2nd attempt - The Tank

Since I owned a good trail bike at the time my next attempt at building a frame was a downhill rig. The design I was attempting was a high-pivot point, but otherwise uncomplicated swingarm. The difficulty with a high pivot os chain routing though. My design called for the chain to be routed over the pivot, not realising how difficult this would be to get right I drew out the design onto a sheet of MDF, ordered a load of cheap mild steel tubing, confiscated my Dad's garage and tools for a weekend and came up with this: 

It was designed around a 222mm shock (2.75" stroke) with a 2.5x shock leverage ratio giving approximately 7" travel. Fully built it looked pretty mean:

The first test was a resounding success: I could stand on it and it didn't fall apart!

The thing weighed an absolute ton, but it rolled over large curbs like they simply weren't there. I was so happy at this point I actually had tear in my eyes - I had managed to make a bike! It rode well, it felt right, it's suspension was far better than I could have hoped and it seemed as solid as a girder.

What this build could not do however was pedal. All my attempts at routing the chain over the pivot seemed to bend, break or disintegrate within a few pedal strokes. The high pivot point was brilliant for the suspension feel but was causing big problems for drive - my next attempt would try to fix this.