Designing and Building my own Carbon Fibre frame

Who are you (no off-topic talk please)

Moderators: MrCurrieinahurry, maxim809, Moderator Team

euph
Posts: 161
Joined: Wed May 13, 2015 10:35 pm

by euph

Thanks for all the interest guys. I will do a big write up soon but it may have to wait until summer. As always with projects they are a learning experience. So I have many failures which I could write up to help others.

euph
Posts: 161
Joined: Wed May 13, 2015 10:35 pm

by euph

My dissertation is dues in less than a month so I am having to shortcut a few aspects of the build however, I am still trying to maintain a reasonable level of quality. The last part which is causing a bit of a hang up is the cable bosses. I have had a crack at making some with vacuum forming and some steel rod however not had much luck so far, so the backup plan is to do full length cable housing and zip tie it on.

On a more positive note I pressed the bearings in today and put two wheels on the bike. So far it is sat at 6.8kg without cables. The geometry seems to be all okay according to the jig as I assembled it and with wheels etc. on it also seems fine. Just sitting on the bike I can tell that the sizing is far better for me than my previous 54cm Addict as this is based around a 52cm Addict. The primary goals of this project were to build a bike with good fit for me with similar handling to my previous frame and the same or less weight. So far so good.

There are a few things I am dissatisfied with at the moment but they were oversights or the results of laziness and rushing. But so be it, I went from having repaired a shifter paddle to building a whole frame from scratch in one year. The main area is have an issue with is the driveside dropout, I milled away a lot of material so that the derailleur hanger would fit. However, I should have loked at how my Addict was built in this area a bit more closely before as I have removed too much material and no the hanger sits too close to the cogs. I will make a spacer and it will all fit fine I just hope it doesnt snap when I put my menial amount of power down.

I had designed and come up with to process of making a nice rear brake bross which could use the proper recessed nut however I ran out of time to make it so I just used a test dropout to make a bar with a hole in for the brake boss. Not the end of the world but I had hoped to make a neater solution. I am aware that it is very easy to pick faults in a project that you have made so I am sure the final product is actually up to a good spec.

Anyway, I took some pictures on my phone so I will upload them on Tapatalk.

by Weenie


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euph
Posts: 161
Joined: Wed May 13, 2015 10:35 pm

by euph

PicturesImageImageImageImageImage

euph
Posts: 161
Joined: Wed May 13, 2015 10:35 pm

by euph

May is the month of exams. So very minimal progress. As a way of procrastinating I did find some time to make some cable bosses however I hastily designed them and didn't make enough surface are for them to bond well enough to stay on after heavy shifting or braking loads. I have therefore gone for full length housing for the rear beak and derailleur which isn't a glamorous solution however it gets the bike rideable for my dissertation submission deadline.

So the final build has a 38 tooth narrow wide chainring and a 12-27 cassette currently. It weighs 6.7kg or so. I have some carbon wheels coming in the post that I got off eBay. They probably won't be the best but they were cheap and lighter than my current wheelset so they will look good when I have to present this.

Thanks for reading.

ImageImageImageImageImageImage

jever98
Posts: 1172
Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2009 12:02 pm
Location: Seattle

by jever98

Beavo again! How does it ride?



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----
No longer in the industry

euph
Posts: 161
Joined: Wed May 13, 2015 10:35 pm

by euph

It rides really well. It feels just like my addict just maybe a bit more stable. That could be due to the fact that I actually fit on this frame though. The fit is definitely the biggest success. I may be placeboing it a bit but the frame feels perfect.

I have to present it in mid may so until then I won't be going on any big rides as I would hate to damage it in some way and turn up with a pile of parts. So a full ride review will come in June probably.

euph
Posts: 161
Joined: Wed May 13, 2015 10:35 pm

by euph

6.5kgImage

FilmAt11
Posts: 315
Joined: Sun Jan 09, 2011 2:35 am

by FilmAt11

Congratulations Euph. Hope your presentation goes well. I look forward to seeing further developments like cable stops. See the article below re: Crumpton.

https://www.bikerumor.com/2012/03/03/na ... us-colors/

"Crumpton had to design new molded cable guides with a larger footprint to give it a big enough surface area to safely bond to the tube. They tested it with smaller mounting areas and the tubes were flexing when they braked, so the larger footprint was necessary to maintain frame integrity and keep the guides from delaminating of the frame."

euph
Posts: 161
Joined: Wed May 13, 2015 10:35 pm

by euph

Thanks FilmAt11

That link you posted is perfect. Even a good couple of photos to base some ideas off. I didn't suffer the tube flexing issue however, I didn't have it on long to see. I just need to make a larger area for it to bond to.

Unfortunately my niece camera is out of action so no nice photos for a while.

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