... The Start of a New Era: Introducing VillaVelo

[QuangVuong]

So pleased to hear Minh and Quang have become the custodians of these wonderful pieces of Australian cycling history and continued to improve and innovate upon them.

Some really solid and clever engineering happening already ..

Can I put in an order for a fillet brazed road frame with machined oversized head tube now?

Filleting is a while away I reckon, but I definitely have plans on one for myself. One day we will build for customers, but only once we're competent enough. I'll keep you in mind along with another bunch who has enquired in the past.

Anyway, I just finished repairing this Kenevans frame that had a damaged rear end. Read all about the repair here: https://villaveloframes.wordpress.com/2 ... -kenevans/

From broken chainstays
Bent Chainstays by VillaVelo, on Flickr

To the repaired frame.
Finished frame by VillaVelo, on Flickr

[trailgumby]

Nice work Quang.

Was there a reason you didn't fill in the ends of the chainstays at the dropout? I'm thinking risk of water ingress.

[QuangVuong]

This is how Mal McPherson finishes his stays. Hollow, and filed to a point. It is hollow because he does not drill any vent holes in the seat stays.


I planned to replicate that style in the repair which is why I left the chainstays hollow. However when I started brazing the seat stays in, I dipped a bit too much filler rod in and ended up filling the gap, so I filled in the rest of the seat stay ends. Without any vent holes, there is a great chance for the hot air to blow out the molten filler rod. In my case, the filler rod didn't get all blown out, but luckily there is just a small pin hole filled area where the air managed to escape though. Water ingress definitely an issue, but it is a track bike which wouldn't really be ridden in the wet anyway.

[HappyHumber]

Love your guys' work, Quang.

Though I just noticed this thread after following you on FaceAche & Instagag since the VV inception.

It does concern me somewhat you're wasting valuable playing & learning time by keeping all the various flavours of Social Media up-to-date; quality photos and descriptions as they are!

Though having said that, do you have a presence at Velocipede Salon? Typically Seppo-centric, but there's there some very active profressional & hobby builders there, including a few of our own here in the Land of Oz. I keep an account live there and pop in occasionally as a lurker.

[bigfriendlyvegan]

Love your guys' work, Quang.

Though I just noticed this thread after following you on FaceAche & Instagag since the VV inception.

It does concern me somewhat you're wasting valuable playing & learning time by keeping all the various flavours of Social Media up-to-date; quality photos and descriptions as they are!

Though having said that, do you have a presence at Velocipede Salon? Typically Seppo-centric, but there's there some very active profressional & hobby builders there, including a few of our own here in the Land of Oz. I keep an account live there and pop in occasionally as a lurker.

I think you'll find that Minh is the social media person while Quang does the engineering. An excellent combo and one that's definitely needed in today's artisinal marketplace, which is where steel bikes currently are.

[Torana68]

This is how Mal McPherson finishes his stays. Hollow, and filed to a point. It is hollow because he does not drill any vent holes in the seat stays. ...................

any idea when he started building frames and where? I like those fork making clamps

[minhyy]

Love your guys' work, Quang.

Though I just noticed this thread after following you on FaceAche & Instagag since the VV inception.

It does concern me somewhat you're wasting valuable playing & learning time by keeping all the various flavours of Social Media up-to-date; quality photos and descriptions as they are!

Though having said that, do you have a presence at Velocipede Salon? Typically Seppo-centric, but there's there some very active profressional & hobby builders there, including a few of our own here in the Land of Oz. I keep an account live there and pop in occasionally as a lurker.

I think you'll find that Minh is the social media person while Quang does the engineering. An excellent combo and one that's definitely needed in today's artisinal marketplace, which is where steel bikes currently are.

Yes, I handle a large portion of VillaVelo's online presence. The current goal is to increase our exposure and audience. To make an analogy, consider the Instagram account to be the business card, the Facebook page to be the pamphlet, and the blog to be the Odyssey.

I am practising the framebuilding side of things, albeit at a lower pace/success rate than Quang.

[QuangVuong]

This is how Mal McPherson finishes his stays. Hollow, and filed to a point. It is hollow because he does not drill any vent holes in the seat stays. ...................

any idea when he started building frames and where? I like those fork making clamps

Mal McPherson built under the Kenevans brand name at a time. He was building at the same time as Ken down in Moolap under that brand name (see here), then became the main builder up in the Gold Cost after John Abeni acquired the Kenevans brand name. This was when Ken moved onto building under the Evolution brand along with his son Paul Evans. I don't know the exact year that John bought the Kenevans brand name, but it'll be in the late 80s/early 90s.

Mal built frames under his brand as well, The Frame Doctor or just simply McPherson, both in steel and aluminium. Don't know when he started, but sounds like it was after his time building under the Kenevans brand name.

He then worked at Anatomic building welded aluminium and possibly carbon frames too. He was the one who welded up the prototype aluminium Technique Sports Superbikes.

He's still around now in QLD, painting for Ken in Vic, as well as doing repairs(welded a new HT into an aluminium Gios).

Btw, what do you mean by the fork making clamps?

