No Free Lunch, or (It's No "Breeze")

Another day off, and some more headway on Hoffmeyer's frame. I got the ends of the chain stays mitered, cleaned, and the new "Breezer" style dropouts brazed in place. (Step by step pictures over at my Flikr site.) I went for this style of dropout for a few reasons. First, they're supposed to be stronger, and I figure this frame has to be pretty beefy to handle Hoffmeyer's habit of chewing through equipment. Second, I haven't used these before, and wanted to see how I liked working with them. Which brings me to the third reason: I was under the impression that they threw together pretty quickly. Aside from the name, they looked like a snap. Cut the stay to length, clean, and braze away. Well, almost. They have a way tighter curve than I figured, which required a pretty good miter. Plus, after having to work in the wider rear, and good angle to them (and their required miters), I think it ended up taking longer than the slot style to get it right. So long story short, I'm happy with them. I just need to always keep in mind that nothing about frame building is easy or quick. But nothing good comes easily.



On a different note, I am getting better at my heat control, and flowing the braze where and how I want it. I put on the cable stop for the rear derailleur, and the braze came out perfect. No cleaning, filing, or even sanding. Not that it's a huge deal, but it's just nice when you know you're actually getting better at something. Now, to keep practicing, so I could do that with every braze...