Hey guys, I just got the pro version just to realise that I can't really do much with it as compared to the free version. I have to add that I own a solidworks software and I have been using that for all my frame designs for the past few months. I was getting fed up with solidworks over angle manipulation problem so I thought I should give bikecad pro a go. after downloading the latest version I notice very few differences to the free version which is of any good to me. Firstly I would like to say that kudos for making a software for frame builders and I really believe that this must help a lot of frame builders out there. But I have to say that for me personally I am getting similar problems if not worse in this software.
Here are my concerns:
1. Firstly, I am building bikes out of bamboo and getting the accurate angles for mitring is of the key importance to me. I am glad that this software allows me to get good mitring angles for top - head, bottom - head, seat - bottom, seat - s stays,etc. Now here is the catch... I am also interested in getting the mitre angle for chainstays to the bottom bracket i.e. from the central plane/line of the frame to the chainstays on either side. I know this is a very minor thing but I seriously don't want to do the math everytime I want to mitre a tube.
2. Secondly, I was hoping that the drop-out section would have a disc mount option. The reason for this is that I can't braze the disc mounts on bamboo stays and the only option I have got is to get the disc mounted drop-outs made specially for various seat stay - chain stay angles I am hoping to use. This option would really help me as I am hoping to produce road frames with rear disc mounts.
3. Thirdly I can't find the mitre info for the seat stays either, for example I would like to manipulate the offset for my mitre angle on the seat stays to get the right width between them as I please.
Will look forward to your reply guys. I my language makes no sense them please let me know. I will draw a picture to let you know what I mean. Thanks
Thank you very much for purchasing BikeCAD Pro. I trust you'll be satisfied to see that all these options are there. Here's where you'll find them:
1. The chainstay miter angles are displayed in the auxiliary view of the stays. Therefore, the dimension is in the Stays (auxiliary view) tab and not the Mitring tab.
2. If you set the size of the rear dropout such that the connection points for the chain stays and seat stays are further from the rear axle than the midpoint of the disc brake tab, then BikeCAD will know to integrate the disc tab into the dropouts. The rear dropout dimensions Cx, Cy, Sx and Sy which control the chainstay and seatstay connection points are illustrated below. The diagram below also demonstrates that the disc brake tab can be mounted either behind or in front of the seat stay. Which way the disc tab is mounted is largely dependant on dimension ∠1.
3. The offset between the front ends of the seatstays is controlled by dimension Z shown below.
Thanks for your very detailed and informative reply Brent. Will look forward to our next chat. Cheers