aarn_wrks_dsn

geekhouse/aarn: road/cx dropouts for geekhouse bikes [bicycles]

The 2012 batch of Geekhouse Bikes CX frames feature a new custom dropout design that I have been working on for Marty since the spring. My goal with this design was to create a modern-looking dropout with very clean lines, to compliment the TIG welding process, and be consistent with the family of previous design work that I have contributed to Geekhouse.

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to tastefully use layering of material thicknesses in a single part to create a visually more complex structure, without making the dropout look too techy. Overall, I am happy with how these turned out. At first glance, the dropouts look very plain, but there are a lot of subtle details in them. I think that the blends and surfaces in the final machined parts look nice and simple, and Richard Defrancisco, at Cantabrigian Mechanics, did a great job machining them.

Marty and I are going to do some updates to the design after we get some feedback from the first batch, before these go onto regular production frames.

[Photo #1: John Watson, Photo #3: Geekhouse Bikes]

geekhouse/aarn: raw oregon manifest custom dropouts [bicycle]

Since there were so many custom parts and designed elements on with the Oregon Manifest design competition entry that I worked on with Geekhouse Bikes (see geekhouse/aarn: oregon manifest utility/cargo bike [bicycle]), I decided to put together a post with a few shots of the raw dropouts. I went by the machine shop the other day and the machinist had made an extra set of these for me.

On the final build, these dropouts were slotted from the back - much like a normal track dropout - but originally these were a modification to a 5mm allen head dropout that I designed for Marty prior to 2011 NAHBS. I designed simple front and rear dropouts that both used a stainless steel carrier which allowed for a flat head cap screw to be used with hubs featuring internally threaded axles. These didn’t make it to the show for a few reasons (the customer didn’t like them) - so I’m going to ghost-of-done these onto my blog. 

[edit: drawings removed - I guess they are going to go on a Geekhouse soon - Stay tuned for that]

So, anyway, the OR Manifest dropouts were standard 20mm track nut versions of these dropouts that never got made. Plus, the tabs were designed so that they could be slotted right into the exact diameter and bend radius tubing that was used for the “stays” on the manifest bike. 

The rear end of the manifest bike was a little more rigid than Marty had expected, so it just made sense to slot them from the rear when the bike was being built - especially considering that they were not designed for full-width axles. Just some ghost-of-done stories before Halloween for everyone. I’m just going to keep referencing this until everyone is on the same page.

geekhouse/aarn: oregon manifest utility/cargo bike [bicycle]

Back in March, I was walking around MoMA in NYC and I got a call from Marty from Geekhouse Bikes, wanting to know if I would be interested in submitting an entry to the Oregon Manifest competition with him. I guess that I said “yes.”

Marty, Greg, Brad, Robot, and myself sat down in April and started to hash out ideas for different functional details for the bike. Greg had put together a bunch of blank bike templates to draw over, and they had selected their favorite. In the next month or so, Marty and I developed the geometry for the bent tubing in software, and worked out ideas for the custom dropouts and features.

Really nothing happened again on the bike, except brainstorming and sketches, until mid-summer, when we had some dropouts made and I started playing around with some ideas for integrated frame elements using the CAD drawing that we made.

I thought that it would be really cool to use sheet metal to make some non-traditional custom fenders for the bike. I wanted the rear fender to be a single assembly with mounting features for the chain guard - to add some continuity to the overall look of the bike. After the rear fender was designed and styled, I designed a front fender, and eventually a chain guard for the bike. The flat pattern sheet metal parts were tricky to design, due to the geometry of the bike, and my desire to keep the part count low. I used locating holes on the rear fender to indicate where the bends needed to be, since there were no square edges to snap a line off of, once the part was cut. The back end of the bike frame tapers out, so the rear fender, as a flat pattern needed to splay out accordingly.

The chain guard is probably the part with which I am the most satisfied. It is a single sheet metal part that is bent and then the front is rolled onto itself and riveted to a tab. In order to make the gap distance less critical (and avoid having to weld anything) in the region that is concentric with the chain ring on the front side of the chain guard, I turned the gap into an aesthetic feature…which worked out well. All of the sheet metal parts were cut on my CNC router and fabricated in-house. With the exception of one very minor tweak that needed to take place, all of the parts worked out on the first shot at fabrication, which I am very happy about.

Robot sent us some specs for the LEDs and circuitry, and I was at Geekhouse wiring up the bike until 4am on the day that Marty and Brad were leaving for Oregon.

