BoSoxYacht

and I'm starting to get excited about it.



Next week the builder will start putting it together, and hopefully the headtube will arrive. I still can't decide if it will have a gloss or matte finish.

Bob Dopolina 

Nice!

Who is going to do the bonding for you?

Gege-Bubu

Where did you get it and what is the plan?

bianchi10

I would go gloss, but thats my thing. I like it to shine my bikes up after a wash

BoSoxYacht

The tubes + stays are from Enve, and a local AZ framebuilder is doing the work. This will be the first frame built with CF sourced from Enve, but far from his first CF bike.

The builder owned a company that built Indy car chassis, but sold it a few years ago. Now he's making bikes, because cycling has always been a huge part of his life.

Bob Dopolina 

Kewl.

I assume it will be lugged? I didn't see any. Or will he mitre and bond the tubes by wrapping additional material?

EvilWeasel

I used to work for a company that built 70' carbon fiber racing yachts. I wish i still had access to that composites shop. I was thinking of ordering a CF tube set like that but i am unsure of the pre made tube quality.

Please keep us updated on this project. I'm very interested in how the final product comes out. I might want to try something similar with a pre made tube set. That is if i can find someone with first hand experience to vouch for the tube set.

Also... Congrats, and good luck. I can't wait to see it finished.

BoSoxYacht

Miter and bonded(like Parlee). I originally thought he was using lugs, but you wouldn't believe the cost of having them made, and it limits how custom the frames could be. .

Gege-Bubu

I am afraid to ask how much is the new frame cost.

Is it a Christmas gift?

cydewaze

I will be watching this thread carefully! Can't wait to see how it comes out!

FLvector

Does the framebuilder have a few finished frames so you can compare the gloss and matte finishes side by side? And does he also do a satin finish? I've had matte, gloss and satin finished bikes and my current is satin and my favorite of the three. Take lots of pictures.

Burnette

Wow BoSox, this is awesome.
Is this new for Enve to sell tube sets or have they always had that offering?
This is going to be fun! Like others have said, more pics and keep us posted, congrats!

rpenmanparker 

Fingers crossed for a great success. This is the fun time, the expectation. Enjoy it.

Bob Dopolina 

I have a rough idea.

In terms of paint, I've seen some really cool mixing of finishes. A paint factory I work with did their show bikes as matte black but tgen the accent parts (masked in on top) were done in a high gloss . It looked really sharp.

qcpmsame 

Got to follow this build, should be nice to see the progress. What are the group plans?

Bill

rpenmanparker 

Hard to believe that epoxy can hold with such a small amount of contact surface area as the mitered tube edges. Obviously they have a system that works. Maybe they glue a mitered plug into the tube so that there a broad surface on the end, and it is glued to the cluster tubes.

hueyhoolihan

i'm surprised they still make them from separate tubes. i would think they would be taking a page out of the rim manufacturing process and use a bladder or possibly bladders for the whole frame. deflating, then pulling them out of the frame at various inconspicuous locations and applying a cosmetic patch or patches. hopefully more professional looking than those on my carbon tubular rims.

BoSoxYacht

This is a freebie for me, but Calfee gets about $3500 for their model that uses the same tubing, Parlee and Indy Fabrication gets almost $5000 for theirs.

BoSoxYacht

Look at a Parlee Z1 and let me know what you think of the finish quality. He builds them with the same methods and materials. A monocoque looks better, but it's practically impossible to offer custom sizing that way.

BoSoxYacht

I'll be using 6800 for everything. Money is very tight, and I could never afford this frameset if it wasn't free.

BoSoxYacht

There are layers of material over the junctions(like a lug).

Next time I'm at the shop I'll take some more photos of the built frames he has.

These are photos of a Parlee Z1, but mine should look similar.

hueyhoolihan

ya, that would be difficult wouldn't it? that didn't occur to me...

rpenmanparker 

No need. I get it now. The mitered junctions are wrapped in more carbon post attachment. That gives the clusters a monocoque look and holds everything together. Neat.

BoSoxYacht

Enve sells pre-built seat & chainstays, and tubing to custom builders, but it's not something they do at the retail level. They've been doing this for a few years. Easton does the same thing, but the seem to be less interested in working with small builders.

Campag4life

I will just say I would never do this. I wouldn't trust the integrity of the tube joining process. Further there is no way any sort of reliable ride and handling could be targeted. The best engineers in the world build up multiple prototypes to deduce this for 'each frame size' with a 'known' geometry.

So to me this is an ill fated exercise but none-the-less one worth watching. Hey you maybe the blind squirrel who finds an acorn.

Good luck.