What you can do since you already are using CAD is grab the calipers and model up your own replacments. Sure it takes time but you can add your own flair to it and possibly have a side hustle supplying your parts to retrofit the paragon frame end.
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Do you have a post on prototyping and having send cut send make your yolk? Iād love to learn about it.
Sorry, I donāt have a detailed walk through. I designed it with another builder for a project that heās doing, so Iām not ready to share here. I can share some more details in a new thread when the project is public.
This video (by forum member Benjamin Land) is a very good start. I basically started by modeling that in Fusion. Send Cut Send has specific bending parameters (especially bend radius) that are important to follow. Iām pretty sure my Fusion model is far from optimal because it was the first time that I used their sheet metal tools.
Once I created the model it was pretty easy to get it produced. I found that making 2 or 3 at a time is about the same price as making 1. The first one of course gave us a lot of ideas of how to improve it ā like putting tabs on the bridge that fit into slots on the yoke so that it is self-jigging.
Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quDdoVD8ZO4
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Seems like it would be harder for a machine shop to set up new procedures to implement what Paragon was already doing quickly with their setups already dialed in for the machines they had in Richmond, CA. Any business generally tends towards an efficient state using the machines they have and over time their processes evolve to become faster and more cost efficient. I think itās noble that some other machining companies willing to to step up and make certain Paragon products that builders need for aftermarket customer support (ie. Derailleur hangers, rocker dropouts, BB inserts, etc). But it would seem that those machining companies would be undertaking a huge task at a lower expected efficiency than Paragon, in which case prices for the same products would have to rise to compensate.
Paragon apparently owns the property, all machinery, everything. Wouldnāt it be way easier for a company or group to buy all of Paragon if keeping the thing going is the main goal? Why wouldnāt Thomson or Paul components or someone that has the means just buy Paragon? Seems like that would be a lot easier. Then you keep all the equipment, systems, and e-commerce protocols in place. I wouldnāt have a clue how much it would be to buy all a company like Paragon. There is no equivalent machining company in America specializing in this niche area (framebuilding). Doing an evaluation of how much such a unicorn company is worth would be difficult. This isnāt an industry I know about. I did, however, see online that there is a machine shop for sale in Orange County for $600k.
Without people and their knowledge - its just a building, a few machines and some documentation. Would need a huge effort and money to be running again.
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Iām searching for any insert part numbers. Just the part numbers.
I was able to recover 38 step files and around 50 pdfs, mostly I hope to keep the parts I need available but this is a massive wake up call for the industry.
Years ago I had an idea for a guild that would make sure certain items would be openhardware, that idea is being validated every year.
Without knowing why they are closing, there is no telling whether the business is still viable and therefore it would be hard for someone to just acquire everything and keep things rolling.
A company like Paul or White Ind. just to name a few that are close by, could simply acquire the IP of the items they are interested in producing without having to big on everything, also people make a difference, there is a lot of tribal knowledge related to each specific process (and each machine as well).
I am actually really curious on to what actually happened (more morbid curiosity than anything else)
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Itās none of our business what happened. They were a private company that designed, made and sold parts to the frame building hobby and a few commercial builders. Paragon closing is a pain for some, especially in the commercial space but these things happen and you need to be able to pivot and find other ways of producing your product or continue your hobby. They, Paragon, actually owe us nothing as much as that is hard to swallow for some.
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Check out the PMW dropout options available in BikeCAD. They are listed as the PMW part numbers.
I have all the part numbers in BikeCad. Some of the dropouts had the inserts included in the dropout step. For example the BoBi brake mount. And the part number for the brake mount insert is not on the product page now.
I realized far too late that I have more dropouts than inserts. I have to admit that really damaged any goodwill I might have had for them. I wasnāt one of the chosen ones that got an email either, so I guess it was done by hand.
Looks like Firsthand is buying Paragon. Hereās the list of their priorities.
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This is a great outcome! I really appreciate that heās going to make the CAD files available for framebuilders as well.
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Great news!
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They are a private company with no oblation to share anything, but Iām genuinely interested in how Firsthand is able to cash flow all these projects.
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Awesome! Chris came to my mind right away but I didnāt have much hope as I thought he had too much on his plate already for some reasonsā¦