frankenbike's frankenbikes

I'd indeed need a small, but luckily already picked up something slightly different :)

@frankenbike Awesome, I bloody love mine and I think the single speed monster truck build is my favourite so far. I’ve kind of thrown the kitchen sink at it with all my fave components so the build kit is probably worth a good deal more than the frame now!

I’ve had mine built with mudguards and slicks (and done road centuries and paved bikepacking on it) and then in monster truck guise both 1x10 and single speed which I’ve taken to Bikepark Wales and Afan.

All my builds have been around 650b and Jones bars though so I think the next variant might keep the SSMTB theme but go up to 29ers and Nitto Bullmoose bars at some point. For now though I’m very happy the way it is.

This frame looks bloody fantastic, can't wait to see how you're gonna build it up. :)

Excited to see what you do with the Alice. I wish I’d bought one when they were on sale.

I ordered the 2nd last medium frame, Alan said no new frames till 2022.

@mf 's build was also an inspiration as to how versatile the frame could be. Mine will be a parts build to begin with - have some spare 650b mtb wheels that will fit the frame.

Looking forward to seeing your build.

Nice work. Blue as well? I preferred the green but didn't want to miss out

Yeah in Wonderland blue - not sure it would have been my first choice but I do like a brightly coloured frame. Been looking at a variety of different frames but finding on in stock has been the issue.

ALICE has arrived.

Kind of buggered myself with the carbon fork idea. It will clear a 27.5"×2.1" and maybe a 2.2" just. Or 29"×2" barely (depending on knobs).

So not sure what to do. I had planned to have two wheelsets, one for road and one off-road. But now I have to compromise. Either I pick all my tyres based on what clears in the carbon fork, in which case I'm not able to take advantage of the massive steel fork/frame clearances, or I decide to only use the carbon fork on the road, which means I have to swap them all the time. Seems a waste not to at least try it with a 29"×2.25" in there but three wheelsets is just too many. Hmm!

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Sorry, you're going to need another frame to go with that carbon fork now

Reverse mullet? 29×2.5" rear and 27.5×2.1" front?

Build a second bike around the carbon fork and second wheelset. Problem solved... Next!

Ultimate climbing masheen

Is that the Pipedream standard carbon fork @frankenbike?

Yeah it's the Pipedream one. Looks like a nice fork aside from aforementioned clearance (non-)issue and it doesn't have a boss on the front for a dynamo light. But weight is under 500g with uncut steerer and it's got triple bosses on the legs.

Ah well, it'll still be dreamy on the road, rolling on 50mm/700c slicks!

Well the bearings won't fit in the top cup so it's gotta go back to the shop, but the colour has grown on me.

(placeholder bars)

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It sort of works. Need to buy a new hose for the rear brake and get it bled. Also need to pay someone to cut down the steerer as I've currently got Surly Geo™. And I hate this saddle and need black spacers

Fairly reasonably 10.something kg with the carbon fork. Rides quite similar to my Kona so far although I've not yet ventured out of the car park

Obviously looks like a mess with the cables and spacer stack!

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Think I prefer the steel, but then I'm always fond of a matching fork

Def steel forks...

Good to see both fork options, I just wish the carbon fork had the same clearance as the steel one.

Are you planning on putting mudguards on the bike?

Yep, will have mudguards on sometimes. I like to make like hard for myself by switching wheels and shit though so I have to remove and refit them all the bloody time. Same goes for the dynamo lights, and now I've added forks into the equation. So basically I'm a moron and I'm going to spend more time adding and removing parts than riding it.

I'm now wondering about switching to something like the 700c × 44mm Byway and just making do with that everywhere...

The carbon fork gives it a more standard geo, ie. 72/72°ish and 70mm BB drop, and it does shave a kilo off. I think it is nice to have that option...

I don't know why no one's invented some decent sturdy mudguards that you can remove in like a minute, ideally with the wheel still in!

That blue..... reminds me of a mk2 escort I had in the mid 90’s, don’t know why I remember but that was Nordic Blue. Lovely bike anyway, I’ve just got myself a gravel type thing so might investigate Corstorphine Hill, didn’t realise there were trails round there?

Yep, there's some very steep scrabbly trails up to the top - that's my designated tyre traction/gear ratio benchmark hill, I feel like if I can get up that then I'm good for anything. Nothing too exciting mind 🙂

No photos but the Pipedream is good. Still need to chop the steerer a bit further and sort out my embarrassing dynamo cable routing.