Kaos Custom Bikes Titanium 36″er
September 5th, 2009 by Guitar TedWhile many just can not wrap their heads around 36 inch wheels, and think the whole idea is silly, it just doesn’t seem to go away. Case in point: This sano titanium 36″er from Kaos Custom Bikes from down under in Australia.
Andy from Kaos Custom Bikes sent us the following specs on the bike:
The tyres are Nightriders from Unicycle.com as are the Stealth rims.
They are fitted up tubeless using a selection of tape, Stans NoTubes sealant, and bolt in valves
from car wheels.
Removal of the tube saves 600g. The hubs are Hope. the rear is a Pro II single speed fitted with 6 cogs
from a Sram cassette. The group set is SRAM Select with the 2 smallest rings fitted on the front.
Brakes are the new Avid Elixer 5 fitted to Hope rotors. The rotors are 183mm from M4 down hill brakes.
All the tubes in the frame are Straight gauge .9mm wall.
The fork is 35mm legs with 1.5mm wall tubes
Andy claims the bike rides like a dream on the rear wheel.
Like most 36″ers, there is a bit of flex going on. Andy concurs with this saying, “It is a bit flexy when out of the saddle but fine when seated or on the back wheel.
Rides great on the back wheel.” Andy also chimes in with what probably is the number one attribute of riding a 36″er- you get noticed- a lot! Andy says, “For the moment it is really great fun and turns heads big time. Its one of those “mobile phone salute” bikes.” Andy also tells us to look for more on the Kaos Custom Bikes site soon on the 36″er.
Interesting to note that this one has tubeless wheels which I would imagine ups the roll ability of the 36″er dramatically. I have only ridden tubed 36″ers and they can be a chore to get going in part due to the rolling resistance of the tire/tube combination and the weight. Getting 600 grams out of the tires has to help a bit!
Andy tells us this won’t be the last one that Kaos Custom Bikes does either saying, “This is the first one and the next will likely have 1.5mm tubes all round and some other detail changes. Its been a long time since I built my first uni wheel and got the idea.” We’ll have to wait to see more, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see someone else pushing the limits of 36″er technology soon. There just seems to be something there that grabs the imagination of some folks. Whatever it is, it is fun to check out.
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That bike is really cool. I would love to ride one and see what they are all about. Maybe the next one will have a tapered steerer to help out with the flex. I ran some measurements and if you took a Manitou minute with a 20mm axle and cut off the arch you could get about 1 1/2″ of travel. But I wouldn’t want to try it without a tapered steerer. Maybe a fox 36 would be better for the job but I like that the manitou has the hex axle. I know it is a crazy idea but it is fun to dream about it. BTW with a little ingenuity you can get more than 6 gears on a hope ss hub. I have 8 on mine!
. You just need a mill and a great welder. However you only need a mill to do 7 though.
Although if I was building the frame I would do 150mm spacing so you could use a regular cassette and get 9-10 gears on it and the same flange spacing along with a 12mm axle.
The next one will be 150mm rear and 20mm front. we could not get the spokes long enough.
I have placed an order for longer sopkes so should be ok next time.
How does this bike do on trails?
Fascinating – love to ride it.
Hurray!!!!
I love it when a plan comes together…
Once again, I’ll make my suggestion to try this rig out on rocky trail (unless it’s really not built up for that). The fun factor of the big wheels gets higher and higher as the trail gets rougher.
I’ve been enjoying the recent Downhill 29er discussions, in particular because of comments about how the 29″ wheels are remarkably smooth on chatter relative to their 26″ cousins (e.g. http://forums.mtbr.com/showpost.php?p=6074266&postcount=87). 36″ wheels take that to really surprising levels. I wouldn’t recommend downhilling on such a rig, but it’s fun to take it into the rough stuff.
Glad to see another monster out there making people smile.
(I should probably take another crack at going tubeless. My first attempt failed in a sea of sliced tubes, auto tire valves and slime.)
Nice looking bike! I have an opportunity to make a frame or two with a friend, I think we may attempt a 36er. This one looks very nicely done. The big fork tubes are impressive!
Tubeless requires a little layering of tape and some stans liquid, thats all.
The fork legs are good but they flex a bit at the steerer junction. i think triple clamp forks would be a good idea for the next one.
This bike will go off road once the rain stops here in Melbourne Australia
Andy, why not go tapered steerer and a single crown?
I forgot how much I love utes. Nice to see one in the background there! That’s a really nice looking frame.
Could you integrate a stem coming off the fork crown area to help lower the bars?
Somewhere there’s the video of the 36er stair ride -the possibilities are impressive. Go search for it on youtube if you haven’t seen it.
You could go to a 1.5″ head tube, would maybe make it stiffer and allow for a slightly smaller head end.
Why not going with negative riser bars? like 2″ of drop = negative rise?
where’s your helmet?
Yes Andy,
Both you and the monster look cool but are you not setting a bad example for the younger viewers of this forum?
I agree,
We will get a pic with helmet shortly
just stop it. please. just stop.
Cool bike, looks like a blast to ride, gotta get some different boots though
No helmet required. Don’t be such a safety enforcer. Otherwise everyone not driving a full size of five star crash car rated is insane. Wearing a Helmet is a good idea and I do but if you are that worried about it you should never ride a bike in the first place with that level of danger.
Guess Ladders, backyard pools and small convertibles should be illegal.