So, the Cinelli x Mash frame comes with a crabon fork with an aluminum steerer. The fork was originally designed to accommodate a break-I-mean-brake. But, catering to the target market, Cinelli covered that brake hole up before painting the fork. So, if you want to run a break-I-mean-brake, you have to drill that sucker out. Normally, the LBS will do it. And by do it, I mean smoke a bowl, have a cheesesteak, watch some Rachel Rotten, and then drill it.

In preparing for this, I anticipated a lot more work than was ultimately necessary. I wasn’t sure how much I needed to drill through because I hadn’t yet examined under good lighting. I also didn’t know my tolerance requirements on the drill hole. I knew I’d start small and build up to the necessary hole, but what if I drilled at an angle? What if I jacked up the paint? So, I borrowed Lung’s drill press (an awesome device, bolted to the table surface, that clamps your power drill, then has a secondary driver for the bit. Nice and lined up.) As it turned out, getting the right angle and drilling it ended up being easiest by simply bearing down over a stool (thatswhat…) The back of the fork was still factory drilled. It was only the front that required redrilling.

I started small because I not only didn’t know what the material would do when drilled, but also didn’t know precisely what that material WAS. If it was crabon, it wouldn’t ribbon, but pulverize, and the paint could crack as the material bound to the bit and suffered torsion. In anticipation, i ran a few layers of tape over the front of the fork to try and hold as much of the paint finish together as possible. If it was sheet steel, then it would drill fine, but if the stress of the drill torque was greater than the binder of the steel to the fork, I could have a very big hole. To that end, my contingency plan was to wrap the entire effing thing in black electrical tape and call it a day. A jacked up finish was more important than not having a break-I-mean-brake.

Steel it was! After my pilot hole, I saw how tough the stuff was, and decided to go right up to the main bit size needed rather than stepping up in smaller increments. Quick snap, done!

Yes, this was a post about drilling a hole.

But hey, when you have a sweet sweet frameset and you’re wingin’ it, you relish even the small adventures.

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