Fuh-fuh-fuh-fuh-fooling

Well, I wasn't fooling anyone.

" Anonymous said...That is a Carver Ti 420."

It's not like I was really trying.  Kangalamangus was over at my house the other night checking out the bike and he noticed a recycled Misfit Psycles decal on my wall.  He was all like, "You should stick that on your new frame and send it to Peter."

So I did.  I also threatened to post it on his FaceWall to stir up a frenzy in his Empire of Hate, but he was unperturbed.

So yeah, why a Carver Ti 420?

I don't think any stock frame will ever make me 100% happy.  The best I can hope for is maybe 80%.  I'm a picky asshole, and I know what I like for the most part.  That's why my last two custom frames are still around.  They hit the mark spot-on with zero complaints and would be very difficult to replace, even with a modern plastic bicycle.
I wanted something sooner rather than later.  My three criterion were the following:

* Short chainstays, like 16" and some very small change

* Would take the 140mm fork I already had from the FSR EVO and rock it

* As single speedy as possible.

That was about it.

There weren't a whole lot of stock frames to choose from, but the Carver won out despite:

* The very tall seat tube for my size (23" ETT with a 18.5" C-Top of ST)

* A shorter headtube than I prefer

* One bottle cage

Then there were the little surprises:

Although it is single speed specific, there is a second set of guides along the bottom of the top tube, presumably for a dropper post.  Then again, that might be handy if I ever go that route... assuming I have room for one since I only have @20cm of exposed seat post.  Might not be room enough for a dropper anyways.

When I tried to run the shortest possible chainstay length possible with a 32X20, I ran into a problem.

I couldn't get it.

The Paragon 142X12 slider bumped into the dropout before the sliders were all the way forward.  That was the little bit of room I needed for a 32X20.

Three solutions:

* Hack off the interfering bit of slider

* Grab a slightly worn chain from the Stickel and use it

* Run a half-link (the route I took, thus lengthening the chainstays)

A bit of meh moment indeed. Had I ran a standard 135mm axle this would not have happened, but I wanted the additional stiffness (and my Industry 9 Torches were already 142X12).

The other dilemma (self-induced)?

I had bought the Paragon Machine Works Titanium Complete Combination Cap Screw Kit.

IMHO the best thing you can do for yourself if you have Paragon sliders... so worth the $43.

I didn't even consider the stock hardware.  While it may have been "good enough for government work," I wanted the best.  The stock tensioning screw was a Phillips head and the fixing bolts just used star washers.

All was fine and good until I tried to use the PMW tensioning bolts with thumbscrews... they were too big.

Doh.

So I dug around in my bolts and found some forgotten ti hardware that did the trick, albeit I don't currently carry a 3mm around for adjustments.

All that aside, this bike is another experiment.  Back when Montucky Miller and his frat house companions told me about this frame in August at the Breck Epic, I scoffed it.  Why would I want yet another single speed?

But then I did, just a week ago.  Something all-mountain'esque but still very single speedy.  Before throwing custom dollars and time down the drain, I needed something that would allow me to give it a whirl, see what I like and don't like, and then... if I like it, go from there.

Things I really like about the Carver?

The high BB.  140mm is a lot of travel, and when that bike's front end dips down, I don't wanna be clipping pedals.  We don't "carve turns" in Pisgah.  Save those low BB's for SoCal.

The front end looks uber stout for ti.  A fat, shaped down tube, a large diameter top tube, and a big ole tapered head tube.  This thing should not feel flexy in the least.

The short'ish stays.  I might get bored this weekend and try one of the other solutions to tighten things up, but I also might just ride it before I mess with it.  We'll see what happens first.

So yeah, the Tour de Charlotte is tomorrow.  Assuming no jail time is involved, there should be some kinda post here Monday.  Since I'm kinda doing some course marshal duties, I won't see all the action, but I'll do my best to keep track of what I see and hear and report back.