Ted James Design

29er SUPERTED CUSTOM – posted by Sol

The 29er Superted custom is made from the strongest lightest Reynolds steel and is built to resist the roof drops and gaps of the 14 Bike co team.

Oscar Khan bike check

http://vimeo.com/21996019

Oscar Khan putting the 29er to test in California and New York

http://vimeo.com/27079214

http://vimeo.com/27696955

Sol proving the strength of the frame hand made from British steel

Photos taken by Greg Falski

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BUSINESS CARD PRINTING

Just found this shot of TJD business cards being printed for Bespoke Bristol.

All hand printed in East London!

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TED ON RESONANCE FM’S THE BIKE SHOW

The Bike Show on Resonance FM went to Bespoked Bristol and interviewed Ted, Paul Villiers, Tom Donhou, Ricky Feather and Jonathan Paulus about how they got their start and what it takes to become a good framebuilder. Take a listen to the program here.

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29GNAR AT BESPOKED BRISTOL

Photo from Fixed Gear London

Photo from Pro Elbows

It’s been crazy busy in the run up to and since Bespoked, hence it’s taken til now to post about the 29Gnar, which made it’s debut at Bespoked, having been finished at 6am the morning of the show! Full details and write-up to come when Ted has the time, but for now check out all the great coverage it got online from…(click on the names below for article)

Bomb Hills Speed Kills

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THE FOOTDOWN VISITS THE WORKSHOP

Ty from The Footdown came round yesterday and took some nice black and white shots of the workshop

See more here

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TJD ON REDBULL’S DRAKE’S PASSAGE

In this week’s episode, Drake visits London where he meets up with “Super Ted” James, one of the most innovative custom fixed bike builders around, before heading to judge the Red Bull X-Fighters event that night. The next morning, he takes a train ride north to visit darts legend Bobby George, aka “Bobby Dazzler,” at his home pub, where he discusses life and gets some pointers on his darts game. It’s an experience he’ll never forget.

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TJD ON THE GUARDIAN WEBSITE

Gave some quotes for an article on why it’s worth buying British bikes for the Guardian website a couple of days ago.

Read the full article here http://gu.com/p/3666y

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MACHINING

I have finally got my newest addition up and running after a long wait, it is the Rolls Royce of lathes. Dean Smith & Grace 17×36

It is amazing and such a pleasure to work with.

The first job on it is the first operations on a prototype hub for a special project i have been thinking about for a couple of years.

I want the hub to have a 135mm female axle for 10mm bolts with fixed cog fitting and disk mount, there is nothing on the market with this criteria so i decided to make it myself.

In the making of this hub all three of my machines have been used, doing each operation in turn to create the finished piece.

I used the 4 jaw chuck to hold the billet of aluminium which i drilled right through then cut the bore for the bearing which has to be within 0.02mm and roughed out the disk brake mount.

With the 4 jaw i can leave two jaws in place while i loosen the other two to flip the work then it’s much easier to get it exactly straight again ready to work on the other end.

I repeat the same process so i have two iso mounts, one for a disk brake and the other i can use for a bolt on sprocket.

I Then made a mandrel to hold the work from the inside. I spent a long time making sure it is very accurate, it has a slight taper at the ends to lock the work in place.

Next it goes on to the milling machine for iso hole drilling and tapping, shaping the disk mount and spoke hole drilling.

I have a collet chuck on a rotary table which gives good accuracy and ease of positioning.

This machine was built in 1915, nearly 100 years old and still going strong.

Using the same mandrel i then put it on my other lathe with a collet chuck which means it’s instantly centred.

I used a rotating centre to give extra support which is not really needed with this mandrel but extra support means bigger cuts.

The tool i wanted to use for profiling the shape of the hub body was too big to work in my tool post, i had no suitable cutter to mill it down but then found it would work upside down in the rear tool post.

I then did the final operation.

This hub is for a prototype bike with a hubgear mounted in the front triangle, if all goes well i will be unveiling the 29Gnar at Bespoked Bristol

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RESRAP TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY

It’s promising to be a great event with lots of support and prizes from various companies.

TJD will be offering Jacob Knill print t’s and a single one off hand built stem to mark the occasion.

Pic taken before going for a clear powder coat.

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MOULTON FRAME REPAIR

An old Moulton with a cracked seat tube proved to be quite an interesting job.

I stripped the bike down and checked the broken tube. There was quite a lot of rust inside the tube below the area where the seat post gripped internally.

The seat tube had an id of 35mm for the seat tube and 37mm od which went around 100mm from the top down, it then bulged out to 38od and 36id for the rest of the tube down to the bb.

The tube would have probably been custom drawn by Reynolds for Moulton, so getting hold of the same thing was not possible.

After much searching and thinking about how to work with available tube sizes and possibly having to use a shim, finally i found a tube with thick enough wall to get the desired profile.

The tube is BS4t45 commonly known as t45, it is a high quality English made tube used in automotive sport for roll cages and frames. Also used by Curtis bikes for their frames.

I machined the tube inside and out to give the desired profile, leaving the id a little under size to allow for any distorsion and reaming after brazing.

I carefully cut away all the broken tube rather than using heat to minimize the chance of the existing tubes becoming brittle.

The bb shell had quite a lot of pitting from rust, i cleaned it up and drilled holes, one to allow any water in seat tube to go into the bb shell and the other to allow it to drain straight out of the bottom.

I brazed in the new tube and re-fitted the locating boss for the rack support, the socket for rear shock bushing, bottle bosses and seat binder.

I reamed the seat tube before sending all frame parts including racks to be powder coated.

All back together with some attention to the rear suspension pivot it works like new.

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NO ACETYLENE

I ran out of acetylene gas for brazing so as usual i called my supplier for a refill, they told me they have none and cant tell me when they might be getting more. This seems to be a problem affecting many businesses who have been using acetylene for years and are now having to find an alternative.

For brazing, propane can be used for the fuel gas instead and is much cheaper so seems to be a good alternative. BOC, my supplier are offering a discount on hoses and regulators needed for the swap over so with no other choice i went for it and grabbed a bottle of propane to try out.

I stuck it on the back of my big bike and strapped it down tightly to get it to my workshop. It’s a little heavier than it looks because the gas is in liquid form in the bottle but with this bike it’s no problem.

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SOME STEMS

I am working towards doing some batches of stems in various sizes but until then I thought it a good idea when making one to do a couple extra to stick up for sale.

All have been made using Reynolds 631 tube.

The bolts are stainless steel and have had the lettering taken off on my lathe to give a cleaner look.

Here are two fillit brazed stems for 1 inch steerer and 25.4 or 1 inch handlebar clamp

They have single pinch bolts and raw finish with phosphate and matt clear coat to prevent any corosion.

The reynolds R logo shows it’s made with quality tubing but is easily removed if so desired.

When making my mums bike i made two stems because i was not sure which would go on. This is the stem which didn’t go on so its up for grabs.

I also made some spacers and top cap to match

Check my shop to buy

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MY MUM’S BIKE

I have finally finished my mum’s bike, It has taken me ages to build.

It’s all the small details which take the time and also give it a clean look.

I will be showing it at Bespoked Bristol 2012

Please see more pics