a solution to boost a chris king 135 rear hub to modern boost. I can’t find one
Convert to a 142 thru axle, then a generic boost spacer kit should work? The 142 conversion is mega money though, from memory.
I’d be looking at O&G/offshore markets
Don't they have their own forceps?
It would depend on the price however.
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why we can’t have nice things made in this country any more.
Yes, exactly the same in designing/making bespoke furniture, wot I do. 😐
I remember when Middleburn Engineering were a relatively small, competent CNC machine outfit doing high-precision stuff for automotive, aerospace etc. Then they got into bike parts - now look at them!
From 2016 "Middleburn announced the sad news that they were shutting up shop. They’d found it hard to find their place in modern mountain bike market."
Betd brought them, so not sure what your saying?
Nothing that's been suggested, other than light mounts, is CNC though. You can turn dropout/axle adaptors out with a lathe for a far lower capital outlay.
CNC is multi axis stuff, so more the likes of brake mounts, hub shells, stems and faceplates etc.
no. CNC encompasses [I]all[/I] numerically controlled machining - he could well have a CNC lathe, water/plasma cutter, etc. There's a lot more to it than just multi-axis milling (admittedly that's the "sexy" side to it, and probably what your average doofus thinks is the be-all-and-end-all of CNCing 😉)CNC is multi axis stuff
Cassettes are crazy expensive. Could he make them and still cut a profit?
no. CNC encompasses all numerically controlled machining – he could well have a CNC lathe, water/plasma cutter, etc. There’s a lot more to it than just multi-axis milling (admittedly that’s the “sexy” side to it, and probably what your average doofus thinks is the be-all-and-end-all of CNCing 😉)
Yeah, but for the purposes of this discussion when someone says they have a CNC machine your mind doesn't jump straight to a lathe or cutter. Nice flex though, it must be wonderful to be omnipotent.
Tube bender...
right, no-one did though. From the OP: "fully equipped CNC machine shop" so he's got lathes, etc also.when someone says they have a CNC machine
probably. What?! 🤣 Did you mean "omniscient"? 😃 I'm not that, either. 😉it must be wonderful to be omnipotent.
CNC in layman's generally means 3axis mill.
You could bore down into machine capacity of the company but it's pointless - people in this discussion are baulking about £30 of spacers. Labour charges for the hour to cover the work are more than £30 before even taking raw material/tooling/energy etc into account.
The only way to get cost per unit down to a palatable amount is to sweat the assets and run large batches. Or enter markets where one off's can be priced accordingly. This is the market I use, I design one off's or reverse engineer OEM components for use in our processes. The charges aren't too crazy but are far higher pro-rata than £30spacers but it doesn't matter when those components are keeping our shop floor running or developing processes.
I seriously lean on this company and have a good working relationship for the 18 I've been in post - I wouldn't dream of looking elsewhere but if I had a decent versatile machine shop that's were i'd look to fill capacity.
people in this discussion are baulking about £30 of spacers.
To be fair, that post wasn't baulking about the cost of the spacers, it was putting the cost of them into context and the person who paid for them thought they got a pretty good deal. Here it is for clarity-
If I could use an example, said maker I mentioned before charged me £35 for 3 bits of turned down 15mm ID aluminium to make me some 15mm adaptors for my Hope XC hubs. How much?? Well if you consider the material cost, the machine cost, energy cost, other bullshit costs like rent, lighting, insurance, accounting and business infrastructure (website etc) built into each item BEFORE you even consider paying the person who did it for their time, I think I got a pretty good deal.
I made those spacers, I was self-employed at the time* (our household's only income), working from home and I think I charged a fair price (for everyone) for an hour's work/material/energy. That £35 went towards our rent, so when anyone whinges on about the cost of shit made in this country it just drives me ****ing crazy. I love what I do but it's ****ing hard graft putting up with whiners who know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.
None of that is directed at you RNP!
* I have since got a part-time job, starting on Monday.
CNC in layman’s generally means 3axis mill.
Thank you, that's where I was coming from. As a layman.
And as said the breakdown was putting it all into perspective, it's really not all that expensive when you look at it as part of a bigger picture.
Betd brought them, so not sure what your saying?
Well, as you said, Middleburn closed-down because after trying for 30years, the ‘bike industry’ didn’t work out for them. All that time and effort came to the square-root of naff-all, not selling out to a big corporate, no acquisitions, just an empty industrial unit just outside of Farnham. They got some goodwill from BETD for their designs, not the business - a few thousand maybe. It’s like the old saying “How do you make a million in the bike trade? Start with ten.”
Ahh, misunderstood you. We were thinking along the same lines then.
Middleburn closed-down because after trying for 30years, the ‘bike industry’ didn’t work out for them
Tom Ritchey said at one point their product strategy was 'anything Shimano don't make'.
Tom Ritchey said at one point their product strategy was ‘anything Shimano don’t make’.
I think you'd add SRAM to that statement these days, and considering they make pretty much every other component you might want there ain't much left...
Odd little widgets, adaptors and spacers might be a goer, but problem finders are probably the established name in that field and then China will copy and undercut you by 80% within 6 months...
Has he got a CNC sock or glove knitting machine?
You can never have too many flat pedals
pinnd, cardertech, pembree etc
How about frame building parts?
https://bearframesupplies.co.uk/
https://bentleycomponents.co.uk/
for frame builders
Frame mounted waterproof contactless biscuit dispenser.
Oval chainring for GRX that doesn't cost £90.
In rainbow anodized 😋
Suspension bolts and linkages for full sus frames. Maybe package them up with some quality bearings. The official ones from the likes of Cannondale are very pricey.
Edit:- seems that others are making money doing this