A Tale of Two Niners

================ALUMINUM REVOLVER 29er================

First off is a sea foam green Revolver 29er for Anthony in New Mexico. This is a replacement frame for a single speed 29er prototype that I built for myself and then sold to Anthony earlier this year. The first frame was just too light and the rear triangle is tweaked....I won't know what went wrong until I have a chance to measure the original but my instinct tells me the tubing was not beefy enough to handle single speed 29er loads. So back to the drawing board to design and deliver Anthony a new frame in time for the Single Speed World Championships this month in Durango. Fully built pics just added below!

I went back to my roots with Anthony's new 29er and dug up some stout rectangular bmx-style chainstays that were used throughout the rear triangle. I've been saving these specific tubes for a project just like this and the rear triangle on this bike is STIFF. The upper and lower yokes are machined from 25mm thick 7005 bar stock with an emphasis on lateral rigidity, not lightweight. The rear sliding dropouts have also been beefed up for 2009 and I finally sourced a fully-threaded M5 tensioning bolt! I've been looking for this type of bolt for a long time and finally someone offered some affordable custom ones for me! Rounding off the rear triangle is a the wishbone tube....no-nonsense 1" square material with straight wall thickness.

Huge ass tire clearance was a request easily met with the machined yokes. Also notice the slit in the seat tube faces forward to keep water and dirt out of the Chris King bottom bracket.

The front triangle uses Easton Ultralite material including a 32mm seat tube, 38mm top tube and 44.5mm down tube which is extra long for the 29er application. The front-end geometry of this frame is a little slacker than what most builders are using but for the high-speed descents that Anthony rides, a little wheel flop while climbing steep stuff is an acceptable tradeoff. More images to follow one this new Revolver is built up.

================STEEL REVOLVER 29er================

The second 29er project is for local rider Will. It's important to note that Will is an experienced brewmaster...that's right, he makes beer for a living. Needless to say I was more than happy to get this project rolling! After a few conversations at the start of the project, Will settled on a steel 29er with a build kit anyone would love. Fox F29 fork with 80mm of travel and new FIT cartridge. Full XTR. New XT 29er wheelset. King, Thomson, Race Face, Crank Bros and WTB round off the rest of the parts.


The steel tubeset was sourced through Nova Cycle Supply and it features s-bend rear triangle tubing for ample tire clearance. Rear dropouts are Paragon hoods with a replaceable hanger - not so common on steel bikes! Geometry is sized just right for Will based on fit measurements he provided at the start of the project.


I'm looking forward to Will's first ride report which will be coming soon....