[Billfred]

Alright, a bit of an update on the matter.

We tried the Harbor Freight riveter. It failed; the riveter could not reliably hold onto the mandrel when we needed it to and release when we needed it to. After struggling through two riveters' worth of jams and stripped threads and frustrations, we switched to the Marson Big Daddy Riveter (the name of which has already become a running joke within the team) today, and knocked it out in about a half-hour. It's so smooth and easy to work with, it made me genuinely giddy. That riveter runs about $100, but it's some of the best money the team has spent all season. The Grainger part number is 4Y128; on McMaster-Carr, it's 90239A510.

We started with steel rivets, but a bit of consultation with some folks (along with worries as to whether it was the rivets that were causing our riveter issues with the Harbor Freight unit) led us to switch to Grainger part 4Y031, aluminum rivets with an aluminum mandrel and grip range right up to .250". With all the rivets in place, the frame feels fine--maybe even better than last year's with the absence of all the little wiggling that happens with bolts.

We'll be building our drivetrain over the next week (maybe this Saturday if the AndyMark order gets in, which we're doubting); we'll know more about how they hold up as build season rolls on.