Here at Kinetic-One we believe in doing things right - Frame preparation is the central element of building up a performance road bike. In our experience many people have heard of "Prepping" frames but don't know what it involves. They may also have heard that many manufacturers now carry out very little frame prep before exporting the "finished" bike to the UK. We put together this guide to show our customers just what goes into preparing a Kinetic-One bike and why we do these things!

It can take up to 2 hours to prep a frame. We believe prepping is so important that All Kinetic-One bikes are fully prepped and this is included in the retail price.

PLEASE NOTE ; The Prep steps differ slightly for carbon and metal frames and also those with integrated as opposed to push in headsets

Why is it important to Prep a Frame before it is assembled into a bike for the first time?

If you are buying a premium bicycle and your frame is not prepped, your first few miles on the bike will begin to do irrepairable damage to the frame. The stresses that occur on the headset and the bottom bracket of a frame while riding are incredible. If you are buying a premium bike and you want it to have a premium lifespan and offer premium performance…it needs to be prepped before it is assembled for the first time.

There are two reasons for prepping a frame:

• One is to ensure the frame life and safety is maximised.
• The second relates more to performance

Frame prep is becoming increasingly significant in performance terms as technology moves on. this is particularly true of the very latest technology such as the new generation Shimano Hollowtech 2 type bottom brackets/chainsets. These are fantasticly specified but if the bottom bracket is not fully prepped then dirt and grit can enter the mechanism and performance and product life are dramatically reduced.

For example: A customer recently brought us his 3 month old bike (not one of ours!) - with a top-end FSA Bottom Bracket. He felt that the pedals were not turning as efficiently as they did when he got the bike. We removed the bottom bracket to find it full of road dirt and the bearing seals had been breached. This happened not because of any failure in the bottom bracket but because the frame had not been prepped and this allowed dirt in - this was not a cheap bike either but a £2500 dream machine! We prep all our frames!

What does Prepping involve?

• Facing and Milling of the Head Tube.
• Facing and Chasing of the Bottom Bracket
• Milling and Cleaning of Seat Tube.
• Frame allignment
• Chasing of Bottle Bosses and Rear Derailleur Hanger,

A Facing and Milling of the Head Tube.
This procedure cuts the two ends of the head tube perfectly parallel to each other. It faces the walls of the tube ends to be flat and free of paint. It also mills and reams the inside of the head tube for precise installation of the headset to maximize performance and lifespan as well as limit potential ovalization of the head tube. The risk of corrosion is minimized as well with use of proper lubes at the time of installation.

A headtube being cut, faced, milled and reamed creating a perfect surface

B Facing and Chasing of the Bottom Bracket
This procedure cuts the two ends of the bottom bracket perfectly parallel to each other. It faces the walls of the tube ends to be free of paint. A thread chasing tool is passed through the bottom bracket shell to clean and optimize the threads and remove paint and other finishing materials. This allows for precise installation of the bottom bracket to maximize performance and lifespan as well as limit potential ovalization of the bottom bracket shell. The risk of corrosion is minimized as well with use of proper lubes at the time of installation.

A bottom bracket shell is faced with a cutting tool. Paint and frame material is removed. When the face of your bottom bracket shell shows a complete circle of freshly cut metal the facing process is complete.

A separate tool is used to chase the shell's threads.

C Milling and Cleaning of Seat Tube.
A seat tube reamer is used to remove burs and welding material from the inside of your seat tube. This ensures a precise fit for your seatpost. Seatposts that are forced into uncleaned seat tubes are scored and more likely to develop stress risers which can potentially result in a catastrophic failure of the seatpost. This service also allows the seat tube to be lubed properly and will reduce the possibility of corrosion between the post and frame tube which causes seat posts to become stuck.

D Frame allignment
All Kinetic-One frames are quality controlled for allignment upon delivery and again upon completion of the build.

E Chasing of Bottle Bosses and Rear Derailleur Hanger,
This procedure uses a thread chasing tool to clean the threads of these areas. This cleans out any paint and other finishing materials and reduces the chance of cross-threading and stripping threads while installing components and accessories. The risk of corrosion is minimized as well with use of proper lubes at the time of installation.