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Step 9
I'm adding a couple of goodies to this bike that I did not on the last. 2 bottle cage attachments and a brazed on front derailleur hangar. The bottle bosses were an easy choice as I have missed them dearly on my current setup. It is just a bummer to have to carry watter bottles in your back jersey pocket. The braze on hangar is really a must as well, as the seat tube is a bit larger in diameter than the last and the tube is a bit off round, more oval shaped. I could have probably compensated and created a round shape with carbon for a clamp on mount , but this just made sense.
I found the braze on hangar at Nova Cycle Supply and the bottle bosses were cut out of the original Felt frame. I purchased a derailleur hangar that could be riveted on and the bottle bosses were cut from the Felt frame in a rectangular shape, so that the over hangs could be carbon wrapped to the bamboo frame.
After these items were acquired, I selected drill bits that fit the bottle boss holes and that fit the derailleur hangar. Having used spare water bottle holders to place the marks on the bamboo where they should go, I drilled holes to accomodate the bosses. I totally eyeballed this - I'm sure there's a more "professional way to do this, but it came out great - you may want to measure and find center points, etc... I placed the bosses in the holes and wrapped carbon around them. I covered the boss, hole and all. After the resin cured I came back with the dremel and sanded off the excess carbon and removed the carbon over the hole and there you go - bottle holder mounts.
The derailleur hangar was a bit more complicated. I measured my current bikes and came up with a measurement of 14.5 - 15cm from bottom bracket center to derailleur mount center. After this I wrapped carbon around the bamboo tube to reinforce the bamboo at the point where I would be drilling holes for rivets. I'm certain you could get away without this step, but it made sense to me to do this and not risk splitting the bamboo over time from the pressure of the ritets and drilled holes... I don't know, it works for me! WHile the resin was still tacky, I placed the derailleur hangar where I thought it should go. As it cured further I took the derailleur and played with the assembly till I thought I had it right, then left it to cure. Once cured I drilled holes and rivetted it into place. I am VERY pleased with the final look and how stout it feels.
I included photos below of the frame as it is at the point just before final sanding of all lugs. As mentioned previously I sanded and re wrapped and sanded again intil I liked the shape of each lug. Then I came back and began really structurally reinforcing each joint. These reinforcements I only lightly sanded, just to note that the shape was being retained. Right now the frame weighs 1639 grams. I hope to get to just under 1600grams completely sanded and finished, but it I was under 1650 I'll be happy. I will do my final sanding to smooth each joint to perfection. Any pinholes left will be covered by one last very thin coat of resin then resanded. I then have one last structural thing to add after all that, and that's the cable stops for the shifter cables on the head tube.
This is all there is left to do. If you've made it this far and like the look of the frame as it sits - by all means build it up and go! I am looking for the absolute AWE FACTOR! I will be finishing all the carbon in House of Kolor Apple Red Candy and a very deep Clear Coat. I have already painted the Reynolds Ouzo Pro fork and FSA crank set with the Red Candy and it looks amazing! You can see the carbon through the candy and it's just AWESOME! My opinion of course!!!
Now on to the finishing process.....................................
I found the braze on hangar at Nova Cycle Supply and the bottle bosses were cut out of the original Felt frame. I purchased a derailleur hangar that could be riveted on and the bottle bosses were cut from the Felt frame in a rectangular shape, so that the over hangs could be carbon wrapped to the bamboo frame.
After these items were acquired, I selected drill bits that fit the bottle boss holes and that fit the derailleur hangar. Having used spare water bottle holders to place the marks on the bamboo where they should go, I drilled holes to accomodate the bosses. I totally eyeballed this - I'm sure there's a more "professional way to do this, but it came out great - you may want to measure and find center points, etc... I placed the bosses in the holes and wrapped carbon around them. I covered the boss, hole and all. After the resin cured I came back with the dremel and sanded off the excess carbon and removed the carbon over the hole and there you go - bottle holder mounts.
The derailleur hangar was a bit more complicated. I measured my current bikes and came up with a measurement of 14.5 - 15cm from bottom bracket center to derailleur mount center. After this I wrapped carbon around the bamboo tube to reinforce the bamboo at the point where I would be drilling holes for rivets. I'm certain you could get away without this step, but it made sense to me to do this and not risk splitting the bamboo over time from the pressure of the ritets and drilled holes... I don't know, it works for me! WHile the resin was still tacky, I placed the derailleur hangar where I thought it should go. As it cured further I took the derailleur and played with the assembly till I thought I had it right, then left it to cure. Once cured I drilled holes and rivetted it into place. I am VERY pleased with the final look and how stout it feels.
I included photos below of the frame as it is at the point just before final sanding of all lugs. As mentioned previously I sanded and re wrapped and sanded again intil I liked the shape of each lug. Then I came back and began really structurally reinforcing each joint. These reinforcements I only lightly sanded, just to note that the shape was being retained. Right now the frame weighs 1639 grams. I hope to get to just under 1600grams completely sanded and finished, but it I was under 1650 I'll be happy. I will do my final sanding to smooth each joint to perfection. Any pinholes left will be covered by one last very thin coat of resin then resanded. I then have one last structural thing to add after all that, and that's the cable stops for the shifter cables on the head tube.
This is all there is left to do. If you've made it this far and like the look of the frame as it sits - by all means build it up and go! I am looking for the absolute AWE FACTOR! I will be finishing all the carbon in House of Kolor Apple Red Candy and a very deep Clear Coat. I have already painted the Reynolds Ouzo Pro fork and FSA crank set with the Red Candy and it looks amazing! You can see the carbon through the candy and it's just AWESOME! My opinion of course!!!
Now on to the finishing process.....................................
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I found that using tape at all is a bad idea. It can pull the top layer of bamboo off when you remove it, leaving long strips of "skin" removed from your frame. Just looks bad! Plus if your carbon overlaps the tape, you'll have problems getting the tape off at all. You're going to end up sanding the bamboo of left over resin, so there's little reason to use tape.
Dan