I guess I actually made this two weeks ago, but I wasn't happy with it so chopped the rear end off and rewelded. Off road fixedgear. Needs bottlezits and paint.
Love the stuff you do Colin.
I've also chopped the back end off my latest frame as wasn't happy with chainstay yoke. Now redesigned but not yet made.
I was also supposed to make a Reiver frame for someone - luckily he didn't specify which year.....
Thanks Mick,
luckily he didn’t specify which year…..
I so relate to this.

It's been a while since I had a project worth showing.
Ive wanted to sort out a standing desk in my office for a while. Sitting slumped over a hot financial model isn't doing my back any favours.
Saw something industrial looking and remembered I had some redundant 34mm galv handrail in the work shop.
£40 worth of bits from the https://www.keyclampstore.com/
I wanted to use some 1m solid wood kitchen work top but couldnt find any offcuts and a 3m piece was going to cost £200 so picked up two rough-sawn scaffold boards for £30. Hit them with the random orbital sander to soften them and crudely jointed one. Saving grace of the industrial look is not having to sweat the quality of the jointing and finish like kayak has to. Bit of oil and wax and ta-daa.
A little cable tidying required, but much better for core muscles and body posture now. I cant help but shuffle and move all the time now which will be much better for me.
Stoner i reckon with a couple of aditional collars and a few other bits and bobs you could make that be standing and sitting.
weird paint! Does it revert to yellow in the dark?
@joshvegas I think my bulk would dramatically change the very delicate balance of the desk were I to plonk my arse on it somewhere.
weird paint! Does it revert to yellow in the dark?
@Stoner Kinda, it reacts to UV light rather than any light. It changes in natural light but not under electric lighting. It's weird stuff. It's difficult to paint with as it is an additive that goes into clear paint so it shows up any drips you get, not pictured is the matching frame which I royally messed up.
Oooh, if you had two versions of that colour change paint, with the same colour pairings but opposite 'polarity' you could make a pattern that swapped over between day and night. Do it subtly and I think your friends might think they were going mad.
@joshvegas I think my bulk would dramatically change the very delicate balance of the desk were I to plonk my arse on it somewhere.
No no you make it slide up and doon. The chair you'll have to provide...
This is not really made but fixed. I built this frame 10 years ago and found a crack in the chainstay at the dropout weld on Wednesday. I had a manky ugly set of chainstays floating around from another old build so cut out the cracked one and brazed in a new one.
Said crack 🙁

Cut out chainstay

Brazed in new fugly stay



All sorted and hopefully will last another 10 years.
@jonm81 I really like the mismatched stays even if you do say they're ugly. looks cool!
I've been making stacks of handlebars. I liked my Jones bars for offroad touring stuff until I got them into real technical bits. Maybe I just have particularly sweaty hands, but I kept finding that my hands would constatly slide forward under repetitive impacts. I never had that problem with the surly Moloko's.
These have the same width and angle as the moloko's without having the bit at the front that I never used anyway. Just enough forward and rearward movement as you shift your hands about so stay comfortable on long rides and no extra nonsense.
Here's some photos and a picture of them attached to a friends bike.
Colin I was looking out for your bike and you at the reiver?
I don't think I saw Saul either? Not go in the end?
I had a last minute work-trip so had to bail. I was stuck repairing things inside a cardboard factory in France. How dull.
Saul, Andy, Fast Dave and a bunch of others you know were there.
AH I did actually see Fast Dave! but I didn't twig until he passed!
So didn't ask for or receive a skid.
Was there a really ratty transit van involved?
Ha. Thought it might be connected.
Was there also a weird aysemetric toptube seatstay fixed gear with a long reach road calliper?
Basically all the weird shit. It was you lot wasn't it.
The colourchanging fork now also smells like strawberries. splattered and clearcoated with strawberry smelling paint.
Built a 10m retaining wall out of decking for £80.
Filled it with stuff for £30.
Installed a moody cat for free.
And all ready for some shrubbery.
Then had a go at making an easter egg. This was the fifth attempt. Don't want to think about the cost.
And tried to make it look pretty. A mere £4.
Don't bother trying to make a decent Easter egg. It's just not worth it. Buy a diamond necklace instead - it's cheaper.
I've had a stalled framebuild for the last year, but Retrodirect's posts have inspired me to "be more Colin" 🙂
So I spent the day in the garage making chainstays. Not your normal chainstays, so lots of tiny tubes to mitre and some basic fixturing (wood, nails and a door hinge) to allow silver soldering of the sub-assembly.
Next step will be more woodwork for a fixture to hold things whilst mitring the tube ends (lots of compound angles to deal with).
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Soon to be joined to these:-
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Retrodirect’s posts have inspired me
that was such a nice compliment to recieve, thanks.
Sometimes you need to see what others are doing to kick your arse off the sofa - and I'd totally stalled on this frame (even though I really want to get riding it).
I presume you're going to Bespoked? Unfortunately clashes with a birthday so won't be going this year.
Just grabbed an hour tonight for routergeddon. Tube notcher fixture sort of done (slight crime against timber - kayak23 should look away).
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Bringing the thread back down to earth with some more shonky woodwork:
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/46825631605_8a148d20e6_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/46825631605_8a148d20e6_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2ekPATX ]testing[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/martinddd/ ]martinddd[/url], on Flickr
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/32805750237_5bf6acd730_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/32805750237_5bf6acd730_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/RYW3Bp ]Two scaffold board planters[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/martinddd/ ]martinddd[/url], on Flickr
The wife wanted to get rid of some plants in pots & replant them in some trough type planters. But whilst i was making them, she appears to have brought enough new plants to fill the planters, leaving the stuff in pots homeless. Bloody gardeners!
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Made a belt sander for the workbench. I had a spare motor and some 30 x 30 aluminium extrusion languishing in a corner. I made all the pulleys and shafts etc. I've still to make grinding rest and perhaps some guarding for the belts.


