trail tested hand built bike frame

Over two weeks of hard riding on my favorite trails are complete around the area. From Bellingham to I90, I've thrashed on this thing from 20' doubles, blistering single track and rocky rooty wet nasty trails.

The long reach fits my lanky arms soooo well. Its really comfortable to ride. The super long reach and 68 degree head angle are really fun on fast single track. The faster the better. This bike is super stable at high speeds. Its a little akward on slow techy stuff but with the short chain stays it does ok. Just put this thing on single track at 20 mph and it is sooo happy.

trail bike frame

So here's a sneak peek of my first ever mountain bike frame - should be a real shreddin' machine! I designed the geometry and am welding this guy up myself.

Full 4130 ChroMoly materials, the seat tube and the top tube are from Henry James - Platinum OX tube. The rest is 0.49" imported 4130.

Other features include a 67 degree headtube angle with 160mm Marzocchi 66 fork, super short chainstays, low stand-over and it has internal cable routing. The wheelbase is 45" and the BB center is 0.5" below the axle centerlines. The geometry is loosely based on a hardtail version of the Transition Bandit 26". Kinda like a mash-up of a BMX bike and a 6" trail bike.

The build will be getting a SRAM 10-speed drivetrain with 32T single chainring, 2.3 Minions for the summer and 8" hydraulic disk brakes. The frame will clear a 2.5 minion in the rear for winter time.

I should be on the trail for for torture testing by the end of the week!!!

left hand brake

I installed a left hand brake onto my YZ250 the other day. I removed the foot brake and master cylinder. I've got a few rides on it now including a race in Odessa. I works great and its much better than always having to shift around trying to get a foot on the stock lever!

The master cylinder I got from Bent Bike in Lynnwood, its a clutch off a Suzuki street bike...

And of course I swappped the hoses so that its setup like a mountain bike! The clutch side (left hand) is the front brake now. The rear brake is on the right hand. I ran an automotive steel brake line back to the stock YZ caliper on the swingarm.

A bit cleaner look without the foot pedal by the peg now. The metal brake line runs up the frame by the shock and is routed under the gas tank. The metal brake line ties into a rubber line that sits along the swingarm.