This is the big one Ladies and Gentlemen! WE HAVE A ROLLER!
First step today was to notch the frame where the bottom bracket runs and tack that in, needed to get this exactly right because everything else is measured off this point for the rear axle and stays...
I then was able to tack the rear loops in place using the bottom bracket as a guide to getting everything straight, I fitted the rear wheel at this point to to ensure the gap was even all the way around that curved tube at the rear of the frame.
I did have to cut and rejoin in a couple of places to get the angles spot on, but it was all worth while when I sat the front fork and wheel in place and could pose with the bike for a photo or two when my wife came out to say hi!
(Please ignore my pigsty of a work area, way too many projects happening...)
Surprised by just how small the bike is? Me too!
Here is a better photo of the bike as it sat at that point:
After that I just had all the joints to weld and then sand down. Once that was done the next step was clear: Attach the cantilever bars to the rear curved bar and extend them through to the head tube! I decided that the piece that joined them to the main frame should have a little flair to it to match the dropouts, so I made a piece up out of some more curved tubing:
Well, there was only one more thing to do now right?
Throw some wheels at it and finally get a glimpse of what it will look like!
Oh yeah! Loving the way it looks!
It is so weird, you can look at drawings and sketches of a bike for months and months and not get any sense of how they will look in real life. I never understood just how cool the severe shortness of the frame would highlight the width of the Hoosier, and that all the curves would play off each other so nicely!
Very happy!
The frame is almost finished now, I still want to add some little pieces of tube to tie the bottom bracket down to the chain stays, but other than that, it is on to the seat next!
I will leave you with this parting shot:
Luke.
Initially in all your preceding pics the bike looked like it was going to be large, cumbersome, and unwieldy. Not any more! That rear tire makes a statement; it appears the frame is doing all it can to capture and hold it from just taking off on it's own! This is wild!
