length from 17" to 17-1/2". The hangar is a separate piece from the chip and the frame itself. The through-axle goes through both the drop out and the derailer hangar and keeps it all nice and snug-like. As for brake mount accommodating it... to be honest I'm not sure. There is no adjustment for the brake that I remember, I'll have to take a look later this evening. And I'll make sure to get pictures of all this real soon...

[mtg7aa]

I decided to try a fixed brake caliper mount on the alpha prototypes to see if it would work vs moving the brake caliper when you swap chainstay settings. For that experiment, I put the brake caliper in a location as if the long chainstay setting didn't exist, and it still worked in the long chainstay setting.

For the Betas, I moved the brake caliper mount to be centered between the short and long settings. With this batch, we'll have tested the following brakes: Shimano SLX & Saint, Avid Code, & Hayes Prime. Based on the experience with the alphas, I doubt we'll have an issue. If we do, I can add a second set of holes, but I wanted to minimize the PITA of changing geometry. The goal was to make it easy enough where people actually use the adjustments.