My home made bike

max said:

Hi all - sorry - its a mountain bike.........I rode this for a good few
years but its getting tired now, heat treatment is not for home builders and
the frame is subject to fatigue / stress cracking.
http://www.bikemagic.com/gallery/image.asp?uabn=1028&UIN=2808&Position==1&sp=&v=7
Max

Is it steel or aluminium? If it's steel it doesn't need heat
treatment. Most "home built" aluminium bikes are built from 7000
series alloys which can be artifically aged and that's within the
scope of a home builder. 6000 series, though, need the full heat
treatment approach. Cannondales are-were?-made from 6000 series alloys
and need a fixture doring the heat treatment to stay square.
Phil Brown

Max Hall said:

I rode this for a good few years but its getting tired now, heat
treatment is not for home builders and the frame is subject to
fatigue / stress cracking.

http://www.bikemagic.com/gallery/image.asp?uabn=1028&UIN=2808&Position==1&sp=&v=7

I'm unclear on what this bicycle is. Did you build the frame (as in
"Home made"😉 or does the "home made" part consist of components you
assembled? What I find more interesting is whether this front
suspension prevents "dive" when using the front brake. I racall that
this arrangement was a BMW patent a few years ago that came from
motorcycles and for which Tom Ritchey built prototypes. I never heard
much about it afterward.

http://www.germancarfans.com/print.cfm/ID/2020221.003

More details please.

Jobst Brandt

max said:

Hi all - sorry - its a mountain bike.........I rode this for a good few
years but its getting tired now, heat treatment is not for home builders and
the frame is subject to fatigue / stress cracking.
http://www.bikemagic.com/gallery/image.asp?uabn=1028&UIN=2808&Position==1&sp=&v=7
Max

Nice, but how far can you go with the fertilizer before you have to
refill that bin ?

Quoted message said:

http://www.germancarfans.com/print.cfm/ID/2020221.003

More details please.

Jobst Brandt

This is the Telelever (sp?) used on the oilhead R bikes currently in
production.
It turns out that you want some dive on a motorcycle. Without it it's
hard to judge how hard you're braking. There are ways to eliminate it.
See "Motorcycle Chassis Design" by Tony Foale.
BMW's current K series bikes use another non tele front end invented
by Ernie Hassock. You've got to give BMW credit for not building me-
too bikes. All sorts of motorcycle front ends were reinvented for
bicycles: Bob Gervin reinvented the girder and got kinda mad when I
pointed that out to a friend at Interbike.
Phil Brown

max said:

Hi all - sorry - its a mountain bike.........I rode this for a good few
years but its getting tired now, heat treatment is not for home builders and
the frame is subject to fatigue / stress cracking.http://www.bikemagic.com/gallery/image.asp?uabn=1028&UIN=2808&Positio...
Max

Reminiscent of a Whyte:

http://www.benhaywardcycles.com/shop/images/uploads/large/PRST1.JPG

/s

Bike is my own design and construction, its made from one of the 6000 grade
aluminium, in condition T4 (as supplied) this is significantly stronger than
many other grades of aluminium - its difficult to obtain small quantities of
tube....I found some 6000 stuff and kept to this grade - you cant mix it.
Heat treatment would have prolonged the frames life but its not an easy
process to apply to a one-off. I designed this before the Whyte appeared on
the scene and the suspension is not the same as the Whyte, I used a J path
on my first bike (like the Whyte) and my conclusion was it doesnt work.
Suspension is slightly different to the BMW design as it has a sliding joint
within the head tube. I did consider a floating disc caliper to isolate it
from the suspension - this is possible with this design, I may yet
experiment with this.
My objective with the design was to reduce friction and improve the small
bump performance and I was quite happy with this performance though the
design is complex mechanically and wouldnt really mass produce. Ride was
silky smooth with 100mm travel front and 120mm rear. The small bump
performance was better than my Fox. Im not riding the bike at the moment but
I will probably rebuild it soon.
This was my second bike and I may start on a 3rd design soon - the
design/build process is good fun and its great riding a bike that you have
made yourself. I am a professional mechanical engineer with 20 years
experience in automotive.
Thanks for your interest - I will answer any other questions - if I can.
Max

"Scott Gordo" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

max said:

Hi all - sorry - its a mountain bike.........I rode this for a good few
years but its getting tired now, heat treatment is not for home builders
and
the frame is subject to fatigue / stress
cracking.http://www.bikemagic.com/gallery/image.asp?uabn=1028&UIN=2808&Positio...
Max

Reminiscent of a Whyte:

http://www.benhaywardcycles.com/shop/images/uploads/large/PRST1.JPG

/s