Stainless Steel DH Frame

[Tetreault]

absolute lift and park killer. Only thing left is to hope the grant goes through and see what pricing on these beauties comes in like

[norbar]

I've been riding 29ers for eleven years. And yes, the cornering feel is definitely a component of the 29" wheel size.

Yes, paragon drops. 17-4 stainless is tough stuff. I'm not worried about them. But there are people that can break anything. Sometimes I stand in bewilderment of the stuff people drag into my shop broken. This bike is not for hucking your carcass off hillsides. This is for the rider that pilots the trails like a race car driver.

Yes but some extra beef for that once in a month case is quite useful

I really like the design and the looks. One thing makes me wonder - the current specs are for size large? Because the wb seems pretty long for that ha and cs.

[HAB]

I really like the design and the looks. One thing makes me wonder - the current specs are for size large? Because the wb seems pretty long for that ha and cs.

Did you see the reach? That's one biiiig bike. I very understand wanting to make a bike that fits you well (I'm the shortest guy out of 11 on my dad's entire side of the family at 6' tall, so seeing them not fit anything gives me an appreciation for the plight of wookie sized people) but I have to wonder how much of the potential market you're sizing yourself out of by making only two sizes, with one of them being that big. I know I'd want something a good bit smaller, and I'm not exactly short. Of course you should make that large size if that's what you need, and it's great that someone's offering bikes for super tall people but maybe a third size would be a good idea? Of course that's more tube sizes to figure out and an additional jig setup, etc, so I understand if it's just too much to handle at this stage. Have you figured out what the reach is going to be on the smaller size? If it's something I could ride I'm very interested.

[Welshy.]

That has got to be the most gorgeous frame I've ever seen. I just wish we had actual bike parks here to justify it!

[ZenkiGarage]

All I can say is, wow! I want one right now! If it makes it to production, that's my next race bike. Single speed and all!

[RD3]

I probably wouldn't use the Paragon sliders on the production bikes. Too much leverage and not enough surface area. Fine on xc, but could be an issue for dh. You could make some hooded sliders by using a section of stock rectangular / oval tubing with a welded back plate and have the axle go directly through it.

Your seat mast has a lot of downward force on it for just one tube. I see you have it sleeved at the base, but would consider an additional tube to triangulate it.

Like the clean lines of the design.

[VELOMECH]

Regarding the structural questions raised, I hear ya. From an intuitive design perspective, it is a struggle to have faith in these materials. Every day we see bikes made out of lightweight, low strength materials. To build a bike out of heavyweight, high strength materials requires a whole different perspective.

One designer that had an influence on the way I look at things is Colin Chapman (Lotus Race Cars) When everyone in the industry was adding horsepower, he was "adding lightness". I once read that Chapman would incrementally subtract frame members from his cars until something broke, then he would add in the last piece he removed. I doubt this is literally true, but the design philosophy is certainly his style. If you overbuild something, you won't know where the excess strength is. All you can do is guess at where you can make things lighter. If you under-build, you are more likely to find the week points, and then you can add strength just where it is needed. That is how people built winning race cars on small budgets back in the day.

Check out this link to see a race car that was very successful while being built on a small budget and creative use of materials:

http://www.classicoldcars.info/class...or-sport-icon/

[VELOMECH]

Yesterdays photo session. We did not have much luck with the light, but we still got a few sweet shots.

[sikocycles]

Looks like a super fun and cool bike. Keep up the good work

[tacubaya]

Regarding the structural questions raised, I hear ya. From an intuitive design perspective, it is a struggle to have faith in these materials. Every day we see bikes made out of lightweight, low strength materials. To build a bike out of heavyweight, high strength materials requires a whole different perspective.

One designer that had an influence on the way I look at things is Colin Chapman (Lotus Race Cars) When everyone in the industry was adding horsepower, he was "adding lightness". I once read that Chapman would incrementally subtract frame members from his cars until something broke, then he would add in the last piece he removed. I doubt this is literally true, but the design philosophy is certainly his style. If you overbuild something, you won't know where the excess strength is. All you can do is guess at where you can make things lighter. If you under-build, you are more likely to find the week points, and then you can add strength just where it is needed. That is how people built winning race cars on small budgets back in the day.

Check out this link to see a race car that was very successful while being built on a small budget and creative use of materials:

http://www.classicoldcars.info/class...or-sport-icon/

Colin Chapman built chassis insanely light and tested them out. Then if something broke, he fixed it and tested it again and again until he was satisfied. Then he knew he had the lightest design that could handle normal operating conditions and nothing more. He hated overbuilding.

[no skid marks]

It's a bike, not a perishable race car. I think one of the attractions of steel for people is durability.

[kazlx]

Done...272. Looks like a sweet setup to me.

[norbar]

Colin Chapman built chassis insanely light and tested them out. Then if something broke, he fixed it and tested it again and again until he was satisfied. Then he knew he had the lightest design that could handle normal operating conditions and nothing more. He hated overbuilding.

It is good the problem with testing a bike is that you need more than one tester as he will never weed out the problems. I really like the way banshee does it test programs. It makes sure that even the biggest hacks wont kill the bike.