When the JK Special road bike was introduced in early 2008 I knew that a cyclocross version of the bike would be the next development for Kirk Frameworks. However I didn’t know when I’d have time to develop the new model. With the idea in the back of my head I was speaking with a good customer and we decided it was time to move the JK Cross from concept to reality.
The new JK Cross is a no-holds-barred cyclocross race bike constructed with the same unique blend of lightweight tubes used in the JK Special. Light, nimble and smooth, it is built to excel on everything from frozen crud to deep mud and will allow the rider to concentrate on the race instead of the bike.
Once it was decided to build the first JK Cross it seemed a natural extension to make the bike in time for the upcoming 2009 North American Handmade Bike Show in Indianapolis. I then thought it would be fun to document the build in a more extensive way and share these photos on my website. What you are seeing now are the results of the frame construction and special documentation of the inaugural JK Cross frameset.
This documentation is by no means a complete tutorial in how the frame was made but it is a glimpse into what it looks like during the different stages of the build process. Some obvious things are missing – like my hands doing the actual work. For instance there are no photos of my hands filing tubes into the ideal miter because I can’t take photos and do the work at the same time. This means you’ll need to imagine what it looks like to see the file passing over the metal, sparks flying from a Dynafile or the flames wrapping around a lug.
The work shown, with the exception of the paint process, took place over a one week period in November 2008.
The construction of the frame will be presented in a series of 5 installments to make it more digestible. The process starts with the raw tubes on the bench in part one and will conclude with photos of the painted and assembled bike in part 5. As this progresses please feel free to contact me with any thoughts or questions. I’ll be happy to hear from you.
Part 1 - Frame design, fork and seatstays
Part 2 - Tube mitering and lug shaping
Part 3 - Brazing, finishing and braze-ons
Part 4 - Machining and alignment
Part 5 - The painted frame and assembly
