Mark 5!
Great news!
I’ve been in talks with AFPA “The Australian Forest Products Association” about designing and crafting a frame for them. They contacted me a while back, but only recently have things begun to formalised, and it seems I’ve gotten a green light to start designing and building the frame.
So Mark 5, my first commission, is in the works!
Before I begin to describe the design changes in Mark 5, I’ll give you guys an update on how Mark 4 was travelling.
Mark 4
Mark 4 is nearing completion, it’s sitting at about 95 percent, and only requires a few more coats of epoxy and varnish to finish.
After a test ride around the block, I feel as though the issues I was trying to address with Mark 3 have been solved.
The bulkier “tubing” and the carbon fibre strips in the hollow section have made the bottom bracket stiff and reduced the torsional flex immensely. The dropouts now suit my geometry perfectly, as they are milled in house using my sieg x2 out of 4130 steel plate. And the Australian woods have been great to work with and rival if not excel the previous timbers I was using.
I’m currently deciding on what components should be put on this frame, and then I’ll go on a long test ride and a photo-shoot to accompany it!
Mark 5
I’ve decided on two ways I could take Mark 5, I could either, continue to build upon what I had been working on with Mark 4 and continue to refine and develop it, making it lighter and stronger, while adding in new features such as wooden lugs and exploring different orientations and thickness’s of woods. Or I could do a completely new design, and make it as challenging as possible!
I’m still not sure which side I’m leaning towards for mark 5, but I know I’ll most likely do both in the end, you can never stop designing once you catch that bug… 🙂
Side view of Mark 4 “Refinement”
Wooden Lugs!?
Zheng Chin Design 