Back to the torch

Hi all,

It's been a few years since I built my current roadie, but recently we
moved to larger premises (where the car gets its very own bit of
driveway, rather than filling up the garage), so here's the result so
far

http://www.flickr.com/photos/suzy_j/5431195457/

So I guess little fish bicycles is back in operation

Cheers,

Suzy

On Wed, 09 Feb 2011 18:41:41 -0800, suzyj wrote:

Hi all,

So I guess little fish bicycles is back in operation

Geez, you need to find a better framebuilder - your one leaves out the
seat stays!

Good to see you back here, and still playing about with bikes. Still
riding the fixie up Fullers Rd?

--
Dave Hughes -
"There are some benefits to high blood pressure", Bob mused as another
mosquito exploded. -- unknown, Bulwer-Lytton entry

On 10/02/2011 1:41 PM, suzyj wrote:
Hi all,

It's been a few years since I built my current roadie, but recently we
moved to larger premises (where the car gets its very own bit of
driveway, rather than filling up the garage), so here's the result so
far

http://www.flickr.com/photos/suzy_j/5431195457/

So I guess little fish bicycles is back in operation

You are actually MAKING your own bicycle? Wow!! I dips me lid to yer

You also mentioned soldering on the flickr site whilst I am thinking
that welding would seem more appropriate. Maybe I am thinking of what I
have seen on mountain bikes.

On Feb 11, 2:54*am, Geoff Lock glock@home wrote:

You also mentioned soldering on the flickr site whilst I am thinking
that welding would seem more appropriate. Maybe I am thinking of what I
have seen on mountain bikes.

Welding is a process where the actual metal of the tubes is heated to
melting point to make the join. Brazing and soldering (we generally
use the term soldering when working with silver solder, whereas yanks
generally call it brazing) is a process where a low melting point
filler (silver solder in this case) is used to join the tubes, so the
tubes don't have to be heated to melting point.

One of the advantages of silver solder is that, as the join doesn't
have to be heated up really hot, you don't affect the heat treatment
of the tubes as much. A disadvantage is that you need lugs, which
have to be very accurately fitted, as silver solder is hopeless at
filling voids. You can use brass as the filler too, which has a
slightly higher melting point than silver, but brass won't wet to
stainless steel.

That said, I quite like the aesthetics of lugs - for me they're what a
bicycle is all about.

See http://www.phred.org/~josh/build/brazing.html for more info
(though with some American terminology.

Oh, and see http://www.littlefishbicycles.com/frame/ for info on my
previous bikes.

Cheers,

Suzy

On 11/02/2011 7:20 AM, suzyj wrote:
On Feb 11, 2:54 am, Geoff Lockglock@home wrote:


Welding is a process where the actual metal of the tubes is heated to
melting point to make the join. Brazing and soldering (we generally
use the term soldering when working with silver solder, whereas yanks
generally call it brazing) is a process where a low melting point
filler (silver solder in this case) is used to join the tubes, so the
tubes don't have to be heated to melting point.

One of the advantages of silver solder is that, as the join doesn't
have to be heated up really hot, you don't affect the heat treatment
of the tubes as much. A disadvantage is that you need lugs, which
have to be very accurately fitted, as silver solder is hopeless at
filling voids. You can use brass as the filler too, which has a
slightly higher melting point than silver, but brass won't wet to
stainless steel.

That said, I quite like the aesthetics of lugs - for me they're what a
bicycle is all about.

See http://www.phred.org/~josh/build/brazing.html for more info
(though with some American terminology.

Oh, and see http://www.littlefishbicycles.com/frame/ for info on my
previous bikes.

Awesome!

I guess it would be possible to knock out a bike in a couple of days if
you had everything on hand, but I suppose it takes a bit longer if one
was doing it at a leisurely pace, eh?

On 11/02/2011 2:54 AM, Geoff Lock wrote:
On 10/02/2011 1:41 PM, suzyj wrote:
Hi all,

It's been a few years since I built my current roadie, but recently we
moved to larger premises (where the car gets its very own bit of
driveway, rather than filling up the garage), so here's the result so
far

http://www.flickr.com/photos/suzy_j/5431195457/

So I guess little fish bicycles is back in operation

You are actually MAKING your own bicycle? Wow!! I dips me lid to yer

You also mentioned soldering on the flickr site whilst I am thinking
that welding would seem more appropriate. Maybe I am thinking of what I
have seen on mountain bikes.

Butt welding saves heaps weight but most bikes were tubes and sockets up
until 20years a go.

I would also mention that these things need a jig to keep the alignment
as well robotic welding for mass production. Only small manufactures
would have this done by hand.

All done.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/suzy_j/5472284054/

It's surprisingly light, at just 1625 grams.

Now, on to number five...

Cheers,

Suzy

On 24/02/2011 11:00 AM, suzyj wrote:
All done.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/suzy_j/5472284054/

It's surprisingly light, at just 1625 grams.

That's very nice work there

What's the screw thingies (my apologies for the highly technical term)
at the base of the head tube? I am guessing they are for the gear/brake
cables? I've never seen that kinda setup.

Also, the 1625grams is for the whole frame?

On 24/02/2011 11:00 AM, suzyj wrote:
All done.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/suzy_j/5472284054/

It's surprisingly light, at just 1625 grams.

Now, on to number five...

Cheers,

Suzy

Nice work.

Do you set this up in a jig?

On Feb 24, 3:49*pm, Geoff Lock glock@home wrote:
On 24/02/2011 11:00 AM, suzyj wrote:

All done.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/suzy_j/5472284054/

It's surprisingly light, at just 1625 grams.

That's very nice work there

What's the screw thingies (my apologies for the highly technical term)
at the base of the head tube? I am guessing they are for the gear/brake
cables? I've never seen that kinda setup.

Yeah - they're for the STI gear cables. I've previously done downtube
lever bosses. These are cool - they mean the gear cables won't rub on
the head tube.

Also, the 1625grams is for the whole frame?

Yes. It's built with Columbus Zona.