On the Manifest: I really wish that there was more media coverage during the event. Being all the way on the other coast, I was hoping for a little more information on the internet. The competition itself brought out some of the best custom bikes that I have seen. I was/am proud to have been able to show work in the field with the other entries. We didn’t go into the competition thinking that we would win, but it made not winning that much easier seeing the number of really awesome bikes that were in attendance.

Studio shots are from Oregon Manifest and Chris King Cycle Group. We didn’t even get a chance to take a decent picture of this whip before it got packed up.

Marty has a lot of process shots up here.

My media is here - Will update with new shots.

I will post some better shots of the chain guard and some of the details once the boys get back from the wild west. Thanks again to Geekhouse for involving me in this process. Marty and Brad are both super talented and a pleasure to work with.

geekhouse/aarn: nahbs 2010 components [bicycle]

this was my second year working with marty from geekhouse bikes on his entries to the north american handbuilt bicycle show (nahbs). he had three entries to this year’s show, and i helped with a few items on each bike. hopefully some of the components/features become production items. it’s always nice to see something that you have worked on/designed on a bunch of bikes. the black bike shown above is the first complete bike to feature a fork dropout that i designed for/with marty (back in june 2009) to match the adjustable rear dropouts (first featured on the geekhouse 2009 entries to nahbs). this bike actually features both the front and rear custom dropouts. it was nice to see these make it onto a frame, i had almost forgotten about them. i reworked the cx headbadge, to remove the fastener mounting features, so they could be brazed on more seamlessly. this bike also has one of the stainless braze-on downtube badges that i reworked/scaled for laserbeaming.

i helped marty make a handful of different stainless badge options, which could all be brazed on, for the show. they turned out really nice.

i designed an integrated seatpost plug, based on marty’s specifications, which interfaced with the remaining hardware from a thomson seatpost. the plug was machined out of 4130 and welded into place and filed flush. joshua robot and i also designed some nifty micro lights for geekhouse, but that will have it’s own post at some point.

more pictures/press here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/geekhousebikes/

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/photos/north-american-handmade-bicycle-show-2010-part-three/108448

http://www.handmadebicycleshow.com/2010/01/geekhouse/

http://urbanvelo.org/nahbs-2010-day-3/

geekhouse/aarn: cx team headbadges [bicycle]

helped the guys over at geekhouse develop a headbadge for their new cyclocross bike. we went back and forth for a while and just needed to get something made in a very short amount of time that could go on the team bikes for the new cx squad. the headbadge is waterjet cut and polished stainless steel. the graphic was designed by dan st. g, i formatted it for waterjet cut and did some other little things, and joe of sugarcoat laid down some elbow grease and polished them to a nice shine.

[photos: geekhouse]

geekhouse/aarn: small parts - may [bicycle]

some small parts and prototype runs for geekhouse bikes. custom, extra-squatty crown races for the geekhouse signature segmented forks. these were made with a cnc-lathe. the material is 1018-12L14 steel.

also, trying to streamline operations over at geekhouse, these seatstay/chainstay caps used to be hand-cut. this huge bag of 4130 lasercut ss/cs caps will hopefully make things a little easier.

geekhouse/aarn: nahbs prototype adjustable track dropout [bicycle]

marty of geekhouse bikes and myself worked some long hours to get this prototype track dropout ready for the 2009 nahbs show. in the geekhouse blog, marty says:

So at the NAHBS show I was finally able to unveil a project that I’ve been working on for the past few months. This is the new Geekhouse drop out that I’m working on for all fixed gear, and 700c single speed bikes. The drops feature an integrated chain tensioner system that is integrated into chain stay area. With a quick turn of the knob you can have a totally tensioned chain. This system is different from others out there in that there is no external knob that can fall off or you hit your foot on while riding. Not included in this picture is another small aluminum piece that actually craddles the axle itself and helps move the whole system forward and back. Also the dropout itself is sealed off so no moisture can penetrate the chainstay. And finally my favorite part is that is looks real pretty..;)

This drop out took me about a year and a half to work out in my head before I had the idea for most of what I really wanted in a design. But I really have to thank the engineer on this project Aarn. Aarn and I spent a bunch of snowy days over the past few months staring at a computer screen trying to get the design perfect. I’m looking forward to working with aarn on some other projects coming up, so stay tuned for those too.

the line drawing above is an early concept for the dropout, a few things were changed to make it a little easier to manufacture in a short-run setting, with minimal milling operations and tool changes. marty had the prototype dropouts on all three of his bikes at the nahbs. in urban velo’s day one coverage of the nahbs they noted that dropout featured very subtle tensioners built into the track ends. and said that it was the small touches at the show that make the biggest bang.

look for the first production version of the dropout this month, and more geekhouse/aarn collaborations in the future.

more pictures of the most recent geekhouse track bikes here.