Our first custom OMG and of course it is our good friend Raoul’s. We wanted to make a cnc 3″ yoke for a fully rigid bike model and Raoul had been asking about a rigid mtb with the Enve MTN fork for a while so when we had the design and the time Raoul was for sure the first one we were going to build. Apart from 3″ clearence and the fork Raoul wanted a wide range – he was relocating to hillyer environs then Leytonstone at the time of this build – the tapered headtube look and of course that wonderous of all bike things – the square taper WI ENO crank.
Geo wise Raoul was pretty fixed on a long and slack front end (for a ridgid mtb that is) – he had a 50mm Thomson stem in the bag to use already so our sizing needed to work with that – and a tapered headtube. We decided on a 67.5 degree headtube angle and as short a back end as possible with the 3″ 29ers and the new yoke design – we ended up at 440mm. The result is a manouverable and capable bike which is as nice to climb with as it is able to keep you out of trouble when you find your inevitable limit on the downs.
Most of the componants Raoul supplied so there was very little to do other than focus on the frame and getting the yoke design spot on as with this build the idea was very much to have a design that could become the first STAYER custom MTB so we not only had to make sure that everything worked for what Raoul wanted but also we had to make sure it would work for other componant specifications, different sized frames and that the general design premis of the build could be applied to future custom frame builds.
I finish was of course inspired by every 90’s paint splatter mtb ever. Made using Spray Bike rattle cans over a super hard arctic white powder coat the splatter will ware and fade and be reapplied over and over to create an acreted and acumulated finish that will continue to develop over the life time of the frame.
The frame is mostly of TIG welded construction most specifically with the yoke, designd by the one and only @Hulsroy, which is CNC machined in two parts by Aaron at Bear Frame Supplies, shelled out to save weight, and then welded together in our workshop before being assembled into the rear chainstay subassembly and then into the completed frame.
We topped everything off with a sweet set of wide STAYER 29er carbon rims on DT350’s. Propper 90’s XC vibes with modern kit and geo approach. A forever mtb if I ever saw one and a bike that will roll with Raoul in the ups and downs of his new home in the shire for many years to come.
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