It doesn't just have a chain - it has a chain system

4130 Steel Swingarm

I knew that I needed to make this swingarm out of Steel or Titanium. There was a lot of flex force that was going to be present due to its indirect (bent) design. I had Sourced and Tooled Up to make it out of Titanium but I couldn't find local welders.

Gusset

After testing the prototype I confirmed that this was a flex point. I knew this from 3DFC modeling and I had already developed the guesting concept. The prototype let me determine the magnitude of flex and after designing and having the gussets welded into place there was a night and day difference in performance. The pedaling effects didn't suffer from flex and tire rub even in the Extra-Short Wheelbase setting was nearly eliminated.

Tube Cap

This piece actually snapped into place. A friend said that it was a shame that after it was welded in place no one would ever see how closely it fit into place. It is above the pivot. it is welded to the pivot. The pivot is the piece that my welding team called me to ask if and how much it needed to be welded.

Routing

The rounded cable guide of the prototype would be replaced by a full wrap rounded cable guide. Again, so many hours of thought, so close in implementation; not acceptable for production.

Grade 5 5/16" bolts

So it turns out that my idea of running M8 12.9 bolts straight through the main pivot and the shock mounts didn't go over so well since the local hardware store doesn't stock metric bolts of that specification. As it turns out my 5/16" is nearly 8mm concept worked in my favour. I chose to run a bolt straight through to a nylon locking nut to avoid threading the frame. You can't break a bolt off in the frame. Rusty nail and a rock becomes your broken bolt extractor.

A customer once drove a bike 600km (370 miles) to have me make the tool to make the tool to extract a bolt - I was saving a Balfa BB7.

Riders Have Feet

I drew a circle on the paper drawings early on. I wanted to avoid every fail that the bicycle industry had brought forth to date. I assembled the latest race bike offering from a world renowned company and the cranks hit the swing arm. it seemed that the company forgot that riders have feet and would be installing cranks. You could get the cranks to spin if you simply took a grinder the back side of the pedal boss.

I did not want to repeat the mistakes of the past. I thank the bicycle industry for letting me see and participate in resolving its history.

O-Ring Seals

Even though the gap seen here is very small there is an O-Ring under the reducer. There is also the Armageddon Mode of sealing both under and over this bearing with petroleum jelly (look into the other pivots to find out what that's all about) and then running a piece of Duck/Duct tape over it.

Not intended as a Trademark Infringement

SW stands for Swoosh - Let's try to be understanding in court.

Plastic Guide

It broke. I probably didn't guess right when I cut the part.

M5 bolt

I got it in my head to use industry standard common bolt dimensions for a lower chain guide pulley. This left me looking for a 626 bearing while my coworkers laughed at me.

M6 bolt

I'm sorry. I chose to make something so standard common that I failed to see how advantageous it would be to dispense with a 636 bearing, use a 608 or thin section larger diameter bearing to avoid twisting.

Musical Note

This is what it was called by my friends. This replace a piece of string and was one of the first times I ran a finishing pass with two gibs open and I cut spirals. This part was made to replace a piece of string.

Telephone Plate

A local bike shop owner found out that I was machining. They brought over a bunch of unknown and likely annealed aluminum alloy for me to work with.  I was determined to make something from it and here you see my Telephone Part style come through.

Species D

The USPTO decided that I invented six (6) different SPECIES of patentably distinct chain guide. You can see that Species D was cut off in favour of Species E. Species E was my elected Species while Traverse was filed to allow grouping of C,D & E as obvious variants while succeeding Species F and Species B to establish grounds for inclusion of Species A as an obvious variant of the grouping of Species C, D and E.

Shock Stroke

I researched that 9.5"x3" was the most common shock in terns of supplier inventory and online auction availability

I won;I bought the shock that was floating around the shop where I work.

Clip In

I Clip In. I have for the longest time. Multiple Spinal Injuries drive the idea that bolting my feet to the pedals is a good thing.

I Will Not Go Quietly.