Patience has never come naturally to me – I’m more Calvin than I am Hobbes in that regard. Yet I am meticulous and demanding of myself and those with whom I journey through life. It is a conflict that has caused its fair share of grief; my childhood is piled high with memories of incidents where I made choices and mistakes that robbed me of the satisfaction of a job well done.
One such episode involved my eagerness to have bar-mounted shifters in the early nineties. STI had just come on the market, and they were priced so high it would require disciplined saving in order for me to afford them. Rather than patiently saving, I spent my money on lower-cost options which differed in their implementation but shared in their failure to quench my thirst for STI. At one point, my father pointed out that with what I’d spent on cheaper compromises, I could have already bought what I really wanted.
Some lessons in life are easily learned, but to practice them is another thing altogether. While I have learned patience, it is often stretched to its limit as I have also become more exacting in my expectations. What the Prophet giveth, he taketh away.
I have finally reached the point in my life where I enjoy the journey as much as I do the destination. I can’t imagine buying a complete bicycle and forgoing the process of hand-picking the kit to dress it up in and embarking on the quest to source it. For me, a bicycle begins as an idea which slowly materializes through the curation of its frame and components. The process of assembling it is a ritualistic undertaking, a kind of spiritual offering to the Elders on Mount Velomis. The assembled bicycle marks the end of a journey during which we’ve already bonded.
Only as this journey comes to a close are we ready to begin a new one, one where we evolve through prolonged exposure to The V. The path to becoming a Velominatus is built on taking the time to do things correctly, and building our machines is no exception.
Vive la Vie Velominatus.
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Sometimes I enjoy making one piece at a time.
The one on the left is the original.
Scored a frame with ISP, only problem cut a couple-ish cm short for me and very crooked! By the time I machined the ISP post straight and square, I needed about 4cm. So I made one 5cm longer.
Instead of the triangular hole, which may scratch the paint, I opted to put my name there.
@sthilzy that is way cool, did you consider cutting your name right through or would that have made it too weak?
@sthilzy
Very nice! Really nice finishing on that baby.
I'm just skilling up in Solidworks myself and finding it very powerful.
What machine are you using to cut that out? Is it hollow? How much work has it had after machining?
@piwakawaka
Did consider cutting through and first thought was that it might scratch the paint, and it might stretch on tightening if cut through.
@harminator
Yep, it's all machined finished. Still umming and arring whether to get it polished. Also umming and arring wether to get it anodized black and recut the name back to raw aluminium.
Solidworks is a great tool. Been doing CAD/CAM/CNC best part of 20 years. Used quite a few different CAD/CAM software systems. Solidworks is fun in general. Needs more user effort in surfacing and filleting than other systems, but all round a pretty good package.
Spoilt in the MCing department. An OKUMA MB-46VAE with Hi-Speed MCing control and 25000rpm spindle. There's no mismatch between cutting tool and set up. I'm very fussy with setting up CNC's.
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@sthilzy Simply stunning.
@frank
The bars are going to be right as well. Eubios bars straight from Italy by way of New York City -- Ebay (50.00).
Marco Pantani version came to me without knowing that he preferred these. Similar shallow drop as 3T Ergosum!
@frank Good advice. The operation was a success.
Profile.
@unversio
Damn! That stem looks awesome! Superb job on the build-up. Very happy to have played a small part.
@wiscot
Inspired to move onward with the transformation -- mounting this Selle Italia Turbomatic 4 (considered semi-flat or semi- round) to make a "more genuine" setup.