A lot of smaller brands that deal exclusively in steel bikes like to keep things simple. The ethos goes hand-in-hand with the toil of long hours in the workshops jigging and welding a frame from a material that most of the industry left behind years ago. Martin Saida, of Zoceli Bikes, is one of those small-batch builders, but rather than revert to a standard single pivot he instead decided to challenge himself with something a bit more intricate. Martin has been a mechanical engineer for seven years and, inspired by the classic
Yeti 303 downhill bike, decided to create a steel full suspension bike with a sliding shock. The result is the stunning Dobordelu prototype.
Zoceli Dobordelu DetailsFrame Material: Columbus steel
Intended Use: Enduro/ Freeride
Travel: 180mm
Head Tube Angle: 64°
Seat Tube Angle: 78°
Price: N/A
More info: shredwear.cz/zoceli At the heart of the bike is a single pivot that isn't quite as high as the Yeti it is inspired by, but still sits comfortably above the chainring. Instead of having the shock connect the front and rear triangle, as you might expect on a single pivot, the shock is mounted onto a carriage that slides along a rail built into the downtube. The carriage is guided by two machined aluminum arms and the whole system allows Martin to tune the suspension more precisely than a standard single pivot.
Crucially, the slider design makes the Dobordelu more progressive with the leverage ratio on this frame changing from 3.25 to 2.45 as the bike moves through its travel. The design also keeps the centre of gravity of the bike low and, let's face it, looks damn cool too.
Of course, there are a number of obvious drawbacks including the fact that there's a large moving mass, more friction in the system, ingress of mud and dust and, Martin says, it's pricey. It's because of this Martin doesn't plan to ever bring this design to market - he views it as an engineering puzzle he was happy to solve.
Machined aluminum is used to complete the unique design.
Martin built the rest of the bike as a freeride/enduro monster truck with 180mm travel front and rear and 29" wheels. It has equally rowdy geometry to match, with a head angle of 64°, a seat tube angle of 78° and a reach of 455mm on this prototype. Martin spent nine months in total working on the bike and has had the chance to get in a few early ride impressions. He said, "It behaves similarly to a downhill bike, but with the advantages of an enduro bike. The frame sails the trails without hesitation, it is exactly what it was created for. The sensitive system keeps the wheels on the ground and ensures great traction."
Unfortunately, the Dobordelu will never see a production run and it will instead be Martin's one-of-a-kind personal bike. He has learned a lot from the process though and will be using those findings to improve his other frame, the Naosm. For more information on that frame and how to order one, visit Zoceli's website,
here.
I’d say worth the tetanus
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xC03hmS1Brk
Seems like a similar issue - anyone has any experience with it long term?
Dobordelu is hard to translate. Literally it means "for the brothel" but it means "made for shit" or "made for really hard rock gardens" or "made for British conditions"
Czechs like to play with words but their games are hard to translate
You still want to framesaver/protect the insides of the tubes, though.
-W
If you let it go too far (which looks like it might soon be the case with the frame in the article) it's a problem, obviously.
-W
Lol. So it’s not a problem till it’s a problem.
Couple questions, using the penetrol, do you clear coat over top of the Penetrol, or just coat with Penetrol and go?
Once the rusting/oxidation has started, wont coating it just seal it in, so it can continue to corrode?
Curious about allowing a little pPatina to develop on my motorcycle gas tank, then clearing to seal it. Purely as the tics, and hoping it turns out. Right now the tank is polished steel, which I keep maintained regularly to keep the shine. I’ve been told in the past that clearing the polished/bare steel wont adhere, and it’ll just start to peel crack without a primer/base coat
That said, I'd only do it on areas you can easily visually inspect to see if it's holding up.
The penetrol will darken the color of the patina quite a bit, so it might or might not be the look you're going for.
-W
Never mind the consumeristic hipsters who find the look of failure “pretty” that they take a perfectly serviceable item and deliberately let it turn to dust.
ROFL
Maybe take a quick walk, or go ride your bike a bit. Seems like you’ve got some pent up frustration going on over there. It’s all good man, don’t sweat a tiny bit of surface rust, thats purely cosmetic, on someone else’s bike.
It’s not your jam, you’ve made that abundantly clear. No real need to go off the rails.
Hope you find a good trail, followed by an even better beer.
@waltworks; no luck today finding it, I’ll keep looking
Appreciate the info!
petapixel.com/2015/02/24/this-leica-m-p-correspondent-edition-was-designed-by-lenny-kravitz
Imagine the bike slowly changing colour with time www.kinley.co.uk/file_upload/images/CorTen-Steel-6a(1).jpg1
Weathering steel is still prone to rust without moisture control, which is what the purpose of paint, poweders and plating is for.
Corten has a yield strength of 340mpa
4130 steel has a yield strenght of 460mpa
8630 (nickel chrome moly, roughly what most high end bicycle steels) has a yield strength of 550mpa.
I'll call it the tetanus bike.
Now need some transparent coating on top of it :-)
take my money, so much want.
Sorry boys and girls, if you think Rust is cool, well, it's indicative of just how 'looks' led MTBers are. Though, it's a dreadful 'look'.
No frame I make goes out without paint, And, internal rust protection. As put forward in an earlier post, Rust Never Sleeps, and, it leads to failures.
I’m sure if you hit the authors name at the top of this article and sent them a direct message they would love to feature your bikes and story.
I have No Web presence, and, basically, no FB presence. I'm a (Very) Grumpy Old Man, that has No need to sell or promote anything. The only reason I may show my frames is because of the nagging I'm getting from a few people - riders and one or two in the MTB press that I've known for years.
I have made Long Travel Bicycles since the 70s, as well Motorcycle frames and products. And now, a class of Race Car Chassis (It's something different to 2 wheels, that I've never really had much interest in, but, it's a reasonable earner, and, interesting) I 'consult' and design for a few different overseas firms, under NDAs - They can be agreed to in both directions, as I've Never, ever wanted to become any form of 'Industry 'star' designer, as so many want to become. A few readers here may well be on bikes and suspension I've designed.
I make a few Bear Bikes frames a year, with my personal commitment to simplicity for my own bikes, perhaps 1 or 2 a month. Though various operations / repairs to the bashed up body of mine, and, Teaching commitments, have slowed that side of things down for the last 20 months. Getting old, sucks at times.
Thanks for your interest, I am often surprised that people recognize me, and Bear Bikes Australia. It's a long time since I raced, and had my Team going. Hopefully, I'll get back to racing, soon, in my 7th decade in existence.
Also: Evil's Delta link meets Yeti's 303 RDH
Clear coat will fail with rust underneath, so you're going to end up with orange hands when you pick it up.
There is a call from Yeti DH 303R :
"The rail is mine.."