Here's the before shot:
aaaaand the after shots:
Not bad huh? I mean, not amazing or super huge but it's aaaallll minez! It's as done as I could get it for now. Still lots more to do and acquire...
Speaking of acquisitions, I did get my hands on this sssweet new Smith Torch Kit and bottles:
I was offered a super killer deal on the whole package so I couldn't resist. While I have used this type of equipment before, it's been a while so I'm in dire need of a refresher course..
Now I know I've been mentioning the Mutandem build here and there though have yet to give up any visual proof of it's existence BUT.. I have been showing my progress to a very small few. I have to do so with care for this is an actual reaction I got from one viewer upon witnessing it's magnificence for the first time:
"I'm still a little shaken by the Mutandem. It is frightening and horrible and I'm looking at the law so I might obtain a cease and desist order. I trust you will satisfy the enclosed invoice from my ocular surgeon for his diagnosis/non-treatment of retina damage as it is irreversible. I would like to self medicate with what you obviously partake of though!"
Yeah.. It IS that gnarly..
I'll give you one hint though:
Three words:
S
T
I
Yesterday I made a huge amount of progress on the build and decided to take a few snaps of my fork extension process. You wouldn't believe how many emails/comments I get from people on how to do this after seeing my first tall bike. It's actually a no brainer!
You can do this two ways. Cut your original fork steerer tube in the middle separating the threads from the bottom section. Stick a length of 1/2" pipe that you can buy at any Home Depot between them and you're good to go. Now, the way I did it was by adding a shorter piece of 1/2" pipe and just using a whole other steerer tube from another fork:
Measure it out a couple of times and tack it up. Check your fit with the frame and headset. Then when you're confident that everything lines up and fits properly, finish up the welds..
You can also drill some holes in the steerer tubes to drop some nice thick tacks in there for added stiffness/safety. Though the way I have it here is more than enough..
But yeah, it's that easy! I'm obviously not putting all the steps in here because it's pretty self explanitory..
In any case, I plan to continue to work on the shop over the next few months tightening things up. Next on my list of things to aquire is a lathe and a milling machine. Once I have those I can build myself a bitchin' frame jig from 80/20. After seeing ANT's jig via Fast Boy's stream and this DIY jig build I first saw a few years ago, I'm convinced it's a good way to go for frame building. I mean, unless of course someone wants to buy me an Anvil jig.. Anyways, once my garden starts producing I'll be sure to have some bike building BBQ soireez for sure!
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