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303 Strawberry Hill Ave.
Norwalk, CT 06851
203-831-9144
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P
R O F R A M E P R E P A R A T I O N |
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| Smart
Cycles offers precision frame prep for any type of
bicycle frame, road or mountain. We do this to every
custom, high end full bike we sell and include it in
the sale price at no charge. The fees listed below
are for servicing frames that do not come PREPPED,
are not purchased from us, or are purchased separate
of a full bike.
Frame Prep
involves the following procedures:
- Facing
and Milling of the Head Tube. $35
This
procedure cuts the two ends of the head tube
perfectly parallel to each other. It faces the
walls of the tube ends to be flat and free of
paint. It also mills and reams the inside of the
head tube for precise installation of the
headset to maximize performance and lifespan as
well as limit potential ovalization of the head
tube. The risk of corrosion is minimized as well
with use of proper lubes at the time of
installation.
A
headtube being cut, faced, milled and reamed.
You can see the surface paint and aluminum
material
being removed, creating a perfect surface
A
perfect headtube after cutting
Another Perfect Head Tube After
Cutting at SMART CYCLES!
Facing
and Chasing of the Bottom Bracket $50
This
procedure cuts the two ends of the bottom
bracket perfectly parallel to each other. It
faces the walls of the tube ends to be free of
paint. A thread chasing tool is passed through
the bottom bracket shell to clean and optimize
the threads and remove paint and other finishing
materials. This allows for precise installation
of the bottom bracket to maximize performance
and lifespan as well as limit potential
ovalization of the bottom bracket shell. The
risk of corrosion is minimized as well with use
of proper lubes at the time of installation.
A
bottom bracket shell is faced with a COBRA
cutting tool.
Notice the paint and frame material being
removed.
A separate tool is used to chase the shell's
threads.
A perfectly faced and chased bottom
bracket shell
Yet another perfect shell
cutting...
$7000 in tools is a wonderful thing!
Chasing
of Water Bottle Mounting Studs, Rear Derailleur
Hanger, and all other Threaded Studs in the
frame. $20-$30
This
procedure uses a thread chasing tool to clean
the threads of these areas. This cleans out any
paint and other finishing materials and reduces
the chance of cross-threading and stripping
threads while installing components and
accessories. The risk of corrosion is minimized
as well with use of proper lubes at the time of
installation.
Facing
of Disc Brake Mounting Surfaces $35
We use a
tool made by Magura that faces the surface that
your disc brake adapter mounts to. The facing
procedure removes clumped up paint and allows
for the precise installation of your brake
calipers. This ensures that the brakes function
properly and that irregular wear of the pads and
rotors does not occur. The tool has a depth
setting that allows us to make sure that the two
faces, or adapter "legs" are in the
same plane. Ultimately, this ensures that your
rotor and caliper are PERFECTLY alligned and
functioning in the same plane. If you have disc
brakes that rub and make a lot of noise, you can
improve their performance dramatically by having
the disc mount surfaces faced and adjusted to
the same depth.
The
Magura tool in action.
A disc brake caliper surface after
cutting compared to its mate prior to prep.
This affects brake performance significantly!
Want your disc brakes to be at
optimal performance? Is your frame prepped?
Milling
and Cleaning of Seat Tube. $25
A seat
tube reamer is used to remove burs and welding
material from the inside of your seat tube. This
ensures a precise fit for your seatpost.
Seatposts that are forced into uncleaned seat
tubes are scored and more likely to develop
stress risers which can potentially result in a
catastrophic failure of the seatpost. This
service also allows the seat tube to be lubed
properly and will reduce the possibility of
corrosion between the post and frame tube which
causes seat posts to become stuck.
Cutting,
Facing and Milling of Fork Crown Race $25
The fork crown
race is a part of your headset. Just like the cups
of the headset are press-fit into the frame, the
fork crown race is pressed onto the fork crown. This
service ensures that the bottom bearing assembly
sits perfectly parallel to the top one. If you are
having your headtube cut, you may NEED to have your
fork crown race cut. These days, this is done more
often on road forks than on mountain bike
forks…but it depends on the specific fork…so
bring your fork with you!
Why is it
important to Prep a Frame before it is assembled
into a bike for the first time?
Quite frankly, if you are buying a premium bicycle
and your frame is not prepped as we have described
above, your first few miles on the bike will begin
to do irrepairable damage to the frame. The stresses
that occur on the headset and the botton bracket of
a frame while riding are incredible. If headsets and
bottom brackets are not installed properly they can
ovalize the frame tubes they sit in causing many
problems. If you are buying a premium frame and you
want it to have a premium lifespan and offer premium
performance…it needs to be prepped before it is
assembled for the first time. In the case of brake
surface cutting, it should be obvious that you would
want your brakes to be at their highest performance
and reliability!
Which
frames are candidates for Frame Prep?
All steel and aluminum frames are candidates for
frame prep. Some carbon frames are also candidates.
MOST titanium frames we have seen come in a raw
finish (no paint) and usually don’t need the work.
Our tools will cut ti if necessary. We do not
Recommend the reaming of ti tubes…only facing
where necessary.
Do I need
to Prep My Frame?
By our standards, every premium bike frame needs to
be PREPARED like we have described. We won’t tell
you that a frame on a $300 bicycle won’t benefit
from the process, but realistically we would say
that anything considered "high-end",
"premium", or "custom"
ABSOLUTELY NEEDS TO BE PREPPED! Another indicator
would be the price of the frame...if your frame cost
more than $400...get it PREPPED BEFORE THE INTITIAL
ASSEMBLY! Every such full-bike we sell comes
fully prepped by us or the manufacturer.
Should I do
it prior to building my bike for the first time?
WITHOUT A DOUBT, YES!
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