The frame with the still uncut seatstays, seat tube, and head tube weighs in at 4lbs. 5 oz.  Again, hoping for a sub 4lb. frame.  Devo came over and we mocked up for the seat stay positioning so I can possibly start cutting them tomorrow.  Of course, that depends on how tonight goes.

 Both chainstays are now brazed and in perfect alignment.  I put a small dimple for added chainring clearance in case Devo wants to run a larger ring and/or a bash guard.  Great crank arm and tire clearance also.  Very pleased. I have some bike maintenance jobs to get done before the week end, then I will fit up the s-bend seatstays.  I'm hoping for a 4lb. frame, it weighs 3lbs. 9oz. right now.  We will see.  I'm also contemplating head tube reinforcing rings to compensate for that big front tire and longer fork.
 Wouldn't want the head tube to ovalize.

Sweet Tina had to work today, so I thought I would put a little time in on the frame.  I aligned and brazed the NDS chainstay on, then soaked the flux off, and realigned.  I'll now use that chainstay  and the installed wheel to align the DS chainstay.  It really looks good.  With the 56mm tire, it has 10mm minimum clearance to the chainstays without pinching.  When Devo runs a 61mm tire, he will still have 7.5mm clearence.  If he wants more, I can pinch them.  I also temporarily installed his crankset to check for any

interference with the chainstay.  So far so good.

The vent holes have been drilled for the chainstays.  I will attach them right after Festivus.  This year, I have done repairs on some other 'boutique" bikes and have noticed that there were no vent holes.  How do the welding gases and condensation escape?  You gotta have vent holes.  Also, the front triangle, with the uncut head and seat tube and all braze ons weighs 2lbs. 5 oz.  Not bad for a frame this big.  By the way, it won't fit in the blast cabinet.  And the fillets aren't finished due to my lacerated finger and five different seasonals in my fridge.

 

And just for fun, here's a pic of Dylan circumventing some mud at Nationals.  How long till cross season starts?

Here is one of Devins Paragon sliders silver brazed to the chainstay.  Took me most of the day to get this far.  My, pretty much non adjustable, fixture was designed around road bike type geometry and didn't want to accommodate the higher BB and longer chainstays. But enough manipulation and a smashed and cut finger, it works quite well.  I used a 45% silver rather than 50% or 56% as it should impart more strength to the joint.

After tacking the front triangle, the alignment check went well. The head tube was perfectly in plane and only 2mm off center. After the quick realignment, the brazing was coming along great until I ran out of gas and had to run down to the welding supply store for fresh tanks. I really need to buy spare tanks. I used the brazing sequence that I learned from Jim Kish and the triangle came out in perfect alignment. I'm doing over sized fillets per Devs request, it's a lot of extra work. The rule of thumb is that the fillet should be 3 times the wall thickness of the tubing. Beyond that it is purely cosmetic. Then I ran out of 80 grit emery cloth and spent considerable time trying to find some locally, but to no avail. So none of the fillets are finished. I will order my usual industrial sized quantity ASAP and work on the rear triangle in the interim.

Its been sanded, cleaned, fluxed, reassembled, and remeasured.

The tack brazing is now done. When it is cool, I will check for alignment and set as necessary. I only tack on the verticals so it is easier to take any twist out. I also rotate the frame as I braze to allow gravity to aid in the brass flow.

Devins 29er front triangle is finally fitted. The brake line bosses and water bottle braze-ons have been silver brazed on. I like to attach them prior to brazing up the triangle to minimize any stress that putting them on afterwards might induce. Also, the vent holes have been drilled. Wedsnesday I will sand and clean the tubes with lacquer thinner and braze it up. Cool.

Brian and Dylan hard at it in the B's in Eugene last week end. As a mechanic, that sand pit is no friend of mine.

Here's Devos front triangle almost fitted. If you look close, you can see the fixture is slightly askew. That's how I sneak up on getting a perfect flush fit on the miters. I have added that third vertical strut so I will be able to hold the top and down tube in place while I tack them as they tend to move due to the heat.

Some pics of some CERNITZ bikes in the slog at Krugers Sunday. Brineros didn't come out, Total Domination?

And, a very rough fit up of the down tube on Devins frame.

Obviously not at the pace I intended, but here is the seat tube mitered to the BB. The sharpie line is the end of the butt, 12mm. I'm going out now to final align, clean and flash braze.

Devins main tube set showed up last night. The frame will have a 28.5mm seat tube, a 31.8mm top tube that is a 36mm/28.2mm constant tear drop, and a 34.9mm down tube. The 36mm head tube and Paragon BB are already in the fixture. I anticipate fitting up the BB/seat tube tonight after work.

