44 Bikes

[fortyfour]

Any updates on posters?

So the 411 on Posters to all: In response to an overwhelming amount of requests, this winter I'm going to make some of my "art" available to everyone. These will be limited edition, hand screened, signed and numbered on heavy weight archive stock. We'll have none of this "color" print crap. I'm talking real honest to goodness screen prints. V-Salon will be the first to know. That's the plan. Hold fast.

[devlin]

Well. I'd better skip a few coffees and squirrel away my spare cash. This will be good.

[fortyfour]

[fortyfour]

[Amaro Bikes]

tack...tack...tack..tack... ;)

[fortyfour]

tack...tack...tack..tack... ;)

Toe...

[fortyfour]

[fortyfour]

[Rody]

Kristofer...how much do you have to pay the paparazzi to hang out and get all the cool action photos? My dogs are the only ones who hang around my shop and they pretty much suck at using a camera.

rody

[fortyfour]

If you can imagine this, all of the welding shots are self portraits. Sometimes I get lucky. But I treat it as part of my process as the whole unfolds. Design professors always hammered on us to "document your work". That rings true for me most days.

But as I work, I may feel like it might make a good shot. Before I set up the camera I look through the view finder and frame out where I will be in my head and how I will be in relation to the rest of the foreground/background. So it's a bit deliberate. I then set the camera on timer (20sec) and have everything ready on my end so I just sit down, flip the lid and get back to work, but I've already attempted to frame the shot before I am in it. Some turn out nice, others not so much. I shoot in color and some are changed to black and white in post where I play with saturation and exposure to get things just right pulling out the blackest blacks and whitest whites.

But I doubt the paparazzi are going to be knocking down my door any time soon.

Another lucky one from that day:

[Amaro Bikes]

If you can imagine this, all of the welding shots are self portraits.

That's pure DIY one-man-business ethos!

Congrats for all your work, and thanks for sharing such inspirational moments/thoughts/images

Kris is the new Tyler! ;)

[fortyfour]

Kris is the new Tyler! ;)

Tyler asked me who was taking all the shots too. According to Tyler when I spoke with him at the Builders' Ball Kevin takes the shots when they are working and Tyler takes the studio shots.

Kris is just plain old Kris.

[devlin]

Plain old Kris is pretty damn good at what he does.

[devlin]

Oh yeah. Posters?

[fortyfour]

Oh yeah. Posters?

You didn't get the memo? (See post #281) I define winter as: "the time between December and sometime when the snow finally melts."

[fortyfour]

So the next client in line is getting a 29+. In prep for the build I've been checking some personal builds which sport some pretty tight measurements for clearances. Some pretty cool things are developing here at 44HQ. First up is my fat bike with a 29+ Knard (standard 135mm spaced hub, but I used a bunch of spacers to get the proper spacing to 170mm along with an extra set of hub end caps to replicate where a 170mm hub would sit). Nothing too special at first glance until I realize that these are 16.5" chainstays with clearance at the seat tube of about .5" and over the seat stay bridge of about .25". Both of these are simple adjustments to squeeze that much more clearance and tune everything for the clients bike to look more appropriate to the tire size. My fat bike on the other hand might just need a second set of wheels that are 29+. Chainstay clearance is no problem on this rig.







Next up is a 29+ Knard mounted into my singlespeed which sports sliders with chainstay adjustment from 16-16.8". With a 32 x 17t combo mounted up, the chainstays come to about 16.3125" when tensioned and Knard in place. The tire does not clear the chainstays but it does just touch. I believe the actual clearance at the chainstay is ~2.8". The interesting point is that the client build will sport a 32x17t combo, it will run a White Industries ENO crank (which can be run with a White BB of either 113 or 121 bb spindle length). The wheel build in the rear will sport a Rohloff which according to Rohloff should have a chainline if running a 17t cog of 54mm. With a White ENO, you would get a ~51.5mm running a 121mm BB spindle. Running a Phil Wood, I have the option of adjustable chainline. That gives me more room down around the chainstay / tire / chainring area. This is getting interesting on my end as I finalize the drawing and tune this ride. Stay tuned kids.

[dgaddis]

Rad. What rim is that Knard mounted up to?

[G-reg]

Where do EBBs fall in to the 44 ethos? I'm not a huge fan myself, but caved and used an EBB on a Knard project so as to only solve clearance problems for a single chainstay length.

[fortyfour]

Rad. What rim is that Knard mounted up to?

The Knard was mounted to a Stan's Arch EX. One thing right out of the box about the Knard was how paper thin the sidewalls were. Not sure if they have since thickened them up a bit but that was a concern of mine immediately for the terrain we have around here. The tire profile seemed a bit tall on this rim, but I think if i build up a set of Rabbit Holes to fit my fat bike, the tire will flatten a bit while the sidewalls get move outward. Every millimeter counts. I'm kicking myself for not building this bike with sliders. May have to build another this spring...

[fortyfour]

Where do EBBs fall in to the 44 ethos? I'm not a huge fan myself, but caved and used an EBB on a Knard project so as to only solve clearance problems for a single chainstay length.

If a client requests a singlespeed, I usually encourage PMW hooded sliders if it's a mountain bike. Plenty of axle configurations and ISO/PM option as well. For me, an EBB is a bit of a bear to work with post weld as it is a challenge to keep it round. But if someone insists, the newer model that Bushnell offers is the way to go - the single expansion bolt version with all the cutaways. The entire EBB expands into to the bottom bracket shell's I.D. so it really minimizes the parts ability to move. But if you're thinking about how chainstay length plays into the entire formula of how a bike handles, it's not exactly the best way to achieve this goal (IMO). The whole point of short stays is to move the position of the rear axle towards the rider for quick handling and easily lofting the front wheel over obstacles. BB height plays with the riders center of gravity, which also effects handling and bike feel. With an ebb, you move the bottom bracket forward basically - so you're not really moving the rear axle anywhere. And in some cases, you're actually rotating the bottom bracket up and forward to achieve tension-so you're actually moving the center of gravity up. It's a clever way of solving a bikes option for SS, but for me, it starts messing with a key element of how a bike handles.

Chainstay length for me is solved and workable with how I am radius'ing my seat tubes as well as how I bend / form and dimple my chainstays.

What I have been waiting for is crank manufacturers eliminating the spider. OR move back to a setup that allows for different spindle lengths much like square taper used to offer. Race Face looks to be offering this with some of their new cranks as the industry has taken to the single ring up front which I like.