I finished all the welding and put enough bits on to take her for a test run (front brake, only front derailer cabled up, rear der set to the middle of the casette)..... well, it works.
there's a very slight corkscrew twist in the frame but it doesn't seem to have any adverse affects on the handling. It's a lot stiffer and not as heavy as I thought it would be, although there's still plenty of bits to bolt on and a big rack to build.
It nearly put me on my arse the first time I leaned into a turn. It was the weirdest sensation, I could really feel the extra length. It was like sitting at the front of the bus when its turning and it feels like the whole thing is going sideways. It only took me about 5 minutes to adjust then I really enjoyed it. I cant wait to show up at the mall on this thing all kitted out to carry a week's worth of groceries.
I'm really excited about the whole project now! I'm thinking about color schemes, for some reason I really like the idea of matt olive-green and using some cammo netting to build cargo bags. A real 'urban assault vehichle' sort of theme.
