Project No. 6: Alpinestars Cro-Mega SS

GT-Steve":3iki1vc6 said:

Very nice indeed, Mark. I'm loving all those 'little' touches to this bike, been thinking about fitting discs to my old AL-Mega project, but can't fully decide?? just how much of a pain-in-the-ass job was it on yours?

Also, one silly question, but what's the point of a rear mech of a fixie?
Steve

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Cheers Steve, think you'll struggle to fit discs to an al-mega because the tubing is heat treated and therefore won't like being welded.

The rear mech isn't a mech as such, it's just a tensioner. Having a tensioner like this one gives the ability to remove the rear wheel without the faff. Tbh I could get rid of the bottom bracket tensioner/guide but i'm liking the aestetics of the two together.

Raised chainstay bikes are perfect for an unusual tensioner seen sometimes on tandems. 'Ghost' or 'Phantom' gear which is a chainring placed in the chain line between the chainset and sprocket. Tension is achieved by moving chosen chainring backward one tooth at a time toward the sprocket untill the chain is tight.
Mounting a couple of homemade chainring discs either side of the chainring could help keep the ghost ring centred and on the chain as it flexes over rough ground. The system looks really cool as you cycle along as the ring rotatates but is not attached to anything other than the chain.

That sounds interesting Velo, any pictures?

Instead of a ghost ring set up what about an Eccentric BB?

http://www.trickstuff.de/index.php?p=d116en1

Would look much neater IMO.

Preparation for Paint

I’ve been plodding along getting this frame ready for paint recently and finally it is ready to go to the powder coaters.

A few weeks back I gave the frame a treat by applying a large dose of frame saver to it. This should have done it’s magic by now and treated any rust inside the steel tubes. However, having frame saver in the tubes would have a bad effect on the powder coat when applied, so the frame is being chemically dipped prior to coating. This should remove all trace of the frame saver and thus have no impact on the finish.



My local welders have been busy of late chopping off the unnecessary parts and doing a bit of rework on the hydraulic hose mounts. I’ve had all trace of the gear cable lugs removed, the e-type front mech boss removed and the middle top tube hose guide moved more centrally. I got the frame back from them today and this afternoon has been an ideal opportunity to dress all the new welds as well as the old ones from it’s last build. I never the chance to dress the welds or tidy it up last time as the deadline of the Peaks caught up with the project. So with a selection of files and the trusty Dremel I got to work.











So, on Tuesday I’ll off to the powder coaters to have the frame done. I’ve asked if it’s possible for 2 colours to be done. They say it’s achievable so all I need to do is make a final decision on the colours. The idea has always been to do the frame in 1991 style, this is still the case, so the centre section will be white and then I’m thinking dark grey for the front and rear ends. The ripped fluorescent sections are being done by hand, copying the style from my cro-mega DX. The decals are being done by Gil, think he’s a very man at the moment though.





I’m also planning on taking a few other parts to the powder coaters. Again I’m not 100% sure of the colours for these parts, we’ll see.

If you're not sure about crank colours, yellow is always a bit of a fave (with me) to compliment black.

Frame's coming along nicely, more little touches making it

A good quality shot-blaster should be able to remove all traces of frame-saver (if you specify that you want the bare metal taken back to SA 2.5)

steve

looking good

whats the shiny thing on the box in the background ?

doo tell

mikee":14bgb99z said:

looking good

whats the shiny thing on the box in the background ?

doo tell

Click to expand...

A microwave

coming along well, think those cranks would look nice polished.

mikee":27u6kv2a said:

whats the shiny thing on the box in the background ?

doo tell

Click to expand...

I think I know

Steve