[Torana68]

thanks

[lunar_c]

When I'm ready for a custom steel frame you'll be my first phone call - practice those fillets!

[singlespeedscott]

When I'm ready for a custom steel frame you'll be my first phone call - practice those fillets!

+1

[Imwit]

Though having said that, do you have a presence at Velocipede Salon? Typically Seppo-centric, but there's there some very active profressional & hobby builders there, including a few of our own here in the Land of Oz. I keep an account live there and pop in occasionally as a lurker.

Not sure if I mean thank you or not but that site could have me occupied for a long time.
If the Lyrebird Cycles thread is anything to go by.
Fascinating.

[grantw]

You're making impressive progress - did you have to chase the BB and ream the seat tube after you finished brazing?

[minhyy]

You're making impressive progress - did you have to chase the BB and ream the seat tube after you finished brazing?

yes on both counts. Quang chased the BB threads to clean out any hardened flux and a little bit of filler rod that had seeped over.

We took turns reaming the seat tube to approximately 27.2mm ID (the reamer we were using is adjustable) for two reasons:

1. to clean out the old grease and paint.

2. the seat lug / seatpost insertion area may have been very slightly ovalised during the brazing process, so the reamer was used to round out the top of the seat lug.

As mentioned in the blog post, Reynolds 708 has 8 internal flutes in the main triangle tubes, with the seat tube flutes stopping short to make room for the seatpost of course. We reamed to where the flutes started in the tube - not an issue for retro/classic seatpost lengths, but if you were to use modern extra-long seatposts, you'd have to chop it down to fit anyway.

[Velo13]

I m really happy to hear of this QV and Minh.

[frailer5]

Wonderful that the jigs and tooling went to guys who will use it. Wish you both well with the venture.

Steel will return. Along with Ti. Wonder how many of the expensively kitted riders on 'name' carbon have ever ridden a good quality CroMo? Not too many, I suspect.

[minhyy]

A bit of a quarterly catch-up about what we've been doing...

1. We went to the Sydney Classic Bicycle Show and very slowly began networking



2. Compared the differences in frame geometry and setup



3. Started featuring our personal rides, some of which you may recognise from threads of years past




↑ Do you remember Quang's crashed Gios?

4. Quang repaired and repainted BNA user TedDancin's Lennie Rogers



5. And did the same with Jose's (whose BNA username escapes me right now) Somec



6. I had some practice on our lathe and made some 1" headset spacers



We are coming up to 1 year since owning the Bundy equipment so hopefully we have some more exciting developments soon!

[petie]

good to see an update!

[yugyug]

Late to this thread, but its awesome. Hope everything is going great with the framebuilding, and also the repairs, very cool.

[malborg]

New to BNA -- I found this thread while looking to see what happened to the Bundy dynasty.

Peter Bundy did a repair on my Gemini touring bike some years ago -- a rather unassuming bike and nothing like the usual Bundy fare, but valuable to me for its large frame, and he did a great job that has held up well.

It now needs some more work -- the fork has a crack and it has a steerer long enough to make replacement difficult. Is there a chance you guys can help out?

Nice to see your work displayed anyway. Good luck!

[minhyy]

New to BNA -- I found this thread while looking to see what happened to the Bundy dynasty.

Peter Bundy did a repair on my Gemini touring bike some years ago -- a rather unassuming bike and nothing like the usual Bundy fare, but valuable to me for its large frame, and he did a great job that has held up well.

It now needs some more work -- the fork has a crack and it has a steerer long enough to make replacement difficult. Is there a chance you guys can help out?

Nice to see your work displayed anyway. Good luck!

Hi malborg, I've sent you a private message. Thanks for looking us up!

[minhyy]

Been a while since we updated this thread.

What we've been up to - click each image to go to their blog post:

Quang painted some client frames






We got a new linisher


Visited KillenBike's workshop



I finished building and painting the last Peter Bundy frame.


We currently have some projects under the way. Be sure to keep an eye on our channels for the latest:

Blog: https://villaveloframes.wordpress.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/villaveloframes/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/villaveloframes/

Also feel free to PM us with any questions or email us villavelo AT hotmail DOT com

[familyguy]

Been a while since we updated this thread.

What we've been up to - click each image to go to their blog post:

Quang painted some client frames

Now that the SCBS has been postponed (so I won't miss it by being away) the 5700 groupset polishing is back on the agenda. Gold homage decals are being produced, and the better of my Shimano 600 headsets is in. I just need to figure out what I'm doing for wheels and it will be in the show.

Jim

[minhyy]

Wow, two years since either of us posted in here.

Nothing major to report on. In mid-2018, I moved to Melbourne for work, so I've been off the tools for a while. Before moving however, I replaced a dented top tube on an old Kerry Hopkins road frame which has been my main ride in the 3000. 2000ish km in and no failures, so the long-term testing has been promising.

The red Bundy frame above is in fixed-gear commuter mode, rides great.

We still own all the equipment.

[2wheels_mond]

I've wondered from time to time how you guys have been going with it all, given that you hadn't been posting anything. Glad to hear the passion is there still, it seems, and the work is holding up well.