I’ve tried playing with small wheels for a few years now. Had a 26" jump bike that seemed like it was the wrong thing everywhere I took it. Tried a 22" bmx and really liked it, seemed easier to do all the stuff I wanted to do.
I always thought I was too tall for 20" stuff at 6"5" but when I saw this cult biggie frame with a 5" head tube big stand over and available in “big boy sizing” I decided to give it a shot. It’s a real tech street frame, 75.5ht, 21.8tt, 70*sta, 12.9-13.2"cs, 11.7"bb and I’m so glad I bought it, it’s so much damn fun to ride. I never thought I’d be doing bmx grinds at 44 years old, but here we are. This is actually thie first bike I’ve ever been able to manual, and I’m actually improving at that really quickly and that is just so much damn fun.
But, since I can’t leave well enough alone and the bmx tubing and parts are just so downright affordable (thanks, as always to @BikeFabSupply) I wanna try and make something. I’m really enjoying the skatepark and while the current bike is great at bowls and quarters and stuff, I feel like I might wanna try something a little slacker, shorter in the tt and longer in the cs and a tad lower. Not a dedicated bowl, transition, jumps bike but more of a casual all arounder that might ride pools and junk just a little better than the current one.
I’m oddly excited about this. No pivots, no linkage, so suspension, no nada. Simple.
75ht, 21"tt, 9.75"st, 70*sta, 11.2"bb, 13.2-13.75"cs, 140mm head tube cuz tall.
It’s gonna be fun
Nice!Never too late to learn anything on a bmx… Just take some commitment.
My 2 cents looking at the numbers your shooting for :
140mm headtube : double check your fork steerer length and make sure you have enough stack height.I use 5" headtube on most of my frames and 1 small spacer is all it takes to max out most steerer .
BB height : I’ve done everything from 11" to 11.9" BB height on 20" wheels and personally and from my customer feedback 11.5" is a good happy medium, keeps the bike stable yet able to whip.
I appreciate the feedback! As it sits right now I’m running a 5" head tube and a 15mm spacer, it’s a touch over the top of the steerer but as hard as I ride, I’m not super worried about it. I’m planning on a little spacer with the 140, so I should be in the same neighborhood, stack wise, with fewer spacers, which I like.
I’ve heard 11.5" as a happy medium from a few guys with way more experience than me, that’s kinda why I’m going just a touch lower. Current bike is a bit higher than average, new one will be a bit lower. Why have one bike in the middle, when I can hve 2 complete bikes that are each just a little to each side of the middle?
The bmx world seems to mostly have agreed that the mid bb is the standard. They’re cheap, easy to change, bomb proof and fairly universal. Race stuff seems to take threaded bb shells. Matter of fact, this bike is getting a standard 73mm bsa bb because I have a few profile thread in bb shells from my dh bike project, and it won’t “require” post weld reaming.
Made a few changes, I was able to get a decent reach number off the other bike, so I’m using that instead of bike cad’s effective top tube. It looks like this now
I’ve got the parts laoded in the jig and I’m right at a 21" top tube, which is what I was shooting for. I found a deal on a free coaster LHD wheel set, so that’ll be fun to screw with. Street bike with a cassette, park/pool bike on a free coaster. Sounds fun.
I’m so excited for this. I am waiting of some other parts from @BikeFabSupply to be in stock for another bike I’m building, but I was thinking of snagging the exact same tubing for a BMX build when I place my next order. I will be following along and taking notes. Please post a bunch of photos.
Ok, you all heard that. When you get tired of all the stupid bmx posts, go yell at @Spencermon it was their idea
I’m weirdly excited about it too, not sure why. Maybe because it’s so much less “serious” than the mountain bikes. I think there’s only 9 miters on the entire thing and no brake mounts to worry about. I think you should absolutely get the tubing and make one, it’s fun.
Since there are so few miters to worry about, I’m trying to make them nice. Not perfect, nice. I spent about an hour and a little with the grinder, belt sander and file and got the down tube fitted. This is only the second time I’ve used butted tubing on a frame and the first time I oriented the butts correctly. Hehehehehe…butts
I’m either a genuis or a gigantic hack, we’ll let history decide. BUT! I did discover than a 1/4" sae washer is exactly the same o.d. as these chain and seat stays and since I needed to cap them somehow anyway…
I got to practice my just plain welding, I added some more area to weld to the dropouts and I get a little ventilation hole that I’ll fill up with silly bronze after I’m all done welding. Genius? Hackery?
Whatever. As we say around here, it’s good enough for who it’s for.
What is fusion welding? I’m assuming in your case it means welding without adding filler, right? But generally speaking, isn’t all welding “fusion”? A quick google/wiki search suggests that fusion welding can include filler, which is indistinct from just plain welding, isn’t it? (in conventional metal-joining terms, not counting things like cold, solid-state, solvent etc)
I guess so, yeah. Thanks, I went back and edited that in the original post. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you catching that and bringing it to my attention.
I wasn’t trying to catch you out at all, I’m sure you meant it in the correct sense. I just found the google/wiki definition so vague as to be meaningless and hilarious.
This exchange really doesn’t read as intentionally snarky or demeaning from where I’m sitting. What’s a better way to clarify the meaning of technical terms in the future?
You know, I think I’m just gonna go ahead and show myself out.
The whole trying to impress strangers on the internet thing is really not doing anything except pissing me off. I don’t think I have anything meaniful to add to the converstaion and all I post is ‘look at me’ bullshit. I’m even tired of reading my stupid posts.
@SoyWater I always enjoy reading your posts and seeing what you’re working on. You’ve completed some awesome projects and have a real way with words. Hope you stick around.
Wow. I also enjoy your posts and was looking forward to seeing this BMX take shape. I’m sorry if I p1ssed you off, I was merely asking a technical question to increase my knowledge. Maybe next time I won’t bother.
Fuck it, let’s have an internet fight. What are they gonna do? Ask me to leave? I’ve been thrown out of nicer places than this.
Wow indeed. Are you an engineer? That would explain both your uncanny ability to get under my skin and the “WhAt?! I wAs JuSt AsKiNg…” response when someone has a problem with your condescension. I’m pretty sure I used that right, give it a quick google and correct me if I’m wrong.
I know you won’t listen to this, but maybe someone else can gain a little insight about “merely asking a technical question” maybe not. Allow me to give you an example of just asking a question,
“hey dude, what did you mean by fusion welding?”
That’s merely a technical question. No challenges, no assumptions, no little nit picks, no splittling hairs over the correct wording because I need to be the rightest boy in the room.
So. If you can’t tell the difference between just a technical question and how you decided to talk to me, you’re right, you shouldn’t bother.
“Coke nail” seat stay miter, I didn’t end up keeping this and only included the pictures because I managed to make 95% of that dumb miter with the belt sander and I thought that was cool.
I was reading over in the paint section about doing transparent coats over bare steel and someone suggested an epoxy coat to seal the metal and then building your color coats on top of that. I literally own every component I’d need to try that on this frame. House of Kolor candy apple red over steel with all the welding discoloration showing through? Me thinks yes.
I really don’t think that comment was condescending, it read to me like someone just trying to understand what you were referring to with fusion welding.
Anyways that BMX frame looks rad, the seat stay miters overlapping the top tube like that is sweet and the extra long headtube is badass!
