An idea only…but curious…

Hypothetically, if ones mate had a fully equipped CNC machine shop with some capacity, what types of products / bits would the STW massive be interested in seeing produced?

Potentially niche items not currently served by mass Eastern CNC machine shops.

Thanks.

Ti everything.

I can’t see a Ti saddle nor tyres being a good idea.

Fancy lightweight coloured structurally important bolts made of cheese. 😉

New right knee.

Id like some custom tt/Tri clipon wedges, or aero bridges (flat metal plate that joins armrests).

Generally anything you can sell to the TT market makes money as they’ll pay through the nose for shit.

A business plan

Hypothetically, if ones mate had a fully equipped CNC machine shop with some capacity, what types of products / bits would the STW massive be interested in seeing produced?

CNC milling? Lathe? plasma? folder? router? Or all of the above?

The problem with very low production run niche CNC is the faff factor setting up for very limited return as end consumers can’t see the worth in the lump in front of them.

I’d probably go novelty value – some sort of CNCed widget that kind of upcycled something a bike geek already owns to make it into a new thing with an intrinsic value because of the sentimental attachment to the thing that they already owned. For (a crap off the top of my head) example something that looked like an elongated version of a freehub body with slots in that turned your old and much loved and expensive cassette into a desk lamp. Or something.

Bottom bracket tool stash for Shimano BBs – I might run one up on my very manual mini lathe

Coffee tampers and salt and pepper pots reminiscent of bicycle hubs.

Mech hangers ?

“Hi m8 can u do narrow wide cogs in stainless for £2 like China?”

Bottom bracket tool stash for Shimano BBs – I might run one up on my very manual mini lathe

Won’t the crank get in the way? 😉

Chainrings for SSers and all-year big miles / Peak District trail riders? You did say niche. UK chainrings – super-hardened steel oval NW chainrings in all the f’in BCDs there are now.

Probably already available, but how about some generic bar / seatpost clamps which feature a small flat plate with a couple of holes drilled in it (or long groove so it’s adjustable) that people can then attach stuff to their bar / seatpost.

You see loads of velcro / zip ties / bodged solutions, a neat removeable universal clamp may sell a few units?

The mind looks back to all the expensive niche products from the 90’s— skewers, brakes etc. that ultimately performed worse and were heavier, weaker than the Shimano stuff they replaced.

Chainrings for SSers and all-year big miles

Completed it mate.

skewers, brakes etc. that ultimately performed worse and were heavier, weaker than the Shimano stuff they replaced.

Without those hope QR skewers though they’d never have developed their reputation for exemplary customer service. You think they were rubbish but purple, really they were marketing brilliance and purple.

@benz I have a first generation Aerospoke front wheel and I’m missing one axle end cap – I’d happily pay to have the existing one reproduced if your mate could do that please?

Insanely niche but Googling it has revealed a few other people need them, so there might be a miniscule market for a few other copies of the same part.

Probably easier on a lathe though…

A business plan

If it’s just a case of using surplus capacity to make a few more quid I wouldn’t have thought this was necessary.

Every machinist I know is flat out. Does make me wonder why your mate has capacity.

Ti everything

You’d want a trade account at Cromwells and a £100k credit limit for tooling then.

@lister and I have a good mate with a CNC prototyping shop and three machines. In 15 years he’s had capacity to make me a holder for an engine sensor, a boot badge that said “Sedicivalvole” and that’s it. He’s just bought himself a 17th Century mansion with 18 acres of land, a massive lake and two spare houses. What is your mate doing?

Actually, got another idea for you.. no idea how complicated, but those Specialized shark fins used to go for decent money on Ebay.. very hard to get hold of now. Basically a steel bar with disc tabs attached that connects the rear drop out to the left hand rear brake boss, enabling non disc frames to run disc brakes.

These

Another company used to make a similar but adjustable one, but they stopped making them.

The only others ones are the A2Z ones which don’t work as well (they move if your bike is wheeled backwards with the brake on).

A cock ring. Anodised.

Most of the usual stuff will be covered by other manufacturers. You’ll have to find a need of a lot of people have and fill it. UK manufacturing won’t be cheap and to do it efficiently you’ll need to do some scale and tool up for it.

Not quite sure what the next big thing is but there seems to be a lot of companies doing geometry changing links and the like and have a look at AstonMTB’s Commencal dropouts for inspiration.

Cleats, and retention rings for Speedplay Frog pedals now that they’ve stopped producing them.

Widgets. I can never have too many widgets. Especially left-hand ones.

Mint Sauce key rings.

I would have been very interested in an axle for a hub I couldn’t find a stock replacement for.
It would depend on the price however.

Name plates for Road STIs
Steel outer chainrings for asymmetric 110 BCD road cranks

I’ve got it….

A seat collar, with a tiny tiny ‘number plate’. So that when you get the usual ‘where’s your number plate moan, you can point at it for them. The purchaser can choose a cumston expletive in substitute for an actual number.

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.

@finbar I know someone who could probably do that and she’s posted in this thread already.

One off, actual CNC jobs will not be cheap. There a difference between plugging a model into the machine and actually designing something from scratch. To make something worthwhile it would need to be a product plenty of people will want. Think of the old 26″ conversion plates for Bighits back in the day. I can probably rattle off a list of things but the reality is that most are too niche to be worthwhile. If he wants to do small runs then I dare say some market research on the Vintage DH Bike Group on Facebook will yield results especially for discontinued brake adaptors and the like in proprietary standards. I’d certainly like someone to make original Hope Mini levers again.

The thing is, right, is that people think that CNC machined stuff is just a case of shovelling a load of material into one end and the machine magically spits nicely finished stuff out the other with no other human intervention. It’s very much not like that; design the part, figure out how to make it, then figure out how to hold it in the machine, maybe machine a fixture if you’re doing a large-ish batch (figure out how to make that etc…), remove the part(s), deburr & clean up and then try and recoup your losses as best you can because-

“it would depend on the price”

It’s all been done and as covered above one off/small batch stuff is usually expensive unless the machine shop is set up for it.

I’d be looking at O&G/offshore markets, or high value rapid turnaround repair/reverse industrial engineering type jobs rather than bike trinkets.

Of the things I’ve CNC’d, direct mounts for bolting handlebar lights directly to the stem have been very popular.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why we can’t have nice things made in this country any more.

We can, and do, but the ‘ow much?! Crowd don’t help.

We can, and do, but the ‘ow much?! Crowd don’t help.

Unfortunately those of us that know and appreciate how much work goes on to actually make a part vs those who only look at the cost of a lump of material is a very poor ratio.

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 could do that myself, I’ve done machining and I’m actually pretty decent at it however I have neither the tooling, room or funds to do it so I have to accept that anything I want is a single item commission and pay accordingly. Even then, I’d need to either do a lot or be turning some pretty specialist stuff to make it even close to worth it financially (I’m pretty sure mistakes would also be made along the way).

This is where the split between hobby and business happens. With the former it’s easy to just enjoy it and only charge for material costs. With the latter it’s a whole other ballgame and a matter of putting bread on the table or not. Look at Burf and ‘Cindy’ from BTR as an example of what happens when shit goes south.

O&G/offshore markets

A totally different outlook there.

You would need traceability and material certificates, risk assessments, workshop safety x 10, manufacturing plans, drawings etc, etc by the bucket load.

Still don’t discount, got to start somewhere.

Kids length cranks that aren’t square taper and will take a normal NW chainring.

The thing is, right, is that people think that CNC machined stuff is just a case of shovelling a load of material into one end and the machine magically spits nicely finished stuff out the other with no other human intervention.

By people do you mean CAD drivers? 🤣