Engin Cycles

[edoz]

Awesome, although I'll admit I was hoping for a KVA s-bend.

[EnginCycles]

Awesome, although I'll admit I was hoping for a KVA s-bend.

Eric,
Funny you should say that. The deal is Joe and I have committed so much time into the oval chainstay thing it was hard to let it go but here is the solution. KVA is going to match the stay in stainless and allow for me to have the same exact stays in both steel and stainless. They are also working on the 19mm seat stays. The goal is to offer a complete stainless version of my current mtb model. The key in my mind is the taper and how it only goes to 15mm in about 80mm's length. All my drop outs are Paragon and have around a 17mm tab, with a 15mm tip it is a perfect march. The next thing is Joe is willing to re-work a new 7/8" stay to work for this mtb use and not try to use the road stays. Hopefully by the end of the year!!

Cheers,
Drew

ps-I am going to bend some stays for Joe's inventory so he will offer some s-bend seat stays.

[edoz]

That rocks so hard, I'm wondering if Lemmy is training you to be the man when he's gone.

By the way, what's the thickness on those stays?

[EnginCycles]

By the way, what's the thickness on those stays?

Eric,

The chainstays are .85mm at the 7/8" end and are that thick til about the end of the 2nd bend. Then .7mm but that is about where the swagging begins so there is very little area that is actually .7mm.

Cheers,
Drew

[edoz]

I'm definitely trying those out when they are available to us scrubs. Thanks for putting the work in.

[EnginCycles]

In an attempt to keep this thread from the depths of the 2nd page I figured this was a good time for an update. I am making a 29R for Josh (TooTall) and have some photos to add for your viewing pleasure. This bike will hopefully get the crap beat out of it and I look forward to what Josh has to say about my design and execution for a large rider. A little info. I did not use crazy oversized tubes and went with thicker wall instead. I prefer the dent resistance and how it will be less likely to fold if he hits it on the side in a crash. The bike has a 27" top tube so all the tubes are REALLY long. It is a complete package including a stem, bars, seat post and rigid specific fork. If Josh likes the bars I will make a new pair in Ti. Some photos:









The rest of the photos



Thanks for reading.

-Drew

[billrick]

Drew - Lovin it! I will order one of your 29ers someday soon.

Josh - I want to see this one in the real world. When you are ready to ride Rosaryville or that local IMBA epic, just let me know!

[Too Tall]

Looks like I'm ready Bill.
Drew, what's your thinking on front end geo? I stayed out of the design process, it's an Kenny Rodgers thing, and rely on your instincts and experience. I like what I see.

[Too Tall]

Looks like I'm ready Bill.
Drew, what's your thinking on front end geo? I stayed out of the design process, it's an Kenny Rodgers thing, and rely on your instincts and experience. I like what I see.

[EnginCycles]

Looks like I'm ready Bill.
Drew, what's your thinking on front end geo? I stayed out of the design process, it's an Kenny Rodgers thing, and rely on your instincts and experience. I like what I see.

Josh,
Since I have a pre-existing seatpost design that already has 5mm of set-back the seat tube angle is dictated by putting the saddle set-back in the right spot and a saddle centered on the rails. So as you can see the seat angle is kind of on the slack side. Next is the crazy long top tube (somewhat dictated by the slack seat angle) which goes up to a front end that has a slightly steeper head angle and lower fork rake compared to someone that is say 5'10". The BB height is taller to accommodate the 180mm cranks and keep the pedals from smashing on the rocks. All in all it should be a stable bike that can be ridden with lots of body english. It won't feel sluggish and requires you to have some skill. The super slack front ends that are popular are not my thing. It has a place on big hit bikes but not for XC use.

Make sense?

Cheers,
Drew

[Too Tall]

Josh,
Since I have a pre-existing seatpost design that already has 5mm of set-back the seat tube angle is dictated by putting the saddle set-back in the right spot and a saddle centered on the rails. So as you can see the seat angle is kind of on the slack side. Next is the crazy long top tube (somewhat dictated by the slack seat angle) which goes up to a front end that has a slightly steeper head angle and lower fork rake compared to someone that is say 5'10". The BB height is taller to accommodate the 180mm cranks and keep the pedals from smashing on the rocks. All in all it should be a stable bike that can be ridden with lots of body english. It won't feel sluggish and requires you to have some skill. The super slack front ends that are popular are not my thing. It has a place on big hit bikes but not for XC use.

Make sense?

Cheers,
Drew

You should paint on the top tube in large font !!!HEADS UP!!!
Yeah I get it.
Good call / read wrt to setback. I provided you with my contact points from my fav. road bike which I JUST had A.Bold add setback to and am happier.
(Chuckle) I'll prob. still slam the saddle back. Sorry Drew.

[jamesand]

You should paint on the top tube in large font !!!HEADS UP!!!
Yeah I get it.
Good call / read wrt to setback. I provided you with my contact points from my fav. road bike which I JUST had A.Bold add setback to and am happier.
(Chuckle) I'll prob. still slam the saddle back. Sorry Drew.

Josh-man, is this bad boy built yet?

[Eddie]

Josh-man, is this bad boy built yet?

Yo Jim I saw this bike in the flesh today. It is very nice.

Some details that jumped out at me were that the segmented fork is awesome, and the TT/ST/CS cluster is really, really clean.

When inspecting the bike I grabbed the saddle and was rewarded with a a greasy handful of TT's chamois cream. Yum!

All in all a sweet machine.

[MarkC]

Drew,

Thanks for the cool CX bike and for going the extra 10 or 12 miles to make some of my goofy parts picks work together. Been out in the mud to play and learn some skills and it's a hoot.

First race in a few weeks...

Mark

[jamesand]

Sweet reports, gents. VT trails are still open up here! I can't wait to hear more about this big, bad mutha.

I don't think Drew/Engin cuts any corners, and I can imagine this thing is DIALED.

[MarkC]

Couple shots after a practice session. Have about 120 acres of farm and mud next to our property.

[Sean in CA]

Nice video, shop needs more tools though! ;)

I know this should be in the video-drome as well, but I can't post there.

[robin3mj]

Drew,
I see on your blog that you're now building with titanium...how has that learning curve been versus steel? Did your background help you get up to speed faster or is it a whole new world regardless of past experience?
Will you be updating your website pricing to reflect the new materials?

The latest work looks great.

[OldGloryMTB]

Some more Drew hotness I saw on his blog. New dropouts!

8229974425_84d40e09cb_z.jpg

8231037878_375165e712_z.jpg

[EnginCycles]

Were to start. It has been a very long time since I have participated in this forum (really almost any forum). I wanted to spend less and less time on a computer both at work and at home. I have all but removed any online activity once I walk away from the shop. That darn smart phone makes it near impossible to not check e-mail. I still contribute to my Flickr site and found Facebook to be a really easy way to add content so people know I am always working and trying to make things better. I have been working almost exclusively in titanium which has been a great experience. I love the material and what it offers to the design of my bikes. My 5 year goal is that all my bikes will be titanium. That decision is based on the fact that I can finish a product from start to finish without needing the assistance of a finisher. Todd has painted all my steel bikes and done a great job but the control freak in me prefers doing things myself. I have no interest in learning how to paint or setting up a booth in my shop.

In time I might find a way to add content more often (not hard since I think it has been 2 years). Til then here is a photo I received today from a happy customer after their madden voyage on the tandem.

065.jpg

Thanks for reading,
Drew