Fattening up a Pony..... The quest for a Fat RS begins !

[Dr Feelygood !]

I`ve given this project a lot of consideration; and decided that it is time to have `a go`.

So I put an add on Single Track World, and managed to get a Klein Palomino frame here in the UK.

It`s a Palomino XV frame in a kind of grey/green, not that that is important as it won`t be staying that colour.

Paint was scruffy (as you would expect for the vintage), but no structural issues.

First job was a bit of measuring , the rear triangle has a max width of 80mm (not bad!).

Using a 26" wheel with a Mavic D321 rim, the max tyre height was 61mm.

I had a play around, an Endo on a D321 rim wouldn`t fit

A Gazzaloddi 3" on the same rim would fit (just) but wouldn`t rotate as it rubbed the Palomino shock body.

I disassembled the rear triangle and stripped the paint, gave it a quick polish and reassembled !

So back to the drawing board (literally).

I`m an old fashioned Mech Eng so no computers, just pencils, rulers and rubbers.

Full scale drawings indicated that widening the rear from 135mm to 165mm would give 110mm rear tyre clearance as a minimum.

Additionally, it would be necessary the lengthen the chain stays by 40mm, which would give approx 25mm mud clearance.

I contacted BETD regarding a custom 165mm rear Draco hub and they said they could do that ok.

Next decision was how best to go about the widening and lengthening without compromising the rear triangle structure too much.

The current chain stays have a solid pivot block welded to the tubular stays in one place.
I thought about simply welding a in a 40mm extension but this increases the welded areas from 1 to 2, increasing risk of failure.

On balance, it would seem best to produce two new pivot blocks with the extra 40mm already attatched (from solid aluminium) and then simply re-weld the existing chain stay (tubular section) back on (having first cut it off the original smaller pivot blocks).

So I`ve got a nice block of Al off Ebay and that`s what I plan to do.

I will also have to make a new upper seat stay yoke to allow for the re-positioning of the seat stays.

Will this work ? Theoretically , YES !

Stay tuned for success/failure/fettling and bodging to follow.

here are some Pix to reward your patience

Cheers,
Dr FG

[Borgschulze]

Awesome, been waiting to see this for some time now.

[Velobike]

That looks ideal for a conversion

[Pigtire]

Can't wait to see the finished product.

[bighit]

it's go time

[ThreeD]

I'm going to watch this one.

[sryanak]

Now you've gone and messed with my status quo. I've always had a soft spot for Kleins and may have to try to do one of these too. I'll have to wait til next season as I'm putting a Fatback together for my wife for Christmas. That just gives me time to find a good deal on a palomino. Have you thought about customizing up a Maverick fork so an 80mm rim would fit? And finally did you consider going to 170 in the rear to allow a bit more clearance with wide rims?

[martinsillo]

in!

[coastkid71]

This is going to be a good thread Mike
good you can get a hub made up over here too

[Dr Feelygood !]

Next go to work is checking the Palomino's Monolink with the TMS bb at 140mm wide will allow crank clearance of the widened rear chain stays , more drawings !

[Borgschulze]

I'm happy I could help find a BB suitable for such a project

[Dr Feelygood !]

Originally Posted by Borgschulze

I'm happy I could help find a BB suitable for such a project

It IS appreciated

[ratch]

Really looking forward to this!!!!




Now get on with it!!!!

[Dr Feelygood !]

Crank clearance is not a problem.......

TMS BB ordered !

Now I`m thinking about how to adapt my Alfine to fit as well.......

[sean salach]

Alfine is disk, right? There's gotta be a way to make an adapter that bolts into the disk flange, that would extend the shell and support a wide enough axle, maybe even have a second flange on it to widen the spoking as well.... Basically, the opposite of what Salsa's adapter does. They adapt the frame, this would adapt the hub.

[Velobike]

Hope makes disk spacers.

I bought some because I'm going to use a rear hub on the front (once I've got the fork built).

[Borgschulze]

Lathe, we need one now.

Such an adapter would be mega easy to make.

[Dr Feelygood !]

Al block arrived in the post

Lots of measuring up later and new widened and extended pivot blocks marked up .

Bolt and pivot holes marked as well.

Will get the table saw out this week end and rough them out (hopefully!)

Will then need to have a word with the plant engineers at work about using their Pillar Drill.

IF that all goes ok, will then need to preform an `amputation` on the existing rear triangle followed by `transplantation` !

Pix

[Borgschulze]

This is a project I could tackle with a cheap MIG welder and steel instead of aluminum.

Almost makes me want to find a cheap Palomino frame as well.

[bme107]

Originally Posted by Dr Feelygood !

Will get the table saw out this week end and rough them out (hopefully!)

Will then need to have a word with the plant engineers at work about using their Pillar Drill.

I'm not sure if you had considered it already, but it may be easier to drill the holes in the block before shaping it. Otherwise you'll have to find a way to hold the curvy piece and get the holes perfectly aligned and parallel.

[Dr Feelygood !]

Originally Posted by bme107

I'm not sure if you had considered it already, but it may be easier to drill the holes in the block before shaping it. Otherwise you'll have to find a way to hold the curvy piece and get the holes perfectly aligned and parallel.

Good point, well made

[BlackCanoeDog]

That's very cool, Doc. Sure wish I had the skills for a project like this.

[Dr Feelygood !]

Originally Posted by BlackCanoeDog

That's very cool, Doc. Sure wish I had the skills for a project like this.

Only time will tell IF my skills ARE up to the job

[modifier]

Are you going to re-heat treat or just wing it?

[Dr Feelygood !]

Originally Posted by modifier

Are you going to re-heat treat or just wing it?

That will depend on who i can get to do the welding