Time to build a 27.5″ wheeled mtn frame

I haven’t really had an opportunity to build a mountain bike around Kirk Pacenti’s 27.5″ mtn bike tires. These tires mount on a 650b rim. The overall wheel size ends up being half way between a normal 26 inch wheel and a 29 inch wheel. I am going to try to build Christine a combo style of bike. She needs a bike for commuting and for trail riding. I have designed the bike so it will handle properly as a commuter with a 650b X 38c tire or as a rigid mtb with the 27.5 inch tires. The BB height is critical and can be adjusted accordingly with the eccentric bottom bracket.

The frame is being built out of True Temper Platinum tubing. I am not sure what the final paint scheme will be. So far a brown/pink combo seems to in the running.

For years I have dreaded reaming seat tubes. I never really seemed to have an efficient system that didn’t require a huge amount of elbow grease. A little while back I found a number of 1.5 hp motors with gears boxes attached and thought that some day I might have a chance to use them for a reaming machine. My friend Wheelspinner put this machine together for around $200 and a couple of afternoons of work. It works like a dream!

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Rohloff Equiped Flat Bar Touring.

Today’s bike is a custom touring bicycle built around the Rohloff 14 speed internally geared hub and Shimano XT hydraulic disc brakes. The frame is equipped with with an eccentric bottom bracket to tension the derailleur-less chain. The rear disc mount is touring specific, rotating the caliper out of the way of the rack mount. The frame has a full compliment of braze-ons for rack and fender mounting, as well as triple bottle mounts. The wheels are hand build with Ambrosio Keba touring rims.

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Take Apart Touring Bike with S&S Couplings

This bike is another custom touring bicycle with the sturdy S&S machine works couplings. The bike comes apart so you can fly with it as regular luggage. The fork is also handmade, with a custom rake and lugged construction. The bicycle is built up with a Campagnolo Centaur/Comp Triple drivetrain and Chorus Ergopower shifters. The wheels are hand built 36 spoke wheels with DT Swiss spokes, DT Swiss TK 9.1 trekking rims and Campagnolo Centaur hubs.

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Columbus Spirit and Ultegra SL

This custom road bicycle has a Columbus Spirit steel frame and an Ultegra SL build. The crank in the pictures is a loaner as the Ultegra cranks are back ordered. The gray SL crank will match the paint job a lot better! The paint is a metallic maroon fading to a metallic charcoal that has been matched to the Ultegra SL ice gray.

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