Since Devins tube set hasn't shown up yet, I assembled my rain bike. Alas, my new FSA seat post that matches the crank set didn't show up either. So the ugly old Ritchey will have to do for now.

While I'm waiting for Devos tube set to arrive, I finished painting my old rain bike frame. This is the one that was sand blasted with 25 grit Metcolite at probably 75psi. Pretty much ruined it with displaced metal and bulges, etc. But it rides just fine for me. What is the lion on the head tube? Anyone? We are taking off for San Diego and Cabo San Lucas, so that will give it plenty of time to cure.

Just had to show this great pic of two CERNITZ bikes in the SS class at PIR. There were four of my frames in the SS class on Sunday. What a mud fest!

Devski and I are getting close to final design on his 29er. The front triangle will be a combination of high end True Temper tubing and a Paragon BB. Chainstays will be Columbus unless he opts for the Mad Max's at Nova. I will bend some Columbus or Deda seat stays and the dropouts will be Paragon sliders. Coolio.

I've decided that I'm going to finish my rain bike and stop staring at it hanging on the wall. I going to finish that stem also. It has been laying around for years.

I'm also trying to button up the final design on Devins 29'r. With the change to a 73 degree seat tube angle, it is going to affect his saddle set back.

Here are some photos of Brians completed cross bike. I didn't cut the steerer tube as I want to insure fit first. I made the head badge out of a Ninkasi tap handle that Brian scrounged up for me.

I thought I would try and shoot a couple of pictures before the assembly begins. What appears to be an over size vent hole in the "brake bridge", is a little frame saver oozing out. The Ninkasi head badge is coming out very nicely, I only need to decide on what type of finish.

It's late, but here is Brians frame through clear coat. Color sand and buff on Monday and it will be ready for assembly and podium at Sherwood. Also, I built these two wheel sets today. Won't Marcelos red hubs look good on his Ridley? Of course I couldn't get the second Rhino on Dylans wheel because the Dugast god is angry with me.

Here is Brians croc. The run on the lower lug will be sanded out and buffed. But not a bad paint line.

Oh Yeah, looks stunning with the clear coat applied. The decals are in the back ground, I will attempt them this morning before work. Friday I will color sand to get any imperfections out and apply the final clear coat. LaV stopped by on his new Pegoretti last night and thinks the paint is smokin'.

Brians frame is complete through the color coats. The white logo with the yellow outline is very bright. I have the decals designed, but am held for the correct paper. Shoulda been here by now along with Marcelo and Dylans wheels.

I apologize for the pic, as usual, but I was able to get the blue on Brians frame. As you can see, Brandi the paint girl nailed the color match to the HFV jersey. Tomorrow comes the HFV orange, then clear coat. I have come to find out that tap handles are available from Ninkasi. I would really like to make a head badge out of the face plate, rather than a decal. We need to get one.

Nothing to do with frame building, but Dylans ceramic BB was feeling a little gritty after todays race. Since I recently purchased the rebuild tools, I thought I would take a look at it. Holy crap, eh? But the whole procedure only took 30 minutes and it is as smooth as glass again.

After converting Brians measurements to something useable, I masked and got the white on. No time to mask and spray the blue today and tomorrow is pretty full too. So probably Monday.

The frame is primed, sealed and has the championship yellow on. As soon as it cures sufficiently, I will mask off the stripes and logo outline and apply the white. If time allows, I will shoot the blue today.

Here is a cut away shot of the Alchemy 5 bearing hub that I took at Interbike. The inner free hub bearing is obstructed from view

by the large bearing. Can't wait to see how they perform this cross

season.

Finally getting down to business with Brians paint job. Here is his rendition, it will only have a few changes.

Brians frame is ready for glass bead and the beginning of the painting process. I've spent the last couple of hours working on his recently requested decalcomania(that is really what it used to be called eons ago when I repainted military aircraft cockpits in San Diego). So I'm thinking he needs three of the Delirium Tremens elephants. I'll start working on the croc now and make them into decals. Off to Hood River tomorrow.

Thought I would do an alignment check as I near completion of the frame prep of glass bead. Even though it doesn't look it in the photo, it is spot on and Devs new rear wheel is happy in the former OBC. I have orders for two more of these wheel sets. One will have red hubs with black spokes, cool. I just realized that Dylan and I will be in Las Vegas next week, so this frame will be idle and not go to glass bead when I planned.