Endings. And beginnings.

[mikesee]

For now, here's 2000+ words to explain what I'm on about:




Winter's about to get a helluva lot better.

More later...

MC

[tscheezy]

Your gonna ride a soft tail?

[wheelmanron]

VERY cool. I miss my KHS solo one with the soft tail. How much travel are you going for?

[dmx1]

That BB yoke looks very hefty. Is it machined from solid or welded sheet metal ?

[damnitman]

...that was my idea...you forgot the S&S couplings, however are the new ram xt's 2005 (2500 & 3500) good? I call dibs on your old Snoots! or at least the fork...

[nolan17]

I really like that idea! My next project was a custom fs fattie and that is better than what I was thinking. Can't wait to see it all done up.

[mikesee]

I had a Moots MonsterX bike. Rode it all over the state--dirt road, doubletrack, and lotsa singletrack.

I even had a set of deep section carbon road wheels laced up for it, but in ~2 years I realized I'd only actually used the road wheels on one day ride. One! What a waste--of wheels.

I also have a pretty OK snowbike. But it's so purpose specific that I hate taking it out and beating on it in the rocks (our snow trails are still pretty chunky...). And I hate riding it through the sleet and slop and road grime all winter. Call me a snob (the shoe fits!) but I think it's a shame to beat the tar outta this bike. I want it to last at least as long as I do on this planet.

So I got to thinking...

Why not punt the MX bike and build a newer, more appropriate dual-purpose bike?

If not for the arrival of Larry this fall that thought might never have gained any momentum.

But Larry, oh luscious Larry...

...he's changed everything.

Suddenly you can ride a snowbike like a mountain bike again. Carving turns. Leaning and drifting. And sliding, but *predictably*, which many of us had forgotten makes all the difference.

See where I'm going with this?

I wanted a mountain bike. One that I could stick 29" wheels onto and ride, grinning, all over Joseph Smith's green earth. And then, in winter, I could stick psick phatties onto it and ride all over jehovah's whiteness.

A drawing, a few phone calls, and lots of back and forth followed. Brad @ Moots happened to be starting a similar build for himself. More ideas. Tweaked drawings. Water jet cut yokes. Then some thinkering, lots of measuring, cutting, mitering, machining. And some gorgeous welds.


If you look closely, this frame and my now-departed MX frame are pretty dang similar. The differences, aside from tire clearance, are in the very fine details. Once I actually have the frame here I'll go into detail on those, um, details.


Cheers,

MC

[Schmucker]

What are you running for a fork? SC32? Get a little crazy and try a lefty?

[dRjOn]

steering damper?

[Dr Feelygood !]

What a very, very sweet frame

Looking forward to the full build .

[mikesee]

Originally Posted by tscheezy

Your gonna ride a soft tail?

Beats the frozen snot outofa HT.

[bighit]

it's about time someone did this.

[sean salach]

Fuel in the TT only? Rear brake??

[tscheezy]

Originally Posted by mikesee

Beats the frozen snot outofa HT.

That's why I always had a Thudbuster on my Pugs.

I think some small Ti springs in place of the elastomers would be great for cold weather.

[Hairllama]

That's beautiful. Will Moots build these for regular customers, or is it a bro deal only?

[Dave in Driggs]

I heart it.

[benwitt11]

I wondered if you were doing something like this when I say your other bike for sale. I gotta say it makes total sense to me.

[Bearbait]

sick balls productions strikes again..

which rims?

[petey15]

In a word...WOW!

[mikesee]

Originally Posted by tscheezy

That's why I always had a Thudbuster on my Pugs.

I think some small Ti springs in place of the elastomers would be great for cold weather.

I don't know how much of a factor our local temps will be on the coil/elastomer YBB unit. This isn't gonna be an AK bike--it's for me to beat on daily locally, and to occasionally loan out to friends that want to tag along on CO/UT/WY/AZ and maaaaaaaybe MN winter overnighters. Since the main spring is coil (albeit lowly steel ) and the elastomer is but a minor part of the equation (intended and succeeding, IMO, to act as crude damping), it may just be fine as is.

But, since you mentioned it: Any idea on where a guy might hypothetically find a supplier for a ti spring?

[mikesee]

Originally Posted by dmx1

That BB yoke looks very hefty. Is it machined from solid or welded sheet metal ?

Water jet cut, then welded. I'll get some detailed pics once I have it here.

Lots of other questions here--all of which will be answered this weekend as I snap pics while assembling the bike.

Cheers,

MC

[MendonCycleSmith]

Yum. Yeah, that's it

As for ti springs, depending on exactly what you need, Cannondale has them for Lefty 140s, cut it down? Too large of an OD?

Can't wait for built pics. And yeah, Larry changes everything.

[mikesee]

...and realized that I have two pics that'll answer a whole boatload of questions about the build.


and


Spokes came from where they almost always come from for my personal wheels: The junk box. I dug through the randomness therein and found 16 butted Comps for the disc side, and (bonus!) 16 butted/bladed Aerolites for the loose side. The Aerolites were ~2mm too short, so I'll be doing some de facto 'durability testing' on whether you really do need all spoke threads engaged (or "hidden") inside the nip. Nips are also oddballs--red Prolocks left over from a batch-build for a certain pernickety small manufacturer.

More as I have it.

MC

[dRjOn]

genre buster: lightweight ti softail/maverick fat bike...its not going to be a fixed gear is it?!

[miles e]

Originally Posted by mikesee

I'll be doing some de facto 'durability testing' on whether you really do need all spoke threads engaged (or "hidden") inside the nip.

Better you than me, keep us posted. Are those 80mm rims?