Month: April 2011

Panda progress

| Mik Efford

Bamboo Bike #3, dubbed The Panda by its eventual owner is nearing completion. I’ve laid up 95% of the carbon fibre and just need to do some final cosmetic layers and then lots of finishing. Then comes the tricky things like brake holes, derailleur mounts and cable stops.  Then some clear coat, then some testing!

Bamboo Bike #4 isn’t far away either. The head-tube’s been wrapped and the rest is scheduled to be done next week.

Here’s a few progress pics of The Panda:

all layed up, just needs sanding back
still a few more layers to go, then lots of sanding
they’ll be polished up to a mirror finish
kinda went overboard on the filleting, but it should be super stiff
needs one more cosmetic layer and a bit more sanding
all done
looking pretty messy at this point with all the tape, but rest assured there’s beautifully scratch free bamboo under there!

Maisie – 7 months and 1500km on.

| Mik Efford

A visual report into how she’s fairing…

is that seat tube slightly bending, or is that just me? i think it was always like that…anyway, maisie’s now all fitted out with some gears for the upcoming cx season. it’ll be her true test! she’s been going great over the last 7 months, clocking up ~1500km and not missing a beat.
the two layers of epoxy resin clear coat are durable and scratch resistant
still holding up, so is the veneered hub
the tension screws rusted within a few weeks. i’ve since removed them as they’re not needed with a derailleur.
i still want to put something in the middle of that badge…
i now realise that the cf tow winding i did at the end of this lug is pretty pointless.
next time. again with the pointless cf tow winding down the seat tube.
again with the scratches, but no cracking
a few scratches, but no signs of cracking
fairly dirty right now, but no signs of cracking or deterioration
i wanted a narrower chainline when i switched to a cassette on the rear so I switched the chainring to the other side of the crank spiders and had to file back the chain stay a fair bit.
no cracks!
i wanted a narrower chainline when i switched to a cassette on the rear so I switched the chainring to the other side of the crank spiders and had to file back the chain stay a fair bit.
i’m using a 105 derailleur as a chain catcher to stop it falling off. it’s positioned much lower than it normally would. had to bend the clasp a bit to make it fit around the fat seat post tube