PVD The Girly Bike

This is a special bike for my wife. A mountain bike. She is very light and rides very light. Making a light bike is one thing, getting it to flex just right is quite another.

It's going to be capable of single speed or gears. She's probably not going to ride the bike much, 'cause she likes her suspension bike so much, but this will give us maximum flexibility with just a little more weight for this goofball bike.

The Print

The Tubes

• Top Tube: True Temper OX Platinum #01, 25.4 OD, 620mm, .7/.4/.7
• Down Tube: True Temper OX Platinum #06, 31.8 OD, 680mm, .7/.4/.7
• Seat Tube: True Temper OX Platinum #05, 28.6 OD, 580mm, .7/.4/.7
• Seat Stays: True Temper OX Platinum #SS1
• Chain Stays: True Temper OX Platinum #CS3

• Head tube: Custom machined tube

• Bottom Bracket: Paragon 1.5"
• Drop Outs: Paragon Sliders
• Hydo Stops: Pacenti SS Stamped Bikelugs.com

Successes and Problems

The Good

• The machined head tube looks awsome. It appears that it did not ovalize much at all in the welding process. I am very happy with that part of the project.

• The front triangle looks really neat with the 1" top tube and 1.25" down tube. The head tube/top tube joint is especially cool looking.

• Custom bending of OX Platinum stays is a great success. It took a lot of failure and some improvements on my bending set-up. Things look great in the end.

The Bad

• My welding still looks like shit. It may be the OX platinum causing issues, but most probably more due to the extremely thin wall tubes. I do need much more practice.
• Using the OX Platinum #05 cut down as a seat tube was a really bad idea. Welding the tube at the bottom bracket with complex curves was hell. I made it work, but it ain't pretty.
• I should have bent the chainstays a bit more. Tire clearence is limited to a 2.1" tire.

The Paint

It's going to be a cheap powder coat pink. Hopefully the cost will be less than $150.