PolyTube Cycles

[CyclesNoir]

With the solar array, you shouldbe able to offer Natural Sun-Baked Epoxy!

[datas_brother]

That's good! I'll put that up on my website and change the background color to green

[WadePatton]

Hey Kevin, don't I remember you from the old FF? If so, where were you at in your poly-development-process back then?

Your designs looks great and the twist makes logical sense (unlike some stuff out there). It looks like you are bridging the gap between mono-tube and nano-tube tech in a "reasonable tech" method. Have you experimented with rate of twist of the internals?

I hope it takes off and you get to enjoy _that_ ride.

cheers

[datas_brother]

Hi Wade,

Thanks for the compliment. Yes, I've been working on that from the start. In fact, I likely would not have started making frames if I didn't have that flash. At the time I was a believer in the mass market hype and didn't even know you could get custom made bikes. I found out about this scene while researching how to turn my idea into a real bike. Without the help of all here, on Bikelist and the old FF I would never had made it so far. I can't say thank you enough for all the advice I've received from everyone.

As far as the layup angle goes, yes I changed it many times before I found what works best. It also varies depending on the layer, the joint and where on the tube you look at.

When ya going to post pics of that new shop you're building?

[WadePatton]

Hi Wade,

Thanks for the compliment.

When ya going to post pics of that new shop you're building?

No prob, hell it's great to see ideas coming from "us" and not marketing depts.

Boring ass wires/insulation/paneling photos will be coming--you'll love or hate the paneling. I really need to do the flickr thing....

[datas_brother]

It's been awhile since I last posted anything. My day job has been keeping me more than busy since we are going into the Christmas season.

I've spent son time translating the cooperative website. Check ist out her: Carbon Bike Check It opens with a short film made with images from a CT. Hope you all enjoy it. If anyone has any feedback it would be greatly appreciated.

[datas_brother]

Hi,

Just been told the link doesn't work. Here is the correct one: Intro

We had to remove the film because EMI hasn't given us permission to use the Queen song "Bicycle" yet. You can download it here, however: http://files.me.com/pmikitisin/%20hrdmvr

[CyclesNoir]

The X-ray images are especially neat! Cool site.

[datas_brother]

Again, it's been awhile since I last posted something here So I'll give a short update of what I've been doing.

First, I've been working on several repairs. The most interesting was a S&S coupled section of top tube for a Calfee Tandem. Since it was naked (not even clearcoated) the cosmetics were a big challenge. The tube is filament wound and had a crack that went completely through. I fixed the structure first and then added a cosmetic layer to simulate the filament winding look. You can see the finished repair on FNL No. 90. I also had a Bianchi with the drive side DO loose, as well as a couple of others.

I found a new painter in the town I live in. This has been a challenge from the start. I will be testing him this week.

I've also been given some press attention:

Bike Europe - News: Test Labs and Repair Shop Join Forces for Carbon Frame Handling

O2 BIKERS: Expert en carbone

They have both brought more people to my website in one day then the adwords ad in a month.

That's it for now. Questions still welcome.

[datas_brother]

Just got the info that another one was published:

Login : velobiz.de

You can only read it if you have a subscription. What started this was a press release I sent out. Oddly, the second two were not in the group I sent it to, which makes it even better.

right now, I have a Kuota Kharma in the shop with a broken TT.

[Mike Mcdermid]

It's pretty interesting to read the path down which people gain their knowledge.

[datas_brother]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for helping down this path with the advice you've given me on other forums. Glad to see your here. Haven't heard from you in a while. What have you been up to?

[datas_brother]

Just noticed another writing about the coop I'm involved with:

ITALIAN CYCLING JOURNAL: Carbon Frame Repairs

Nice blog in general.

[datas_brother]

Hi,

Thought I would post some more stuff. First, I got some more news exposer:

Light-Bikes.de --- news for weightweenies

This story got some unusual requests. The site is focused around making bikes as light as possible. That's not something I aim for because I believe a bike should last more than a season, even if it is involved in a minor crash. But I've had three people ask if I could remove the paint from their frame. I like the look of naked carbon but even that needs at least a clear to protect it from UV-Light, which I made clear to the requesters. I haven't got any replies yet so we'll see how that goes from here.

This week I took the leap and registered for EHBE. Since this will be my first time as an exhibitor at a show I would very much appreciate any tips those of you with more experience have to offer.

I am currently talking to two manufacturers to do repairs for them here in Europe. I've received a test job from one of them so that is looking promising. Stay tuned to find out who it is.

That's all for now and I looking forward to hearing from the seasoned show exhibitors either here or as PM.

[datas_brother]

I broke my finger recently and the brace the doctors gave me started to smell so I made a new one. Of course it had to be of carbon fiber:



Full comments here: http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5170/...c000fb71_z.jpg

[datas_brother]

I am more than just a little busy right now so I'll keep this short. After the article on Light Bikes came out I received allot of frames for repair. I was surprised how quickly it went. If I had the time I would post some Pics to FNL. I'll try tomorrow.

This article just came out in the current edition of Fahrrad News (Bicycle News). It's on the same page as a bike made by Ulrich Vogel, who is a member here.

[datas_brother]

well, I fell off the first page, which makes me sad. It's my own fault but I just haven't had time to keep things up to date, here. I now have a waiting list. I'm getting so many repair requests that a new job coming in today will not be worked on for 3 weeks. My wife is complaining about all of the boxes piling up. Never expected to have too much work. I'm VERY happy about this!