perhaps some guarding for the belts.
😂 Like your attitude to safety.
I'm currently making a slide out bike rack for the back of my van. The runners are made from 41mm steel unistrut, so it's going to be "sturdy". There will be pictures.
New 29er done! Just needs some graphics. Rides great. Every frame is an iteration on the geo of the last one, and think this is my favourite yet.
Rough numbers are 67deg HA unsagged. 468 reach (sagged). 72deg ish SA effective (I don't like the current steep trend). Stays shown at "longest" setting 417mm, adjust down to around 407.
All tubes bent myself, plus 35mm Zona top tube home-ovalised for a strong ST junction and a bit more lateral stiffness. Chainstays are 1/2" diameter for clearance, then trussed back together to stop them bowing apart under chain compression. Still surprisingly comfortable vertically.
Unpainted photo was singlespeeding up Lawson Park in Grizedale last week. Painted was final shakedown today.
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Awesome. Love the chainstay detail .
Thanks. Turned out slightly tight on clearance (will only fit a 2.2" at shortest setting). Sort of my own fault for using a 68mm shell / narrow chainline / short bb (was originally going to be an E-stay where all that wouldn't have mattered). Otherwise very happy.
Any new woodwork projects to show?
The model of the Windermere lake steam launch is stunning, it looks just like a full-size boat under construction in a boatyard!
Set of alcove cabinets. Doors made to echo the lovely windows in the room.
@mick_r that's a nice bike. what are you using for bending? that seattube has came out nice! Heating over wood forms?
Here's my latest. Finished a batch of these. even more Jones style bars. much wider, with way less flare than the originals and with wild paintjobs. 🙂
Then had a go at making an easter egg. This was the fifth attempt. Don’t want to think about the cost.
I'm reminded of this 🙂
https://imgur.com/gallery/jPZbQ
Set of alcove cabinets. Doors made to echo the lovely windows in the room.
must have been a bugger to fit that curved wall 😉

A workbench including a wagon vise from an old car jack, almost entirely with handtools and starting from rough sawn timber, was a lot of work but I'm chuffed with the result.
instagram posts not showing anymore?
mahowlett - very fine it is too - especially like the vices
kayla well done! Would be really interested to hear more such as how time-consuming and difficult was it, did you use any essential oils, what quantity have you made?
For retrodirect - some photos of seat tube bending buried in here (page 3).
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/the-lets-see-your-29er-hardtails-rigids-thread
Basically done cold around a plywood former, tube stuffed with sand (and blended cat litter.....). Leaves a very very slight ripple in the back of the tube but can't see once painted. 16 and 12.7mm tubes just done on a slightly improved crappy bender from Stakesys (so again not as good as mandrel bent but OK if you don't look close).
I did like your angle grinder seat tube video - though you did it freehand at first 🙂
Re-handled a bread knife that I bought when I was sleeping on a mates floor in Sheffield back when I worked for Midland Bank. Sanded it a bit smoother after the photo but I love the Loveless Bolts
I finished the bike rack for the back of my van.
The back of the Transit Connect is a bit small to easily get in and out of to strap the bikes to the side, or a wheel rack, and you can only easily get from one side as it has a single slider. My solution is to mount a couple of old Thule roof carriers to a sliding bed that comes out of the back, then you can get to the clamps from stood by the back door. Runners are made from Unistrut, with roller bearings the same OD as the profile to run up and down in. Works really well and still loads of room to get other stuff in the sides for a trip. Big wing nuts hold the runners onto the wooden frame for easy dismantling to turn it into a full size van again.










