Nate from LDG sent me a nice update on their fixed freestyle frame, the Hammer. I’m sure you’ve seen this everywhere else by now but what the hell, I like the photos! Check out more information, including a slew of photos below.
LDG – Forging The Hammer
Over the past year we’ve been quietly working on revision after revision of our freestyle frameset. While others were quick to release multiple versions, we’ve continually chiseled away at our Hammer.
This past year we’ve seen the freestyle community evolve at a rapid pace. Our first freestyle prototype was put in the hands of our riders 11 months ago, along with a pair of our 14mm hubs (another item soon to be released) for testing and critique. We made it clear to our riders to not become emotionally attached to their one-off frames, as destiny would have it, we had written the fate of these test frames for destruction.
8 months, 5 geometry changes, 4 rooftops, 3 skate parks, and 2 ounces of blood later, we still have our original prototypes in good working order, despite the continuous abuse from our riders.
Our 100% 3D CAD designed frameset ensures flawless geometry for balanced double-peg grinds, bar spins, maximum tire clearance, ideal weight distribution and optimal placement of gussets for maximum impact strength. Our seat tube features rolled tubing, yielding better strength than the typical welded flat-sheet tubing.
Our 14mm front and rear dropouts were specifically designed to withstand heavy abuse. We’ve seen too many dropouts break due to framesets not allowing for a true flush mounting peg. We’ve also included CNC’d washers for those running traditional track hubs. Investment Casting has allowed us to create curvatures on the dropout without affecting strength. A CNC machined, built-in, ball tensioner has been integrated into the dropout for simple rear wheel alignment. For our dropouts, we wanted to create something original; we don’t believe in the standard two-dimensional stamped dropout garbage.
The chassis of our frameset has been fully gusseted for pure function. With the elimination of a chainstay bridge for 60C+ tire clearance, it was a must to minimize lateral sway and slop. Our entire bottom bracket chainstay area features 4130 Chromoly boxed construction. Our machined BB comes standard with each frameset and is individually serial numbered on a stainless steel plate. In addition, the integrated head tube and bottom bracket shell have been fully machined for perfect bearing alignment.
Details Summary:
• Negative BB Drop
• Investment Casted Dropouts with CNC Ball Adjusters
• Gusseted Chainstay
• Top Tube & Down Tube Gusseted
• Mid BB
• Integrated Head Tube
• Full CNC Head Tube & Bottom Bracket
• Rolled tubing on seat tube
• 14mm Front & Rear Dropouts
• 60c + Tire Clearance
Additional Details:
• Price: $399
• Estimated Release Date: 04.20.2011
• Sizes: Small, Medium, Large (Geometry to come in our next blog post)
• Colors: Raw, Matte Black, Drab Green
We will be following up soon with pictures and details of our new freestyle fork, as well as full geometry specifications.
If you would to pre-order one of these new frames, please contact us at info@ldgruppe.com, and one of our team members will assist you in placing a pre-order.
