Starting to Resemble a Bike!!!

Starting to resemble a bike

swing arm rear view

It has been a very fruitful weekend with the bike. Now that the headtube and pivot are bonded on nicely, I was able to set the bike up much like it will look when it is completed in a week or two. This morning I carved the swing arm cross piece/lower shock mount. It got CF'ed and epoxied in between the rear stays during the same layup as the final tube of CF on the stays. Since I couldn't get the entire contraption into my vacuum bag and I wouldn't want stray epoxy getting sucked onto components such as the pivot or rear wheel, I decided to wrap the entire part with electrical tape. I have read about this technique from other builders who have made bikes. The theory is that the stretch of the electrical tape provides sufficient clamping pressure to hold the CF tight against the part. I am currently about 60 minutes into the curing and things look good so far. I used nylon in between the CF and tape on the area around the cross member because I need it ready for more CF to strengthen that area. In the lower (in pic) area I wrapped the tape directly onto the wet CF. This should give a smooth shiny appearance with little wet sanding. If it works, I may use this technique for my final layup on the frame.

Swing arm taking shape

I also mounted the front fork, tire, stem and steering mast to get and idea of dimensions for the mast and to have a look at how it look overall. The first word, which Richard can attest to, is LONG. Now that it is starting to look like a bike and the weather is very springlike I really have the urge to get riding.

Yesterday I bought a hole saw bit for the drill so I can drill out the hole for the bottom bracket. I will likely take the frame to work tomorrow and use the drill press to cut the hole. I will then be ready to CF the hole and bond in the BB. Once that is on I have a couple more lays of CF for the frame and it will be done. I will also be able to calculate how much chain, gear cable and brake line I will need. The LBS told me they can get that all in a couple of days.

swing arm with cross piece ready for CF

The biggest challenge ahead of me now is the seat. I have the base frames made. I now need to work on the balsa slats/cross pieces which will be covered in CF to make a smooth seat. I haven't been able to figure out how to create the carved shape for the bottom or a curve for the lumbar, so I am going to create a basic flat seat with straight back to start. Once I get on it I am planning on adding carved foam to create the shape I want and then covering that with one layer of CF......sounds good in theory!!

With electrical wrapped over layup