I've started cooperating with a company called Sport Import. They are the official distributor for Felt here in Germany. Just received the third frame from them.

A few weeks ago I documented a repair for one of the guys at Light Bikes. Today they printed an Article about it that you can see here. If there is interest, I can translate it and put it in a separate thread.

Wow, this will be my 100th post! Do I get an ATMO t-shirt for that?

[datas_brother]

Been a month so time to update again.

I had quite a bit of business, which is taking it's toll on me. My day starts at 6:00 am getting the kids off to school. Then I spend about an hour in the shop before going to my day job. When I get home I spend about 1 - 2 hours with the family then it's back to the shop until about midnight.

Aside from the side repairs, I've been working on tools for the past 2 weeks. Here is one of them:



Click here to see the comments I added to the flickr shot

To work with carbon, you need a vacuum. The purpose is to pull excess epoxy and air out of a wet layup. There are other ways that I also use but a vacuum generally gives you the best results for the type of work I do. Shopping for a vacuum pump can get expensive. There are cheap ones out there but they tend to smoke. If you want a good one plan on € 1000. When I was in high school in Houston I jobbed at one of those 10 minute oil change places and we occasionally did AC service. Sometimes it would be necessary to evacuate a leaking AC system after the repair. To do that we hooked up an old refrigerator compressor, which would suck out the air before loading it with coolant again. I remembered that and decided to try. € 5.- got me one from my local dealer that would have been disposed of. Sure enough, that thing pulled 27" of vacuum. That's enough for composites work but you can get better by chaining a second unit to the first. To keep everything under control, I added a programmable control unit to the whole thing. The results are in the picture above. The shot below is a vacuum bag in action.

[datas_brother]

Hi,

been awhile. Listening to while writing this.

Lots happening here right now. First, I have a backlog of 12 Frames that need CF repair by the end of next week. The hurry is because I will be closing (am already closed for new orders) on the 14th. On the 16th I will be flying to Turkey for vacation. 2 weeks of nothing but relaxing on the beach. When I get back it will be time to move. My wife and I sold our current house and bought a new one with room for a new shop. I've already started to renovate the new place. It's an old farm house built in 1824. It was completely modernized in 2001. The form is called a "Vierkanthof" which means 4 sided courtyard. It's made up of the street sided main house, an apartment along the left side, a wall to close off the right side and a barn across the back. Once you enter and close the gate you are completely closed off from the rest of the world. I'm really looking forward to having the space to make dedicated working areas instead of having to clear everything out of the way after each step in order to do the next. I spend about half my time moving things from one spot to the next and back right now.

I learned a hard lesson while working on one job, yesterday. It's a Felt F5 that the German importer sent me with a cracked alu seat collar. I decided to replace it with TI bought from the EU Paragon distributor. Great service! Anyway, I needed to turn it down to a smaller OD and got a bit hot because I was in a hurry. First lesson: TI burns! The chips coming off got so hot they incinerated after falling onto the lathe bed. Second lesson: Don't look at burning TI! It doesn't just burn, it is extremely bright when it does! I just glanced at it and it took about 10 Min. before I couldn't see spots any more. All's well in the end. I still have my sight, the lathe is clean again and the frame has a new TI collar. Just have to slot it once the epoxy cures.

When I get into the new shop, I will be looking out for a new lathe. I have a mini lathe with a milling head, now but it is just too small. I also need a hot box to speed up cure times of epoxy and paint. I will likely build that myself since I haven't been able to find anything pre-made. It doesn't need to get that hot (max 120°C) so shouldn't be that big of a challenge. I'm considering making it slightly pressurized (max 4 bar = 58 psi) so I'll have to calculate the thickness of the steel walls once I decide on the inside dimensions.

Well, I think that's about all for now. I'll post picture as soon as the new shop is finished (mid October).

[datas_brother]

Incredible how fast time flies. I can't believe it's been 3 months since I last posted. I'm in the new shop now but it is still not quite finished. Everything is functional except the paint booth.

The whole house is in great shape especially considering it is almost 200 years old. The previous owns did a great job of restoring everything. The only real problem I've found are some wet walls because there is no basement. I've started to seal those with a special resin that is poured into holes you drill into the wall. Is is soaked up by the bricks and mortar and prevents moisture from the ground seeping up into the wall. The stuff is very expensive and it takes about a week per section of wall to do but works great.

Hardly anything got broke during the move but my ISP managed to delete my entire email account, which is more than just a pain. I used it to track my wait list for the move. I have now lost the list of customers wanting a repair, which I asked to wait until I was in the new shop.

The shop now has dedicated areas for different steps in the process. I'll try to post some pictures on this weeks FNL. I now have an indoor heated "clean" area and an outdoor, unheated area for the dirty work. There will also be a spot set aside for photography with mounted lighting but I still need to get that setup.

I've also received 14 new repairs, which means I've broken the 100 mark for this year. Among those are 2 restorations. A 17 year old Staiger Red Arrow that needs some touchup work and a Trek Y11, which has been decapitated. The Trek will be the most difficult of the current lot since I need to reattach the headtube. The owner wants it mainly for rides to the coffee shop and to hang on the wall but it won't leave the shop unless it can take the beating MTB should be able to handle.

Well, time to get back to work.