Today, my welder quit.
After I showed him that I had broken through one of his 4 welds, he plainly said that he would not weld for me any more.
I had a Nimbus II frame.
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I liked it a lot because of the space between the forks. The spaced allowed for a lot more mud to pass through before bogging down the uni.
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I also like the access to the inside of the frame. I could easily wire a cyclometer through the frame so that the cable would not get snagged by mud or my foot.
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I liked the material of the frame. I welded it to a GB4 seat post, and never needed to adjust it, or worry about pulling the seat around on a drop or climb.
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I liked the weight of the Nimbus II. I am not a weight-weeny, and the frame seemed to weight about as much as other frames.
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I liked the price. It’s one of the cheapest frames available at $40 new.
On the other hand, I did not like:
The extra width in the bearing holders.
The strength (I cracked it every 100 miles).
(One of those cracks was the GB4 seat post)
Once, on a sloppy descent, the fork gouged my leg through armor.
I’d like recommendations on a new frame. I am not sure I can bring myself to paying $400-600 for a frame but I’d like to hear why those are better (just in case). I’m afraid to put a lot of money into a frame because I seem to break so many components (and I’m not even a good rider).
I am interested in the “used mountain bike suspension fork as frame” idea - heck, I’d buy one new if that was an awesome way to go. I think it could add more entertainment to the rides on extreme terrain.
I’m also interested in the new Kris Holm frame (it fits Profile cranks, right?) and anything someone can say about Koxx1.
Thanks in advance for your input. I am uniless right now, and need to get back on the trail - but it would be nice to have something ultra-durable.
Update:
Since the time I last posted, I contacted several people about frames. I settled on the idea of using an old mountain bike crown as the foundation for a frame.
Some pros:
. More width for mud clearance
. Custom frame (custom leg length, bearing holders, legs)
. broken fork legs (like the ones I produce) can be replaced
. large diameter tubing for durability
Some cons:
. It is difficult to find the crown because they are obsolete
. I predict that it will weigh more
In my quest to find a crown, it has been quite a scavenger hunt. I got my hopes up two days ago when it appeared that I could buy a brand new crown for RST (brand) from The Bicycle Sport Shop for $20. Unfortunately, the bike shop mechanic misunderstood me. He thought (even though I provided pics) that I just wanted the STEERER TUBE. On of the other mechanics surprisingly offered that another bike shop had a box of crowns. I drove down there (through the rain with no top) and asked. After some “beating around the bush” I was able to see this “box of crowns” at “University Cyclery.”
They had matching one with threaded 1" steerer tube that was about 6" long. I passed those and select one like so for $50:
Steerer tube
10 1/8" long! (I’ll be using a short seat post)
1 1/8" diameter (which cleanly fits a 25.4 seat post)
Pressed into the crown
Seems able to rust
Crown
Aluminum
clearence between the forks 3.75 (gained 1/4" over the Nimbus II)!
total width of the crown about 6 1/8 (the Nimbus II is about 5 7/8")
double bolts clamp the fork legs (must determine torque)
Kris convinced me to use machined bearing holders so those are next on my scavenger hunt.
Finally, I have a cheap Miata seat post that came with my miata seat. I’ll be using it for now. I’ll update this thread with pics later (and during progress). At this point, I’ll be happy if I can get the frame to last past CMW. I was cracking my last frame every 100 miles or so.