Hello everyone

Im new to the forum and glad to be apart of it.
After drooling for mant years i have managed to buy my very own 2004 BB7
It has already been stripped from paint and the linkage plates have been custom
Anodised red and gold.
I will be doing a full rebuild thread.

My question is the rear end is quick release , nothing wrong with that but i want this to be a custom one of a kind balfa.
So my plan is to have custom 12mm lugs made and welded into the rear drop outs.
Then a small gusset either side between the chainstay and seat stay part of the swing arm.
I have been in contact with a very good frame builder and he ashures me all will be fine.
But im worried about the metal being annealed which he tells me will happen but not in the way that it happens to aluminium.
Also i have been making a custom floating rear arm that will go over the 12mm axle between the hub and drop out.

Will this be a safe and strong idea or could it potentially ruin the rear end?
Again im using a very good fram builder here in the UK so he knows what he is doing.

Also i know people may see this as a pointless upgrade , but again i want it unique.
Im planning on custom plates too so the front end can be slackened and the bb dropped.

Here is what i recently bought came with a avalanche DHS shock too

Hi BalfaPower,

have you already done the conversion? I have recently been thinking the exact same thing, a 12mm thru-axle might improve the sloppyness of the rear end a bit.

Concerning the welding, I wouldn't bother too much about it. The rear end is made from 4130/25CrMo4 and usually it needs to be solution heat treated after welding, but if your welder knows what he's doing then you can get away with it. Just make sure to get the right filler material, if I recall correctly it was some kind of stainless that is recommended. Your welder should know that...

Cheers,

Luniz