Frame Feature: DROPOUTS of Death!
Sorry for the sarcastic title, but someone equated these dropouts to death which is retardedly funny to me. Okay, there has been a lot of interest, debate and speculation on the internet about the Sunday frame's hollow dropouts. Why would somebody make a thicker dropout when everyone is going to thinner ones? This is simple because when you thin the dropout from a 1/4 inch to 3/16 inch, you end up reducing the strength by about 40%. That is a great reduction in strength for a simple 1/16 of an inch in weight savings. So what happens when you add a 1/16 of an inch to a 1/4 inch dropout, but make them hollow? You get a dropout that is twice the strength and the same weight as a normal dropout.
Outside and inside views. Please not the tapered "Sunday" stamped caps on the outside and the tapered seat and chain stays on the inside create a smooth transition to the dropout. Just super clean with smooth lines.
Peg side clearance and non-peg/axle clearance. Small and out of the way is what these dropouts are trying to achieve. I am pretty sure that this has been achieved.
So, now you are wondering how in the world is a hollow dropout constructed? I can't fully divulge the process, but let me just stress that the dropout is made from forged parts to make a hollow structure that saves weight and is stronger than a basic "plate". Nearly all non-hollow dropouts are simply cut from plates, there isn't any forging or machining done just simple cutting out like a Christmas cookie. Naysayers out there should consider that lots of engineering structures use fabricated hollow parts. Some examples are airplane wings, car chassis members and suspension arms, motorcycle frames, super expensive mountain bike swing arms etc. These examples can be very strong for their weight provided the detail is engineered right... and these ARE engineered right.
To show the dropout width to scale.
Specs
Width 8mm roughly equal to 5/16 inch.
Material-Forged 41Thermal 4130 chromoly.
Size-Small enough for a 1.5 inch diameter peg to fit cleanly without any dropout hangover, so no cutting is needed to fit your dropout to the peg.(See above)
Internally-Walls surround all the outside edges with support across the dropout to prevent crushing.
Axle Slot-14mm
Next Feature Highlighted: Brake mounts
Just so you know the bike below weighed in at 25lbs using a home scale with a .5lb error range and that was with 3 pegs.
Jim Cielencki 25lb Bike Check
Frame - Sunday Production Sample 20.5" Green
Forks - Sunday Morning Black
Headset – Kink
Stem – Odyssey Elementary
Bars – Sunday Color
Grips – ODI Longnecks
Levers -Odyssey Mono Lever Trigger
Bar Ends - Plastic from ODI Longnecks
Cranks - Odyssey Wombolts
Sprocket – Odyssey 25tooth
Pedals - Odyssey Me in Sea Foam Green-Aluminum loose ball
Chain – KMC 510
Front Wheel – Gsport Marmoset hub with Gsport rim
Front Tire - Odyssey 2.10 Path
Back Wheel - Odyssey Cassette hub, Odyssey 7Ka rim with double butted spokes
Back Tire - Odyssey 1.85 Path
Brakes - Almost didn't have them, but Odyssey Evolvers
Brake Cable- White Odyssey Linear
Pegs – 3 pegs, all Odyssey JPeg Liters with 2 in front and one in rear
Seat – White Odyssey Mike Aitken
Seat Post - Odyssey Intact
Seat Clamp - Odyssey Mr.Clampy
Modifications – Right grip shortened so lever doesn't go around bend, cut bars about 1/4 inch, seat post cut down, rear pegless side axle cut down for clearance during pedal grinds.
Production Frame Sample arrives!!!
Well, it has been really busy up here with the arrival of the frame production sample on Friday. After checking it over, it was off to Blackout to get some pictures taken for catalogs and what not. As soon as I got back to Buffalo, I immediately put it together with no problems. The Mid bottom bracket actually pressed right in with only the aid of a piece of wood and everthing else went together without any troubles. The frames are on the way and should arrive sometime around the third week in May, sorry but this stuff takes time.
Here is a photo moments after the frame arrived, note the colorful frame box that you will see with every frame.
This is one of the colors the frame will come in with the others being gray and red. Note the freshly painted wall behind me...no check the graphics and lack of gyro tabs on this sample. Come back tomorrow to see if I am brakeless or have a straight cable when I post my bike check.
Yes, it sure does say 41Thermal right on the brake bridge. So what this means is the whole frame is 41Thermal not just the brake bridge. Now you are going to wonder about the warranty. The frame is going to have a LIMITED LIFETIME WARRANTY against manufacturers defects judged on a case by case basis. So if you have an old frame and throw it against a tree to get a new one, I can't help you.
Lots of new stuff
Some more late news, all the colors in have arrived over at
Blackout Distribution which is Sunday's distributor in the US. Everything arrived on Thursday, so it should be available soon at your local bike shop or at any of the mail order places including EmpireBMX, StaffBMX, Dan's Comp and Albes.
Morning forks in Red, Green and of course Black.
Night forks in Red, Green and Black.
Color bars in green and black.
Triumphs in red, green and black.
The new Tudor Bar in green and black.
Tudor Bars
Update: Dimensions
Height 7.625" Center to Center
Width 24.5"
Crossbar Height 5.0" Center to Center
Sweep 12 degrees
Upsweep 4 degrees
Weight 1 pound 9.0 ounces or if you want to play the smoke and mirrors game 1.5625 pounds!
Okay so here are the bars with the proper sticker, the last one was a test with the white background. Here is what will be available in probably less than two weeks.
Night Forks with 990 mounts
As promised, here is a photo of the new Sunday Night Forks with 990 mounts which are only coming in black that are now available through Blackout Distribution. There new site is suppose to be up, but all I see is the old site here--
BLACKOUT. A lot of requests for forks with 990 mounts have been taken, so now Sunday is fulfilling the need.
Some other Sunday news is that the forks and all 3 bars are now coming in colors which are the same colors as the frame except the gray. Bars will be black, green and red with some limited edition chrome Triumph bars coming in the near future. Okay so that all might be a little confusing, so let me clarify. Frame colors are gray, red and green while bar and fork colors are black, red and green.
